Manifestation of Trauma: The Effect of Early Traumatic Experiences and Adult Attachment on Parental Reflective Functioning

Abstract

There are many risk factors that make the transition to parenthood difficult, even in the best of circumstances. One such risk factor is the experience of parental childhood trauma, which has the potential to affect the parent/child relationship, both in terms of attachment style parental reflective functioning. This study aims to expand on the line of research concerned with the effects that trauma has once that child transitions into adulthood and into parenthood by looking at the role that the experience of trauma and adult attachment has in relation to parental reflective functioning. This study assessed mothers (N = 125) by using the CTQ (childhood experience of trauma), ECR (adult attachment), and the PRFQ (parental RF). Our study found that in the presence of physical neglect, insecure attachment had a particularly deleterious effect on maternal reflective functioning. This relationship was not as strong in the absence of physical neglect.

Adverse and adaptive childhood experiences are associated with parental reflective functioning in mothers with substance use disorder

“…Our results are supported by previous studies that have highlighted that the impact of emotional abuse in childhood is harmful for development (Burns et al, 2010;Hart et al, 1997), and affecting mentalizing capacities (Bottos & Nilsen, 2014). Although neglect did not make a unique contribution in the regression, it was strongly correlated with PRF, an association supported by a previous study highlighting the negative correlation between childhood neglect and PRF (San Cristobal et al, 2017). Emotional abuse is one of the most common, yet often underreported forms of adversity (Trickett, Mennen, Kim, & Sang, 2009).…”

“…As such, PRF has been considered an intergenerational resilience factor. Previous studies have identified negative associations between PRF and emotional abuse (Bottos & Nilsen, 2014;Burns et al, 2010;Hart, Binggeli, & Brassard, 1997) and between PRF and neglect (San Cristobal, Santelices, & Fuenzalida, 2017), indicating that different forms of adversity might affect PRF differently (Teicher, Samson, Polcari, & McGreenery, 2006). Furthermore, a good enough attachment relationship is theorized to lead to an interpersonally transmitted knowledge, called epistemic trust.…”

Factor structure of the parental reflective functioning questionnaire and association with maternal postpartum depression and comorbid symptoms of psychopathology

“…Finally, although this study examines PRF in association with psychopathology only, the results tap into the notion of PRF as a complex and dynamic capacity at interplay with variability in context [ 113 ]. This further puts emphasis on the value of applying a multidimensional approach to the assessment of PRF, and on how the dimensions interact differently with important factors, such as the influence of partners [ 114 , 115 ] and the social environment [ 116 ], as well as the parent’s experiences with their own caregiver(s) [ 15 , 27 , 117 ].…”

Adult attachment orientations and well-being during the transition to parenthood

“…A few studies have investigated other personal outcomes. Insecurely attached new parents, for example, report greater parental strain and poorer coping [37,45] and less parental reflective functioning [46] across the transition. Moreover, women who enter parenthood seeking less spousal support or who have highly avoidant husbands tend to become more avoidant across the transition, whereas men who report providing more prenatal support to their wives become less avoidant [47].…”