Mean-level and fluctuations of early maternal sensitivity predicting partner violence perpetration in adulthood:

Previous research has found that adverse childhood experiences, including experiencing and witnessing physical and sexual abuse, increase a person’s likelihood of engaging in aggression and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration (Jung et al., 2019; Norton-Baker et al., 2019; Narayan et al., 2017; Narayan et al., 2013). However, other early childhood experiences that do not rise to the level of maltreatment, such as maternal hostility, also have an influence on maladaptive relationship behaviors in adulthood (e.g., dehumanization perpetration) (Pizzirani et al., 2021). Thus, there are compelling reasons to believe that maternal sensitivity (i.e., the amount of affection and support mothers display towards their child) prospectively predicts partner violence perpetration and perhaps victimization in adult relationships. However, there are also good reasons to believe that inconsistency in maternal sensitivity, especially early in childhood, may forecast violence perpetration and perhaps victimization, even above and beyond mean levels of maternal sensitivity. According to attachment theory, attachment working models (schemas) and behavior beginning in childhood should be shaped by not only the quality of care, but also by the stability of care received (Bowlby, 1973). For example, children who have typically affectionate and attentive but unpredictable mothers ought to develop insecure attachment models and patterns, which in turn should impact their adult relationships, including how they may approach conflict. Therefore, we hypothesize that participants who experienced larger fluctuations in maternal sensitivity during their childhoods will report higher IPV perpetration and perhaps victimization as well as couple-level violence in adulthood, above and beyond (controlling for) the mean level of maternal sensitivity they received. Moreover, we hypothesize that these effects will be mediated through lower secure base script knowledge in early adulthood.

The analyses will be conducted using the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation (MLSRA), an ongoing longitudinal study following the first-born children of mothers living below the poverty line at childbirth.