Michèle Sauvé1, Chantal Cyr2, Diane St-Laurent3, Laetitia Mélissande Amédée1, Karine Dubois-Comtois4, George M Tarabulsy5, Annie Bernier6, Ellen Moss1. 1. Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada. 2. Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada; Institut-Universitaire Jeunes en Difficulté, CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, Canada. Electronic address: cyr.chantal@uqam.ca. 3. Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada; Centre de Recherche Universitaire sur les Jeunes et les Familles, CIUSSS de la Capitale Nationale. 4. Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada; Centre de recherche, CIUSSS du-Nord-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, Canada. 5. School of Psychology, Université Laval, Canada; Centre de Recherche Universitaire sur les Jeunes et les Familles, CIUSSS de la Capitale Nationale. 6. Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Canada; Centre de Recherche Universitaire sur les Jeunes et les Familles, CIUSSS de la Capitale Nationale.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Little attention has been given to intergenerational transmission of risk, mainly whether caregivers' history of childhood maltreatment is linked to behavioral symptoms in their children and which protective/risk factors are involved in this transmission process. OBJECTIVE: This study examined if parental Hostile/Helpless (H/H) state of mind with respect to attachment moderated the association between parental childhood trauma and behavior problems in maltreated children. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The sample included 61 parents and their children victims or at very high risk of maltreatment, aged between 1 and 6 years old. METHOD: Parents retrospectively reported their childhood trauma and completed a measure of their children's behavior problems. Independent observers assessed H/H attachment representations. RESULTS: Among parents with H/H states of mind, more severe traumatic childhood experiences were associated with more externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in their children. Among non-H/H parents, associations between parental childhood trauma and child behavior problems were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: In the context of trauma, this study suggests that the absence of a H/H state of mind in parents (i.e., the presence of an organized attachment state of mind) is a protective factor for child adjustment. H/H mental representations of self and attachment experiences as targets of intervention for parents with histories of maltreatment may help reduce the transmission of risk in maltreating families.
BACKGROUND: Little attention has been given to intergenerational transmission of risk, mainly whether caregivers' history of childhood maltreatment is linked to behavioral symptoms in their children and which protective/risk factors are involved in this transmission process. OBJECTIVE: This study examined if parental Hostile/Helpless (H/H) state of mind with respect to attachment moderated the association between parental childhood trauma and behavior problems in maltreated children. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The sample included 61 parents and their children victims or at very high risk of maltreatment, aged between 1 and 6 years old. METHOD: Parents retrospectively reported their childhood trauma and completed a measure of their children's behavior problems. Independent observers assessed H/H attachment representations. RESULTS: Among parents with H/H states of mind, more severe traumatic childhood experiences were associated with more externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in their children. Among non-H/H parents, associations between parental childhood trauma and child behavior problems were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: In the context of trauma, this study suggests that the absence of a H/H state of mind in parents (i.e., the presence of an organized attachment state of mind) is a protective factor for child adjustment. H/H mental representations of self and attachment experiences as targets of intervention for parents with histories of maltreatment may help reduce the transmission of risk in maltreating families.