Associations among Maternal Trauma History, Postnatal Maternal Sensitivity, and Infant Temperament

Abstract

Women are at increased risk of trauma exposure and of experiencing prolonged posttraumatic stress. Maternal trauma exposure and associated impairment may adversely impact mother–infant interaction quality, which may in turn be associated with infant temperament difficulties. More research is needed to identify which maternal trauma predictors are most robustly related to infant temperament outcomes. The present study aimed to address this gap by examining maternal sensitivity as a mediator of relations between maternal trauma and infant temperament in a longitudinal study of a rural cohort of mother–infant dyads. Mediation via maternal sensitivity was not supported in any of the primary analyses. Greater maternal trauma exposure was found to predict greater infant regulation behavior, a finding that was in opposition to expected results and which may be explained by protective factors found within the sample. The present sample was skewed toward married, educated women who reported high social support satisfaction and low trauma-associated impairment. The findings elucidate protective factors that may mitigate adverse outcomes for both mothers and infants. Future research models should include additional maternal trauma variables (e.g., recency, type, revictimization/polyvictimization), in utero maternal cortisol exposure, maternal insensitivity/ambiguous response patterns during caregiver tasks, and analysis of the IBQ-R subscales.