The transition to parenthood following a history of childhood maltreatment: a review of the literature on prospective and new parents’ experiences

Figures & data

Figure 1. Summary of the search terms used in the web-based search.

Figure 2. Flowchart of the study screening and selection process.

Table 1. Characteristics of the included research papers.

Authors (year)	Country	Childhood maltreatment cases/total N^a	Parental age, M (range)	Parenting stage (years;months)	Recruitment/sample characteristics	Type(s) of maltreatment
Altemeier et al. (1986)	USA	95/927	20	Child 1;21–48 months old	Low-income mothers-to-be, recruited from prenatal clinic or inner-city hospital	Childhood maltreatment (physical)
Aparicio et al. (2015)	USA	6/6	21 (19–22)	Gestation (retrospective) Child 1–7 years old (current)	Teen mothers in foster care	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Berlin et al. (2011)	USA	48/499	27	18–36 weeks’ gestation (52% primiparous^b)	Community-based study on mothers-to-be	Childhood maltreatment (physical)
Bernazzani and Bifulco (2003)	UK	198	34 (20–45)	Gestation (retrospective)	Community-based study on mothers	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Bernstein et al. (2013)	USA	105	24 (18–37)	T1: 28–40 weeks’ gestation T2: Child 5 months old T3: Child 1;7 months old	Mothers-to-be recruited from childbirth education classes, hospitals, and public assistance organizations	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Berthelot et al. (2015)	Canada	57/57	29 (19–41)	T1: 28–40 weeks’ gestation T2: Child 17 months old	Mothers-to-be recruited through obstetrics clinic at hospital	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Bouvette-Turcot et al. (2017)^c	Canada	230	Not given	T1: 24–36 weeks’ gestation T2: Child 6 months old	Community-based study on mothers-to-be	Maternal adversity, including childhood maltreatment (any)
Bouvette-Turcot et al. (2015)^c	Canada	154	33	T1: Child 1;6 years old T2: Child 3 years old T3: Child 5 years old	Community-based study on mothers	Maternal adversity, including childhood maltreatment (any)
Brand et al. (2010)	USA	38/126	34	Child 6 months old	Community-based study on mothers	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Bublitz and Stroud (2013)^d	USA	27/41	26	T1: 13–27 weeks’ gestation T2: 27–40 weeks’ gestation	Community-based study on mothers-to-be	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Bublitz et al. (2014)^d	USA	185	26 (18–40)	T1: 25 weeks’ gestation T2: 29 week’s gestation T3: 35 weeks’ gestation	Community-based study on mothers-to-be	ACEs
Caldwell et al. (2011)	USA	76	28 (18–44)	Child 0;1–16 years old	Community programme for mothers deemed at risk	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Casanueva et al. (2010)	USA	249/1001	(14+)	Child 0–2 years old	Data from national health survey, and mothers under investigation for child maltreatment	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Cederbaum et al. (2013)	USA	20,732/153,762	(12–19)	Child 0 years old (birth)	Mothers analysed from child’s birth records	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Choi and Seng (2016)^e	USA	110/564	27	T1: Initiation of prenatal care T2: 35 weeks’ gestation T3: Child 1 month old	Primiparous mothers-to-be recruited through prenatal clinics	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Choi et al. (2015)	South Africa	35/84	Not given	26 weeks’ gestation	Mothers-to-be attending an antenatal clinic in a high HIV risk area	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Christiaens et al. (2015)	Canada	75/223	28	Child 0;3–1 year old	Mothers recruited from hospitals	ACEs
Chung et al. (2009)^f	USA	961/1265	24 (14–44)	T1: Child 3 months old T2: Child 11 months old	Mothers-to-be attending prenatal care services	Childhood maltreatment (any) and/or indirect exposure to violence
Chung et al. (2010)^f	USA	1055/1476	24	T1: 14 weeks’ gestation T2: Child 3 months old T3: Child 11 months old	Mothers-to-be attending prenatal care services	Childhood maltreatment (any), indirect exposure to violence, and/or unstable/unsafe living environment
Dayan et al. (2010)	France	693	29 (18–45)	20–28 weeks’ gestation	Mothers-to-be recruited from hospital	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Dayton et al. (2016)^g	USA	78/120	26 (18–42)	T1: 24–36 weeks’ gestation T2: Child 1 year old T3: Child 2 years old	Advertisements, agencies serving low-income mothers-to-be	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Dietz et al. (1999)	USA	785/1193	(20–50)	Gestation (retrospective)	Mothers who attended a clinic during 1995–1996	Childhood maltreatment (any), indirect exposure to violence, and/or unstable/unsafe living environment
Drevin et al. (2015)	Sweden	88/142	31 (30–31)	T1: 6–13 weeks’ gestation T2: 31–36 weeks’ gestation	Mothers recruited from antenatal clinics	ACEs
