The Influence of Maternal History of Abuse on Parenting Knowledge and Behavior (original) (raw)
Related papers
Parents’ Potential for Child Abuse: An Intergenerational Perspective
Journal of Family Violence, 2014
This study examined predictors for parents' potential for abusing their children. Two hundred and thirteen Jewish and Arab parents of children up to 6 years of age completed six questionnaires assessing child-abuse potential, childhood history of abuse/neglect, attachment style, emotional control, perceived stress, and cognitive appraisal of parenthood. Results indicated that parents who experienced childhood abuse and neglect scored significantly higher in childabuse potential than parents without a history of abuse or neglect. A Structural Equation Model indicated that anxious and avoidant attachment mediated the experiences of abuse and neglect in childhood and emotional control; whereas emotional control deficits mediated the relationship between insecure attachment and parenthood as challenge vs. threat, leading to greater child-abuse potential. Clinical implications were discussed.
Background: This study provides an exploration of factors implicated in the intergenerational cycle of child maltreatment. Families with newborns where at least one of the parents was physically and/or sexually abused as a child (AP families) were compared in terms of risk factors to families where the parents had no childhood history of victimisation (NAP families). The mediational properties of risk factors in the intergenerational cycle of maltreatment were then explored. Methods: Information was collected by community nurses as a part of the 'health visiting' service. Data was collated across 4351 families, of which 135 (3.1%) had a parent who self-reported a history of abuse in childhood. The health visitor visited each family at home when the child was 4 to 6 weeks of age to assess the presence of risk factors. Results: Within 13 months after birth, 9 (6.7%) AP families were referred for maltreating their own child in comparison to 18 (.4%) NAP families. Assessments found a significantly higher number of risk factors for AP families. Mediational analysis demonstrated that the presence of three significant risk factors (parenting under 21 years, history of mental illness or depression, residing with a violent adult) provided partial mediation of the intergenerational continuity of child maltreatment, explaining 53% of the total effect. Conclusion: Prevention may be possible, once a history of parental childhood abuse has been identified, by offering services in priority to those families where a parent is under 21 years, has a history of mental illness/depression and/or there is a violent adult residing in the household. However, it must also be acknowledged that these factors do not provide a full causal account of the intergenerational transmission and consideration should be given to additional factors, such as parenting styles (see Part II of this mediational model, Dixon, .
PURPOSE: Infants born to adolescent mothers face a notably heightened risk of abuse and neglect, with prior research indicating that 1 in 4 will be reported to child protective services (CPS) for maltreatment before age 5. Infants born to adolescent mothers who were themselves victims of abuse or neglect may be particularly vulnerable to maltreatment. In this study we use CPS records to examine the relationship between adolescent mothers’ history of alleged maltreatment and the likelihood their child is reported for abuse or neglect during the first five years of life. METHODS: This study uses vital birth records probabilistically matched to administrative CPS records for the state of California. Information from the birth records of all infants born in 2006 to mothers 12–19 years of age were extracted and linked to: (1) historical CPS records to identify teenage mothers for whom there was an allegation of maltreatment victimization prior to the estimated date of conception; and (2)...
The Effects of Childhood Abuse on Parenting
PsycEXTRA Dataset
Childhood abuse has been associated with a broad range of problems in adulthood, including disruptions in parent-child relationships. The majority of research has focused on the effects of childhood sexual abuse on mothers, but it is also important to better understand the effects of childhood abuse on fathers. The current study examined the effect of various forms of childhood abuse on parent-child conflict and relationship quality using the recent replication of the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS-R). The NCS-R is a nationwide household survey of 9,282 participants that included an assessment of the presence/absence of four forms of childhood abuse: physical abuse, rape, sexual molestation, and witnessing physical violence at home. In addition, victims of childhood abuse were asked to rate the level of conflict and the quality of relationships they have with their children. A series of 2(sex) X 2(exposure) MANOVAs were conducted with relationship quality and relationship conflict as dependent variables. A similar pattern of findings emerged across abuse type. Mothers with a history of childhood abuse reported more conflict with their own children than fathers but a better overall relationship. This study did not support the hypotheses that the effects of childhood abuse are similar for both males and females. Fathers with childhood abuse history may be more likely not to participate in their children's lives.
