Parenting stress mediates between maternal maltreatment history and maternal sensitivity in a community sample

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Abstract

Objective

Maternal maltreatment history and current parenting stress are associated with parenting difficulties. However, researchers have not investigated the mechanism by which these variables are interlinked. We hypothesized that parenting stress mediates the relation between history of maltreatment and parenting behavior.

Methods

We assessed a community sample of 291 mothers as they interacted with their 16-month old infants in the home. Maternal history of maltreatment and parenting stress were assessed via self-report inventory; maternal sensitivity toward the infant was assessed with 2 h of direct behavioral observation.

Results

Mothers who reported more maltreatment in childhood were less sensitive with their infants; mothers who reported more current parenting stress were also less sensitive. Parenting stress mediated between maternal maltreatment history and current parental behavior.

Conclusions

Findings are consistent with an interpretation of parenting stress as a pathway through which maternal history of maltreatment may be linked to decreased maternal sensitivity.

Introduction

Central to the construct of stress is the perception that pressures exceed coping ability. Distinct from other domains (Deater-Deckard, 1998), parenting stress involves the perspective that caregiving demands surpass available resources. Parenting stress is related to less nurturing behavior, less pleasure in parent-child interactions, more parent-infant conflict, and frank abuse (Abidin, 1995, Gutermuth Anthony et al., 2005, Huth-Bocks and Hughes, 2008, Rodgers, 1998, Taylor et al., 2009). However, the research typically targets high-risk samples (e.g., low income, single parent, high unemployment; Rodgers, 1998, Taylor et al., 2009) with a single research methodology, self-report (Deater-Deckard and Scarr, 1996, Taylor et al., 2009).

No study has simultaneously assessed maltreatment history and parenting stress as they relate to parenting in a low-risk sample. We hypothesized that parenting stress mediates the relation between maternal maltreatment history and parenting. We reasoned as follows: (1) childhood maltreatment is an extreme stressor that deleteriously affects subsequent coping, as manifested in long-term stress physiology (MacMillan et al., 2009) and increased health risk behaviors and medical and psychiatric difficulties (Watts-English, Fortson, Gibler, Hooper, & De Bellis, 2006). (2) The transition to parenthood can be challenging (Perren, Von Wyl, Burgin, Simoni, & Von Klitzing, 2005), with declines in marital satisfaction and quality of spousal interaction (Bradbury, Fincham, & Beach, 2000), particularly for those who have experienced child maltreatment (Deater-Deckard, 2004). (3) Increased parenting stress is related to parenting difficulties (as discussed above). Therefore, we hypothesized that maternal history of childhood maltreatment influences stress reactivity, which, in turn, influences parenting. To our knowledge, there has been no empirical demonstration of a mechanism linking maltreatment history to subsequent parenting in humans.

Section snippets

Participants

Following Research Ethics Board approval, we recruited 291 mother-infant dyads from community centers, mother-infant activity centers, and consumer baby shows across an urban and suburban area. Mothers signed a statement of informed consent on the home visit. Mothers were 18 years or older at childbirth, with no known psychiatric disorder and with sufficient English to complete questionnaires. They were an average of 33.38 years old (SD = 4.35). Most were Caucasian (67.2%), though the sample

Descriptive statistics and study variables

CTQ total scores ranged from 25 to 112 (M = 35.68, SD = 12.99). Most mothers reported none to minimal maltreatment across the 5 subscales (see Table 1).

PSI-SF total scores ranged from 41 to 110 (M = 65.97, SD = 13.84). Only 5.16% (n = 15) of mothers had total stress scores in the clinical range (raw score > 90; Abidin, 1995).

MBQS scores ranged from −.69 to .90 (M = .47, SD = .34). We log transformed to reduce skew.

Univariate associations among study variables

Intercorrelations are shown in Table 2. CTQ subscale scores were significantly intercorrelated,

Discussion

We found that mothers who reported greater childhood maltreatment endorsed higher parenting stress and were rated as less sensitive with their infants. Similarly, mothers who reported greater parenting stress were less sensitive with their infants. Examining the joint effect of both risk factors on maternal sensitivity, maltreatment history did not contribute unique variance beyond that explained by parenting stress. Instead, parenting stress significantly mediated the relation between history

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the many research assistants involved in the project, in particular Emilie Boucher and Monica Tan. The authors acknowledge the significant contributions of Susan Goldberg, a co-principal applicant on a grant supporting this work. Unfortunately, Dr. Goldberg passed away before completion of this study, but she greatly influenced the content of this report.

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    This research was supported by funds from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (MOP-64301 and VGH63212), Ryerson University, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

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