Elsevier

Child Abuse & Neglect

Volume 38, Issue 12, December 2014, Pages 1966-1975
Child Abuse & Neglect

Relational trauma in the context of intimate partner violence

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.10.002Get rights and content

Abstract

The relational model of trauma (Scheeringa & Zeanah, 2001) proposes that infants’ trauma symptoms may be influenced by their mothers' trauma symptoms and disruptions in caregiving behavior, although the mechanisms by which this occurs are less well understood. In this research, we examined the direct and indirect effects of a traumatic event (maternal intimate partner violence [IPV]), maternal trauma symptoms, and impaired (harsh and neglectful) parenting on infant trauma symptoms in a sample of mother–infant dyads (N = 182) using structural equation modeling. Mothers completed questionnaires on IPV experienced during pregnancy and the child's first year of life, their past-month trauma symptoms, their child's past-month trauma symptoms, and their parenting behaviors. Results indicated that the effects of prenatal IPV on infant trauma symptoms were partially mediated by maternal trauma symptoms, and the relationship between maternal and infant trauma symptoms was fully mediated by neglectful parenting. Postnatal IPV did not affect maternal or infant trauma symptoms. Findings support the application of the relational model to IPV-exposed mother–infant dyads, with regard to IPV experienced during pregnancy, and help identify potential foci of intervention for professionals working with mothers and children.

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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      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).

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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.

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