Health Correlates of Abuse History and Moderating Effect of Parenting Stress for Mothers with Mental Disorders.
Jessica R Williams, Brian E McCabe, Lila de Tantillo and 2 others
PMID 32965137WHAT IT FOUND
Abuse history was linked to worse anxiety, depression, fatigue, sleep, pain and substance use in mothers receiving mental health or substance use care.
Higher caregiving load intensified anxiety and sleep problems.
Key findings
01Mothers who experienced abuse in both childhood and adulthood had worse anxiety, depression and fatigue than mothers abused only in childhood, and worse sleep disturbance than mothers never abused or abused only in adulthood.
02More types of abuse were associated with worse anxiety, depression, fatigue, sleep disturbance, pain and substance use.
03Higher caregiving load strengthened the association between abuse history and anxiety, and between abuse history and sleep disturbance.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a secondary analysis of baseline data from a trial that was not designed to test abuse history, parenting stress or health outcomes. The data were cross-sectional, so they cannot show that abuse or parenting stress caused the health problems. Abuse was measured only as yes or no for physical, sexual and emotional abuse, without frequency, chronicity or severity. The analysis was exploratory and tested many outcomes, so findings need confirmation. The sample was mothers in outpatient behavioral health services, mostly Hispanic, so results may not apply to other groups. BMI was missing for some participants because of pregnancy or declined measurement.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that abuse history causes these health problems or that treating parenting stress will improve them. This was a secondary analysis of baseline data from a trial, not a test of an intervention, and it cannot separate abuse from income, partner status, treatment type or other unmeasured factors.