The cycle of abuse: emotional availability in resilient and non-resilient mothers with early life maltreatment
Background: Early life maltreatment (ELM) has a high risk of transmission across generations, known as "the cycle of abuse." ELM is also an important risk factor for developing mental disorders, and having a mental disorder increases the risk of child abuse. Both the abuse potential in mot...
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| Hauptverfasser: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Dokumenttyp: | Article (Journal) |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Veröffentlicht: |
September 16, 2020
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| In: |
Psychopathology
Year: 2020, Jahrgang: 53, Heft: 5/6, Pages: 298-305 |
| ISSN: | 1423-033X |
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| Verfasserangaben: | Emilia Louisa Mielke, Corinne Neukel, Anna Fuchs, Karen Hillmann, Anna-Lena Zietlow, Katja Bertsch, Corinna Reck, Eva Moehler, Sabine C. Herpertz |
| Zusammenfassung: | Background: Early life maltreatment (ELM) has a high risk of transmission across generations, known as "the cycle of abuse." ELM is also an important risk factor for developing mental disorders, and having a mental disorder increases the risk of child abuse. Both the abuse potential in mothers with ELM and in mothers with a history of mental disorders might be associated with a disturbed mother-child interaction. Objective: The current study examined differences in emotional availability between mothers with a history of ELM and previous or current mental disorders (non-resilient), mothers with ELM without mental disorders (resilient), and control mothers without ELM and without mental disorders. Methods: Thirty-three non-resilient mothers, 18 resilient mothers, and 37 control mothers and their 5- to 12-year-old children participated in a standardized mother-child interaction task. Videotaped interactions were rated by three independent, trained raters based on the Emotional Availability Scales (EA Scales) and compared between the groups. Results: The non-resilient mothers and their children showed reduced maternal sensitivity, structuring, non-intrusiveness, non-hostility, responsiveness, and involvement compared to the resilient mothers and their children and the control mothers and their children (p = 0.006, eta(2)(p) = 0.12). No differences on any of the EA Scales were found between resilient mothers and control mothers. Conclusions: These deficits in mother-child interaction in non-resilient mothers might contribute to mechanisms that could explain the cycle of abuse. Interestingly, resilient mothers, who did not develop a mental disorder despite having experienced ELM, did not show these deficits. Thus, prevention programs promoting resilience might be a key to break the cycle of abuse. |
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| Beschreibung: | Gesehen am 18.01.2021 |
| Beschreibung: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1423-033X |