Dym Bartlett and Easterbrooks (2015)	USA	206/447	19	Child 0;2–2;5 years old	Visiting programme for primiparous young mothers	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Erdmans and Black (2008)	USA	27/27	20	Child 0–5 years old	Visiting programme for primiparous mothers at risk of abusing child	Childhood maltreatment (sexual)
Esparza et al. (1996)	USA	54/124	(13–20)	Gestation (56% primiparous)	Agencies caring for adolescent African-American and Mexican-American mothers	Childhood maltreatment (sexual)
Farber et al. (1996)	USA	103/309	27 (14–40)	8–40 weeks’ gestation	Low-income mothers-to-be attending psychiatry–obstetrics service	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Fava et al. (2016)	USA	100/100	30	Child 6 months old	Mothers recruited from advertisements in obstetric clinics	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Fogel and Belyea (2001)	USA	63	(16–39)	32–40 weeks’ gestation	Mothers-to-be in prison	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Frankenberger et al. (2015)	USA	1386/1987	(18+)	Gestation (retrospective)	Data from annual health survey	ACEs
Fuchs et al. (2016)	Germany	41/88	32	Child 1 year old	Mothers attending obstetric clinic	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Gara et al. (2000)	USA	38/74	21	T1: Child 6 months old T2: Child 1 year old T3: Child 2 years old	Mothers recruited from community health clinics, in two early prevention/baby nutrition programmes	Childhood maltreatment (physical)
Gonzalez et al. (2012)	Canada	27/89	32 (24–42)	Child 0.2–0.5 years old	Community sample of mothers recruited from health centres and hospitals	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Herzog et al. (1992)	USA	3/5	(18–20)	T1: Child 3 months old T2: Child 1 year old T3: Child 2 years old	Mothers part of home-visiting programme	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Huth-Bocks et al. (2013)^g	USA	78/120	(18–42)	24–36 weeks’ gestation	Advertisements, agencies serving low-income mothers-to-be	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Kettunen and Hintikka (2017)	Finland	67/208	30 (18–40)	Child 1–6 months old	Mothers attending antenatal clinics	Childhood maltreatment (any) and/or indirect exposure to violence
Lang et al. (2010)^h	USA	44	29	T1: 7–32 weeks’ gestation T2: Gestation (unspecified) T3: Gestation (unspecified) T4: Child 0 years old T5: Child 1 year old	Mothers-to-be recruited from advertisements in obstetric clinics	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Lang et al. (2006)^h	USA	44	29	T1: 7–32 weeks’ gestation T2: Child 1 year old	Mothers-to-be recruited from advertisements in obstetric clinics	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Leeners et al. (2014)	Germany	85/255	27	Gestation (retrospective)	Mothers enrolled in programme for sexual abuse support, and recruited from kindergartens/GP surgeries	Childhood maltreatment (sexual)
Lev-Wiesel et al. (2009)	Israel	323/837	31 (18–44)	T1: 17–30 weeks’ gestation T2: Child 2 months old T3: Child 6 months old	Convenience sample of Jewish mothers	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Li et al. (2017)	China	129/275	26	T1: 28+ weeks’ gestation T2: Child 0 years old (birth) T3: Child 1 month old	Mothers-to-be recruited from hospital	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Lyons-Ruth et al. (1996)^i	USA	45	Not given	Child 1;6 years old	Low-income mothers with or without referral to social services	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Lyons-Ruth et al. (1989)^i	USA	50	26	T1: Child 1 year old T2: Child 1;6 years old	Low-income mothers with or without referral to social services	Childhood adversity, including childhood maltreatment (physical)
Malone et al. (2010)	USA	204	25 (18–40)	28–40 weeks’ gestation	Mothers-to-be recruited through health clinics and community advertisements	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Marcenko et al. (2000)	USA	68/127	27 (13–42)	Child < 3 years old	Low-income, African-American mothers with current or history of substance abuse, incarceration, children in out-of-home placement, HIV-positive, domestic violence, and/or late/no prenatal care	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Martinez-Torteya et al. (2014)^j	USA	103/153	29 (18–45)	Child 0.6 years old	Mothers attending prenatal care clinics, or recruited through community advertisements, oversampled for childhood trauma	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Marysko et al. (2010)	Germany	58/119	Not given	T1: Child 5 months old T2: Child 1 year old	All mothers-to-be in local area were contacted by mail	Childhood maltreatment (any)
McDonnell and Valentino (2016)	USA	192/398	25 (15–46)	T1: M = 16 weeks’ gestation T2: Child 6 months old	Community sample of mothers-to-be	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Milan et al. (2004)	USA	146/203	17	Child 1 year old	Mothers with HIV/STI risk behaviours, attending hospital clinics	Childhood maltreatment (physical)
