The future of childhood maltreatment research: Diversity and equity-informed perspectives for inclusive methodology and social justice.

A long-standing practice in clinical and developmental psychology research on childhood maltreatment has been to consider prospective, official court records to be the gold standard measure of childhood maltreatment and to give less weight to adults' retrospective self-reports of childhood maltreatment, sometimes even treating this data source as invalid. We argue that both formats of assessment - prospective and retrospective - provide important information on childhood maltreatment. Prospective data drawn from court records should not necessarily be considered the superior format, especially considering evidence of structural racism in child welfare. Part I overviews current maltreatment definitions in the context of the developmental psychopathology (DP) framework that has guided maltreatment research for over 40 years. Part II describes the ongoing debate about the disproportionalities of minoritized children at multiple decision-making stages of the child welfare system and the role that racism plays in many minoritized families' experience of this system. Part III offers alternative interpretations for the lack of concordance between prospective, official records of childhood maltreatment and retrospective self-reports, and for the differential associations between each format of data with health outcomes. Moving forward, we recommend that future DP research on childhood maltreatment apply more inclusive, diversity and equity-informed approaches when assessing and interpreting the effects of childhood maltreatment on lifespan and intergenerational outcomes. We encourage future generations of DP scholars to use assessment methods that affirm the lived experiences of individuals and families who have directly experienced maltreatment and the child welfare system.

A systematic review of positive childhood experiences and adult outcomes: Promotive and protective processes for resilience in the context of childhood adversity.

BACKGROUND: Research on positive childhood experiences (PCEs) as counterparts to childhood adversity has surged in the last five years. A systematic review of the additive and interactive effects of childhood adversity and PCEs across adult outcomes is needed that contextualizes the long-term correlates of childhood experiences within a developmental perspective. OBJECTIVE: The current review synthesizes the empirical evidence for PCEs as resilience factors for a range of adult outcomes. METHODS: Articles published until May 2023 were systematically identified according to PRISMA Guidelines through PubMed and PsycINFO databases and references of included articles. Then, 131 records were screened, and 58 studies were included. RESULTS: Higher levels of PCEs were significantly but modestly associated with lower levels of childhood adversity. Higher levels of PCEs were associated with outcomes reflecting mental health, psychosocial functioning, physical health and health behaviors, and psychosocial stress. Most studies found direct, promotive effects of PCEs for more favorable outcomes. Few studies found significant interaction effects between childhood adversity and PCEs on outcomes, suggesting that PCEs may more frequently directly promote positive outcomes rather than moderate the effects of adversity on outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals' childhood adversity and PCEs are somewhat independent sets of experiences; many individuals experience both, and the presence of one does not preclude the other. PCEs predict more favorable outcomes independent of childhood adversity more often than they interact with and moderate the effects of adversity on outcomes. Although the literature base is steadily growing, more research on PCEs in diverse and international samples is needed.

A multisystem, dimensional interplay of assets versus adversities: Revised benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs) in the context of childhood maltreatment, threat, and deprivation.

This study expanded the Benevolent Childhood Experiences scale (termed the "BCEs-Original" scale) with 10 new multisystem items and identified a subset of items (termed the "BCEs-Revised" scale) that are systematically less commonly reported across samples. Total BCEs-Revised scores were tested against total BCEs-Original scores and three dimensions of childhood adversity (maltreatment, threat, and deprivation) as predictors of young adulthood mental health problems (depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms). Hypotheses expected stronger inverse associations of BCEs-Revised scores than BCEs-Original scores with all mental health problems. Participants were 1,746 U.S. young adults (M = 26.6 years, SD = 4.7, range = 19-35 years; 55.3% female, 42.4% male, 2.3% gender non-conforming; 67.0% White, 10.3% Asian, 8.6% Black, 8.4% Latine, 5.7% other) who completed a 20-item BCEs scale and well-validated instruments on childhood adversities and mental health problems. Compared to BCEs-Original scores, BCEs-Revised scores were significantly more strongly inversely associated with all mental health outcomes. Compared to childhood threat and deprivation, maltreatment was significantly more strongly associated with PTSD symptoms. After controlling for current depression symptoms, BCEs-Revised scores interacted with maltreatment to predict PTSD symptoms. Maltreatment and BCEs-Revised scores also influenced PTSD symptoms in person-oriented analyses. The BCEs-Revised scale has strong psychometric properties and unique strengths in research and practice. Implications for multisystem resilience are discussed.

