1 Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA.
Child Maltreat. 2018 Nov;23(4):376-386. doi: 10.1177/1077559518775536. Epub 2018 May 14.
This investigation evaluated a theoretically specified model of associations among mothers' history of child sexual abuse (CSA), a helpless state of mind (SOM) with regard to the mother-child relationship, and increased behavior problems in the next generation. Moreover, we evaluated the moderating influence of child gender on predicted relations between mothers' CSA severity and helpless SOM (i.e., moderated mediation). Participants were 225 biological mother-preschooler dyads (48% female; 46.4% Latinx) drawn from an ongoing, longitudinal study of representation and regulation in child development. Mothers' history of CSA was assessed when their children were 4 years old and emerged as a prominent risk factor in this diverse, high-risk community sample with 40% of mothers reporting contact-based sexual abuse prior to age 18. Mediation analyses revealed a significant indirect pathway from a continuous rating of mothers' CSA severity to increased externalizing behavior problems from ages 4 to 8 in the next generation via mothers' helpless SOM at age 6. Further, this indirect path was significant for mother-daughter dyads, but not for mother-son dyads. This investigation contributes to the neophyte literature on intergenerational CSA effects by revealing the impact of a mother's CSA history on her SOM regarding the mother-child relationship, particularly when parenting daughters. Clinical interventions that enhance survivors' awareness of and reflection on their SOM regarding the parent-child relationship may attenuate intergenerational CSA effects on child adaptation.
本研究评估了一个理论上规定的模型，即母亲的儿童性虐待（CSA）史、母亲与孩子关系方面的无助心态（SOM）以及下一代行为问题之间的关联。此外，我们还评估了儿童性别对预测母亲 CSA 严重程度和无助 SOM 之间关系的调节作用（即调节中介作用）。参与者为 225 对有生物学母亲的学龄前儿童（48%为女性；46.4%为拉丁裔），他们来自一个正在进行的、纵向的儿童发展代表性和调节研究。当他们的孩子 4 岁时，评估了母亲 CSA 的历史，在这个多样化、高风险的社区样本中，40%的母亲报告在 18 岁之前有过基于接触的性虐待，这一历史成为了一个突出的风险因素。中介分析显示，从母亲 CSA 严重程度的连续评分到下一代从 4 岁到 8 岁的外化行为问题的显著间接途径是通过母亲在 6 岁时的无助 SOM。此外，这条间接途径对母女对子有效，但对母子对子无效。本研究通过揭示母亲 CSA 史对其母子关系方面的 SOM 的影响，特别是在养育女儿方面，为 CSA 代际效应的新生文献做出了贡献。增强幸存者对其 SOM 以及对亲子关系的反思的临床干预措施，可能会减轻 CSA 对儿童适应的代际影响。