Michl et al. (2015)	USA	83/127	25 (18–38)	Child 1 year old	Non-clinical, low-income mothers attending primary care clinics	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Morelen et al. (2016)^j	USA	137/192	29 (18–45)	Child 6 months old	Mothers attending prenatal care clinics, or recruited through community advertisements, oversampled for childhood trauma	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Muzik et al. (2013)^j	USA	97/150	29	T1: Child 1 months old T2: Child 4 months old T3: Child 6 months old	Mothers attending prenatal care clinics, or recruited through community advertisements, oversampled for childhood trauma	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Muzik et al. (2017)^j	USA	102/164	29 (18–45)	Child 6 months old	Mothers attending prenatal care clinics, or recruited through community advertisements, oversampled for childhood trauma	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Muzik et al. (2016)^j	USA	116/116	29	T1: Child 4 months old T2: Child 6 months old T3: Child 1 year old T4: Child 1;3 years old T5: Child 1;6 years old	Mothers attending prenatal care clinics, or recruited through community advertisements, oversampled for childhood trauma	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Oh et al. (2016)^j	USA	117	29 (18–45)	T1: Child 0.3 years old T2: Child 6 months old T3: Child 1 year old T4: Child 1;3 years old T5: Child 1;6 years old	Mothers attending prenatal care clinics, or recruited through community advertisements, oversampled for childhood trauma	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Plant et al. (2013)	UK	125/125	26 (17–44)	T1: 36 weeks’ gestation T2: Child 3 months old T3: Child 1 year old T4: Child 4 years old T5: Child 11 years old T6: Child 16 years old	Community study on mothers-to-be	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Roberts et al. (2004)	UK	127/8292	Not given	T1: Child 1;9 years old T2: Child 2;9 years old	Mothers-to-be who gave birth during 1991–1992, recruited through midwives, public advertisements, and direct contact	Childhood maltreatment (sexual)
Schechter et al. (2004)	USA	41/41	30 (19–45)	Child 0;8–4;2 years old	Mothers attending health service, during 2000–2001	Interpersonal violent trauma exposure, including childhood maltreatment (physical or sexual)
Seng et al. (2014)^e	USA	543/1581	(18–47)	< 28 weeks’ gestation	Primiparous mothers-to-be recruited through prenatal clinics	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Seng et al. (2013)^e	USA	376/566	27 (18+)	T1: < 28 weeks’ gestation T2: 35 weeks’ gestation T3: Child 1 month old	Primiparous mothers-to-be recruited through prenatal clinics	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Sexton et al. (2017)^j	USA	126/173	29	Child 6 months old	Mothers attending prenatal care clinics, or recruited through community advertisements, oversampled for childhood trauma	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Sexton et al. (2015)^j	USA	145/214	28	Child 4 months old	Mothers attending prenatal care clinics, or recruited through community advertisements, oversampled for childhood trauma	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Shea et al. (2007)	Canada	66	30	25–33 weeks’ gestation	Mothers-to-be 12–24 weeks’ gestation presenting to health clinic with symptoms of depression	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Shenk et al. (2017)^k	USA	220	21 (16–42)	T1: Child 0 years old (birth) T2: Child 6 months old T3: Child 1;3 years old	Primiparous mothers enrolled in a home visiting programme for mothers deemed at risk	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Skjothaug et al. (2015)	Norway	235/881	32 (16–56)	T1: 8–34 weeks’ gestation T2: 20–25 weeks’ gestation T3: 26–31 weeks’ gestation T4: 32–34 weeks’ gestation T5: 36 weeks’ gestation	Fathers-to-be recruited at the health clinic appointments for the mothers-to-be	ACEs
Stacks et al. (2014)^j	USA	58/83	30	Child 0.6–1.3 years old	Mothers attending prenatal care clinics, or recruited through community advertisements, oversampled for childhood trauma	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Teeters et al. (2016)^k	USA	220	21 (16–42)	T1: < 28 weeks’ gestation T2: Child 6 months old T3: Child 1;3 years old	Primiparous mothers enrolled in a home visiting programme for mothers deemed at risk	Childhood maltreatment (any)
Ukah et al. (2016)	Canada	363/697	(18–49)	Child 6 months old (retrospective)	Data from national health surveys	ACEs
Van der Waerden et al. (2015)	France	527/1807	30	T1: 24–28 weeks’ gestation T2: Child 4 months old T3: Child 8 months old T4: Child 1 year old T5: Child 3 years old T6: Child 5 years old	Mothers analysed from child’s birth records during 2003–2011	Childhood adversity, including maltreatment (any)