Childhood Centeredness is a Broader Predictor of Young Adulthood Mental Health than Childhood Adversity, Attachment, and Other Positive Childhood Experiences.

This study introduced the novel concept of Centeredness, a measure of the emotional atmosphere of the family of origin and a target adult individual's perception of feeling safe, accepted, and supported from childhood primary caregivers and other family members. This study developed a Centeredness scale for adult respondents and tested hypotheses that higher levels of overall Centeredness would predict lower levels of depression and anxiety symptoms; suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs); and aggressive behavior; and higher levels of life satisfaction. Predictive effects of Centeredness were compared against attachment-related anxiety and avoidance, and adverse and benevolent childhood experiences (ACEs and BCEs). Participants were recruited via the Prolific-Academic (Pro-A) survey panel into two large independent samples of US young adults aged 19-35 years [Sample 1 (test sample), N = 548, 53.5% female, 2.2% gender non-conforming, 68.3% White, recruited before the pandemic; Sample 2 (replication sample), N = 1,198, 56.2% female, 2.3% gender non-conforming, 66.4% White; recruited during the pandemic]. Participants completed the novel Centeredness scale, which showed strong psychometric properties, and standardized, publicly available assessments of childhood experiences and mental health outcomes. Centeredness was the only variable that significantly predicted each mental health outcome across both samples. BCEs predicted all outcomes except aggressive behavior in the test sample. Centeredness and BCEs were also the only two variables that significantly predicted a dimensional mental health composite in both samples. Neither attachment-related anxiety and avoidance nor ACEs were as broadly predictive. The Centeredness scale assesses emotional aspects of childhood family relationships with individuals of diverse backgrounds and family compositions. Clinical and cultural implications are discussed. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42844-023-00089-x.

Risk and resilience factors for psychopathology during pregnancy: An application of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP).

Pregnancy is a time of increased vulnerability to psychopathology, yet limited work has investigated the extent to which variation in psychopathology during pregnancy is shared and unshared across syndromes and symptoms. Understanding the structure of psychopathology during pregnancy, including associations with childhood experiences, may elucidate risk and resilience factors that are transdiagnostic and/or specific to particular psychopathology phenotypes. Participants were 292 pregnant individuals assessed using multiple measures of psychopathology. Confirmatory factor analyses found evidence for a structure of psychopathology consistent with the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP). A common transdiagnostic factor accounted for most variation in psychopathology, and both adverse and benevolent childhood experiences (ACEs and BCEs) were associated with this transdiagnostic factor. Furthermore, pregnancy-specific anxiety symptoms most closely reflected the dimension of Fear, which may suggest shared variation with manifestations of fear that are not pregnancy-specific. ACEs and BCEs also linked to specific prenatal psychopathology involving thought problems, detachment, and internalizing, externalizing, antagonistic, and antisocial behavior. These findings extend the dimensional and hierarchical HiTOP model to pregnant individuals and show how maternal childhood risk and resilience factors relate to common and specific forms of psychopathology during pregnancy as a period of enhanced vulnerability.

Adverse and Benevolent Childhood Experiences Predict Prenatal Sleep Quality.

