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Poster #138 - Household Chaos as a Mediator between Childhood Maltreatment and Parenting in the Next Generation

Sat, March 23, 12:45 to 2:00pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 1, Exhibit Hall B

Integrative Statement

Approximately 30% of individuals who have experienced maltreatment as a child, maltreat their own children (Egeland, Jacobvitz, & Sroufe, 1988; Kaufman & Zigler, 1987). Although research has focused on intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment (e.g., Belsky, Jaffee, Sligo, Woodward, & Silva, 2005; Pears & Capaldi, 2001), less is known about the associations between a history of childhood maltreatment and a broader range of later parenting practices (i.e., sensitive, intrusive, and harsh parenting), and mediating mechanisms. This study assesses the role of chaos in the home, which includes poor routines and regularities, high levels of noise, and crowding in the home (Evans & Wachs, 2010), as a potential mediating mechanism. The aim of this study is to assess the associations between a history of childhood maltreatment, household chaos, and later parenting.

The study was conducted within the framework of the Generation R Study, a longitudinal, population-based cohort from fetal life onwards. In addition to questionnaire data, which was collected in the Total sample (N = 2,350), more detailed measurements of parenting and child development were obtained in an ethnically homogeneous subgroup, the so-called Focus sample (N = 571). Mothers reported on their history of childhood maltreatment at 20 weeks of gestation (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Bernstein et al., 1994), and on harsh parenting (six items from the Conflict Tactics Scale, Straus, Hamby, Finkelhor, Moore, & Runyan, 1998) at child age 36 months. A household chaos construct was created by performing a confirmatory factor analysis using ten items representing mealtime routines, bedtime routines, and noise at child age 24 and 36 months (RMSEA = .02, CFI = .99, TLI = .98, χ2(32) = 63.05, p < .001). Observed supportive presence and non-intrusiveness of mothers towards their children at child age 36 months was available in the Focus sample: Two three-minute video-recorded interaction tasks were coded using the revised Erickson 7 point rating scales (Egeland, Erickson, Clemenhagen-Moon, Hiester, & Korfmacher, 1990).

Results indicated that mothers with more chaotic households reported more harsh parenting in both the Total sample (β=0.13, 95% CI=0.700–1.502, see Figure 1) and the Focus sample (β=0.11, 95% CI=0.232–1.868, see Figure 2). In addition, mothers with more chaotic households showed less non-intrusiveness (β= 0.10, 95% CI= 0.900– 0.068), but not supportive presence (β=-0.05, 95% CI= 0.676 –0.178), towards their children in the Focus sample. Household chaos mediated the relation between experienced childhood maltreatment and harsh parenting in the Total sample (β=0.01, 95% CI=0.002–0.014), but not in the Focus sample (indirect effects: βs=0.00, 95% CIs included zero).

These results provides insight into the associations between experienced maltreatment, household chaos, and current parenting. Although household chaos was not found to be a mediator in the effect of maltreatment on parenting in the focus sample, evidence for this effect was found in the large and diverse population-based cohort. The current results consistently indicate an association between household chaos and harsh, and intrusive parenting, which confirms that household chaos can be seen as a risk factor for negative forms of parenting.

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