Parents' experiences of childhood abuse and neglect are differentially associated with behavioral and autonomic responses to their offspring.

Renate S M Buisman,Laura H C G Compier‐De Block,Lisa J M Van Den Berg,Jolanda Lindenberg,Lenneke R A Alink,Marieke S Tollenaar,Marian J Bakermans‐Kranenburg,Katharina Pittner,Marinus H Van Ijzendoorn,Bernet M Elzinga

doi:10.1002/dev.21822

Abstract

Although childhood maltreatment has been shown to compromise adaptive parental behavior, little is known what happens in terms of physiological regulation when parents with a history of childhood maltreatment interact with their offspring. Using a sample of 229 parents (131 women), the present study examined whether childhood maltreatment experiences are associated with parents’ behavioral and autonomic responses while resolving conflict with their offspring. Self‐reported experienced child maltreatment was measured using a questionnaire assessing abuse and neglect. Parents (M age = 52.7 years, rangeage = 26.6–88.4 years) and their offspring (M age = 24.6 years, rangeage = 7.5–65.6 years) participated in a videotaped parent–offspring conflict interaction task. Parental warmth, negativity, and emotional support were coded. In addition, their pre‐ejection period and respiratory sinus arrhythmia were measured as indicators of underlying sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system reactivity, respectively. Findings demonstrated that experiences of abuse and neglect were associated with behavioral and physiological responses in different ways. Separating these two types of maltreatment in research and in clinical practice might be important.

Highlights

Experiencing maltreatment during childhood imposes significant stress on children as for the child the caregiver is both the source of potential comfort and the source of threat and distress (Main & Solomon, 1990)
Little is known about what happens in terms of physiological responses and regulation when parents with a history of childhood maltreatment interact with their offspring
In case of significant associations between autonomic nervous system (ANS) reactivity and parenting, we explored whether ANS reactivity mediated the association between childhood maltreatment experiences and parenting

Summary

Introduction

Experiencing maltreatment during childhood imposes significant stress on children as for the child the caregiver is both the source of potential comfort and the source of threat and distress (Main & Solomon, 1990). Childhood maltreatment experiences are associated with a wide range of negative consequences such as emotional and behavioral dysregulation in childhood (Cicchetti & Toth, 2005) and subsequent adverse mental health outcomes in adulthood (Jaffee, 2017). They have been shown to compromise adults’ interpersonal functioning including their parenting behavior (e.g., Pears & Capaldi, 2001). In an effort to expand the knowledge regarding childhood maltreatment and subsequent parenting behavior, the present research examines how parents’ childhood experiences of abuse and neglect are associated with their physiological reactivity and parenting behavior— warmth, negativity, and emotional support, during a parent–offspring conflict interaction task

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Discussion

Conclusion