Trauma and Parenting Beliefs : Exploring the Ethnotheories and Socialization Goals of Palestinian Mothers

Parenting beliefs are important to infant wellbeing, but there is a lack of research into their role in war conditions. We examined (1) how maternal traumatic experiences (war events and childhood abuse) and mental health would be associated with parenting beliefs about good childrearing practices (ethnotheories) and desirable child characteristics (socialization goals) and (2) whether parenting beliefs mediate the impact of traumatic experiences and mental health on mother-infant interaction and infant development. Palestinian mothers (N = 510) participated during pregnancy and at four and 12 months postpartum. They reported current traumatic war events, emotional and physical abuse in their own childhood and mental health (posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety symptoms), their ethnotheories and socialization goals and the quality of dyadic mother-infant interactions and infant developmental skills (language, fine-motor, and gross-motor). High maternal exposure to traumatic war events was associated with higher autonomy-enhancing-and lower relatedness-enhancing-socialization goals. Conversely, maternal childhood abuse was associated with higher relatedness-enhancing-and lower autonomy-enhancing-socialization goals. High maternal exposure to traumatic war events was associated with high levels of positive dyadic interaction, whereas high emotional and physical abuse and mental health problems were associated with low levels of positive dyadic interaction. Parenting beliefs did not mediate the impact of maternal traumatic experiences and mental health on dyadic interaction or infant development. The nature of maternal traumatic experiences was central for the socialization goals in unique and specific ways. The findings emphasize the meaningfulness of parenting values, goals, and practices among mothers caring for their infants in war conditions.Peer reviewe

War trauma and infant motor, cognitive, and socioemotional development : Maternal mental health and dyadic interaction as explanatory processes

Background: Taking care of infants in conditions of war is highly demanding and a few studies reveal the negative impact of war trauma on maternal and infant well-being. Yet, little is known regarding the influence of trauma on infant development and the potential explanatory mechanisms. First, the present study examines how mothers’ prenatal exposure to traumatic war events is associated with infant cognitive, motor, and socioemotional development. Second, it analyses the mediating roles of maternal postpartum mental health problems, quality of dyadic mother-infant interaction, and earlier infant development (at six months) in the association between prenatal traumatic war events and infants’ developmental skills at 18 months. Method: This prospective three-wave study involved 502 Palestinian pregnant females in their first trimester during the 2014 Gaza War and participated at delivery (T1) and when the child was six (T2;N = 392) and eighteen (T3; N = 386) months of age. Mothers reported their exposure to traumatic war events (human and material losses, horrors, and threat to life) at T1 and T2, and researchers photo-documented the extent of destruction at T1. Mothers reported infants’ language, fine- and gross-motor, and socioemotional skills at T2 and researchers tested infants’ motor, cognitive-language and socioemotional skills using the Bayley Scales of Infant development (BSID-II) at T3. Mothers reported their mental health problems (symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], depression and somatization) at T2 and T3 as well as dyadic interaction quality (the emotional availability self-report, [EA-SR] brief) at T2. Results: First, the structural equation model (SEM) on direct effects indicated, in contrast to our hypotheses, that maternal prenatal exposure to traumatic war events did not associate with infants’ developmental skills at T2 and predicted higher level of developmental skills at T3. Second, as hypothesized, we found two negative underlying mechanisms (paths) between high exposure and low levels of motor, cognitive-language, and socioemotional skills at T3: (1) through increased maternal mental health problems at T2, which then were associated with problems at T3, and (2) through increased maternal mental health problems at T2, which then were associated with a low quality of mother-infant-interaction and low level of infant developmental skills at T2. Conclusion: Improving maternal mental health and encouraging close and positive dyadic interaction can be critical for infant sensorimotor, cognitive, and socioemotional development in war conditions.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Maternal pre-and postnatal mental health and infant development in war conditions: The Gaza Infant Study.