A population-level and longitudinal study of adolescent mothers and intergenerational maltreatment
American journal of epidemiology, 2015
For teenage mothers in California, we generated population-level estimates of the relationship between maternal history of maltreatment and next-generation abuse and neglect. California birth records for all infants born to primiparous teen mothers in 2006 or 2007 were linked to statewide child protective services (CPS) records. For each birth, we used CPS records to document 1) whether the teen mother had a history of reported or substantiated maternal maltreatment at or after age 10 years and before the estimated date of conception and 2) whether the teen's child was reported or substantiated for maltreatment before age 5 years. We fitted multivariable survival models to examine the association between a teenage mother's CPS involvement and child maltreatment, after adjusting for a range of sociodemographic variables. Our final data set included 85,084 births to first-time mothers aged 15-19 years. Significantly heightened rates of abuse and neglect were observed for child...
Dixon. L., Hamilton-Giachritsis, C. & Browne, K.D. (2005). Attributions and behaviours of parents abused as children: A mediational analysis of the intergenerational continuity of child maltreatment (Part II). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 58-68
Background: This study extends previous research (Dixon, Browne, & Hamilton-Giachritsis, 2004) by exploring the mediational properties of parenting styles and their relation to risk factors in the intergenerational cycle of child maltreatment. Families with newborns where at least one of the parents was physically and/or sexually abused as a child (AP families) were compared, in terms of parents’ attributions and behaviour, to families where the parents had no childhood history of victimisation (NAP families). Methods: Information was collected from 4351 families (135 AP families) by community nurses as part of the ‘health visiting’ service. The same health visitor visited each family twice at home when the child was 4 to 6 weeks and 3 to 5 months of age, to assess behavioural indicators of positive parenting. Results: Within 13 months after birth, 9 (6.7%) AP families were referred for maltreating their own child in comparison to 18 (.4%) NAP families. Assessments found a significa...
Intergenerational transmission of child abuse and neglect: real or detection bias?
Science (New York, N.Y.), 2015
The literature has been contradictory regarding whether parents who were abused as children have a greater tendency to abuse their own children. A prospective 30-year follow-up study interviewed individuals with documented histories of childhood abuse and neglect and matched comparisons and a subset of their children. The study assessed maltreatment based on child protective service (CPS) agency records and reports by parents, nonparents, and offspring. The extent of the intergenerational transmission of abuse and neglect depended in large part on the source of the information used. Individuals with histories of childhood abuse and neglect have higher rates of being reported to CPS for child maltreatment but do not self-report more physical and sexual abuse than matched comparisons. Offspring of parents with histories of childhood abuse and neglect are more likely to report sexual abuse and neglect and that CPS was concerned about them at some point in their lives. The strongest evi...
Child Maltreatment, 2012
Among the negative sequelae of child maltreatment is increased risk for continuity of maltreatment into subsequent generations. Despite acknowledgment in the literature that the pathways toward breaking the cycle of maltreatment are likely the result of dynamic interactions of risk and protective factors across multiple ecological levels, few studies have followed high-risk samples of maltreated and nonmaltreated parents over time to evaluate such processes. In the current investigation, exposure to community violence and authoritarian parenting attitudes were evaluated as predictors of the intergenerational continuity of abuse, and the moderating effect of African American race was examined. The sample included 70 mothers and their 18-yearold children, who have been followed longitudinally since the third trimester of the adolescent mothers' pregnancy. Results revealed that among mothers with a child abuse history, higher exposure to community violence and lower authoritarian parenting attitudes were associated with increased risk for intergenerational continuity of abuse. The relation of authoritarian parenting attitudes to intergenerational continuity was moderated by race; the protective effects of authoritarian parenting were limited to the African American families only. The salience of multiple ecological levels in interrupting the intergenerational continuity of child abuse is discussed, and implications for preventive programs are highlighted.
Child Development, 2011
In the interest of improving child maltreatment prevention, this prospective, longitudinal, community-based study of 499 mothers and their infants examined (a) direct associations between mothers' experiences of childhood maltreatment and their offspring's maltreatment, and (b) mothers' mental health problems, social isolation, and social information processing patterns (hostile attributions and aggressive response biases) as mediators of these associations. Mothers' childhood physical abuse-but not neglect-directly predicted offspring victimization. This association was mediated by mothers' social isolation and aggressive response biases. Findings are discussed in terms of specific implications for child maltreatment prevention. Child maltreatment is a serious public health problem, most urgently for infants and toddlers. In the United States in 2006, 905,000 children, more than 12 of every 1,000 (1.2%) were identified as victims of abuse or neglect (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [US DHHS], 2008). Victimization rates among children between birth and age 1 were twice as high (2.4%). Female parents (typically biological mothers), acting alone or with another, perpetrated 64% of child abuse and neglect cases (US DHHS, 2008). The most common pattern of maltreatment (40% of cases) was a child victimized by a female parent acting alone. Child maltreatment not only results in acute physical injuries but also predicts later substance use problems (