Does Parents’ Own History of Child Abuse Moderate the Effectiveness of the Promoting First Relationships® Intervention in Child Welfare?

Abstract

To better understand how and for whom parenting intervention may improve family outcomes in child welfare services, we examined whether parents’ own history of child abuse moderated the indirect effects of the Promoting First Relationships® (PFR) intervention on toddlers’ secure base behavior via parental sensitivity. Parents ( N = 247) and their toddlers (10–24 months) involved with child protective services were randomized to PFR or a control intervention. Results showed that the PFR group demonstrated greater parental sensitivity at postintervention than the control group, which in turn led to higher levels of toddler secure base behavior at 6-month follow-up. Findings from a moderated mediation model indicated that these intervention effects were only evident for parents who experienced physical abuse in their childhood. Parents’ history of sexual or emotional abuse did not significantly moderate outcomes. These results provide evidence for a key mechanism of change in PFR informed by attachment theory and suggest that PFR intervention effects may be stronger in parents at higher risk of the intergenerational transmission of abuse.

Improving parent–child interactions in maltreating families with the Attachment Video-feedback Intervention: Parental childhood trauma as a moderator of treatment effects

“…However, another recent study regarding the effects of an attachment-based intervention including a sample of parents involved with child welfare services reported the opposite effect. In this study, only parents with a history of physical childhood abuse showed significant improvements in parental sensitivity following the intervention (Pasalich et al, 2019). These contradictory findings call for more research in order to derive more conclusive evidence regarding the moderating effect of parental childhood trauma.…”

“…Nevertheless, not all studies have reported moderating effects of childhood trauma in this direction. A recent RCT with a sample of parents referred to CPS found the opposite effect: Parents who experienced physical abuse in their childhood had benefitted more from a short-term attachment-based intervention than those without such experiences (Pasalich et al, 2019). One difference with the current study is that Pasalich et al (2019) only included childhood abuse, and not childhood neglect histories in their analyses.…”

“…A recent RCT with a sample of parents referred to CPS found the opposite effect: Parents who experienced physical abuse in their childhood had benefitted more from a short-term attachment-based intervention than those without such experiences (Pasalich et al, 2019). One difference with the current study is that Pasalich et al (2019) only included childhood abuse, and not childhood neglect histories in their analyses. In the analyses for this study, we did not distinguish between different types of child maltreatment, but rather considered the overall presence of parents' childhood abuse and neglect experiences.…”

“…Identifying which families are most or least likely to benefit from these interventions would be most informative to clinical practice and future research. One important moderating factor may be parents' own experiences of maltreatment in their childhood (Moran et al, 2005;Pasalich et al, 2019;Steele et al, 2019). The current randomized controlled trial (RCT) investigated in a maltreating sample whether the effects of the short-term, Attachment Video-feedback Intervention (AVI) on parenting were moderated by parental childhood trauma.…”

Using the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) to Characterise Parenting Interventions to Prevent Intergenerational Child Abuse

“…Parents with childhood histories of maltreatment who do continue the cycle of abuse may have an impaired capacity to both identify and reflect on their past traumatic experiences which ultimately impairs their ability to respond appropriately to their child's needs (Berthelot et al, 2015;George and Solomon, 2008). Intervention components, including the provision of practical, social and emotional support, strengthening the parent-child relationship and counselling with parents to address the trauma, have been utilised to break the cycle of abuse (Pasalich et al, 2019).…”