Dear Community Members,
We are writing to thank you for your help and support in recruiting participants for
the Parenting Project at Eastern Michigan University. Because the physical and
psychological changes that women experience during pregnancy and in the first year
after birth have tremendous implications for mothers and their infants, this
research study aimed to better understand how multiple factors during pregnancy
affect women’s physical and mental health, as well as their relationships with their
babies after birth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Where Participants Heard about the Study ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks to the help of numerous organizations in our community, such as yours, we
have successfully enrolled all 120 participants in a record amount of time (a little
over one year)! We have learned a great deal about various factors which can
impact mothers and their babies and are excited to share some of these
preliminary findings. You may be interested to know that our participants heard
about our study from many recruitment locations: 23% from several communitybased health clinics serving low-income and/or uninsured individuals, 18% from the
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) social service program, 16% from student
areas in one regional-level university and one community college, 12% from a
“community baby shower” sponsored by local social service programs, 7% from Head
Start and local daycare programs, 7% from subsidized and/or temporary housing
facilities, 5% from second-hand, donation centers for pregnant women and young
children, 2% from a parenting class, and 10% from “other” (women heard about it
through somebody else). These results reflect our achieved goal of recruiting
women directly from the community rather than, for example, through major
hospital obstetrics/gynecology clinics.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Description of the Sample ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As we had hoped, we were able to include a diverse group of mothers. Women’s
ages at enrollment ranged from 18 to 42 with an average age of 26 years. Thirty
percent of the sample is made up of first-time mothers. Forty-seven percent
identified themselves as African-American, 36% as Caucasian, 12% as Biracial, 2%
Asian American and Arab American, and 1% as “other.” The majority of women
were single and had never been married (64%), with an additional 28% married, 4%
separated, and 4% divorced, at the first interview.
With regard to education, 20% reported having a high school diploma or less, 57%
reported taking some college courses or attending trade school, 14% reported
having a 4-year college degree, and 9% had some graduate level schooling.
However, despite the relatively wide range of educational attainment, the present
sample is economically disadvantaged, overall. The median monthly family income is
$1,500. Additionally, the majority of women receive services from WIC (73%),
have public health insurance (75%), and receive food stamps and/or public cash
assistance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Study Findings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Below you will see a summary of some of our initial findings based on the interviews
conducted with women during pregnancy. Please note that we haven’t yet published
any of these findings and they are preliminary; therefore, please do not cite them
anywhere without permission.
Mothers’ Experiences with Childhood Maltreatment
One preliminary finding from this study was that many women experienced some
form of childhood maltreatment including physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse
and/or physical and emotional neglect. An absence of childhood maltreatment
appeared to protect women from experiencing domestic violence from a romantic
partner during pregnancy. On the other hand, the presence of childhood
maltreatment was associated with a greater likelihood of experiencing domestic
violence even during pregnancy, a vulnerable time for both women and their
fetuses. Thus, it is important for providers to inquire about a history of
interpersonal violence in pregnant and post-partum women and to help women get
the help they may need.
Other Associations with Mothers’ Experiences with Domestic Violence
In our sample, a large number of women reported experiencing some form of
domestic violence during adulthood from romantic partners. For example, over
90% of participants had experienced domestic violence in their lifetime if we
included forms of psychological or emotional abuse, and just over 50% had
experienced physical and/or sexual domestic violence during adulthood. Many of
the women experienced domestic violence during their current pregnancies, which
is consistent with previous literature suggesting that pregnancy may increase some
women’s risk for domestic violence. Also, women who experienced more violence
(all types) reported more mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress
symptoms. Thus, providers working with pregnant women may wish to assess for a
history of domestic violence, including both present and past domestic violence, as
this type of history makes women more vulnerable to emotional distress, which in
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turn, affects women’s health.
Aside from childhood abuse, our findings suggest that more positive relationships
with mothers during one’s own childhood were related to less severe and chronic
domestic violence women experienced in adulthood. That is, better relationships
with parents during childhood (including things such as feeling loved and supported)
protected women from violent romantic relationships during adulthood. Positive
relationships with parents were also associated with less anxiety and insecurity in
adult romantic relationships. Again, it appears that the quality of relationships
women experienced during childhood was associated with the quality of
relationships with partners later in life.
Other Findings related to Mothers’ Mental Health during Pregnancy
Previous research suggests that many pregnant women experience significant
emotional distress, perhaps related to both physiological and psychological
stressors related to pregnancy. In our study, preliminary findings indicated that
mothers with less insecurity and less conflict in their romantic relationships and
more family social support had less depressive symptoms. Thus, the quality of
women’s relationships with important people in their life was an important predictor
of emotional functioning.
Also, although a little over 20% of participants reporting drinking alcohol during the
current pregnancy and over 30% reported smoking cigarettes at some point during
pregnancy, women who reported less symptoms of depression and anxiety used
substances less. Also, more maternal education was related to less alcohol and
nicotine use. Thus, better mental health and more education protected against
substance use during pregnancy.
Findings related to Child Abuse Potential
Previous research suggests that certain characteristics make people more
vulnerable to abusing their own children, including things such as rigid ways of
thinking, feelings of isolation, feelings of being taken advantage of by others, and
general unhappiness. Using well-established measures, we found a number of things
were related to child abuse potential during pregnancy. For example, we found that
all types of domestic violence were related to more child abuse potential as
reported by women themselves. More specifically, women’s experiences of
psychological violence from romantic partners and violence during the current
pregnancy (as compared to past violence) increased child abuse potential. On the
flip side, women who experienced less violence from partners had lower child abuse
potential scores.
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In addition, more maternal education, less anxiety and depression, and less
substance use were related to lower child abuse potential.
Finally, mothers who reported more positive relationships with their own parents
during childhood (particularly with mothers) had lower child abuse potential, as did
women who reported more social support from friends & family. In particular,
support from family members was strongly related to less child abuse potential.
Thus, talking with women about their childhood relationships with parents and
increasing social support before the infant is born may be possible intervention
goals.
Overall, these results indicate that parenting may already be compromised among
some women who have experienced difficult relationships and/or who have mental
health distress during pregnancy. The latter risk factors are important to target
in order to prevent possible child abuse from occurring in the future. It is
important to note that these associations were with child abuse potential, not
actual child abuse.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Conclusions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We hope these preliminary results show how important our study is. Results from
this study will have direct implications for service providers working with
vulnerable pregnant women and their babies in our community. This is just the
beginning. We are following this sample through the infant’s first year of life and
possibly beyond that! We are collecting more data at 3 months and 12 months post
-partum and hope to share those later results with you soon.
Thank You Again for Helping
us with this Study!!
Graduate Research Assistants with primary
investigator, Dr. Alissa Huth-Bocks
Undergraduate Research Assistants with primary
investigator, Dr. Alissa Huth-Bocks
If you have any questions about the Parenting Project please feel free to contact
the research office at (734) 487-2238. Thank you.
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