Child maltreatment and parent-offspring interaction: A multigenerational extended family design

Renate S.M. Buisman, Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg, Katharina Pittner, Marinus H. van IJzendoorn, Lisa J.M. van den Berg, Marieke S. Tollenaar, Bernet M. Elzinga, Lenneke R.A. Alink

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

In the current study, the associations between multiple types of child maltreatment (CM), parent-offspring interactions, and family cohesion were examined in an extended family study. A total of 366 parent-offspring pairs from 137 nuclear families participated. Parents (Mage = 52.8 years, age range: 26.6-88.4 years, 57% female) reported about perpetrated CM and offspring (Mage = 25.7 years, range: 7.5-65.5 years, 58% female) about experienced CM during their childhood. Parent-offspring interactions were observed during a conflict interaction task. Cohesion within the nuclear family was observed during a playful tower building task. Results showed that parents and offspring displayed more aversive behavior in parent-offspring dyads characterized by higher levels of child abuse, but not in dyads characterized by higher levels of child neglect. In addition, less dyadic affective similarity was observed in parent-offspring dyads characterized by higher levels of child neglect, whereas dyadic affective similarity was higher in dyads characterized by higher levels of child abuse. Findings imply that interventions focused on parent-offspring interactions with a somewhat different content for neglectful and abusive families may be efficacious for families in the child welfare system. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)735-744
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43)
Volume35
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2021

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