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Cited by 22Child Abuse and TraumaIntimate Partner and Family ViolenceChild Welfare and Adoption

Maternal Childhood Sexual Trauma, Child Directed Aggression, Parenting Behavior, and the Moderating Role of Child Sex

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Zvara, B. J., Mills-Koonce, R., Cox, M.·2017·Journal of Family Violence
DOI 10.1007/s10896-016-9839-6PMC PMC5403150
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Abstract

Using propensity-matched controls, the present study examines the associations between maternal report of child-directed aggression and observed parenting behavior across early childhood for women with and without childhood sexual trauma histories. The moderating role of child sex was also examined. The sample (n=204) is from a longitudinal study of rural poverty exploring the ways in which child, family, and contextual factors shape development over time. After controlling for numerous factors including child and primary caregiver covariates, findings reveal that childhood sexual trauma is related to sensitive parenting behavior and child-directed aggression. Findings further revealed that child sex moderates the relation between sexual trauma history and maternal behavior towards children. Implications for interventions for mothers with childhood sexual trauma histories and directions for future study are proposed.

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  • In two studies by Zvara et al., mothers with childhood sexual abuse histories were observed to show less sensitive parenting.

    “mothers who experienced CSA were observed to exhibit less sensitive parenting”

    From Intergenerational effects of childhood maltreatment: A systematic review of the parenting practices of adult survivors of childhood abuse, neglect, and violence. (2020) · cites this paper as Zvara, Mills-Koonce, & Cox, 2017

    The Results (Sensitive parenting and the moderating role of child sex; page unavailable) found no significant overall difference in observed sensitive parenting between mothers with and without childhood sexual trauma histories. Instead, mothers with trauma histories were significantly more sensitive toward daughters than sons, so the unqualified claim that they exhibited less sensitive parenting misstates this study's finding. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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  • In Zvara et al., income, education, and marital stability did not attenuate the effects, but child gender moderated them: mothers with childhood sexual abuse histories showed more sensitivity toward daughters than sons.

    “Although income, education, and marital stability did not attenuate these effects, child gender did moderate the relationship such that mothers with CSA experiences demonstrated more sensitivity toward their daughters than their sons.”

    From Intergenerational effects of childhood maltreatment: A systematic review of the parenting practices of adult survivors of childhood abuse, neglect, and violence. (2020) · cites this paper as Zvara, Mills-Koonce, & Cox, 2017

    The Discussion (page unavailable) says child sex moderated the association between maternal childhood sexual trauma and sensitive parenting, and that mothers with trauma histories were rated as more sensitive toward daughters than sons. It reports that this finding remained after controlling for household income-to-needs and maternal education, but does not list marital stability among the controls; that part of the claim is unsupported. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Zvara, B. J., Mills-Koonce, R., & Cox, M.
Affiliations
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
  • University of North Carolina at Greensboro (US)
Corresponding author
Zvara, B. J.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Family Violence
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2016-08-12
Volume
32
Issue
2
Pages
219-229
ISSN
  • 0885-7482 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-2851
DOI
10.1007/s10896-016-9839-6
PMC
PMC5403150
OpenAlex
W2507186599
Cited by
22
References
8
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2
FWCI
0.89
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Family Violence (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (PO1-HD-39667)
  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (A12-0934)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Social Sciences › Health › Intimate Partner and Family Violence
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Child Welfare and Adoption
Keywords
child sexual abuse, parental behavior, parental sensitivity, child sex, moderating effect, early childhood, rural poverty, mothers

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