Citation

Gray SA, Forbes D, Briggs-Gowan MJ, Carter AS. Attach. Hum. Dev. 2015; 17(6): 615-634.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology , University of Massachusetts Boston , Boston , MA , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/14616734.2015.1100207

PMID

26503175

Abstract

This study employed a relational post-traumatic stress frame to explore the co-contribution of young children's exposure to violence and caregiver insightfulness on child behavioral outcomes in a high-risk, non-referred sample of caregivers and preschoolers (n = 64; mean age 3.83 years, SD = .77). Caregiver insightfulness did not have a main effect on child outcomes but did moderate the relation between violence exposure and child behavior across all observed outcomes. Violence-exposed children with non-insightful caregivers demonstrated higher caregiver-rated internalizing and externalizing behaviors and observer-rated negative affect than all other groups. Among children not exposed to violence, insightfulness was not related to children's behavior problems or negative affect, suggesting violence-specific processes. Though cross-sectional, results suggest that the effects of violence and caregiver insightfulness on child outcomes are contingent on one another and that caregiver insightfulness may play a protective role in contexts of violence.

Language: en