M, mean; ACE, adverse childhood experience; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; GP, general practitioner; STI, sexually transmitted infection; T1, Time 1; T2, Time 2; T3, Time 3; T4, Time 4; T5, Time 5.

^a Reported when given; otherwise, only total sample size is reported.

^b Having given birth for the first time.

^c MAVAN study: Bouvette-Turcot et al. (2015), Bouvette-Turcot et al. (2017).

^d BAMBI study: Bublitz and Stroud (2013), Bublitz et al. (2014).

^e STACY study: Seng et al. (2013, 2014), Choi and Seng (2016).

^f Same project: Chung et al. (2009, 2010).

^g Same project: Dayton et al. (2016), Huth-Bocks et al. (2013).

^h Same project: Lang et al. (2006, 2010).

ⁱ Same project: Lyons-Ruth et al. (1989, 1996)

^j MACY study: Stacks et al. (2014), Morelen et al. (2016), Martinez-Torteya et al. (2014), Muzik et al. (2013, 2016, 2017), Oh et al. (2016), Sexton et al. (2015, 2017).

^k Same project: Shenk et al. (2017), Teeters et al. (2016).

Figure 3. Outline of findings in relation to the model of transition to parenthood (pregnancy and postnatal periods) following childhood maltreatment. PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder.

Bublitz, M. H., & Stroud, L. R. (2013). Maternal history of child abuse moderates the association between daily stress and diurnal cortisol in pregnancy: A pilot study. Stress, 16(6), 706–710.

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Shea, A. K., Streiner, D. L., Fleming, A., Kamath, M. V., Broad, K., & Steiner, M. (2007). The effect of depression, anxiety and early life trauma on the cortisol awakening response during pregnancy: Preliminary results. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 32(8–10), 1013–1020.

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