Citation

Cohodes EM, Gee DG, Lieberman AF. Infant Ment. Health J. 2019; 40(6): 786-798.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/imhj.21815

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Given the importance of early prevention and intervention strategies for children exposed to trauma, detection of early risk factors for exposure to traumatic events in childhood is critical. The present study examined associations between three known prenatal risk factors that characterize environmental instability in utero--prenatal substance exposure, prenatal violence victimization, and unintended pregnancy--and child exposure to interparental violence and other adverse experiences in a sample of 198 mother-child dyads (M child age = 44.48 months) referred to a hospital clinic for treatment following exposure to trauma. Prenatal substance and violence exposure were associated with child trauma exposure, and prenatal violence victimization was also associated with maternal severity ratings of traumatic exposures. Unintended pregnancy was not associated with child trauma exposure or severity. These findings expand our understanding of prenatal risk factors for trauma exposure in childhood and, specifically, highlight prenatal substance exposure and violence victimization as risk factors for subsequent exposure to trauma in early childhood.

RESULTS suggest that prenatal prevention and intervention programs should target reducing maternal substance use and in-utero exposure to violence.

Language: en

Keywords

embarazo no intencional; estar expuesto a sustancias prenatalmente; exposition à des substances toxiques avant la naissance; facteurs de risque prénatal; factores de riesgo prenatales; grossesse involontaire; Kinder im Vorschulalter; la victimización prenatal de la violencia; niños en edad prescolar; petite enfance; pränatale Drogenexposition; pränatale Gewalterfahrung; pränatale Risikofaktoren; prenatal risk factors; prenatal substance exposure; prenatal violence victimization; preschool-age children; trauma; Trauma; ungewollte Schwangerschaft; unintended pregnancy; victimisation liée à la violence prénatale; الأطفال في سن ما قبل المدرسة; الإيذاء أثناء الولادة; التعرض لمواد ما قبل الولادة; الحمل غير المقصود; الصدمة النفسية; الكلمات الرئيسية: عوامل الخطر قبل الولادة; トラウマ; 予期せぬ妊娠; 創傷; 學齡前兒童; 就学前児童; 意外懷孕; 產前暴力受害; 產前物質使用; 產前風險因素; 胎児期の危険因子; 胎児期の暴力虐待; 胎児期の薬物暴露