The objective of the study was to investigate whether adverse and benevolent childhood experiences were associated with trajectories of sleep quality throughout pregnancy. The study was conducted at obstetrics and gynecology clinics in the Rocky Mountain region of the USA. The participants of the study were pregnant individuals (N = 164). Sleep quality was measured with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index at three gestational time points, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs) were assessed once. Multilevel models were conducted to examine the trajectory of sleep quality across gestation in relation to ACEs and BCEs. Sleep quality was similar in early to mid-pregnancy, with a worsening of sleep quality late in pregnancy, following a quadratic trajectory. Higher levels of ACEs predicted poorer prenatal sleep quality (b = 0.36, SE = 0.13, p = .004) throughout pregnancy, while higher levels of BCEs predicted better sleep quality (b = -0.60, SE = 0.17, p < .001) throughout pregnancy. Examination of ACEs subtypes revealed that childhood maltreatment predicted poor sleep quality (b = 0.66, SE = 0.18, p < .001), while childhood household dysfunction was not significantly associated (b = 0.33, SE = 0.21, p = .11). Associations remained after covarying for socioeconomic status and current stressful life events. Both adverse and benevolent childhood experiences predict sleep health during pregnancy. Prevention and intervention strategies targeting resilience and sleep quality during pregnancy should be implemented to promote prenatal health and well-being.

Parent-Child Relationship Quality in the Family of Origin and Later Romantic Relationship Functioning: A Systematic Review.

A large and diverse literature has shown that parent-child relationship quality shapes development to affect later romantic relationship functioning. Guided by the developmental psychopathology framework, the current systematic review aimed to characterize the links between two major subtypes of parent-child relationship quality (parent-child attachment security and interaction quality) and several romantic relationship outcomes (i.e., adjustment, attachment security, aggression, and observed interaction quality), as well as to identify mechanisms accounting for these associations. We focused on studies that included both members of a couple/partnership for dyadic assessment of romantic relationship functioning, to more accurately and fully capture both partners' perspectives. A total of 40 articles met inclusion criteria, most of which sampled early/emerging adult couples between the ages of 18 and 26 years. Findings suggest that parent-child attachment security and interaction quality have similar associations with dyadic romantic relationship functioning, with the strongest evidence of effects on romantic relationship adjustment and observed interactions between romantic partners. Many studies found gender differences in effects, as well as cascading effects across development and over the course of a relationship. We argue that it is important for future studies to explore effects of one partner's parent-child relationship quality history on the other partner's romantic relationship adjustment and behavior, and to evaluate the extent to which parent-child attachment security mediates associations between parent-child interaction quality and romantic relationship functioning.

Se ha demostrado en publicaciones completas y variadas que la calidad de la relación entre padres e hijos determina el desarrollo de una manera que influye en el funcionamiento posterior de las relaciones amorosas. Guiado por el marco de la psicopatología evolutiva, el presente análisis sistemático tuvo como finalidad caracterizar los vínculos entre dos grandes subtipos de calidad de la relación entre padres e hijos (seguridad en el apego entre padres e hijos y calidad de la interacción) y varias consecuencias en las relaciones amorosas (p. ej.: adaptación, seguridad en el apego, agresión y calidad de la interacción observada), así como identificar los mecanismos que dan cuenta de estas asociaciones. Nos centramos en estudios que incluyeron tanto a integrantes de una pareja/asociación para la evaluación diádica del funcionamiento de las relaciones amorosas con el fin de captar más precisa y completamente las perspectivas de ambos integrantes de la pareja. Cuarenta artículos en total cumplieron con los criterios de inclusión, la mayoría de los cuales usaron como muestras a parejas de adultos emergentes de entre 18 y 26 años. Los resultados indican que la seguridad en el apego entre padres e hijos y la calidad de la interacción tienen asociaciones similares con el funcionamiento diádico de las relaciones amorosas, y que los indicios más claros de los efectos están en la adaptación de las relaciones amorosas y las interacciones observadas entre los integrantes de la relación amorosa. En muchos estudios se hallaron diferencias de género en los efectos, así como efectos dominó a lo largo del desarrollo y durante el transcurso de una relación. Sostenemos que es importante para estudios futuros analizar los efectos del historial de la calidad de la relación entre padres e hijos de uno de los integrantes de la pareja en la adaptación a la relación amorosa y la conducta del otro integrante de la pareja, y evaluar hasta qué punto la seguridad en el apego entre padres e hijos actúa como mediadora de las asociaciones entre la calidad de la interacción entre padres e hijos y el funcionamiento de la relación amorosa.

In Search of Cognitive Promotive and Protective Factors for Word Reading.

