Maternal History of Adversity and Subsequent Mother-Child Interactions at Early Ages: A Systematic Review

Adverse childhood experiences, emotional distress and dissatisfaction with motherhood among first-time mothers: Mediations and child differences

Despite the challenges associated with motherhood, studies have not consistently identified factors contributing to first-time mothers' dissatisfaction with motherhood in resource-limited regions. To fill this research gap, this study investigates how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) result in first-time mothers' dissatisfaction with motherhood through emotional distress in Nigeria. Results from the partial least square structural equation model suggests that ACEs are associated with dissatisfaction with motherhood ( = 0.092; p < 0.01) and emotional distress ( = 0.367; p < 0.001). There is also a significant association between emotional distress and dissatisfaction with motherhood ( = 0.728; p < 0.001). Indirect path from first-time mothers' ACEs to dissatisfaction with motherhood through emotional distress shows significance ( = 0.267; 95% CI (0.213, 0.323); p < 0.001). In addition, the indirect path from first-time mothers' ACEs to dissatisfaction with motherhood through child emotional closeness showed significant dampening effects ( = 0.044; 95% CI (0.025, 0.066); p < 0.001). No serial impact of emotional distress and child emotional closeness was found in the study. The findings based on child gender indicated that only among first-time mothers of female children are ACEs predictors of dissatisfaction with motherhood. Trauma-informed interventions should be introduced in primary care settings to screen for ACEs and emotional dysfunctions among first-time mothers.

Stress and emotion recognition predict the relationship between a history of maltreatment and sensitive parenting behaviors: A moderated-moderation

Our study proposes to examine how stress and emotion recognition interact with a history of maltreatment to influence sensitive parenting behaviors. A sample of 58 mothers and their children aged between 2 and 5 years old were recruited. Parents' history of maltreatment was measured using the Child Trauma Questionnaire. An emotion recognition task was performed. Mothers identified the dominant emotion in morphed facial emotion expressions in children. Mothers and children interacted for 15 minutes. Salivary cortisol levels of mothers were collected before and after the interaction. Maternal sensitive behaviors were coded during the interaction using the Coding Interactive Behavior scheme. Results indicate that the severity of childhood maltreatment is related to less sensitive behaviors for mothers with average to good abilities in emotion recognition and lower to average increases in cortisol levels following an interaction with their children. For mothers with higher cortisol levels, there is no association between a history of maltreatment and sensitive behaviors, indicating that higher stress reactivity could act as a protective factor. Our study highlights the complex interaction between individual characteristics and environmental factors when it comes to parenting. These results argue for targeted interventions that address personal trauma.