Family Support and Mental Health in Pregnant Women Experiencing Interpersonal Partner Violence: An Analysis of Ethnic Differences

This study investigated the relationship between family support and mental health in a community sample of pregnant women experiencing interpersonal partner violence (IPV). This study also examined how family support may differentially affect mental health in Black and White women experiencing IPV. A total of 110 participants (32 Black and 78 White) were obtained from the first time period of a longitudinal study examining the effects of domestic violence on women. The model was supported (χ² = 142.55; df = 72, p > .001, RMSEA = .07). Black women had better mental health than White women. However, ethnicity was not a significant predictor of family support. Implications from this study highlight the need for further research on the role of family support in the lives of physically abused women as well as the need to incorporate cross cultural perspectives when examining this issue.     

The child as held in the mind of the mother: The influence of prenatal maternal representations on parenting behaviors

Using a longitudinal design, this study examined the relationship of a mother's prenatal representation of her child and her parenting behavior with that child at 1 year of age in a sample of women who were either exposed or not exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) (N = 164; M child age = 1.1 years, SD = .11 years; 52% male). Controlling for prenatal IPV, a MANCOVA analysis revealed that prenatal representational typology was significantly related to parenting behavior 1 year postpartum. Mothers whose representations were affectively deactivated (disengaged) were more behaviorally controlling with their children. Mothers whose representations were affectively overactivated (distorted) were more hostile with their children. Mothers with balanced representations demonstrated more positive parenting. Exposure to IPV did not moderate this relationship. There was no direct association between prenatal or postnatal IPV and parenting behavior. These findings suggest that prenatal representations influence postnatal parenting behavior in significant and theoretically consistent ways and that this relationship functions similarly for both abused and nonabused women. Results add to the growing literature that internal representations serve to guide behavior throughout development and suggest that maternal working models may be one important link in the intergenerational transmission of attachment relationships.     

Understanding the “ghosts in the nursery” of pregnant women experiencing domestic violence: Prenatal maternal representations and histories of childhood maltreatment

Selma Fraiberg and colleagues (1975) conceptualized the “ghosts in the nursery” as experiences from a mother's past that influenced her ability to form a warm and attuned relationship with her child. Contemporary infant mental health interventions often ask the mother to reflect on her own history of attachment relationships to gain insight into as well as to strengthen her developing relationship with her child. This study investigated the association between a mother's history of childhood maltreatment (CM) and her subsequent prenatal maternal representation during the third trimester of pregnancy. Controlling for domestic violence (DV), distorted prenatal representations were associated with higher rates of self‐reported childhood physical neglect. In addition, DV moderated the relationship between representations and CM, such that women who were exposed to DV during pregnancy and had distorted prenatal representations were least likely to report childhood physical and sexual abuse. Implications are discussed in relation to infant mental health interventions which rely on a parent's ability to psychologically access and reflect on childhood histories to more sensitively parent her own child.     

A social‐contextual understanding of concordance and discordance between maternal prenatal representations of the infant and infant–mother attachment

This prospective study examined the relationship between maternal prenatal representations of the infant and later infant–mother attachment, including contextual factors related to concordance and discordance among dyads over time. Participants were 173 pregnant women between the ages of 18 and 40 who were interviewed during their last trimester of pregnancy and 2 and 13 months after birth. Maternal representations were assessed by the Working Model of the Child Interview during pregnancy (WMCI; C.H. Zeanah, D. Benoit, L. Hirshberg, M.L. Barton, & C. Regan, 1994), and infant–mother attachment was assessed through the Strange Situation procedure (M.D.S. Ainsworth, M. Blehar, E. Waters, & S. Wall, 1978) when infants were 13 months old. There was substantial discordance between maternal and infant classifications, although a significant concordance rate was found when classifications were collapsed into balanced/secure and nonbalanced/insecure groups based on prenatal representations and postnatal infant attachment groups (60%; χ² = 6.90, p < .01; κ .20). As expected, discordance between maternal representations and infant–mother attachment was meaningfully related to contextual risk factors, maternal depression, and infant behaviors.     

