Trauma symptoms among infants exposed to intimate partner violence

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether infants have a traumatic response to intimate partner violence (male violence toward their female partner; IPV) experienced by their mothers, two questions were explored: (1) Is the number of infant trauma symptoms related to the infant's temperament and the mother's mental health? (2) Does severity of violence moderate those relationships? METHODOLOGY: Forty-eight mothers reported whether their 1-year-old infants experienced trauma symptoms as a result of witnessing episodes of IPV during their first year of life. Mothers also reported on their own trauma symptoms that resulted from experiences of IPV. RESULTS: For those infants experiencing severe IPV and whose mothers exhibit trauma symptoms, we were able to predict whether infants exhibited trauma symptoms (b = .53, p < .01). This was not true for children who witnessed less severe IPV (b= -.14, ns). Maternal depressive symptoms and difficult infant temperament did not predict infant trauma symptoms for either group of infants. CONCLUSION: Mothers report that infants as young as 1-year-old can experience trauma symptoms as a result of hearing or witnessing IPV. The significant relationship between infant and maternal trauma symptoms, especially among those infants experiencing severe IPV, are consistent with the theory of relational PTSD. Findings suggest that interventions for mothers and families need to consider the influence of the severity of IPV on very young children.     

Resilience Among Children Exposed to Domestic Violence: The Role of Risk and Protective Factors

Individual and family characteristics that predict resilience among children exposed to domestic violence (DV) were examined. Mother–child dyads ( n  =   190) were assessed when the children were 2, 3, and 4 years of age. DV-exposed children were 3.7 times more likely than nonexposed children to develop internalizing or externalizing problems. However, 54% of DV-exposed children maintained positive adaptation and were characterized by easy temperament (odds ratio [OR] = .39, d  = .52) and nondepressed mothers (OR = 1.14, d  = .07), as compared to their nonresilient counterparts. Chronic DV was associated with maternal depression, difficult child temperament, and internalizing or externalizing symptoms. Results underscore heterogeneous outcomes among DV-exposed children and the influence of individual and family characteristics on children's adaptation.     

The impact of maternal characteristics and contextual variables on infant-mother attachment

This prospective study examined the effects of maternal characteristics, social support, and risk factors on infant-mother attachment in a heterogeneous sample. Two hundred and six women between the ages of 18 and 40 were interviewed during their last trimester of pregnancy and 1 year postpartum. Structural equation modeling revealed that maternal attachment experiences were significantly related to prenatal representations of the infant and of the self as a mother, which were significantly related to infant-mother attachment assessed by the Strange Situation. Maternal risk factors were significantly related to prenatal representations, and social support from other women predicted infant-mother attachment. The overall model indicated a good fit. Thus, both individual and contextual factors were important in explaining infant attachment security.     

Differential understanding of sexual abuse prevention concepts among preschoolers

Most evaluations of sexual abuse prevention programs employ composite knowledge scores that may mask whether individual skills are differentially understood. The few studies examining separate skills have provided no statistical justification for doing so. This study attempted to validate empirically distinct prevention skills and whether children comprehend these skills in the order taught by prevention programs: RECOGNITION (of good and bad touch), SAY-NO (refuse the perpetrator), GO (leave the situation), TELL-WHO (find an adult), and TELL- WHAT (accurately disclose the abuse). Subjects were 117 preschoolers who were individually administered the “What If Situations Test” (WIST). Analyses confirmed that the WIST was composed of six skills. The hypothesized sequence of skills produced a high coefficient of reproducibility, but an even higher coefficient was obtained when three common sequence reversals were added to the existing logical sequences. We discuss explanations for these cognitive sequence reversals and applications of this information for teaching preschoolers prevention concepts.