History of Childhood Abuse and Intergenerational Support to Mothers in Adulthood

• Author: Sara M. Moorman,Jooyoung Kong
• Date: 01 August 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12285
• Published date: 01 August 2016

J K Boston College

S M. M Boston College∗

History of Childhood Abuse and Intergenerational

Support to Mothers in Adulthood

The authors examined the association between

maternal childhood abuse and the frequency of

providing social support to mothers when the

victim is an adult and investigated the mediating

effects of internal working models (self-esteem,

positive relations with others) and maladaptive

coping. Using data from the National Survey of

Midlife Development in the United States II, they

analyzed a sample of 887 adult children using

a structural equation modeling approach. The

results showed that maternal childhood abuse

was associated with providing less frequent

emotional support to mothers, although the

authors did not nd signicant mediating effects

of internal working models and maladaptive

coping in the association between child abuse

and intergenerational support giving. The nd-

ings suggest implications for theory, practice,

and policy to address specic concerns and

possible challenges that adults with a history

of childhood abuse may experience in the

relationship with their mothers.

Life course researchers have stressed that

parental childhood abuse can have a long-lasting

impact on the victim throughout the life course.

School of Social Work, Boston College, 140

Commonwealth Ave., Chestnut Hill, MA 02467

(jooyoung.kong@bc.edu).

∗Department of Sociology and Institute on Aging, Boston

College, 140 Commonwealth Ave.,McGuinn Hall 426,

Chestnut Hill, MA 02467.

This article was edited by Linda Waite.

Key Words: attachment, child abuse, intergenerationalrela-

tions, structural equation modeling.

Child abuse is dened as “Any recent act or

failure to act on the part of a parent or care-

taker which results in death, serious physical or

emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation;

or an act or failure to act, which presents an

imminent risk of serious harm” (Child Abuse

Prevention and Treatment Act Reauthorization

Act of 2010). Adults with histories of childhood

abuse may experience physical, mental, or

emotional problems even in their middle or late

adulthood (Briere & Jordan, 2009; Corwin &

Keeshin, 2011; Norman et al., 2012). Beyond

these individual-level effects, parental abuse in

childhood can negatively affect interpersonal

relationships in adulthood, especially close rela-

tionships, such as those with a spouse/partner or

offspring (Berlin, Appleyard, & Dodge, 2011;

Riggs, Cusimano, & Benson, 2011).

Despite this, studies that have examined the

adult relationships of victims have overlooked

the effects of childhood abuse on social support

provision to parents. One might assume that

adults with histories of parental abuse might

sever ties with their parents and thus do not

provide them with social support. Nonetheless,

at least some adult victims report maintaining

relationships with their abusive parents (Span,

2014). Altruism or lial obligation may motivate

adult children with a history of childhood abuse

to support their parents (Chappell & Funk, 2012;

Klaus, 2009; Stein et al., 1998).

Thus, the present study had two primary

aims. First, we examined whether and how a

history of parental childhood abuse is related to

the amount of emotional and instrumental sup-

port provided to mothers when the abused child

reaches adulthood. Second, we investigated

926 Journal of Marriage and Family 78 (August 2016): 926–938

DOI:10.1111/jomf.12285