PARENTS WITH MALTREATMENT HISTORIES AND THEIR

EXPERIENCES OF PARENTING

Teresa Hurst, MA, PhD Candidate – New School University (New York, NY)

Principal Investigators: Miriam Steele, Anne Murphy, Howard Steele

Presented at the American Psychological Association's

Summit on Violence and Abuse in Relationships:

Connecting Agendas and Forging New Directions

February 28 - 29, 2008Hyatt Regency - Bethesda, MD

ABSTRACTIn this preliminary report, Adult Attachment Interviews (AAIs) from parents attending a weekly parent-child psychotherapy group were compared with their Parent Development Interviews (PDIs). Risk (lack of care during one’s childhood and lack of resolution of loss or trauma) and resilience (having at least one loving caregiver during childhood) were shown to relate significantly to parenting experiences in the present. Discussion addresses the intergenerational influences upon parenting in the context of maltreatment, trauma, and resolution of such experiences.

OBJECTIVES

1) How does the resolution or lack of resolution of a maltreatment history relate to one’s parenting style?

2) Are different types of maltreatment histories correlated with different experiences of parenting?

3) What are the protective factors that prevent parents with abuse histories from continuing the pattern of maltreatment?

Through bridging trauma theory and attachment theory, this study aims to answer the following questions:

By examining the specific mechanisms of transmission and resiliency, child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention efforts can be improved.

METHODS

THE SAMPLE 21 parents and their children were recruited from the Center for

Babies, Toddlers, & Families at the Rose F. Kennedy Children’s Evaluation & Rehabilitation Center of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine atYeshiva University (Bronx, NY)

All parents and their children were participants in a weekly parent-child psychotherapy group

Sample included 19 female parents and 2 male parents ranging in age from 21 to 67 years (M = 34 years)

Sample included 23 children (11 girls, 12 boys) ranging in age from 14 months to 9 years (M = 4.5 years)

Ethnically diverse parent sample: 12% Caucasian, 40% Latino/a, 24% African American

ADULT ATTACHMENT INTERVIEW(AAI: George, Kaplan & Main, 1984)

60-90 minute, 18-question interview designed to assess an adult’s childhood experiences (what happened) and their current state of mind with regard to attachment (what they make of it)

Example questions: Can you give me 5 adjectives to describe your early relationship with

your mother/father? What happened when you were emotionally upset or physically hurt? How have these experiences influenced the kind of person you are

today?

AAI interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded according to Main, Hesse and Goldwyn’s (2008) AAI classification system

PARENT DEVELOPMENT INTERVIEW (PDI: Aber et al., 1985)

60 minute, 21-question interview designed to assess a parents’ representations of their children in four main areas:

1. View of their child

2. View of the relationship with their child

3. Affective experiences of parenting

4. Separation experiences from child

PDI interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded according to the Parent Development Interview Coding System (Slade et al., 1993)

PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

Maltreatment History of Parents in Sample

0.42

0.63

0.420.37

0.11

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

SexualAbuse

PhysicalAbuse

Sexual &Physical

Abuse

Neglect NoAbuse

For 21 Parents In Sample

Unresolved56%

Dismissing11%

Preoccupied11%

Secure22%

For Parents In General Population n = 548 (van Izendoorn, 1995)

Unresolved21%

Dismissing20%

Preoccupied9%

Secure50%

Parental Attachment Classifications:AAI 4-Way Distributions

Overall Satisfaction With Support Grouped by Resolution of Past Trauma/Loss

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

Resolved (n=6) Unresolved(n=10)

Note: t = 2.26, p < .05, df = 1, 14

Consequences of Being Rejected By One’s Own Primary Caregiver

More anger felt towards child (r = -.68*) Less joy with child (r = - .73**) Less warmth with child (r = -.73**) Less parenting competence (r = -.81***) Less reflective functioning (r = -.83***) Less richness of perceptions of child (r = -.81***) Less awareness of attachment (r = -.73**)

Note: *** p < .0001, ** p < .001, * p < .01

Protective Influences of Having at Least One Loving Caregiver

More satisfaction with support (r = .73**) More parenting competence (r = .60*) More parenting confidence (r = .60*) Richer perceptions of child (r = .60*) Better reflective functioning (r = .73**) More coherence when speaking about child (r = .76***)

Note: *** p < .001 ** p < .01, * p < .05

CONCLUSIONS Parents in the sample were 2.3 times less likely to have secure

attachment patterns than parents in the general population and 2.7 times more likely to be unresolved in relation to past trauma or loss.

