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Mother's History (mother + history)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	37%
Humanities and Social Sciences	37%

Selected Abstracts

Mothers' Violence Victimization and Child Behavior Problems: Examining the Link

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 2 2007
Richard Thompson PhD
The current study examined the link between parents' experience of violence victimization and child outcomes, in 197 mother-child dyads recruited from low-income urban neighborhoods. At recruitment (when children were between 6 and 18 months old), demographic factors, child behavioral outcomes, mother-child interactions, mothers' psychosocial functioning, and mothers' history of violence victimization were assessed. Child behavioral outcomes, mother-child interactions, and mothers' psychosocial functioning were assessed again at age 4. Mothers' history of victimization as children (but not as adults) uniquely predicted child behavior problems at age 4. Three classes of possible mediators were examined: demographics, maternal psychosocial functioning, and mother-child interactions. Of these, only mother psychological aggression toward child met preliminary criteria for mediation; it partially mediated the link between mother childhood victimization and child behavioral outcomes. Maternal depressive symptoms and young age at child's birth independently predicted child behavior problems, but did not act as mediators. Mothers' early experiences with violence victimization appear to exert an important influence on child behavioral outcomes; this influence appears to be mediated, in part, by mothers' psychological aggression toward their children. [source]

Relational Factors and Family Treatment Engagement among Low-Income, HIV-Positive African American Mothers

FAMILY PROCESS, Issue 1 2003
Victoria B. Mitrani Ph.D.
Clinically derived hypotheses regarding treatment engagement of families of low-income, HIV-positive, African American mothers are tested using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. Predictors are baseline family relational factors (family support, mother's desire for involvement with family, and family hassles) and mother's history of substance dependence. The study examines a subsample of 49 mothers enrolled in a clinical trial testing the efficacy of Structural Ecosystems Therapy (SET). SET is a family-based intervention intended to relieve and prevent psychosocial distress associated with HIV/AIDS. Participants in the subsample were randomly assigned to SET and attended at least two therapy sessions. Findings reveal that family relational factors predicted family treatment engagement (family support, p < 004; mother's desire for involvement with family, p < 008; family hassles, p < 027). Family support predicted family treatment engagement beyond the prediction provided by the other relational factors and the mother's own treatment engagement (p < 016). History of substance dependence was neither associated with family treatment engagement nor family support. Post hoc analyses revealed that family hassles (p < 003) and mother's desire for involvement with family (p < 018) were differentially related to family treatment engagement in low-versus high-support families. Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed. [source]

Understanding the "ghosts in the nursery" of pregnant women experiencing domestic violence: Prenatal maternal representations and histories of childhood maltreatment,

INFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 4 2010
Johanna C. Malone
Selma Fraiberg and colleagues (1975) conceptualized the "ghosts in the nursery" as experiences from a mother's past that influenced her ability to form a warm and attuned relationship with her child. Contemporary infant mental health interventions often ask the mother to reflect on her own history of attachment relationships to gain insight into as well as to strengthen her developing relationship with her child. This study investigated the association between a mother's history of childhood maltreatment (CM) and her subsequent prenatal maternal representation during the third trimester of pregnancy. Controlling for domestic violence (DV), distorted prenatal representations were associated with higher rates of self-reported childhood physical neglect. In addition, DV moderated the relationship between representations and CM, such that women who were exposed to DV during pregnancy and had distorted prenatal representations were least likely to report childhood physical and sexual abuse. Implications are discussed in relation to infant mental health interventions which rely on a parent's ability to psychologically access and reflect on childhood histories to more sensitively parent her own child. Selma Fraiberg y colegas (1975) definió el concepto de "fantasmas en el cuarto de los niños" como experiencias del pasado de las madres que ejercen influencia en la habilidad de ella para formarse una cálida y afinada relación con su infante. A menudo, las intervenciones contemporáneas de la salud mental infantil les piden a las madres que reflexionen sobre su propia historia de relaciones afectivas con el fin de lograr un mejor conocimiento y al mismo tiempo hacer más fuerte la relación que están desarrollando con sus hijos. Este estudio investigó la asociación entre la historia de una madre que tuvo una niñez llena de maltratos (CM) y su subsiguiente representación maternal prenatal durante el tercer trimestre del embarazo. Considerando por medio del experimento de control la variable de la violencia doméstica, (DV), las representaciones prenatales distorsionadas se asociaron con puntajes más altos de la auto-reportada negligencia física en la niñez. Es más, la violencia doméstica (DV) sirvió para moderar la relación entre las representaciones y el maltrato en la niñez (CM), a tal punto de que las mujeres que habían estado expuestas a la violencia doméstica (DV) durante el embarazo y tenían representaciones prenatales distorsionadas fueron las menos propensas a reportar el abuso físico y sexual en la niñez. Se discuten las implicaciones en relación con las intervenciones de la salud mental infantil que dependen de la habilidad de la madre de acceder a y reflexionar sobre sus historias de la niñez, sicológicamente, con el fin de criar a su propio infante con una mayor sensibilidad. Selma Fraiberg et collègues (1975) conceptualisa les "fantômes dans la crèche" en tant qu'expériences d'un passé de la mère qui ont influencé sa capacité à former une relation chaleureuse et sensible avec son enfant. Les interventions contemporaines de santé mentale du nourrisson demandent souvent à la mère de faire un effort de réflexion sur sa propre histoire de relations d'attachement afin d'arriver à mieux connaître sa relation qui se développe avec son enfant, et aussi de la renforcer. Cette étude s'est penchée sur l'association entre l'histoire de maltraitance durant l'enfance de la mère (abrégé CM en anglais) et sa représentation maternelle prénatale ultérieure durant le troisième trimestre de la grossesse. Avec un contrôle pour la violence conjugale (abrégée DV en anglais), les représentations prénatales déformées étaient liées à des taux plus élevés de négligence physique durant l'enfance auto-rapportées. De plus, la violence conjugale (DV) modérait la relation entre les représentations et la maltraitance durant l'enfance (CM), d'une telle manière que les femmes qui ont été exposées à la violence conjugale (DV) durant la grossesse et qui faisaient preuve de représentations prénatales déformées étaient les moins à même de signaler une maltraitance physique et des abus sexuels. Les implications sont discutées en relation aux interventions de santé mentale du nourrisson qui reposent que la capacité d'un parent à accéder psychologiquement aux histoires de son enfance et à y réfléchir de fa,on à élever son propre enfant de plus sensiblement. Selma Fraiberg und Kollegen (1975) konzeptualisiert die "Gespenster im Kinderzimmer", als Erfahrungen aus der Vergangenheit der Mutter, die ihre Fähigkeit, eine warme und angemessene Beziehung zu ihrem Kind aufzubauen. Zeitgemäße Interventionen der seelische Gesundheit von Kleinkindern fragen Mütter oft nach ihrer eigenen Geschichte von Bindungsbeziehungen, um einen Einblick zu bekommen, damit die sich entwickelnde Beziehung zu ihrem Kind gestärkt werden kann. Die vorliegende Studie untersuchte den Zusammenhang zwischen mütterlichen Misshandlungserfahrungen (CM) und deren späteren Schilderungen im dritten Trimenon ihrer eigenen Schwangerschaft. Maßgeblich für häusliche Gewalt (DV) war eine verzerrte Darstellung, die mit einer höheren Rate von selbst berichteter körperlicher Verwahrlosung assoziiert war. Darüber hinaus beeinflusste DV die Beziehung zwischen den Vorstellungen und den CM, so dass Frauen, die während der Schwangerschaft DV ausgesetzt waren, und verzerrten Darstellungen hatten mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit von körperlichen und sexuellen Missbrauch berichteten. Die Auswirkungen werden in Bezug auf Interventionen der psychischen Gesundheit von Kindern diskutiert, die die elterliche Fähigkeit, psychologische Zusammenhänge zu verstehen und darüber hinaus zu Reflexion über die eigenen Kindheitsgeschichten anregen, damit die Eltern sensibler auf ihr eigenes Kind reagieren können. [source]

Babies Can't Wait: A Judicial Response

JUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL, Issue 2 2004
JUDGE SHARON S. TOWNSEND
During my career as a Family Court Judge over the past 12 years, I was faced daily with the difficult task of deciding whether or not to remove a newborn infant from the care of her mother and place the child in foster care upon discharge from the hospital. In the huge majority of cases, removal was ordered based upon the mother's history of substance abuse and the subsequent positive toxicology of the infant at birth. I could not risk the health and safety of this often premature and vulnerable infant to a mother with such an addiction to drugs that she would expose her child in utero to these toxic substances. Such a mother was incapable of caring for the basic needs of this vulnerable infant, and therefore removal was ordered. This decision saddened me because, as a mother myself, I knew of the critical bond existing between infant and mother during those critical first days and weeks of a child's life. That bond must be nurtured and strengthened and is crucial to a child's development. [source]

Assessment of risk for the development of pre-eclampsia by maternal characteristics and uterine artery Doppler

BJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 6 2005
Aris T. Papageorghiou
Objective To develop a method for the estimation of patient-specific risk for the development of pre-eclampsia by combining maternal history and uterine artery Doppler. Design Prospective multicentre observational study. Setting Antenatal clinics in seven hospitals in the UK and three overseas centres. Population Unselected women with singleton pregnancies attending for routine antenatal care. Methods Doppler studies of the uterine arteries were performed using colour flow mapping and pulsed wave Doppler at 23 weeks of gestation. The mean pulsatility index (PI) of the two uterine arteries was calculated. Doppler and maternal history variables were combined to develop a model for risk assessment. The incidence of pre-eclampsia was used to derive the prior risk for this complication. The posterior risk was derived by multiplying the prior odds with likelihood ratios (LRs) derived from independent risk factors identified from the maternal history, and the LR estimated from the heights of the frequency distributions of mean PI in affected and unaffected pregnancies. Main outcome measure Pre-eclampsia. Results There were 17,480 women recruited to the study, in which 17,319 (99.1%) of these Doppler examination of both uterine arteries were completed, and outcome data were available in 16,806 (97.0%). Pre-eclampsia occurred in 369 (2.20%) cases. Significant independent prediction of pre-eclampsia was provided by mean PI, ethnic origin, body mass index (BMI), parity, cigarette smoking, history of hypertension and family or personal history of pre-eclampsia. Models were derived allowing calculation of patient-specific risk for development of pre-eclampsia. For a false-positive rate of 25%, the detection rate of pre-eclampsia by screening using maternal history was 45.3%, with uterine artery Doppler it was 63.1% and with combined assessment it was 67.5%. Conclusions Combining risk factors in the mother's history with Doppler of the uterine arteries allows calculation of patient-specific risk for the development of pre-eclampsia. [source]

Identification of somatic and germline mosaicism for a keratin 5 mutation in epidermolysis bullosa simplex in a family of which the proband was previously regarded as a sporadic case

CLINICAL GENETICS, Issue 3 2004
M Nagao-Watanabe
Epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS) is an autosomal-dominant inherited blistering skin disease characterized by intraepidermal blistering due to mechanical stress-induced degeneration of basal keratinocytes. EBS is caused by mutations in either keratin 5 or keratin 14, the major keratins expressed in the basal layer of the epidermis. We experienced a unique EBS-affected family. The proband had a heterozygous 1649delG mutation in the keratin 5 gene and had been reported as a case of de novo mutation, because the mutations were not detected in the parents' DNA from blood samples. However, the proband's younger sister was revealed to have the same disease at birth and we found the same mutation in her. We reinvestigated the familial segregation of the 1649delG mutation and it was shown that the mother's DNA from hair bulb and buccal cell samples had the 1649delG mutation heterozygously, but her DNA from blood samples did not. A careful check on the mother's history disclosed that she had migratory circinate pigmentation in her skin in childhood, which means maternal somatic and germline mosaicism. The demonstration of somatic and gonadal mosaicism in the keratin 5 gene is important for accurate genetic counselling of families with sporadic cases of EBS. [source]

The interface of mental and emotional health and pregnancy in urban indigenous women: Research in progress,

INFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 3 2010
Barbara A. Hayes
Research among indigenous women in Australia has shown that a number of lifestyle factors are associated with poor obstetric outcomes; however, little evidence appears in the literature about the role of social stressors and mental health among indigenous women. The not-for-profit organization beyondblue established a "Depression Initiative" in Australia. As part of this they provided funding to the Townsville Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Service in the "Mums and Babies" clinic. The aim of this was to establish a project to (a) describe the mental health and level of social stressors among antenatal indigenous women and (b) assess the impact of social stressors and mental health on perinatal outcome. A purposive sample of 92 indigenous women was carried out. Culturally appropriate research instruments were developed through consultations with indigenous women's reference groups. The participants reported a range of psychosocial stressors during the pregnancy or within the last 12 months. Significant, positive correlations emerged between the participants' Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS; J. Cox, J. Holden, & R. Sagovsky, 1987) score and the mothers' history of child abuse and a history of exposure to domestic violence. A more conservative cutoff point for the EPDS (>9 vs. >12) led to 28 versus 17% of women being identified as "at risk" for depression. Maternal depression and stress during pregnancy and early parenthood are now recognized as having multiple negative sequelae for the fetus and infant, especially in early brain development and self-regulation of stress and emotions. Because of the cumulative cultural losses experienced by Australian indigenous women, there is a reduced buffer to psychosocial stressors during pregnancy; thus, it is important for health professionals to monitor the women's emotional and mental well-being. [source]