Maternal childhood abuse
Published on Nov 30, 2015
No Description
MORE DECKS TO EXPLORE
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Historical context
- Early focus on cycle of child abuse
- Growing literature on intergenerational transmission of trauma
- Research that child abuse predicts negative outcomes in offspring who are not abused
Early papers on intergenerational cycle of child abuse e.g. 1969 paper by Silver, Dublin, Lourie
Outcomes for offspring
- Insecure attachment (infants)
- Externalizing behaviors
- Disruptive disorders
- Physiological signs of anxiety
- Depressive symptoms
-insecure attachment (e.g. Berthelot - as many as 83% of infants classified as insecure)
-Miranda and colleagues here externalizing behaviors (e.g. impulsive behavior, hyperactivity, aggression)
-In a separate paper, Miranda and colleagues reported disruptive disorders (e.g. oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder). These were seen to a greater extent than in children of mothers who were victims of IPV
-physiological signs of anxiety - dark enhanced startle (Jovanovic)
-One longitudinal study also found a link between maternal CA and offspring depression - but another study failed to find a link between maternal CA and internalizing disorders in offspring who were not exposed to physical punishment
-multiple time points (childhood and adulthood) predict worse outcomes
-multiple types of CA, and more sever abuse predict worse outcomes (Collishaw et al.)
-Miranda and colleagues here externalizing behaviors (e.g. impulsive behavior, hyperactivity, aggression)
-In a separate paper, Miranda and colleagues reported disruptive disorders (e.g. oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder). These were seen to a greater extent than in children of mothers who were victims of IPV
-physiological signs of anxiety - dark enhanced startle (Jovanovic)
-One longitudinal study also found a link between maternal CA and offspring depression - but another study failed to find a link between maternal CA and internalizing disorders in offspring who were not exposed to physical punishment
-multiple time points (childhood and adulthood) predict worse outcomes
-multiple types of CA, and more sever abuse predict worse outcomes (Collishaw et al.)
Photo by VinothChandar
Current Research
Looking for mediators
Several studies have examined why maternal CA leads to negative offspring outcomes
Understanding this relationship is important for knowing how to intervene with at risk mothers so that negative effects of child abuse are not passed down to the next generation
Thesis: little agreement in how to understand this relationship
Understanding this relationship is important for knowing how to intervene with at risk mothers so that negative effects of child abuse are not passed down to the next generation
Thesis: little agreement in how to understand this relationship
Mediators
- Maternal psychiatric symptoms
- Negative parenting behaviors
- Child exposure to negative life experiences
- maternal psychiatric symptoms most often examined are maternal depression and PTSD. Some studies have found that this is a partial mediator. (Miranda et. al., 2013; Roberts et al., Muzik: maternal depressive symptoms related to impairment in mother-infant bonding)
-This includes looking at things like looking at the use of physical punishment. Also, Zalewski et al. (2013) looking specifically at mothers with histories of CA and children with internalizing disorders, found that parenting was low in acceptance and high in psychological control.
Lyons-Ruth &Block (1996): abuse associated with hostile-intrusive parenting or emotional restriction
There is also evidence that children of mothers who were victims of child abuse are more likely to face negative life events. Including things like physical punishment, but also more likely to experience changes to teh family unit, or moves which can be stressful for children
Some inconsistencies...
- Some papers report maternal psychopathology as important mediator - others do not
- Inconsistency regarding offspring negative experiences as mediators
Miranda et al. (2011) did not find that maternal psychopathology or use of physical punishment mediated relationship between CA and offspring outcomes
Likewise, Jovanovic et al. - depressive symptoms or PTSD did not account for effect of CA on biological signs of anxiety
-Jovanovic also found that offspring exposure to trauma did not mediate relationship between maternal CA and startle response
-Inconsistencies may relate to different outcomes that were examined
Likewise, Jovanovic et al. - depressive symptoms or PTSD did not account for effect of CA on biological signs of anxiety
-Jovanovic also found that offspring exposure to trauma did not mediate relationship between maternal CA and startle response
-Inconsistencies may relate to different outcomes that were examined
Photo by Horia Varlan
Differences between types of abuse
- Emotional abuse (and not sexual abuse) associated with low acceptance and high psychological control
- Physiological anxiety seen with maternal physical or emotional abuse only
-Zalewski et al. (1st study). Lyons-Ruth & Block found different parenting styles: physical abuse -hostile-intrusive parenting; sexual abuse - emotional restriction
-some measures of sexual abuse did not specify if it was within family or by primary attachment figures - therefore, this type of abuse may have been more time limited and these mothers may have still had intact attachment relationships
One of the reasons that reports of childhood sexual abuse may look different than other types of childhood abuse, is that many measures ask participants about any unwanted sexual contact prior to age 18, which may not get at the idea of abuse occurring in the home by an attachment figure. It may also be more time limited than the other types of abuse.
-some measures of sexual abuse did not specify if it was within family or by primary attachment figures - therefore, this type of abuse may have been more time limited and these mothers may have still had intact attachment relationships
One of the reasons that reports of childhood sexual abuse may look different than other types of childhood abuse, is that many measures ask participants about any unwanted sexual contact prior to age 18, which may not get at the idea of abuse occurring in the home by an attachment figure. It may also be more time limited than the other types of abuse.
Current directions
- Multiple mediation models
- Differentiating between types of childhood trauma
- Biological markers of transmission of trauma
Multiple mediation models that try to account for maternal symptomotology and parenting, as well as offspring exposure to negative life events
Field is also moving toward physiological sign of transmission of trauma. For instance, some studies have looked at the effect of maternal childhood trauma on infant HPA axis.
These are important areas, but they do not seem to be leading the field toward a broader conceptual framework for why we see an affect of maternal childhood trauma on child outcomes
With the current literature, it is not clear how to prioritize interventions
Field is also moving toward physiological sign of transmission of trauma. For instance, some studies have looked at the effect of maternal childhood trauma on infant HPA axis.
These are important areas, but they do not seem to be leading the field toward a broader conceptual framework for why we see an affect of maternal childhood trauma on child outcomes
With the current literature, it is not clear how to prioritize interventions
Photo by B Tal
Future Directions
- Consistency in constructs and measurement
- Look for broader construct (emotion dysregulation) that might explain mediation effects
By clarifying constructs - what are we looking at when we talk about negative outcomes for offspring - this might help clarify some of the inconsistencies that exist in the literature
Is there an umbrella construct that has not been looked at - something that can explain the existence of various mediators like offspring exposure to NLE, maternal psychopathology, and parenting behavior
Emotion dysregulation has been found to mediate the relationship between CA and adult depressive symptoms (Crow et al. 2014) or risky behaviors in adulthood (Oshri et al. 2015)
By identifying an overarching construct that explains the relationship between
Is there an umbrella construct that has not been looked at - something that can explain the existence of various mediators like offspring exposure to NLE, maternal psychopathology, and parenting behavior
Emotion dysregulation has been found to mediate the relationship between CA and adult depressive symptoms (Crow et al. 2014) or risky behaviors in adulthood (Oshri et al. 2015)
By identifying an overarching construct that explains the relationship between
Photo by N@ncyN@nce
Questions?
Question 1.
How do you think the current research, including the article by Collishaw et al. (2007), can inform interventions that target at risk mothers?
Photo by Eleaf
Question 2.
Would you expect that childhood abuse has a different impact on offspring than parental adult trauma?
Photo by Eleaf
Question 3.
How might the attachment literature inform the relationship between maternal child abuse and offspring attachment?
Photo by Eleaf
