Citation

Galano MM, Grogan-Kaylor AC, Stein SF, Clark HM, Graham-Bermann SA. Child Psychiatry Hum. Dev. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10578-020-00973-y

PMID

32114669

Abstract

Children who witness intimate partner violence (IPV) develop posttraumatic stress disorder at alarmingly high rates. Research suggests that caregivers' symptoms of posttraumatic stress (PTSS) often co-occur alongside children's PTSS, a phenomenon termed "relational posttraumatic stress." The goal of this study is to use dyad-centered analyses to examine heterogeneity in relational PTSS presentations in mother-child dyads, and to determine factors differentiating relational PTSS profiles. Data were drawn from a sample of 231 IPV-exposed, ethno-racially diverse mother-child dyads, with children ranging from ages 4 to 12. The results of a latent profile analysis indicated that a two-profile model was the best fit with the data. Both profiles indicated similar levels of PTSS across the dyad; however, they differed in overall symptom severity. Parenting and IPV severity significantly predicted profile membership; however, age did not.

RESULTS suggest that similarities in PTSS presentation should be expected in mother-child dyads, at least in families who experience IPV.

Language: en

Keywords

Intimate partner violence; Parenting; Parent–child relationships; Posttraumatic stress