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Psychosocial Predictors of Verbal Aggression towards Infants in a Canadian Perinatal Sample

Oloomi, Sarvenaz

Child maltreatment remains a persistent problem with significant detrimental consequences for child development and psychosocial health (e.g., Sousa et al., 2011). Globally, it is estimated that 2.3% of children are physically abused, while 3.6% of children are emotionally abused at some point during their childhood (Stoltenborgh et al., 2015). Due to the explicit and often visible nature of physical abuse, it has been more extensively studied than less visible forms, such as verbal abuse, which also has lasting negative effects on children. Although abuse is estimated to occur more commonly among younger infants, research has mostly focused on older children (e.g., Black et al., 2001). Specifically, the abuse literature is largely missing research on potential predictors of verbal aggression, especially towards infants (i.e., children under the age of 12 months). In this study we investigated several potential predictors of maternal verbal aggression towards the infant. Specifically, we assessed parenting beliefs and attitudes associated with an increased risk of child maltreatment (prenatally), as well as postpartum depressed mood, sleep, and social support as predictors of verbal aggression towards the infant. Data was collected at 5- 7 weeks and at 6-9 months via questionnaire from 388 English-speaking people in British Columbia. Study hypotheses were tested using negative binomial regression. Consistent with our predictions, depressed mood showed a significant relationship with verbal aggression, B = 1.06, SEB = .02, p < .001, 95%CI [1.02, 1.11]. However, none of the other predictors showed a significant relationship. This research furthers our understanding of risk factors for verbal aggression towards infants with maternal depressed mood emerging as a significant predictor.

Graduating Project

eng

2022-07-19

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/82171

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/