Does Parenting Mediate the Relationship between Trauma Symptoms and Child Outcomes

1. Does Parenting Mediate the Relationship between Trauma Symptoms and Child Outcomes? Alytia A. Levendosky G. Anne Bogat Michigan State University

2. Mother-Infant Study Design Data from the Mother-Infant Study at MSU Longitudinal, prospective study beginning during 3rd trimester of pregnancy Recruited 206 pregnant women, approximately half had experienced domestic violence during pregnancy Followed mother-child dyads through the child�s 7th birthday with annual assessments

3. Goals of Mother-Infant Study To determine the risk and protective factors for maternal and child functioning in the context of exposure to domestic violence

4. Effects of Domestic Violence Domestic violence (DV) is associated with elevated trauma symptoms in women About 70% of women in our sample experiencing DV have trauma symptoms Domestic violence is associated with harsh parenting Domestic violence is associated with externalizing and internalizing behavior in children Infancy School-age children

5. Research Question Do maternal trauma symptoms that result from DV and other traumatic events affect parenting and child outcomes?

6. Hypotheses Symptoms of emotional numbing, hyperarousal and re-experiencing are proposed to negatively affect parenting behaviors, including discipline, communication, and monitoring. Parenting behaviors are proposed to mediate the effects of maternal trauma symptoms on children�s behavioral problems.

7. Participants N = 182 mother/infant dyads Age: Children: 7 years old Mothers: 33 years old Gender: 90 boys; 92 girls

8. Participants Monthly Income: Mean=$3061, SD=$2500 Marital status: 50% married Domestic violence exposure: 1/3 of the participants experienced DV during the prior year

9. Measures

10. Measures (con�t)

11. Procedures Recruitment Interviews Tracking Coding

12. SEM Results

13. Discussion Parenting behavior was not significantly affected by either type of maternal PTSD�from DV or lifetime exposure to traumatic events. Contradicts research on depression and parenting Differences between PTSD and depression Ubiquity vs. triggering

14. Discussion Children�s behavior was directly affected by both types of maternal PTSD. The emotion dysregulation associated with maternal PTSD seems to result in dysregulated behavior in 7 year old children at home and at school. This finding is consistent with the relational PTSD theory by Scheeringa and Zeanah (2001).

15. Discussion Young school-age children (i.e., 7 year olds) remain vulnerable to their mother�s dysregulated affect Mother�s emotional dysregulation inhibits the young child�s development of self-regulation of behavior increased behavioral problems in school-age children.

16. Clinical Implications Target mother�s PTSD symptoms in treatment Once she has left partner With partner�focus on behavior not emotions (cf. dialectical behavior therapy)

17. Limitations and Future Directions Maternal report of parenting Self report bias observation data PTSD Only assessed DV PTSD in women exposed to DV at that wave of data collection Physiological study of trauma symptoms and stress response in women and children exposed to DV.

18. Collaborators and Grant Support Collaborators Alexander von Eye, Ph.D. Mariam Mourad, M.A. William Davidson, Ph.D. Archana Basu, M.A. Sally Theran, Ph.D. Cecilia Martinez-Torteya, M.A. Robin Weatherill, Ph.D. Parker Huston, B.A. Erika DeJonghe, Ph.D. Lia Field, B.A. Kerry Leahy, Ph.D. Carolyn Dayton, M.A. Grant support National Institute of Justice Centers for Disease Control