Recalled early maternal bonding and mother‐ and self‐related attitudes in young adult daughters: A cross‐cultural study in India and Belgium

Pathways Linking Parental Care and Control to Loneliness in Breast Cancer Patients with A History of Childhood Maltreatment: Exploring the Mediating Roles of Ambivalence Over Emotional Expression and Self-Discrepancy

Childhood maltreatment is a risk factor for loneliness and is linked to breast cancer. Parental bonding experienced during one's childhood also plays a significant role in increasing or decreasing the risk of loneliness later in life. Previous research has highlighted the significance of ambivalence over emotional expression (AEE) and self-discrepancy in the psychological adaptation of breast cancer patients, particularly concerning the impact of parental care and control experienced by patients in their relationship with their parents during childhood. Nevertheless, previous studies have not examined the mediating effects of AEE and self-discrepancy on parental care and control, as well as loneliness, in breast cancer patients. This study aimed to investigate whether AEE and self-discrepancy mediate the association of childhood parental care and control with loneliness in breast cancer patients with a history of childhood maltreatment. One hundred and thirty-three breast cancer patients who were receiving chemotherapy within the first 3 months post-diagnosis were recruited from one private and three public hospitals in Tabriz, Iran, to complete questionnaires. Parental bonding, loneliness, AEE, and self-discrepancy were assessed using the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale, Ambivalence over the Expression of Emotion Questionnaire (AEQ), and Self-Discrepancies Scale (S-DS). Mediation models were tested using structural equation modeling. Effects of parental care (β = -.17, p < .05) and control (β = .21, p < .001) on loneliness were significant. Furthermore, both AEE (β = .19, p < .05) and self-discrepancy (β = .23, p < .01) significantly predicted loneliness. The pathway between parental care and AEE was significant (β = -.21, p < .001), as was the direct effect of parental control on self-discrepancy (β = .19, p < .05). Bootstrapping results showed that AEE significantly mediated the relationship between parental care and loneliness (95% confidence interval [CI] [-0.09, -0.01]). In addition, there was a significant indirect effect from parental control to loneliness via self-discrepancy (95% CI [0.11, 0.01]). These findings suggest that AEE and self-discrepancy could potentially be utilized in preventing or addressing loneliness in breast cancer patients who have a history of childhood maltreatment. Future research could, for example, assess whether integrating psychosocial interventions focusing on these variables as part of medical care can improve the mental health status of this subgroup of breast cancer patients who have experienced childhood maltreatment.

Maternal and Paternal Warmth Impact Recovery Support and Social Network Composition for Substance Dependent African American and Non-African American Women

Poor early relationship experiences during the first 16 years of life may negatively impact adults' capacity to establish and utilize social support (Suchman, McMahon, Slade, & Luthar, 2005). This is especially of concern for women with substance use disorders (SUD) for whom social support is associated with recovery maintenance and treatment retention (Gregoire & Snively, 2001). The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of early relationship experiences, specifically paternal and maternal warmth, on recovery related social support and personal network characteristics among African American (AA) and non-AA women in treatment for SUD. Data were collected from 254 women in substance abuse treatment, 146 AA and 108 non-AA. Ordinal logistic, Poisson or multiple linear regressions were fitted to predict the impact of maternal and paternal warmth during childhood on adult social network composition and recovery support. Greater maternal warmth was associated with greater recovery-specific social support for both AA (β = 0.12) and non-AA (β = 0.15) women. Paternal, but not maternal, warmth significantly predicted the number of social network members who supported recovery for non-AA women (AOR = 1.04), and number of network members who used drugs and alcohol for AA women (IRR = 0.99). Developmental experiences associated with fathers appear to affect different domains of adult functioning than those associated with mothers, and those effects are different for AA versus non-AA women. Attention to these differences may inform culturally relevant substance abuse prevention and treatment efforts.

Interplay between childhood maltreatment, parental bonding, and gender effects: impact on quality of life

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to examine associations between childhood adversity, parental bonding, gender, depressive symptoms, and quality of life in non-treatment-seeking adults from the community.

METHOD

Effects of differential parental rearing were compared in adults who reported a high degree of childhood maltreatment (n=72) and those who reported no significant adverse events in childhood (n=69). Subjects completed retrospective measures of childhood maltreatment and perceived parenting style, as well as measures of current depressive symptoms and quality of life.

RESULTS

The subjects without childhood maltreatment were younger and endorsed less current depressive symptomatology than did subjects with childhood maltreatment. While the subjects without a history of maltreatment reported more "optimal" bonding experiences with their parents, the maltreatment group members were more likely to characterize their early parental bonding experiences in terms of "affectionless control" (p<.001 for both maternal and paternal parenting), "affectionate constraint" (p=.025 for maternal parenting and p=.004 for paternal parenting), or "weak or absent" bonding (p<.001 for both maternal and paternal parenting). Results of a multiple regression analysis revealed that overall quality of paternal care (p=.015) and current level of depressive symptoms (p<.001) were significant independent predictors of adult quality of life. Gender effects between subjects providing parental bonding data were limited to the group with childhood maltreatment.

CONCLUSION

These findings extend previous work documenting a relationship between early life maltreatment and suboptimal parental bonding, suggesting gender-specific effects of maternal and paternal care. Effects of childhood maltreatment on quality of life in adulthood appear to be linked with the quality of childhood paternal care and the occurrence of depressive symptomatology in adulthood, suggesting possible targets for primary or secondary prevention.

Breast cancer and psychological distress: mothers' and daughters' traumatic experiences

GOAL OF WORK

The objective of this exploratory retrospective study was to assess the effects of breast cancer diagnosis upon the psychological distress of adult breast cancer patients and their mothers, particularly mothers who experienced past trauma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Four groups of mother-daughter dyads were evaluated using self-reporting measures of psychological distress [Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI)], familial support (PFS), and adjustment to cancer (MAC, IES): breast cancer patients whose mothers were Holocaust survivors (group 1), breast cancer patients with non-traumatized mothers (group 2), healthy daughters of Holocaust survivor mothers (group 3), and a control group of healthy daughters with non-traumatized mothers (group 4).

MAIN RESULTS

Distress levels of both mothers and daughters in group 1 were significantly higher than distress levels of mothers and daughters in the other three groups. Daughters' distress levels in all four groups were found to be significantly related to mothers' distress levels, with the highest correlation found in both groups of cancer patients. The factors of having a clinically distressed mother and being a second-generation daughter contributed the most to predicting the clinical distress of the daughter.

CONCLUSIONS

The outcomes imply that the mother's traumatic past intensifies the distressing effect of cancer diagnosis upon both the patient and her mother. The findings concerning the impact of cancer diagnosis upon the patients' non-traumatized mothers were more ambiguous. The results support the idea that in the case of breast cancer patients, a complete psychological evaluation must include not only spouses and children but also the familial background of the patient and the history of the patients' mothers.