This study examined whether strong cognitive skills (i.e. vocabulary, rapid naming, verbal working memory [VWM], and processing speed [PS]) contributed to resilience in single-word reading skills in children at risk for reading difficulties because of low phonological awareness scores (PA). Promotive factors were identified by main effects and protective factors through PA x cognition interactions. This study included 1,807 children ages 8-16. As predicted, all cognitive skills were significantly related to reading, consistent with promotive effects. A significant, but small effect PA x vocabulary interaction (R2 change=.002, p=.00038) was detected but its form was not consistent with a classic protective effect. Rather, the PA x vocabulary interaction was consistent with a "skill-enhancement" pattern, such that children with strong PA and vocabulary skills had better than expected reading. This study provides a framework for reading resilience research and directs attention to promotive mechanisms underlying reading success.

Adverse and Benevolent Childhood Experiences Predict Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with poorer adult mental health, and benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs) are associated with better adult mental health. This study aims to test whether ACEs and BCEs predict adult mental health above and beyond current stress and social support during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed data from undergraduate and graduate students (N = 502) at an urban private university in the Western United States. An online survey was conducted to assess ACEs and BCEs, current stress and social support, depressive and anxiety symptoms, perceived stress, and loneliness in May 2020. Higher levels of ACEs were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, ß = 0.45, p = 0.002. Higher levels of BCEs were associated with lower depressive symptoms, ß = -0.39, p = 0.03; lower perceived stress, ß = -0.26, p = 0.002; and less loneliness, ß = -0.12, p = 0.04. These associations held while controlling for current stress, social support, and socioeconomic status. Childhood experiences are associated with mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. BCEs should be considered an important promotive factor, independent of ACEs, for psychological well-being during a global public health crisis. BCEs should be included along with ACEs in future research, assessment, and screening with distressed and vulnerable populations.

Intergenerational transmission and prevention of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

In recent years, research and practice on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have shifted from delineating effects of ACEs on adulthood health problems to preventing ACEs in children. Nonetheless, little attention has focused on how parents' own childhood experiences, adverse or positive, may influence the transmission of ACEs across generations. Children's risk for ACEs and potential for resilience may be linked to the early child-rearing experiences of their parents carried forward into parenting practices. Additionally, parents with multiple ACEs may have PTSD symptoms, an under-recognized mediator of risk in the intergenerational transmission of ACEs. Guided by developmental psychopathology and attachment theory with an emphasis on risk and resilience, we argue that a more comprehensive understanding of parents' childhood experiences is needed to inform prevention of ACEs in their children. Part I of this review applies risk and resilience concepts to pathways of intergenerational ACEs, highlighting parental PTSD symptoms as a key mediator, and promotive or protective processes that buffer children against intergenerational risk. Part II examines empirical findings indicating that parents' positive childhood experiences counteract intergenerational ACEs. Part III recommends clinically-sensitive screening of ACEs and positive childhood experiences in parents and children. Part IV addresses tertiary prevention strategies that mitigate intergenerational ACEs and promote positive parent-child relationships.

Maternal Pregnancy Wantedness and Perceptions of Paternal Pregnancy Wantedness: Associations with Perinatal Mental Health and Relationship Dynamics.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined maternal pregnancy wantedness and perceptions of paternal wantedness, and their associations with maternal perinatal mental health symptoms and relationship dynamics. METHODS: Low-income, ethnically-diverse pregnant women (N = 101, Mage = 29.10 years, SDage = 6.56, rangeage = 18-44; 37% Latina, 22% African-American, 20% White, 21% biracial/multiracial/other) completed semi-structured interviews of pregnancy wantedness coded by trained raters, and standardized instruments of depression and PTSD symptoms during pregnancy and at 3-4-months postpartum. RESULTS: While maternal pregnancy wantedness (rated from 0-Predominately Ambivalent, 1-Mixed, and 2-Predominately Positive) showed no significant associations, a couple-level scale that combined maternal wantedness and her perceptions of paternal wantedness (Equally Positive Wantedness, Mom Wants More, Dad Wants More and Equally Ambivalent) showed several significant associations. Compared to women in the Equally Positive group, women in the Mom Wants More group had significantly higher prenatal and postnatal depression symptoms, prenatal PTSD symptoms, and prenatal and postnatal relationship conflict; and lower prenatal and postnatal relationship support. Women in the Mom Wants More group also had significantly higher prenatal and postnatal depression symptoms and prenatal conflict; and lower prenatal support than women in the Dad Wants More group. CONCLUSIONS FOR PRACTICE: Women who perceive themselves as wanting the pregnancy more than their baby's father are at higher risk for mental health and relationship problems than women who perceive themselves and their partners as equally ambivalent. Providers should ask women about their perceptions of partners' pregnancy wantedness to inform delivery of targeted mental health and relationship-based intervention during pregnancy.

