Prenatal Identification of Risk for Later Disrupted Parenting Behavior Using Latent Profiles of Childhood Maltreatment

A history of maltreatment during childhood (e.g., physical and sexual abuse, neglect) can threaten the fundamental human need to form and maintain relationships across development, which ensure safety and security. Furthermore, parental maltreatment history presents considerable risk for the emergence of disrupted parenting behaviors (i.e., contradictory communication, sexualized/role-reversed behavior, disorientation, intrusiveness/negativity, and severe withdrawal), which in turn are associated with children’s social-emotional development. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether experiences of childhood maltreatment during pregnancy can predict risk for disrupted parenting behavior before the birth of the child. Given the inherent variability in parenting behaviors, we were interested in how different types or combinations of experiences of maltreatment during childhood are associated with later parenting behaviors. Data were drawn from 120 women from a longitudinal study that spanned from the third trimester of pregnancy through 3-year postpartum. In the current study, mothers’ experiences of childhood maltreatment were assessed during pregnancy, and disrupted parenting behaviors were coded from videotaped mother–infant interactions 1-year postpartum. Four profiles of childhood maltreatment were identified using latent profile analysis: low exposure, high exposure, high sexual maltreatment, and high physical and emotional maltreatment. Results revealed that high exposure to multiple types of childhood maltreatment most strongly predicted later disrupted parenting behavior. Women with multiple exposures to different types of maltreatment during childhood may require more intense intervention during pregnancy to prevent risk for the development of disrupted parenting behavior.