Relational trauma in the context of intimate partner violence☆
Section snippets
Participants
Participants were 182 mother–infant dyads, recruited from urban, suburban, and rural areas in the Midwestern U.S. as part of a larger research project. Women were recruited with fliers describing the study posted in local businesses throughout the recruitment areas, organizations that specifically serve families with young children, and organizations that serve women experiencing IPV. Electronic media including Craigslist™ and Facebook™ were also used. Potential participants were screened by
Results
Descriptive statistics for the variables of interest are in Table 1. Correlations ranged from small to large. Prenatal and postnatal IPV were highly correlated with each other, and both were also moderately correlated with cumulative risk. Prenatal and postnatal IPV were each also correlated with both maternal and infant trauma symptoms, with correlations ranging from small to large. Maternal trauma symptom clusters exhibited large intercorrelations, and infant trauma symptom clusters exhibited
Discussion
This research examined the relational model of trauma in mother–infant dyads studied in the context of IPV. Three main findings emerged. First, maternal prenatal IPV had a direct effect on maternal trauma symptoms, whereas the most proximal IPV (that which occurred during the infant's first year of life) did not. Second, the predictors of harsh and neglectful parenting were different. Maternal trauma symptoms predicted neglectful parenting, whereas general risk factors predicted harsh
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Cited by (28)
Intimate partner violence-exposed children
2023, Encyclopedia of Mental Health, Third Edition: Volume 1-3Intimate partner violence victimization and parenting: A systematic review
2018, Child Abuse and NeglectCitation Excerpt :Likewise, a significant correlation was observed between recent IPV, psychological aggression and corporal punishment, but past IPV was not correlated with parenting when other factors were included in the analysis (Barrett, 2010). Five studies (Casanueva & Martin, 2007; *Dayton, Levendosky, Davidson, & Bogat, 2010; Lannert et al., 2014; *Lannert, Levendosky, & Bogat, 2013; *Levendosky, Leahy, Bogat, Davidson, & von Eye, 2006) explored the impact of prenatal IPV victimization on parenting. Three studies (Casanueva & Martin, 2007; Lannert et al., 2014; Lannert et al., 2013) noted associations between prenatal IPV and negative parenting attributes; while two (Dayton et al., 2010; Levendosky et al., 2006) showed no association.
Critical review of theoretical frameworks elucidating the mechanisms accounting for the adverse developmental outcomes observed in children following exposure to intimate partner violence
2020, Aggression and Violent BehaviorCitation Excerpt :Distancing from their parents, education on IPV, accessing therapeutic/support services, and having a spiritual connection contributed to enhanced insight and wisdom in the study participants. Based on the observation that trauma symptoms frequently co-occur between mothers and their children (Lannert et al., 2014), Scheeringa and Zeanah (2001) developed the relational model of trauma, which proposes that maternal trauma symptoms following exposure to a traumatic event may elicit or exacerbate infant traumatic stress symptoms by impairing maternal parenting behavior. Prior research provides substantial support for the applicability of the relational trauma model to IPV-exposed mother–child dyads (Graham-Bermann et al., 2012; Lannert et al., 2014; Levendosky et al., 2013; Miller-Graff, Cater, et al., 2016).
Developmental Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence on Children
2023, Annual Review of Clinical Psychology
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This research was supported in part by a grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.