Maternal Social Support as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Maternal Childhood Trauma and Child Behavior Problems

Background & Purpose: Social support buffers the deleterious effect of maternal childhood trauma on psychological distress that may affect offspring's development and behavior. This NIDA funded study examines a moderating effect of social support in the relationships between maternal history of childhood abuse/neglect, maternal psychological distress, and child longitudinal behavioral outcomes using maternal and child self-report data, controlling for maternal education and children's cognition.

Methods: Data from 290 mother-child dyads were collected at the 6-year and 9-year follow-up visits as part of a longitudinal study examining the effects of prenatal poly-drug exposure. Participants were primarily poor, urban, and African American. Maternal childhood trauma (MCT) was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, which includes physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and physical and emotional neglect. Maternal education was measured using self-reported number of years of education. Child cognitive functioning was assessed at the 6-year visit using the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WPPSI-R). Maternal psychological distress was assessed at the 6 year-visit using a summary score from the Brief Symptom Inventory, the Global Severity Index. Child behavior problems were assessed at both 6 and 9 year-visits by maternal ratings on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and child self-ratings on the Dominic Interactive (DI), a standardized, computerized assessment of symptoms of DSM-IV diagnostic categories. Maternal social support was measured at the 6-year visit with the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), which includes support from family, friends, and significant others. Using the median, high (n=155) vs. low (n=135) social support groups were established. Multiple group path analysis, using AMOS, was used to estimate the interaction effect of social support on maternal psychological distress and the stability of child behavior problems.

Results: Maternal social support measured at the 6-year visit moderated the impact of MCT on maternal psychological distress, which was related to maternal ratings on child behavior. MCT was related (p < .05) to maternal distress only for mothers with low social support, but not for mothers with high social support. Mothers from the low social support group had significantly higher MCT and psychological distress than mothers with high social support. Overall, both mothers and children reported increased behavioral problems from ages 6 to 9 years. However, children from the low social support group self-reported significantly higher behavioral problem at 9 years than children from the high support group, although no difference was found at 6 years. In both groups, maternal distress was related to maternal ratings of children's greater behavior problems on the CBCL, but not with children's self-ratings on the DI. Fit statistics indicated an acceptable fit to the data, Χ²(37) = 45.4, p = .16, CFI = .95, TLI = .91, RMSEA = .028 (90% CI= .000 - .053).

Conclusion & Implication: This study suggests protective effects of social support on maternal psychological distress and child behavior problems. Interventions designed to help mothers increase social support may reduce psychological distress that interferes with effective and nurturing parenting, which may affect children's behavior problems.