The persistence of shame-based reactions to child maltreatment (CM) has been associated with poor posttraumatic adjustment. Despite evidence that the postpartum period is a vulnerable time for women with CM histories, little is known about the consequences of maltreatment-specific (MS) shame for postpartum functioning. The current study examined individual differences in MS shame among a sample of women during the postpartum period (n = 100) as well as prospective relations from MS shame to postpartum psychopathology at 6-, 12-, 15-, and 18-month postpartum. Linear growth curve (LGC) analyses showed that MS shame predicted higher levels of depression symptoms but not post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms at all time points whereas path analyses showed that shame mediated the relations from multi-maltreatment to both depression and PTSD symptoms at all time points. Results point to the long-term consequences of MS shame during postpartum and the importance of attending to shame in clinical care of maltreatment survivors who present with postpartum psychopathology.
BeckC. T.GableR. K. (2002). Postpartum Depression Screening Scale (PDSS) Manual. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
2.
BernsteinD. P.FinkL. (1998). Childhood trauma questionnaire: A retrospective self-report manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
3.
BerntsenD.RubinD. C. (2006). The Centrality of Event Scale: A measure of integrating a trauma into one’s identity and its relation to post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 219–231. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2005.01.009
4.
BerntsenD.RubinD. C. (2007). When a trauma becomes a key to identity: Enhanced integration of trauma memories predicts posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 21, 417–431. doi:10.1002/acp.1290
5.
BoxerP.TerranovaA. M. (2008). Effects of multiple maltreatment experiences among psychiatrically hospitalized youth. Child Abuse & Neglect, 32, 637–647. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2008.02.003
6.
BriereJ.JordanC. E. (2009). The relationship between childhood maltreatment, moderating variables, and adult psychological difficulties in women: An overview. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse: A Review Journal, 10, 375–388.
7.
BriggsE. C.FairbankJ. A.GreesonJ. P.LayneC. M.SteinbergA. M.Amaya-JacksonL. M.…PynoosR. S. (2013). Links between child and adolescent trauma exposure and service use histories in a national clinic-referred sample. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 5, 101–109. doi:10.1037/a0027312
8.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey ACE Module Data, 2010. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2015. Retrieved fromhttps://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy
9.
ChardK. M.WeaverT. L.ResickP. A. (1997). Adapting cognitive processing therapy for child sexual abuse survivors. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 4, 31–52. doi:10.1016/S1077-7229(97)80011-9
10.
ClassenC. C.PaleshO. G.AggarwalR. (2005). Sexual revictimization: A review of the empirical literature. Trauma Violence Abuse, 6, 103–129. doi:10.1177/1524838005275087
11.
CloitreM.CohenL. R.KoenenK. C. (2011). Treating survivors of childhood abuse: Psychotherapy for the interrupted life. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
12.
CoatesA. A.Messman-MooreT. L. (2014). A structural model of mechanisms predicting depressive symptoms in women following childhood psychological maltreatment. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38, 103–113. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.10.005
13.
CohenJ. A.MannarinoA. P.DeblingerE. (2006). Treating trauma and traumatic grief in children and adolescents. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
14.
CreedyD. K.ShochetI. M.HorsfallJ. (2000). Childbirth and the development of acute trauma symptoms: Incidence and contributing factors. Birth, 27, 104–111.
15.
DavisJ. L.Petretic-JacksonP. A.TingL. (2001). Intimacy dysfunction and trauma symptomatology: Long-term correlates of different types of child abuse. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 14, 63–79. doi:10.1023/A:1007835531614
16.
EdwardsV. J.HoldenG. W.FelittiV. J.AndaR. F. (2003). Relationship between multiple forms of childhood maltreatment and adult mental health in community respondents: Results from the adverse childhood experiences study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1453–1460. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.160.8.1453
17.
EhlersA.ClarkD. M. (2000). A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 319–345. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(99)00123-0
18.
EhringT.FrankS.EhlersA. (2008). The role of rumination and reduced concreteness in the maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression following trauma. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 32, 488–506. doi:10.1007/s10608-006-9089-7
19.
FeiringC.TaskaL. S. (2005). The persistence of shame following sexual abuse: A longitudinal look at risk and recovery. Child Maltreatment, 10, 337–349. doi:10.1177/1077559505276686
20.
