The Influence of Childhood Adversity on Mothers' Behavior with Preschoolers: Role of Maternal Attachment Coherence, Dissociative Symptoms, and Marital Behaviors

Abstract

Relations between mothers' experiences of childhood adversities and emotional and task-related support of their preschoolers were examined. Mothers, n = 48, were observed with their children and partners and assessed with the AAI, SCID, DES, and for marital aggression. Early adverse experiences were coded from interviews. AAI coherence mediated the link between adverse events and other variables, and was associated with secure base behaviors with children. Dissociative symptoms and marital aggression were not associated with maternal behavior, but dissociative symptoms were linked to partners' aggression. Results suggest narrative coherence is a key mechanism linking childhood adversity to later relationship variables.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Ayelet Barkai, Rebecca Billings, and Heidi Gralinski-Bakker for their assistance with the longitudinal study and with this manuscript. We thank Gina Abbott, Dominique Treboux, Christa Sinha, Josefina Antonio, Robert Waldinger, and Tuma Biswas for their coding of the various measures. We appreciate the participants in the longitudinal study for their ongoing support and participation, making this work possible.