Dissociation Links Maternal History Of Childhood Abuse To Impaired parenting

ABSTRACT

The present study investigated dissociation as a predictor of parenting and a potential mediator in the relationship between early life maltreatment (ELM) and impaired parenting. Mothers reporting moderate to severe sexual and/or physical abuse (assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) formed the maltreatment group (n = 58; MG) and were compared to a non-maltreated comparison group (n = 61; CG) 5 months (T1) and 12 months (T2) postpartum. Dissociative symptoms were assessed with the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) at T1. Parenting was investigated by self-report questionnaires and behavior observation (Emotional Availability Scales; EA) at T2. Higher dissociation scores significantly predicted more self-reported parental bonding impairment and stress, higher physical abuse risk and less observed maternal sensitivity, non-intrusiveness and a lower total EA-score during mother–child interactions (p < .001 to p < .05). Dissociation mediated the associations between ELM and self-reported parenting, but not the associations between ELM and parenting as observed during mother–child interactions. Our results suggest that maternal dissociative symptoms play a distinct role in the intergenerational transmission of adverse childhood experiences and should therefore be targeted in therapeutic interventions provided for victims of physical/sexual childhood abuse and in preventive family programs.

KEYWORDS:

• Impact of trauma
• intergenerational trauma
• childhood abuse
• dissociation
• parenting

Acknowledgments

We want to thank all the families who participated in our study.

Declaration of interests

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research [01GL174B]; and the German Research Foundation [FU 1223/1-1,Mo 978/3-2].