Poster #92 - Parent History of Adversity, Infant Temperament, and Intrusive Parenting in Families Experiencing Homelessness

• In Event: Poster Session 17

Abstract

Infants experiencing family homelessness face risks for social-emotional difficulties and future mental health problems (Bassuk et al., 2015). To inform intervention efforts, it is important to determine how risk factors operate in this population. Parents residing in family homeless shelters experience adverse events at elevated rates compared to non-homeless individuals, which can impact their wellbeing and their infants during a time of rapid development (Schuster et al., 2011). For some parents, trauma may manifest into an intrusive, overprotective parenting style that interferes with the child’s developing capacity for self-regulation (Essex et al., 2010, Moehler et al., 2007). Parent intrusiveness can encourage fearful temperamental styles in infants and toddlers (Barnett & Scaramella, 2017; Wu, 2021).

In the current study, we utilized a sample of parent-infant dyads recruited from emergency housing to explore associations among parent adversity, infant temperament (i.e., fearful distress), and intrusive parenting. We hypothesized that infants with parents exposed to more adversity and displaying intrusiveness in their parent-infant interactions would react to situations with more fearful distress.
Participants included 65 parent-infant dyads, recruited while residing in family homeless shelters. Infants ranged from 3-12 months (M=6.2 months, SD=3.0) and were 53.8% male, 78.5% African American, and 18.5% Multiracial. Caregivers were 29.6 years old on average (SD=6.8 years) with 93.8% biological mothers with 56.3% currently unemployed, 23.4% with less than a high school education.

Parents completed a structured interview which included a Life Time Events checklist assessing the number of unique, stressful events each parent had experienced in their lifetime. Infants completed behavioral assessments including a masks episode from the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (LabTAB; Goldsmith & Rothbart, 1996), in which they watched a series of frightening masks presented to evoke a fearful response. Later, parents and infants completed a free play session in which they were left alone in a room with a bin of toys and instructed to play as they normally would for 15 minutes. The masks and free play tasks were video-recorded and later coded by separate teams for intrusiveness (free play) and fearfulness (masks) with good interrater reliability. Coders achieved an overall reliability of ICC=.858 on the free play interaction videos and ICC=.809 on the masks videos.

Parent intrusiveness during free play was significantly associated with infant fearfulness during the masks episode (r = .313, p = .008). In a linear regression model, parent adversity significantly moderated the association (β = .336, p < .001) such that intrusiveness was most predictive of infant fearfulness among parents with high levels of past adversity. These findings support the notion that the impact of a parent’s adversity on their child’s functioning depends on how well the parent can cope with their adversity to demonstrate resilience. This study can be used to inspire future research and interventions for families experiencing homelessness.

Authors

• Marissa Faye Mulvey, Villanova University
  Presenting Author

• Abigail C. Knight, Villanova University

• Rahma Goran, Temple University

• Janette E. Herbers, Villanova University