The Child Life Challenges Scale (CLCS): Associations of a Single-Item Rating of Global Child Adversity with Children's Total Life Stressors and Parent's Childhood Adversity.

BACKGROUND: Although many existing measures tabulate specific risk factors to yield cumulative risk indices, there is a need for low-burden strategies to estimate general adversity exposure. AIMS AND METHODS: This study introduces a brief, new measure of lifetime adversity, the Child Life Challenges Scale (CLCS), and examines its validity in a sample of parents and children residing in emergency housing. The CLCS comprises a single global item for rating cumulative life challenges utilizing either a paper-pencil scale or a sliding scale on a tablet. Parents are provided with anchor examples of mild and extreme challenges and asked to mark a location along the scale reflecting number and severity of challenges in their children's lives to date. Study participants included 99 parents and their 3- to 6-year-old children. RESULTS: CLCS scores were moderately associated with children's parent-reported total life stressors, and these associations were robust to controls for parental history of adversity, parental distress, and family demographics. Control variables also did not moderate associations between CLCS scores and total life stressors, suggesting that the CLCS functions similarly across a range of sociodemographic risk. Paper-pencil and tablet versions showed similar convergent validity. CONCLUSION: The CLCS shows promise as an efficient measure for estimating children's lifetime adversity with minimal parent or administrator burden.

Pregnancy as a period of risk, adaptation, and resilience for mothers and infants.

The pregnancy period represents a unique window of opportunity to identify risks to both the fetus and mother and to deter the intergenerational transmission of adversity and mental health problems. Although the maternal-fetal dyad is especially vulnerable to the effects of stress during pregnancy, less is known about how the dyad is also receptive to salutary, resilience-promoting influences. The present review adopts life span and intergenerational perspectives to review four key areas of research. The first part describes how pregnancy is a sensitive period for both the mother and fetus. In the second part, the focus is on antecedents of maternal prenatal risks pertaining to prenatal stress response systems and mental health. The third part then turns to elucidating how these alterations in prenatal stress physiology and mental health problems may affect infant and child outcomes. The fourth part underscores how pregnancy is also a time of heightened fetal receptivity to maternal and environmental signals, with profound implications for adaptation. This section also reviews empirical evidence of promotive and protective factors that buffer the mother and fetus from developmental and adaptational problems and covers a sample of rigorous evidence-based prenatal interventions that prevent maladaptation in the maternal-fetal dyad before babies are born. Finally, recommendations elaborate on how to further strengthen understanding of pregnancy as a period of multilevel risk and resilience, enhance comprehensive prenatal screening, and expand on prenatal interventions to promote maternal-fetal adaptation before birth.

Perinatal promotive and protective factors for women with histories of childhood abuse and neglect.

BACKGROUND: Integrative research summarizing promotive and protective factors that reduce the effects of childhood abuse and neglect on pregnant women and their babies' healthy functioning is needed. OBJECTIVE: This narrative systematic review synthesized the quantitative literature on protective and promotive factors that support maternal mental health and maternal-infant bonding among women exposed to childhood adversity, including childhood abuse and neglect. METHODS: Using a comprehensive list of key terms related to the perinatal period, childhood adversity, and protective/promotive factors, 8423 non-duplicated articles were identified through database searches in PsychInfo and Web of Science, and references in retrieved articles. Thirty-seven full text articles were inspected; of those 18 were included. RESULTS: Protective and promotive factors fell into three categories: a) women's internal capacities (e.g., self-esteem, coping ability), b) external early resources (e.g., positive childhood experiences) and c) external contemporaneous resources (e.g., social support). Although all three categories were associated with more resilient outcomes, external contemporaneous factors, and specifically, social support, were the most commonly-studied protective and/or promotive factor. Social support from family and romantic partners during the perinatal period was particularly protective for women with histories of childhood abuse and neglect and was examined across several dimensions of support and contexts. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of women's internal capacities, and external early and contemporaneous resources help to foster more positive outcomes during the perinatal period for women with histories of childhood adversity. Future research should study co-occurring multilevel promotive and protective factors to inform how they integratively deter the intergenerational transmission of risk.

