Exploring Maternal Personal and Interpersonal Functioning to Explain the Relation between Maternal Childhood Maltreatment History and Child Behaviour Problems

I investigated the association between maternal childhood maltreatment history and child behaviour problems in the next generation, and what maternal personal and interpersonal variables mediate this relation. I hypothesized that previously studied maternal variables (maternal depression, social support, and parenting) which have largely been tested in high-risk samples, would emerge as significant mediators in this study's low-risk sample. The inclusion of two untested but theoretically important maternal constructs (adult attachment and parenting stress) were also examined. Examining these five maternal constructs in the same study using simple and parallel mediator models allowed for the opportunity to identify the unique variance contributed by these mediators. Ninety-six mother-child dyads were assessed at two time points. When children were 16 months, mothers were given measures to assess childhood maltreatment history, adult attachment, depressive symptoms, parenting stress, and social support. Mothers were also observed with their children to assess maternal sensitivity. When children were 5-years old, an observational measure of compliance was completed and maternal reports of child behaviour were collected. Simple and parallel mediation models were constructed. Results included a positive association between maternal childhood trauma and mother-reported child behaviour problems. Observed child compliance was excluded from the main analyses, as it was not significantly related to maternal study variables. In regards to child internalizing behaviour problems, maternal depressive symptoms and parenting stress emerged as significant mediators when assessed separately. When both simple mediators were examined in parallel, maternal depressive symptoms was the only significant mediator. Maternal sensitivity was found to have a significant suppressor effect. In regards to mother-reported child externalizing behaviour problems, adult avoidant attachment, maternal depressive symptoms, parenting stress, and social support, were all significant simple mediators when assessed individually. When these four mediators were examined in parallel, parenting stress emerged as the only significant mediator. These findings provide additional evidence that childhood trauma has far-reaching impact on functioning into adulthood and that adult personal and interpersonal dysfunction impact child behaviour in the next generation. Further, depending on the child outcome (i.e., internalizing or externalizing behaviour), different mediators explain unique variance in the relation between maternal childhood maltreatment history and child behaviour problems.Ph.D.2016-09-22 00:00:0