Poster #133 - Effect of Maternal Childhood Abuse on Maternal Hostility and Negativity via Maternal Postpartum Depressive Symptoms

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

Mothers who experienced childhood abuse exhibit greater hostility and negativity toward their own children (Lyons-Ruth & Block, 1996; Fusco, Jung, & Newhill, 2016; Stith et al., 2009), which is associated with maltreatment risk (Lyons-Ruth, Connell, Zoll, & Stahl, 1987). Evaluating specific mechanisms linking abuse history and maternal hostile and negative parenting can therefore offer insight into the intergenerational transmission of abuse. One mechanism linking the detrimental effects of abuse history on maladaptive parenting may be poor maternal mental health (e.g., Pears & Capaldi, 2001). Specifically, we propose that childhood abuse may lead to higher levels of depressive symptoms (Herrenkohl et al., 2013) during the postpartum period, which in turn predict greater maternal hostility and negativity.
With a sample of 322 low-income Mexican American mother-infant dyads (infants: 54.1% female), we hypothesized that maternal childhood abuse would be associated with greater maternal hostility and negativity, and that this effect would be mediated through greater maternal postpartum depressive symptoms. Women reported on their experiences of childhood abuse using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ; Bernstein et al., 1994; alpha = .917) and on their prenatal depressive symptoms using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS; Cox, Holden, & Sagovsky, 1987; alpha = .803). Women also reported on their depressive symptoms every 3 weeks from 6 weeks to 24 weeks postpartum (EPDS); total depressive symptoms across the postpartum period were calculated as area under the curve with respect to ground (AUCg). Observed maternal behavior during mother-infant interactions at 24 weeks postpartum was coded using the Coding Interactive Behavior rating scheme (CIB; Feldman, 1998). Maternal hostility and negativity were summed (alpha = .699); the sum score was log-transformed to restore normality prior to analysis.
A mediational model of the effects of childhood abuse on maternal hostility and negativity via postpartum depressive symptoms, adjusting for maternal country of origin and prenatal depressive symptoms, was evaluated in MPlus (see Table 1). Results revealed that maternal childhood abuse predicted postpartum depressive symptoms, Est = 0.594, SE Est = 0.153, p < .001. Postpartum depressive symptoms predicted maternal hostility and negativity, Est = .001, SE Est = .000, p = .042. Maternal country of origin predicted postpartum depressive symptoms, Est = -3.332, SE Est = 3.009, p < .001, and 24-week hostility and negativity, Est = -0.064, SE Est = .017, p < .001, such that women who were born in Mexico (86.0% of the sample) exhibited fewer depressive symptoms and lower hostility and negativity. The indirect effect of childhood abuse on maternal hostility and negativity via postpartum depressive symptoms was marginally significant, Est = .000, SE = .000, p = .071.
Results generally supported our hypotheses. Among a low-SES Mexican American sample, childhood abuse predicted greater postpartum depressive symptoms, which predicted greater maternal negativity and hostility. Our results suggest that alleviating maternal postpartum depressive symptoms may be an important target for preventive interventions to reduce the risk for intergenerational transmission of abuse. Future research is needed to examine how maternal postpartum depression links childhood abuse and later parenting.

Authors

• Jennifer Somers, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author

• Sarah Curci, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Linda Luecken, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author