Benevolent Childhood Experiences (BCEs) in homeless parents: A validation and replication study.

This study extends the validity and replicability of the Benevolent Childhood Experiences (BCEs) scale, a novel instrument for adults with childhood adversity. The BCEs scale assesses 10 favorable childhood experiences, yielding a total score similar to the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) scale (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017; Felitti et al., 1998). The current study examined the BCEs scale in a sample of homeless parents and hypothesized that higher levels of total BCEs would predict lower odds of psychological distress, sociodemographic risk, and parenting stress after accounting for ACEs. Participants were 50 ethnically diverse parents (42 birth mothers, 5 birth fathers, 1 stepfather, and 2 grandmothers in the primary caregiver role; M = 32.50 years, SD = 9.29, range = 21-62 years; 66% African American, 12% White, 12% American Indian, 10% biracial/other) residing at a homeless shelter with their children. Parents completed the BCEs and ACEs scales and instruments on psychological distress, sociodemographic risk, and parenting stress. Higher levels of BCEs predicted lower odds of psychological distress, as expected. Higher levels of ACEs predicted higher sociodemographic risk. However, neither BCEs nor ACEs predicted parenting stress. Mean levels of total BCEs and item frequencies were strikingly similar to the pilot sample, although homeless parents reported significantly lower predictable home routines in childhood. BCEs and ACEs were only modestly negatively associated, underscoring the independence of adverse and positive early experiences. The BCEs scale is a promising, brief and culturally sensitive index of childhood experiences linked to long-term resilience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Adverse childhood experiences and prenatal mental health: Type of ACEs and age of maltreatment onset.

Childhood adversity can have long-term deleterious effects on adulthood mental health outcomes, but more research is needed examining how type and timing of childhood adversity affect mental health specifically during pregnancy. The current study examined the effects of total adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms during pregnancy, unpacked effects of total adversity into childhood maltreatment versus family dysfunction experiences, and assessed age of onset effects of child maltreatment-specific experiences. Participants were 101 low-income pregnant women (M = 29.10 years, SD = 6.56, range = 18-44; 37% Latina, 22% African American, 20% White, 13% biracial/multiracial, 8% other; 26% Spanish-speaking) who completed instruments on childhood adversity, PTSD and depression symptoms during pregnancy, and demographics. Results indicated that total ACEs predicted elevated PTSD and depression symptoms during pregnancy, as did maltreatment ACEs, but not family dysfunction ACEs. Early childhood onset of maltreatment significantly predicted elevated PTSD symptoms during pregnancy, whereas middle childhood and adolescent onset did not. No age of onset of maltreatment variable significantly predicted depression symptoms during pregnancy. Findings underscore the importance of differentiating between childhood maltreatment versus family dysfunction ACEs and examining the timing and accumulation of maltreatment experiences during childhood, because these factors affect mental health during pregnancy. Findings also support universal prenatal screening for PTSD symptoms to identify at-risk pregnant women who could benefit from interventions to disrupt the intergenerational transmission of risk and give families the healthiest possible beginning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Protective factors that buffer against the intergenerational transmission of trauma from mothers to young children: A replication study of angels in the nursery.

