Thesis (M.S.M.) PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between maternal trauma exposure and children's social skills in preschool. METHODS: We nested a prospective cohort study within an ongoing randomized controlled trial of a maternal depression prevention intervention. Each participating mother had a three to five year-old child in Head Start. Maternal trauma history was assessed at baseline. Six months later, Head Start teachers (masked to both study arm and mothers' depression status) completed the Social Skills Rating system (SSRS) to assess children's social skills and problem behaviors. SSRS scores of children of mothers with and without a trauma history were compared using t-tests for bivariate comparisons. To evaluate for potential effect measure modification and confounding, we conducted a stratified analysis by the variables of interest. We evaluated for effect measure modification by comparing stratum-specific estimates to each other. we then evaluated for confounding by comparing the standardized to the crude estimates. Finally, we conducted a multivariate analysis, adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: Eighty-two mother-child pairs completed the baseline and follow-up evaluations. Sixty mothers (73%) reported a history of trauma. The most common traumatic exposures included emotional abuse (58%), the violent death of a close contact (53%), and physical assault (43%). In the bivariate analysis, children of mothers with a history of trauma had lower overall social skills scores when compared to children of mothers without trauma [101.48 (54th percentile) vs. 109.18 (66th percentile), p. 0.04]. When adjusted for multiple potential confounders, mean social skills scores were 10.01 points lower (95% CI -18.88, -1.14) for children of mothers with a history of trauma. There was no evidence of effect measure modification by study group assignment, ethnicity single parenthood, or depression score. CONCLUSIONS: Among urban Head Start mothers, trauma exposure is common and is associated with lower child social skills. Because social skills are a critical aspect of kindergarten readiness, specifically addressing maternal trauma in preschool programs that serve high-risk populations may be important. / 2031-01-01

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The purpose of the current study was to investigate the dynamic process of disclosure within the adolescent–mother relationship by examining maternal characteristics that encourage adolescent disclosure of distressing experiences and risk factors that may interfere with mothers’ abilities to be supportive. A community sample of 66 mothers and their adolescent children (M = 14.31 years, 58% female) participated. The adolescents disclosed an emotionally distressing experience to their mothers for the first time. Mothers’ validating behaviors and emotional distress in response to their adolescents’ expressions of negative emotion were predictive of adolescent disclosure. Adolescents who perceived their mothers to be validating of their negative emotions made more substantive disclosures and found disclosing to their mothers to be more beneficial. In contrast, greater maternal emotional distress was associated with less substantive disclosures, and maternal emotional distress was further indirectly associated with less substantive and beneficial disclosures through less maternal validation of negative emotion. A developmental model of maternal risk for emotional distress in response to adolescent negative emotion was also supported. Maternal history of childhood trauma perpetrated by someone close to the mother (i.e., high betrayal) was associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing subsequent interpersonal trauma as an early adult; maternal interpersonal trauma in early adulthood was associated with mothers’ increased difficulty regulating their emotions; and greater maternal emotion dysregulation was associated with higher levels of maternal distress in response to adolescent negative emotion. An indirect association between maternal childhood high betrayal trauma and emotional distress was also supported through continued trauma and emotion regulation difficulties. These findings suggest that when disclosing distressing experiences to their mothers, adolescents consider how validating their mothers are of their expression of negative emotion, as well as how distressing their emotions are for their mothers. Mothers’ histories of childhood trauma, ongoing interpersonal trauma in adulthood, and emotion regulation difficulties were further implicated in mothers’ reactions to their adolescents’ expressions of negative emotion. Interventions targeted to increase maternal emotion regulation skills and validation of children’s negative emotions may be an effective way to promote better mother–adolescent communication, especially in regard to distressing experiences.