FeiringC.TaskaL. S.LewisM. (2002a). Adjustment following sexual abuse discovery: The role of shame and attributional style. Developmental Psychology, 38, 79–92. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.38.1.79
21.
FeiringC.TaskaL. S.LewisM. (2002b). Trying to understand why horrible things happen: Attribution, shame and symptom development following sexual abuse. Child Maltreatment, 7, 25–39. doi:10.1177/1077559502007001003
22.
FinkelhorD.BrowneA. (1985). The traumatic impact of child sexual abuse: A conceptualization. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 55, 530–541.
23.
FordJ. D.WasserT.ConnorD. F. (2011). Identifying and determining the symptom severity associated with polyvictimization among psychiatrically impaired children in the outpatient setting. Child Maltreatment, 16, 216–226. doi:10.1177/1077559511406109
24.
GoodmanS.RouseM. H.ConnellA.BrothM.HallC.HeywardD. (2011). Maternal depression and child psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 14, 1–27. doi:10.1007/s10567-010-0080 -1
25.
GrahamJ. W. (2009). Missing data analysis: Making it work in the real world. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 549–576. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085530
26.
HankinB. L. (2005). Childhood maltreatment and psychopathology: Prospective tests of attachment, cognitive vulnerability, and stress as mediating processes. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 29, 645–671. doi:10.1007/s10608-005-9631-z
27.
HarperF.AriasI. (2004). The role of shame in predicting adult anger and depressive symptoms among victims of child psychological maltreatment. Journal of Family Violence, 19, 367–375. doi:10.1007/s10896-004-0681-x
28.
HatzenbuehlerM. L.Nolen-HoeksemaS.DovidioJ. (2009). How does stigma “get under the skin”? The mediating role of emotion regulation. Psychological Science, 20, 1282–1289. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02441.x
29.
HoglundC. L.NicholosK. B. (1995). Shame, guilt, and anger in college students exposed to abusive family environments. Journal of Family Violence, 10, 141–157. doi:10.1007/BF02110597
30.
KaysenD.ScherC. D.MastnakJ.ResickP. (2005). Cognitive mediators of childhood maltreatment and adult depression in crime victims. Behavior Therapy, 36, 235–244.
31.
KimK.MennenF. E.TrickettP. K. (2016). Patterns and correlates of co-occurrence among multiple types of child maltreatment. Child & Family Social Work. doi:10.1111/cfs.12268
32.
KlineR. B. (2011). Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling, 3rd Edition. New York: Guilford Press.
33.
LiemJ. H.BoudewynA. C. (1999). Contextualizing the effects of childhood sexual abuse on adult self- and social functioning: An attachment theory perspective. Child Abuse and Neglect, 23, 1141–1157.
34.
MacKinnonD. P.LockwoodC. M.WilliamsJ. (2004). Confidence limits for the indirect effect: Distribution of the product and resampling methods. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 39, 99–128. doi:10.1207/s15327906mbr3901_4
35.
Martinez-TorteyaC.DaytonC. J.BeeghlyM.SengJ. S.McGinnisE.BroderickA.MuzikM. (2014). Maternal parenting predicts infant biobehavioral regulation among women with a history of childhood maltreatment. Development and Psychopathology, 26, 379–392. doi:10.1017/S0954579414000017.
36.
MorelenD.MenkeR. A.BeeghlyM.RosenblumK.MuzikM. (2016). Understanding bidirectional mother-infant affective displays across contexts: Effects of maternal maltreatment history and postpartum depression and PTSD symptoms. Psychopathology, 49(4). doi:10.1159/000448376.
37.
Munk-OlsenT.LaursenT. M.PedersenC. B.MorsO.MortensenP. B. (2006). New parents and mental disorders: A population-based register study. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 296, 2582–2589. doi:10.1001/jama.296.21.2582
38.
MuthénL. K.MuthénB. O. (1998-2014). Mplus user’s guide. Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.
39.
NewmanD. A. (2003). Longitudinal modeling with randomly and systematically missing data: A simulation of ad hoc, maximum likelihood, and multiple imputation techniques. Organizational Research Methods, 6, 328–362. doi:10.1177/1094428103254673
40.
NewmanD. A. (2014). Missing data: Five practical guidelines. Organizational Research Methods, 17, 372–411. doi:10.1177/1094428114548590
41.