Objective: Women and their infants need special protection in war context, as traumatic events can risk maternal mental and obstetric health and compromise infant development. This prospective study examined, first, how exposure to war trauma is associated with maternal mental health in pregnancy and postpartum, obstetric and newborn health, and infant development. Second, it tested the role of maternal mental health and obstetric risks in mediating between war trauma and infant development. Method: Palestinian women (N= 511) from the Gaza strip participated during pregnancy (T1) and at 4 (T2) and 12 (T3) months postpartum. They reported PTSD, depressive, anxiety, and dissociative symptoms, as well as pregnancy complications, newborn health risks such as prematurity, and infant sensorimotor and language development. Results: First, exposure to war trauma was associated with high levels of

The protective role of maternal post-traumatic growth and cognitive trauma processing in Palestinian mothers and infants: a longitudinal study

Background Women at pre partum and post partum are especially susceptible to war trauma because they struggle to protect their infants from danger. Trauma research suggests increased problems in maternal mental health and infant development. Yet many cognitive-emotional processes affect the trauma survivors' mental health, such as post-traumatic growth and post-traumatic cognition. The aim of this study was to examine whether a mother's high post-traumatic growth and optimal post-traumatic cognition could protect their own mental health and their infant's stress regulation from the effects of traumatic war experiences. Methods This three-wave prospective study involved Palestinian women living in the Gaza Strip who were at the second trimester of pregnancy (T1), women with infants aged 4 months (T2), and women with children aged 12 months (T3) months. The participants reported their war experiences

The protective role of maternal posttraumatic growth and cognitive trauma processing among Palestinian mothers and infants

War survivors use multiple cognitive and emotional processes to protect their mental health from the negative impacts of trauma. Because mothers and infants may be especially vulnerable to trauma in conditions of war, it is urgent to determine which cognitive and emotional processes are effective for preventing negative trauma impacts.” This study examined whether mothers’ high posttraumatic growth (PTG) and positive posttraumatic cognitions (PTC) protected (a) their own mental health and (b) their infants’ stress regulation and sensorimotor and language development from the effects of war trauma. The participants were 511 Palestinian mothers and their infants living in the Gaza strip. The mothers were interviewed in their second trimester of pregnancy (T1) as well as when the infant was four months (T2) and twelve months (T3). Mothers reported posttraumatic growth (PTG; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996) at T1

War trauma and maternal-fetal attachment predicting maternal mental health, infant development, and dyadic interaction in Palestinian families

Optimal maternal–fetal attachment (MFA) is believed to be beneficial for infant well-being and dyadic interaction, but research is scarce in general and among risk populations. Our study involved dyads living in war conditions and examined how traumatic war trauma associates with MFA and which factors mediate that association. It also modeled the role of MFA in predicting newborn health, infant development, mother–infant interaction, and maternal postpartum mental health. Palestinian women from the Gaza Strip (N = 511) participated during their second trimester (T1), and when their infants were 4 (T2) and 12 (T3) months. Mothers reported MFA (interaction with, attributions to, and fantasies about the fetus), social support, and prenatal mental health (post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety) at T1, newborn health at T2, and the postpartum mental health, infant’s sensorimotor and language

A cross sectional study of the relationship between the exposure of pregnant women to military attacks in 2014 in Gaza and the load of heavy metal contaminants in the hair of …

Objective Metal contamination of humans in war areas has rarely been investigated. Weaponry’s heavy metals become environmentally stable war remnants and accumulate in living things. They also pose health risks in terms of prenatal intake, with potential long term risks for reproductive and children’s health. We studied the contribution of military attacks to the load of 23 metals in the hair of Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip, who were pregnant at the time of the military attacks in 2014, and their newborns. We compared the metal load in the mothers with values for adult hair from outside the war area (RHS) as the reference. We investigated heavy metals trans-passing in utero, and assessed if the heavy metal intake could derive from sources unrelated to the war. Design Cross sectional study. Participants and setting Cross sectional convenience sample of 502 mothers delivering in the Gaza Strip and their

Psychosocial intervention and dreaming among war-affected Palestinian children.

We examined, first, what kind of dreams can protect children’s mental health from impacts of war trauma, and, second, analyzed whether a psychosocial intervention (Teaching Recovery Techniques [TRT]) is effective in changing dream characteristics (eg, bizarreness, emotional valence, and the dreamer’s role) to be more beneficial or functional. Dream data of 257 Palestinian children (56.3% girls: 10–13-years) based on 14-night diaries was collected in the aftermath of a major war. Of these children 150 participated in the TRT and 107 were controls. They reported their posttraumatic stress (PTSD), depressive symptoms, and psychosocial well-being at baseline and 6 months follow-up. Principal component analyses revealed 3 dream dimensions: Unpleasant, Fragmented, and Lonely Dreams; Practical, Narrative, and Social Dreams; and Pleasant, Active, and Symbolic Dreams. Practical, Narrative, and Social