Being unresolved with past trauma and/or loss was significantly correlated with being less satisfied with current support levels.

Having a rejecting parent in childhood was significantly correlated with a current parenting experience that was more angry, less joyful and less competent.

Having at least one loving parent in childhood was significantly correlated with a current parenting experience that was more confident, competent, and reflective.

IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH/PRACTICE/POLICY

When devising and implementing interventions for families or families-to-be, it is critical to evaluate a parent’s own potential history of maltreatment or abuse and their level of resolution of that history

If a parent is unresolved with regard to past trauma or loss, additional considerations need to be made around type and length of intervention

If a parent was rejected or neglected as a child, it may be beneficial to include attachment awareness education as part of the intervention

At least one loving and healthy relationship in a child’s life can help that child grow up to be a parent who breaks the familial cycle of abuse and neglect.

REFERENCESAber, J. L., Slade, A., Berger, B., Bresgi, I., & Kaplan, M. (1985). The Parent Development Interview. Unpublished manuscript.

George, C., Kaplan, N., & Main, M. (1984). The Berkeley Adult Attachment Interview. Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Berkeley, Department of psychology.

Lyons-Ruth, K. & Block, D. (1996). The disturbed caregiving system: Relations among childhood trauma, maternal caregiving, and infant affect and attachment. Infant Mental Health Journal, 17, 257-275.

Lyons-Ruth, K., Yellin, C., Melnick, S., & Atwood, G. (2005). Expanding the concept of unresolved mental states: Hostile/Helpless states of mind on the adult attachment interview are associated with disrupted mother-infant communication and infant disorganization. Development and Psychopathology, 17(1), 1-23.

Main, M. & Goldwyn, R. (1998). Adult Attachment rating and classification systems, Version 6.0. Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Berkeley.

Main, M., Hesse, E., & Goldwyn, R. (2008). Studying differences in language usage in recounting attachment history: An introduction to the Adult Attachment Interview. In Steele, H. & Steele, M. (Eds.), Clinical applications of the Adult Attachment Interview (pp. 31-68). New York: Guilford Press.

Moran, G., Bailey, H.N., Gleason, K., DeOliveira, C.A., Pederson, D.R. (2008). Exploring the mind behind unresolved attachment: Lessons from and for attachment-based interventions with infants and their traumatized mothers. In Steele, H. & Steele, M. (Eds.), Clinical applications of the Adult Attachment Interview (pp. 371-398). New York: Guilford Press.

Slade, A., Aber, J. L., Cohen, L. J., Fiorello, J., Meyer, J., DeSear, P., & Waller, S. (1993). Parent development interview coding system.. Unpublished manuscript.

Steele, M., Hodges, J., Kaniuk, J., Hillman, S., & Henderson, K. (2003). Attachment representations and adoption: Associations between maternal states of mind and emotion narratives in previously maltreated children. Journal of Child Psychotherapy, 29(2), 187-205.

Stovall-McClough, K. C., & Cloitre, M. (2006). Unresolved attachment, PTSD, and dissociation in women with childhood abuse histories. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 219-228.

Stovall-McClough, C., Cloitre, M., & McClough, J.F. (2008). Adult attachment and PTSD in women with histories of childhood abuse. In Steele, H. & Steele, M. (Eds.), Clinical applications of the Adult Attachment Interview (pp. 320-340). New York: Guilford Press.

van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1995). Adult attachment representations, parental responsiveness, and infant attachment: A meta-analysis on the predictive validity of the Adult Attachment Interview. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 387-403.