OhW.MuzikM.McGinnisE.HamiltonL.MenkeR.RosenblumK. (2016). Comorbid trajectories of postpartum depression and PTSD among mothers with childhood trauma history: Course, predictors, processes and child adjustment. Journal of Affective Disorders, 200, 133–141. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2016.04.037.
42.
PrevooM. L.StoltenborghM.AlinkL. A.Bakermans-KranenburgM. J.IJzendoornM. H. (2016). Methodological moderators in prevalence studies on child maltreatment: Review of a series of meta-analyses. Child Abuse Review. doi:10.1002/car.2433
43.
ResnickH.KilpatrickD. G.DanskyB. S.SaundersB. E.BestC. L. (1993). Prevalence of civilian trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in a representative national sample of women. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61, 984–991.
44.
RichmondJ. M.ElliotA. N.PierceT. W.AspelmeierJ. E.AlexanderA. A. (2008). Polyvictimization, childhood victimization, and psychological distress in college women. Child Maltreatment, 14, 127–147. doi:10.1177/1077559508326357
45.
Sachs-EricssonN.VeronaE.JoinerT.PreacherK. J. (2006). Parental verbal abuse and the mediating role of self-criticism in adult internalizing disorders. Journal of Affective Disorders, 93, 71–78. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2006.02.014
46.
SameroffA. J.SeiferR.BaldwinA.BaldwinC. (1993). Stability of intelligence from preschool to adolescence: The influence of social and family risk factors. Child Development, 64, 80–97. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1993.tb02896.x
47.
SengJ. S.LowL. M. K.SperlichM.RonisD. L.LiberzonI. (2009). Prevalence, trauma history, and risk for posttraumatic stress disorder among nulliparous women in maternity care. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 114, 839–847. doi:10.1097/AOG.0b013e3181b8f8a2
48.
SimonV. A. (2008). Trauma Meaning Making Interview. Unpublished research manual, Wayne State University.
49.
SperlichM.SengJ. S. (2008). Survivor moms: Women’s narratives of birthing, mothering, and healing after sexual abuse. Eugene, OR: Motherbaby Press.
50.
SpinazzolaJ.HodgdonH.LiangL.FordJ. D.LayneC. M.PynoosR.…KisielC. (2014). Unseen wounds: The contribution of psychological maltreatment to child and adolescent mental health and risk outcomes. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 6, S18–S28. doi:10.1037/a0037766
51.
SrinivasT.DePrinceA. P.ChuA. T. (2015). Links between posttrauma appraisals and trauma-related distress in adolescent females from the child welfare system. Child Abuse & Neglect, 47, 14–23. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.05.011
52.
SroufeL. A.EgelandB.CarlsonE. (1999). One social world: The integrated development of parent-child and peer relationships. In CollinsW. A.LaursenB. (Eds.), Relationships as developmental context: The 30th Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology (pp. 241–262). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
53.
StipekD.RecchiaS.McClinticS.LewisM. (1992). Self-evaluation in young children. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 57, i–95. doi:10.2307/1166190
54.
TalbotJ. A.TalbotN. L.TuX. (2005). Shame-proneness as a diathesis for dissociation in women with histories of childhood sexual abuse. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17, 445–448. doi:10.1023/B: JOTS.0000048959.29766.ae
55.
TurnerH. A.ShattuckA.FinkelhorD.HambyS. (2016). Polyvictimization and youth violence exposure across contexts. Journal of Adolescent Health, 58, 208–214. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.09.021
56.
WestenD. (1994). Toward an integrative model of affect regulation: Applications to social-psychological research. Journal of Personality, 62, 641–667. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1994.tb00312.x
57.
WosuA. C.GelayeB.WillamsM. (2015). History of childhood sexual abuse and risk of prenatal and postpartum depression or depressive symptoms: An epidemiologic review. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 18, 659–671. doi:10.1007/s00737-015-0533-0
58.
WrightM. O.CrawfordE.Del CastilloD. (2009). Childhood emotional maltreatment and later psychological distress among college students: The mediating role of maladaptive schemas. Child Abuse and Neglect, 33, 59–68. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2008.12.007
59.
WrightM.Fopma-LoyJ.OberleK. (2012). In their words: The experience of mothering as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 537–552. doi:10.1017/S0954579412000144
