Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2-pandemic is associated different challenges, especially for families. The disruption and challenges require parents to develop strategies to cope with the current situation. One factor that may influence how parents deal with pandemic-associated stressors are experiences of parental childhood maltreatment (CM), which represent a high risk of engaging in endangered parenting. A decisive candidate for the connection between parental CM and the transgenerational transmission could be the parental ability to employ coping strategies. Mothers of a well-documented birth cohort for investigating the pathways leading to resilience or vulnerability in the transgenerational transmission of CM were imbedded in an online “SARS-CoV-2 pandemic survey” assessing maternal ability for coping strategies and the dimension of endangered maternal parenting behavior. 91 mothers completed the online survey. To describe the maternal CM, data from a longitudinal survey were used. Our mediation analysis shows a significant positive relationship between the sum of maternal CM experiences, lack of coping strategies and endangered parenting behavior. This suggests a partial mediation of the association between CM and endangered parenting behavior as the direct effect remained significant when the maternal lack of coping strategies was included as the mediator. Parental CM is a risk factor for coping with stressful situation as well as for endangered parenting behavior. The ability to deal with stress seems to have a significant influence on the context of a possible transgenerational transmission of CM. The results underline the need to consider the unique needs of families with children and to support them as to how to overcome the current crisis.
Highlights
The current situation caused by the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic is associated with serious challenges and constraints for everyone and effects our social life, the politics, the economy and the media worldwide (Mairhofer et al, 2020).Various public health efforts have been made to reduce the rapid transmission of the SARS-CoV2-virus after it emerged, these efforts have led to unintended consequences
After parturition, women were recruited at the maternity unit of the Ulm University Hospital and screened for childhood maltreatment (CM) using the German version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) (Bader et al, 2009; Bernstein et al, 2003)
The presented study examines the effect of parental experiences of CM on the ability to develop coping strategies and the risk of performing endangered parenting behavior in the focus of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic
Summary
The current situation caused by the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic is associated with serious challenges and constraints for everyone and effects our social life, the politics, the economy and the media worldwide (economic shutdown, contact restrictions, restriction of public life) (Mairhofer et al, 2020).Various public health efforts have been made to reduce the rapid transmission of the SARS-CoV2-virus after it emerged, these efforts have led to unintended consequences. The current situation caused by the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic is associated with serious challenges and constraints for everyone and effects our social life, the politics, the economy and the media worldwide (economic shutdown, contact restrictions, restriction of public life) (Mairhofer et al, 2020). Families are more likely to experience increased social isolation, inability to access support and educational services, home office / home schooling reconciliation, and economic difficulties that can exacerbate stress in many households. Social isolation increases susceptibility to stress and can have detrimental effects on mental and physical health (Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2010). Recent research has shown that the parental perceived effects of the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic are associated with increased parenting stress and, an increased risk of harsh parenting (Chung et al, 2020). It is important to identify predictors for families who are having difficulty coping with the situation and who, in consequence, may need more support
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