Influences of Childhood Abuse on Parenting Perspectives of Pregnant Cohabitors

Abstract

Using thematic analysis, we examine the effects of childhood abuse regarding parenthood for pregnant cohabitors from qualitative interviews. Participants (N018; 10 women and 8 men) recalled childhood abuse during the Adult Attachment Interview. Three themes emerged: (1) "Learning what not to do," whereby abuse is discussed as something not to continue, and harmful toward children; (2) "Use but modify parents' discipline," whereby individuals state that they will employ methods of their parents, but in ways different for their children; and (3) "Ambiguous," whereby discussions are unclear and confused about how the abuse will affect their parenting. These results suggest that even when pregnant cohabitors want to parent differently than their own parents, they may not have relevant models or skills. For practitioners, we suggest interventions aimed at providing alternative models for how to parent, and effective and appropriate disciplining methods, as ways to deter intergenerational abuse.

Healing The Past By Nurturing The Future: A qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis of pregnancy, birth and early postpartum experiences and views of parents with a history of childhood maltreatment

“…The 27 studies included in this review were conducted in the United States of America (USA) (n = 16) [47, 52, 54, 55, 59, 60, 63–69, 71–73], United Kingdom (UK) (n = 4) [46, 50, 51, 57], Canada (n = 4) [45, 53, 61, 74], Australia (n = 2) [48, 62] and Brazil (n = 1) [56].…”

“…Participants were recruited from a range of settings, and in 17 studies these were classified as ‘risk’ settings, including mental health settings (n = 4) [46, 54, 60, 65], trauma, sexual assault or incest support groups (n = 6) [47, 51, 61, 62, 72, 74], adolescent out of home care support or residential care programs (n = 3) [55, 56, 67], support programs for ‘at risk’ parents (n = 2) [50, 73], local community agencies such as perinatal care Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, Craigslist and hospitals [71] and a homeless shelter program [52]. Other settings were classified generally as community-based urban [45, 53], urban and rural [48, 69], and perinatal, maternity or obstetric care [57, 59, 63, 64, 66, 68].…”

“…Three hundred and fifty-one parents participated in the included qualitative studies. Most (n = 25) studies included mothers exclusively, with only two studies involving fathers, (n = 2 and n = 8 fathers, respectively) [65, 71]. In addition to parents’ views, three studies also incorporated the views of 12 midwives who were also survivors of childhood sexual abuse [51], 22 health care professionals [61] and eight nurses [63].…”

“…Nineteen studies reported the race/ethnicity of parents, and in five of these, more than 50% of the participants identified as a member of an ethnic minority group [52, 55, 64, 66, 72]. Seven studies included a small proportion of Indigenous parents [45, 52, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71]. There were approximately 20 Indigenous parents in total, but we were unable to specify the exact number as Indigenous parents were combined with Asian parents in one study [59].…”

A Sociological Investigation of Awareness and Causes of Intimate Partner Violence in Nigeria: A Survey of Agege, Lagos State

“…Researchers have identified many negative consequences of childhood abuse which include: poor parenting practices, substance abuse, depression, anxiety, interpersonal problems and very importantly Partner Violence [IPV] [Swartz et al, 2012]. Whiting et al [2009] argued in their research work that children who experience physical or sexual abuse are at higher risk for a variety of emotional, behavioural, psychological and relational problems.…”