NCJ Number
231511
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 25 Issue: 6 Dated: August 2010 Pages: 557-574
Date Published
August 2010
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relationship between maternal perceptions of infants' temperament and contributing factors that may affect the mother-child relationship.
Abstract
Infants and young children reported for maltreatment are a particularly vulnerable population. Many of these young children are maltreated by their own mothers. A mother's description of her infant's temperament can inform researchers', practitioners', and policymakers' understanding of the relational problems between the mother and her young child and thereby sharpen the focus of intervention and treatment programs. The study examines maternal perception of infants' temperament, using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. The sample consisted of 1,001 biological mothers of children aged birth to 23 months and investigated for child maltreatment. About a fifth of the sample reported that for more than half the time their infants or toddlers were crying or upset and were difficult to soothe or calm. During the average day, about 40 percent of infants or toddlers were reportedly fussy and irritable half the time or longer. The most negative infant behaviors were consistently reported by 13.6 percent of the mothers. In multivariate analyses, variables significantly associated with the mother's perception of difficult temperament were physical victimization by an intimate partner and the mother's own childhood history of abuse and neglect. Knowledge about mothers' perceptions of difficult temperament and about predictors of these perceptions can help identify mother-child dyads in need of dyadic-psychotherapy and domestic violence interventions, which can help heal the mother-child relationship and restore the capacity for mutual joy and protection of the child well-being. Tables and references (Published Abstract)