Maternal PTSD and Children’s Adjustment: Parenting Stress and Emotional Availability as Proposed Mediators

SMC Author

Elena Padrón

SMC Affiliated Work

1

Status

Faculty

School

School of Science

Department

Psychology

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2017

Publication / Conference / Sponsorship

Journal of Clinical Psychology

Description/Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

Maternal posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a risk factor for negative child adjustment, but it is unclear whether this association is direct (e.g., a mother's PTSD symptoms are observed, learned, and internalized by children which results in behavioral and emotional problems) or indirect, through parent-child relationship difficulties or parenting stress. We hypothesized that parenting stress and maternal emotional availability would exhibit indirect effects on relationships between maternal PTSD and children's functioning.

METHOD:

Participants were 52 trauma-exposed mothers and their children (aged 7-12 years). Mothers completed measures of PTSD and parenting stress and reported on their children's functioning. Emotional availability was assessed through observer-rated mother-child interactions.

RESULTS:

Emotional availability was not related to PTSD or child outcomes. Parenting stress had a substantial indirect effect on the relationships between maternal PTSD and child emotion regulation, internalizing, and externalizing behaviors.

CONCLUSIONS:

Results highlight the need to target parenting stress in interventions with trauma-exposed families.

Keywords

emotion regulation, internalizing, maternal sensitivity, observation, posttraumatic stress disorder

Scholarly

yes

DOI

10.1002/jclp.22369

Volume

73

Issue

6

First Page

693

Last Page

706

Disciplines

Psychology

Original Citation

“Maternal PTSD and children’s adjustment: Parenting stress and emotional availability as proposed mediators.” By Samuelson, K.W., Wilson, C., Padrón, E., Lee, S., Gavron, L. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 73(6), 693-706. 2017.

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