Poster #39 - Child Sex Moderates the Association between Intimate Partner Violence Exposure and Mother-Child Reminiscing

• In Event: Poster Session 03

Abstract

Maternal sensitive guidance during discussions of past emotional experiences with children (e.g., conflicts) scaffolds children’s elaborative responses to co-construct a dialogue – termed “mother-child reminiscing” (Valentino et al., 2015). Intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrated by male partners is a risk factor for poor maternal reminiscing: mothers experiencing IPV may control their child’s contributions during reminiscing to avoid post-traumatic triggers, which limits their child’s expressions (Visser et al., 2016). Prenatal IPV has been linked to parenting (Levendosky et al., 2006). Literature has not investigated the role of child sex during maternal-child reminiscing about a conflict. Yet mothers of boys may have more difficulty in these situations due to the gendered nature of IPV (Smagur et al., 2004), and mothers reminisce differently with sons, as opposed to daughters (Buckner & Fivush, 2006).

The present study used data from a prospective, longitudinal IPV study of mothers and children (N=206). We hypothesized that IPV (prenatal and cumulative (child’s lifetime)) would predict lower quality of maternal reminiscing and child reminiscing and child sex would moderate this relationship such that IPV be more negatively associated with reminiscing for mother-son dyads than for mother-daughter dyads. Prenatal IPV was assessed during the third trimester of pregnancy, and cumulative IPV was summed across child ages 1-7. The Autobiographical Emotional Events Dialogue (Koren-Karie et al., 2000) was used to code mothers and their seven-year-old children’s reminiscing conversations about a conflict. The development of a resolution was scored upon maternal contributions (focused on task completion, accepted/encouraged child’s contributions, interested and engaged, provided structure) and parallel child contributions (maintained focus, accepted mother’s ideas, active cooperation, elaborated upon the story). Inter-rater reliability was achieved for all codes (ICCs .92-.98). We controlled for child expressive language (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test).

Multi-group models were conducted in Mplus to account for missing data with sex (grouping variable) as a moderator of the relationship between IPV exposure and the quality of maternal and child contributions. An unconstrained two-group model was compared to a model with pathways constrained to be equal across both groups. A χ2 difference test revealed that the unconstrained two-group model fit significantly better than the constrained model for maternal contributions (Δχ2=70.72, Δdf=24, p<.01) and child contributions (Δχ2=71.668, Δdf=30, p< .01), indicating that the effect of cumulative IPV on reminiscing differed by child sex. Cumulative IPV, controlling for prenatal IPV, significantly predicted: 1) lower quality of all maternal contributions in mother-son dyads, not mother-daughter dyads; 2) lower quality of acceptance and tolerance among boys, not girls; and 3) decreased child elaboration of the story among boys, not girls. Prenatal IPV was not significantly associated with maternal or child contributions to reminiscing above the effect of cumulative IPV. Findings reveal that IPV exposure during the child’s lifetime negatively impacts mother-child reminiscing. In families experiencing IPV, mothers of sons may associate the emotionally challenging nature of conflicts with children similarly as with an abusive male partner. IPV exposure also negatively impacts sons’ reminiscing, perhaps because of the impact on maternal contributions and perhaps because of IPV’s gendered nature.

Authors

• Jennie Marie Boulus, Michigan State University
  Presenting Author

• Alexandra Lauren Ballinger, Michigan State University

• Madeline Klotz, Michigan State University

• Amy K. Nuttall, Michigan State University

• Alytia Akiko Levendosky, Michigan State University

• G. Anne Bogat, Michigan State University