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Studies of the effects of intimate partner violence (IPV) on parenting have usually not examined the role of the maternal perceptions, either its stress or maternal satisfaction, on the mothers' and children's mental health functioning. The present study aimed to assess whether maternal satisfaction, parenting stress, and social support are significantly associated with women's psychological functioning. The study also assessed whether maternal perceptions of the role of parenting were significantly associated with children's emotional well-being and social behavior. The sample included 160 mothers, 79 (49.4%) who were living with the aggressors and 81 (50.6%) in shelters, and their children ( n = 61). The findings suggested that high levels of maternal satisfaction and perception of social support were significantly negatively associated with women's posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and psychological distress, whereas parenting stress was significantly positively associated with these outcomes. Maternal satisfaction was the only parenting variable that predicted both maternal mental health and children's emotional and behavioral problems, suggesting that it is a protective factor for both mothers and children. This study suggests that increasing maternal satisfaction with parenting and reducing parenting stress might promote better adjustment for both women and children victims of IPV.

The factor structure of DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been extensively debated, with evidence supporting the recently proposed seven-factor hybrid model. However, few studies examining PTSD symptom structure have assessed the implications of these proposed models on diagnostic criteria and PTSD prevalence. In the present study, we examined seven alternative DSM-5 PTSD models within a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), using the Child PTSD Symptom Scale-Self-Report for DSM-5 (CPSS-5). Additionally, we generated prevalence rates for each of the seven models by using a symptom-based diagnostic algorithm and assessed whether substance abuse, depression, anxiety symptoms, and daily functioning were differentially associated with PTSD depending on the model used to derive the diagnosis. Participants were 317 adolescents aged 13-17 years (M = 15.93, SD = 1.23) who had experienced a DSM-5 Criterion A trauma and/or childhood adversity. The CFA results showed good fit indices for all models, with the seven-factor hybrid model presenting the best fit. The rates of PTSD diagnosis varied according to each model. The four-factor DSM-5 model presented the highest rate (30.6%), and the seven-factor hybrid model presented the lowest rate (17.4%). Similar to the CFA analysis, the inclusion criteria for the diagnosis based on the hybrid model also presented the strongest associations with daily functional impairment, odds ratio (OR) = 1.48, 95% CI [1.25, 1.75]; and adverse childhood experiences, OR = 1.46, 95% CI [1.16, 1.82]. Research and clinical implications of these results are discussed, and suggestions for future investigation are presented.

The relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG) has been extensively debated, with evidence supporting that negative and positive outcomes may coexist simultaneously. However, literature consensus has yet to be reached regarding whether the nature of the relationship between these variables is better explained through a linear or curvilinear relationship. In the present study, we examined the psychometric properties of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory and tested the linear and curvilinear relationship between PTG and PTSD. Participants were 315 adults, with a mean age of 34.66 years (SD = 10.90), and ranged in age between 18 and 68 years; 144 (45.7%) participants were male and 171 (54.3%) were female who had experienced a potentially trauma or adverse event and had a level of education lower than the university education level. The original 5-factor structure of the PTGI was maintained, with satisfactory internal consistency. Exploratory data analysis showed a violation of the normality assumption because the sample reported low levels of PTSD. We used the bootstrap method, which gives an estimate of the sampling distribution (Field, 2018). Results showed a linear positive relationship between PTSD symptoms and PTG, after adjusting for sociodemographic variables. A curvilinear relationship between these variables was not found in the present sample. An overall small positive relationship was found between each PTSD subscale (Intrusion, Avoidance, and Arousal) and the 5 PTGI factors. This study found that PTSD and PTG can coexist. Implications for practice and recommendation for future research are discussed.

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