Effects of Prenatal and Postbirth Intimate Partner Violence on Preschool-Age Children’s Dissociative Symptoms

Studies on the effects of intimate partner violence (IPV) on children have typically focused on IPV to which children were exposed after their birth. However, research has also demonstrated the effect of prenatal IPV on children’s psychological functioning, although this has not yet been studied with respect to dissociation. In this study, we examined the association between prenatal and postbirth IPV and dissociative symptoms among preschool-age children using a Bayesian approach to multiple regression. Results indicated that prenatal IPV predicts child dissociative symptoms over and above postbirth IPV and other negative life events that the child has experienced. These results provide further evidence for the role prenatal IPV plays in the development of child psychopathology and suggest directions for future research and intervention.     

Genes, personality, and attachment in adults: a multivariate behavioral genetic analysis

Behavioral genetic methods were used to estimate genetic and environmental contributions to (a) attachment-related anxiety and avoidance and (b) the overlap between these attachment dimensions and the Big Five personality traits. Two major findings emerged from these analyses. First, individual differences in attachment-related anxiety and avoidance were heritable, and second, much of the overlap between adult attachment and the Big Five traits was due to shared genetic influences. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for attachment theory and research and provides a speculative account of the interplay between temperamental dimensions and internal working models of relationships across the life span.     

The impact of domestic violence on mothers' prenatal representations of their infants

This study examined the relationship between domestic violence during pregnancy and mothers' prenatal representations of their infants and themselves as mothers. Two hundred and six women were recruited from the community and interviewed during their last trimester of pregnancy. Forty‐four percent of women reported experiencing domestic violence during the current pregnancy, while 56% reported no domestic violence during the pregnancy. Maternal representations were assessed using the Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI; Zeanah, Benoit, Hirshberg, Barton, & Regan, 1994). Multiple analysis of variance (MANCOVA) and χ² analyses revealed that women who experienced domestic violence had significantly more negative representations of their infants and themselves as mothers and were significantly more likely to be classified as insecurely attached (either Disengaged or Distorted) than women who had not experienced domestic violence. These results, along with several excerpts from battered women's interviews, highlight the importance of domestic violence as a risk factor for maternal and infant well being. These findings and their clinical implications are discussed in light of attachment theory. ©2004 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Infant exposure to domestic violence predicts heightened sensitivity to adult verbal conflict

The current study examined whether one‐year‐old infants whose mothers had been victims of domestic violence during the infant's lifetime (exposed; n = 30), compared to those who had not (not exposed; n = 59), would be more likely to experience distress in response to a simulated verbal conflict and whether amount of distress expressed would be influenced by infant temperament. Infants were videotaped during and for five minutes after an experimenter pretended to have a telephone argument. Exposure to domestic violence was related to infant distress following the episode of simulated adult verbal conflict. Temperamental activity, adaptability, and negative mood predicted greater distress only among non‐exposed infants. Findings suggest that while only temperamentally more reactive infants would typically display distress in response to verbal conflict, infants exposed to domestic violence may be likely to display distress in response to verbal conflict regardless of temperament.     

The Social Networks of Women Experiencing Domestic Violence

The research literature has demonstrated that battered women living in shelters experience impaired social support. This study examines this phenomenon among battered women living in the community. This study compared a group of pregnant battered women (n = 145) and a group of pregnant nonbattered women (n = 58) in terms of their structural [e.g., total number of supporters, network members in violent relationships with their partners (an index of homophily or nonhomophily) and functional (e.g., emotional)] social support. Four reasons for impaired support in battered women were proposed and examined, including social isolation, failure to disclose abuse, homophily, and low SES. Only homophily was related to impaired support among battered women. In addition, the relationship between structural and functional support and mental health outcomes (e.g., depression, self-esteem) was examined. Criticism, practical support, homophily, and disclosure were all significant predictors of mental health for battered women. Implications for community-based interventions are discussed in the context of current intervention strategies with battered women.