Poster #140 - Maternal Perceived Control over Caregiving, Exposure to Community Violence, and Sensitivity Towards her Infant

• In Event: 3-206 - Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

Given the well-documented link between maternal sensitivity and a wide range of infant developmental outcomes (e.g., Conradt & Ablow, 2010; Leerkes, 2011), identifying precursors of maternal sensitivity is critical. Parents with low perceived control are more likely than others to exhibit negative parenting behavior (Bugental et al., 1989; Rodriguez, 2009), especially when additional stressors (e.g., challenging caregiving context) are present (Bugental & Happaney; 2000). Exposure to community violence has been proposed as an important source of contextual stress for parents (e.g., Ceballo & McLoyd, 2002), and thus might moderate the perceived control-parenting link. Exposure to violence also predicts negative parenting, such as inconsistency, aggression, and low levels of warmth (e.g., Chen & Lee, 2017; Pinderhughes et al., 2001). Previous research investigating links between perceived control or exposure to violence and parenting has focused on parents of older children and adolescents (e.g., Chen & Lee, 2017; Rodriguez, 2009), neglecting parents of infants. The purpose of the present study was to explore whether violence exposure would moderate the expected link between maternal perceived control and maternal sensitivity for mothers of infants in the context of distress (i.e., Still Face procedure).
Method
The sample of the current study consisted of 208 mothers of six-month-old infants drawn from a larger study. Mothers were primarily low-income (48.5%< $10,000; $10,000< 23.1%< $30,000) and racially/ethnically diverse (38.9% African American, 21.8% White, 17% Hispanic, 8.7% Biracial/Multiracial).
Mothers were invited to complete a two-hour standardized laboratory visit, which included the Still Face procedure (SFP, Tronick et al., 1978). Maternal sensitivity during the SFP was rated by reliable coders (ICCs=.67-1.00) using the NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (1999) coding system. Sensitivity to distress, sensitivity to non-distress, intrusiveness, positive regard subscales, as well as global sensitivity were used as dependent variables. Maternal perceived control over caregiving was assessed using the Parent Attribution Test (PAT, Bugental et al., 1998). Maternal violence exposure was measured by the Exposure to Violence scale (ETV, Kindlon et al., 1996). Direct violence exposure was calculated as the mean of the Victimization and Witnessing subscale scores, and indirect violence exposure was indicated by the Learned-of subscale score.
Results
Separate regression analyses predicting each of five sensitivity variables from perceived control (PC) were conducted with direct violence exposure (DVE) as the potential moderator, and again with indirect violence exposure (IVE) as the potential moderator (see Table 1). The PC*DVE interaction predicted global sensitivity, sensitivity to distress, intrusiveness, and positive regard, but not sensitivity to non-distress. Interaction effects are shown in Figure 1. Similarly, the interaction between PC*IVE significantly predicted each sensitivity variable, except sensitivity to non-distress.
Discussion
Higher perceived control was associated with higher global sensitivity, sensitivity to distress and positive regard, but only when maternal violence exposure was low. Intrusion was greater in the context of high DVE (or IVE) and high PC. Such findings imply that maternal violence exposure (even just hearing about community violence) may dampen the parenting benefits from improvements in maternal perceived control (or even increase intrusiveness).

Authors

• Chenchen Dai, Lehigh University
  Presenting Author

• Susan S. Woodhouse, Lehigh University
  Non-Presenting Author