Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Variations in behavior problems of preschoolers exposed to domestic violence: the role of mothers’ attunement to children’s emotional experiences
Other Titles:	Journal of family violence
Authors:	Lieberman, Alicia F Johnson, Vanessa K
Keywords:	Health;Child protection;Impact on children and young people
Year:	2007
Publisher:	Kluwer Academic Plenum Publishers
Citation:	22 (5), July 2007
Notes:	The purpose of this study was to identify aspects of family relationships that may protect young children from the pathogenic effects of family violence. Using a sample of 30 preschool-age children whose mothers were physically abused by a partner, we investigated the associations between children’s externalizing and internalizing behavior problems and: (1) the quality of the mother–child relationship, and (2) mothers’ attunement to their child’s sad and angry emotions. Results indicated that clinician ratings of the mother–child relationship, and mothers’ attunement to their child’s experience of emotion each made a unique contribution to the prediction of children’s externalizing behavior. These relationships remained robust, even after taking the severity of domestic violence reported by mothers into consideration. Maternal attunement, however, did not mediate the relationship between marital conflict and children’s behavior problems. No significant link was found between children’s internalizing behavior and maternal attunement to their children’s sadness and anger. Additional findings suggested that mothers with a PTSD diagnosis tended to be less attuned to their child’s experience of sadness. [?2007 Springer. All rights reserved. For further information, visit SpringerLink.]
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/12344
ISSN:	0885-7482
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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