Citation

Köhler-Dauner F, Dalhof Gulde M, Hart L, Ziegenhain U, Fegert JM. BMC Psychol. 2023; 11(1): e292.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/s40359-023-01327-8

PMID

37759267

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Social distancing strategies during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic have left families facing a variety of different constraints. Especially in this stressful time, children need a stable parental home to prevent developmental consequences. Additional risk factors such as maternal childhood maltreatment (CM) may affect mother's psychosomatic health and children's physical well-being in this period.

OBJECTIVE: It was aimed to analyze the associations between maternal CM, mother's mental health, and children's physical complaints during the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic.

METHOD: Mothers of a well-documented birth cohort from a longitudinal study were included in this study. Psychosomatic health was assessed with the PHQ-D and children's physical health with the GBB-KJ during the pandemic. N = 159 mothers completed the online survey. To describe the maternal CM, data from a longitudinal survey were used.

RESULTS: The calculation of three mediation analyses demonstrate that maternal depression symptoms (c-path: β = 0.10, p = .02; c'-path: β = 0.07, p = .13), somatic symptoms (c-path: β = 0.10, p = .02; c'-path: β = 0.07, p = .13) and psychosomatic symptoms (c-path: β = 0.10, p = .02; c'-path: β = 0.06, p = .19) fully mediate the relationship between CM and children's physical health complaints.

CONCLUSIONS: Maternal CM experiences seem to be one relevant risk factor during the pandemic and seem to influence the way in which parents deal with stressful situations and increase the risk for depressive symptoms. The present results highlight the importance to provide individually adjusted assistance to help the families to get through the pandemic.

Language: en

Keywords

School closures; Childhood maltreatment (CM); Maternal depression; Maternal psychosomatic health; Maternal somatic symptoms; Physical well-being; Preventive isolation; SARS-CoV-2-pandemic