This replication study examined protective effects of positive childhood memories with caregivers ("angels in the nursery") against lifespan and intergenerational transmission of trauma. More positive, elaborated angel memories were hypothesized to buffer associations between mothers' childhood maltreatment and their adulthood posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms, comorbid psychopathology, and children's trauma exposure. Participants were 185 mothers (M age = 30.67 years, SD = 6.44, range = 17-46 years, 54.6% Latina, 17.8% White, 10.3% African American, 17.3% other; 24% Spanish speaking) and children (M age = 42.51 months; SD = 15.95, range = 3-72 months; 51.4% male). Mothers completed the Angels in the Nursery Interview (Van Horn, Lieberman, & Harris, 2008), and assessments of childhood maltreatment, adulthood psychopathology, children's trauma exposure, and demographics. Angel memories significantly moderated associations between maltreatment and PTSD (but not depression) symptoms, comorbid psychopathology, and children's trauma exposure. For mothers with less positive, elaborated angel memories, higher levels of maltreatment predicted higher levels of psychopathology and children's trauma exposure. For mothers with more positive, elaborated memories, however, predictive associations were not significant, reflecting protective effects. Furthermore, protective effects against children's trauma exposure were significant only for female children, suggesting that angel memories may specifically buffer against intergenerational trauma from mothers to daughters.

Infant Attachment Insecurity and Baseline Physiological Activity and Physiological Reactivity to Interpersonal Stress: A Meta-Analytic Review.

This meta-analytic review (k = 5-10; N = 258-895) examined links between attachment insecurity and physiological activity at baseline and in response to interpersonal stress elicited by separation-reunion procedures in the early life course (1-5 years). Insecurity was trivially, nonsignificantly associated with baseline physiological activity (heart rate [HR]: g = -.06; respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]: g = -.06; cortisol: g = .01) and nonsignificantly associated with physiological reactivity to separation from parents (HR: g = -.001; RSA: g = .24). However, insecurity was moderately associated with heightened RSA (g = .26) and cortisol (g = .27) reactivity upon reunion with parents. Findings provide insight into the biobehavioral organization of attachment, suggesting that early insecurity is associated with heightened physiological reactivity to interpersonal stress.

Risk and Adversity, Parenting Quality, and Children's Social-Emotional Adjustment in Families Experiencing Homelessness.

A multimethod, multi-informant design was used to examine links among sociodemographic risk, family adversity, parenting quality, and child adjustment in families experiencing homelessness. Participants were 245 homeless parents (Mage  = 31.0, 63.6% African American) and their 4- to 6-year-old children (48.6% male). Path analyses revealed unique associations by risk domain: Higher sociodemographic risk predicted more externalizing behavior and poorer teacher-child relationships, whereas higher family adversity predicted more internalizing behavior. Parenting quality was positively associated with peer acceptance and buffered effects of family adversity on internalizing symptoms, consistent with a protective effect. Parenting quality was associated with lower externalizing behavior only when sociodemographic risk was below the sample mean. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Early Childhood Victimization and Physical Intimate Partner Violence During Pregnancy: A Developmental and Person-Oriented Approach.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization during pregnancy is a major public health concern, yet little is known about how risk factors for IPV during pregnancy may depend on whether women have histories of victimization dating back to early childhood (ages 0-5 years). This study examined whether risk factors for physical IPV victimization during pregnancy (a pregnancy that was not planned and prenatal substance use) differed for women with versus without early childhood victimization. Participants were 236 ethnically diverse, low-income biological mothers ( M = 30.94 years; 50.0% Latina, 16.9% Caucasian, 13.1% African American, and 16.9% multiracial) of children aged 0 to 6 years. Mothers were classified into four groups based on whether they had experienced early childhood victimization and physical IPV victimization during pregnancy with the target child. Multinomial logistic regressions, controlling for demographic characteristics, examined whether a pregnancy not planned and prenatal substance use predicted group membership. Compared to mothers with early victimization only, mothers with both early childhood victimization and physical IPV during pregnancy were more than 3 times as likely to report that their pregnancy with the target child was not planned. In follow-up analyses, mothers with early victimization and physical IPV during pregnancy also reported higher lifetime parity than mothers with physical IPV during pregnancy but no early victimization. Early childhood victimization may place women on a risk pathway to physical IPV during pregnancy, particularly if the pregnancy is not planned. Prevention and policy efforts should screen women for early childhood victimization to understand risks for physical IPV during pregnancy.