Risk of maltreatment for siblings: Factors associated with similar and different childhood experiences in a dyadic sample of adult siblings

Witte, Susanne; Fegert, Jörg M.; Walper, Sabine

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.11.009

Cited by 15 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…EM was most shared between siblings followed by PA, whereas SA was most individual specific, which was in line with our hypothesis and supporting previous studies (Bifulco et al, 1997 ; Hamilton-Giachritsis & Browne, 2005 ; Hines et al, 2006 ; Jean-Gilles & Crittenden, 1990 ; Witte et al, 2018 ). The levels of sibling concordance (i.e.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…However, CM typically involves families, and siblings of maltreated children are likely exposed to similar parental behaviors (Baldwin & Oliver, 1975;Hamilton-Giachritsis & Browne, 2005;Hines, Kantor, & Holt, 2006;Jean-Gilles & Crittenden, 1990). Studies have shown greatest overlap between siblings in reported emotional abuse and neglect, followed by PA and neglect, whereas SA seems to show the least overlap (MacMillan, Tanaka, Duku, Vaillancourt, & Boyle, 2013;Witte, Fegert, & Walper, 2018). The degree of concordance may be related to whether the perpetrator is a family member, since in the case of EM and PA the perpetrator is a parent in 80% of the cases, whereas in SA this is most often someone else (86%; Bifulco, Brown, Lillie, & Jarvis, 1997;Hovens et al 2009).…”

Section: Similarities In Sibling Experience Of CMmentioning

confidence: 99%

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It is a family affair: individual experiences and sibling exposure to emotional, physical and sexual abuse and the impact on adult depressive symptoms

et al. 2020

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Background Childhood abuse and neglect often occurs within families and can have a large influence on mental well-being across the lifespan. However, the sibling concordance of emotional abuse and neglect (i.e. together referred to as emotional maltreatment; EM), physical abuse (PA) and sexual abuse (SA) and the long-term impact on the context of siblings' maltreatment experiences are unclear. To examine the influence of EM, PA and SA on adult depressive symptoms within the family framework we differentiate between (a) the family-wide (mean level of all siblings) effects and (b) the individual deviation from the mean family level of maltreatment. Methods The sample (N = 636) consists of 256 families, including at least one lifetime depressed or anxious individual and their siblings. Multilevel modeling was used to examine the family-wide and relative individual effects of childhood maltreatment (CM). Results (a) Siblings showed most similarity in their reports of EM followed by PA. SA was mostly reported by one person within a family. In line with these observations, the mean family levels of EM and PA, but not SA, were associated with more depressive symptoms. In addition, (b) depression levels were more elevated in individuals reporting more EM than the family mean. Conclusions Particularly in the case of more visible forms of CM, siblings' experiences of EM and PA are associated with the elevated levels of adult depressive symptoms. Findings implicate that in addition to individual maltreatment experiences, the context of siblings' experiences is another crucial risk factor for an individuals' adult depressive symptomatology.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Similarities In Sibling Experience Of CMmentioning

confidence: 99%

It is a family affair: individual experiences and sibling exposure to emotional, physical and sexual abuse and the impact on adult depressive symptoms

et al. 2020

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“…In other research fields, it has been indicated that ABM training, which encourages positively-focused attention-search modes, reduces self-reported stress and physiological (e.g., cortisol) measures of stress reactivity [80, 81]. Such tailored interventions (e.g., ABM training) might benefit the prevention of interpersonal problems (e.g., child maltreatment), as well as providing support to families with a large number of children [82]. Although whether parenting programs for ABM effectively modify not only the attentional biases but also the parenting stress and maladaptive parenting behaviors of at-risk parents is still not fully understood, further studies of the SIP models regarding CPA risk may present avenues for the early identification and prevention of child maltreatment and related problems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Less efficient detection of positive facial expressions in parents at risk of engaging in child physical abuse

et al. 2019

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Background Parental physical punishment (e.g., spanking) of children can gradually escalate into child physical abuse (CPA). According to social-information processing (SIP) models of aggressive behaviors, distorted social cognitive mechanisms can increase the risk of maladaptive parenting behaviors by changing how parents detect, recognize, and act on information from their social environments. In this study, we aimed to identify differences between mothers with a low and high risk of CPA regarding how quickly they detect positive facial expressions. Methods Based on their use of spanking to discipline children, 52 mothers were assigned to a low- ( n = 39) or high-CPA-risk group ( n = 13). A single-target facial emotional search (face-in-the-crowd) task was used, which required participants to search through an array of faces to determine whether a target emotional face was present in a crowd of non-target neutral faces. Search efficiency index was computed by subtracting the search time for target-present trials from that for target-absent trials. Results The high-CPA-risk group searched significantly less efficiently for the happy, but not sad, faces, than did the low-CPA-risk group; meanwhile, self-reported emotional ratings (i.e., valence and arousal) of the faces did not differ between the groups. Conclusions Consistent with the SIP models, our findings suggest that low- and high-CPA-risk mothers differ in how they rapidly detect positive facial expressions, but not in how they explicitly evaluate them. On a CPA-risk continuum, less efficient detection of positive facial expressions in the initial processes of the SIP system may begin to occur in the physical-discipline stage, and decrease the likelihood of positive interpersonal experiences, consequently leading to an increased risk of CPA.

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“…Additionally, collecting sibling data would allow researchers to investigate whether different relationships exist between our variables of interest depending on whether you are an older or younger sibling. Differential treatment by parents; maltreatment of older siblings leading to the development of avoidance strategies by younger siblings; higher likelihood of older siblings to report experiences of abuse, and the tendency for older siblings to experience domestic violence as more extreme are all factors that may impact experiences of parental externalising and/or ELA and the subsequent development of internalising and externalising symptoms in offspring depending on their order of birth (Katz et al, 2018;Witte et al, 2018).…”

Section: Investigating Sibling Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Internalising and Externalising in Parents and Offspring: The Impact of Sex and Early Life Adversity

O'Neill-Murchison¹

2021

Preprint

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<p>The aim of this study was to investigate associations between maternal and paternal externalising, experiences of early life adversity (ELA), internalising and externalising in adult offspring, and the role of sex. Using data collected in wave three of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) we utilised structural equation modelling to test a hypothesised moderated mediation model associating maternal and paternal externalising, and internalising and externalising in offspring, mediated by early life adversities and moderated by sex. Our study included a total of n=26,728 participants which were randomly split into two groups and analysed separately to test whether it was possible to replicate our own results. No direct association was demonstrated between maternal externalising or paternal externalising and internalising or externalising in offspring; experiences of ELA were associated only with internalising in offspring, but not with externalising; ELA was associated with maternal externalising and paternal externalising in females only. The relationship between paternal externalising and internalising in male offspring was mediated by ELA, as was the relationship between maternal externalising and internalising in male offspring. The relationship between parental externalising and internalising in females however was not mediated by ELA. Results did not provide support for the study’s hypotheses.</p>

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Risk of maltreatment for siblings: Factors associated with similar and different childhood experiences in a dyadic sample of adult siblings

Cited by 15 publications

References 39 publications

It is a family affair: individual experiences and sibling exposure to emotional, physical and sexual abuse and the impact on adult depressive symptoms

It is a family affair: individual experiences and sibling exposure to emotional, physical and sexual abuse and the impact on adult depressive symptoms

Less efficient detection of positive facial expressions in parents at risk of engaging in child physical abuse

Internalising and Externalising in Parents and Offspring: The Impact of Sex and Early Life Adversity

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