Mothers’ Childhood Maltreatment and Developmentally Appropriate Attributions of 12-month-old Infants

Abstract

This study examined associations between developmentally appropriate attributions (DAAs), an understudied construct, with maternal history of childhood maltreatment and maternal reflective functioning (RF) with their 12-month-old infants. The study examined if 1) DAAs at 12 months were concurrently associated with parental RF at 12 months for construct validity, and 2) higher levels of maternal childhood maltreatment were associated with lower DAAs for predictive validity. Participants were 156 mothers (40.0% White, 25.5% Latinx, 14.9% Black, 5.5% Asian, 2.1% Native-American, 12.0% biracial/multiracial) and their 12- to 15-month infants. Childhood maltreatment and RF were assessed by parental self-report at three-months and 12-months postpartum respectively, and parental DAAs were assessed with the Five- Minute Speech Sample (FMSS) at 12 months, audio-recorded and later coded by trained raters. Results showed that while DAAs and RF were not significantly associated, maternal childhood maltreatment significantly predicted lower maternal DAAs of 12-month-old infants. Exploratory analyses showed that, of the childhood maltreatment subtypes, maternal history of childhood abuse, and particularly emotional abuse, were associated with lower DAAs. Findings indicate that DAAs may be implicated in the intergenerational transmission of trauma, such that mothers with childhood emotional abuse may be at risk for having lower DAAs, which are themselves potential risk factors for child maltreatment. Findings aim to inform interventions to promote resilience and positive parenting behaviors.