Maternal Violence-Related Posttraumatic Stress and Maternal Physiology, Perception, and Behavior with Very Young Children

 

Our research team studies the effects of maternal interpersonal violence, maternal PTSD and comorbid psychopathology on mothers' interactive behavior with their children under the age of 4 years, as well as on caregivers' perception of their children and physiologic response to child distress. We are interested in understanding the psychological mechanisms by which interpersonal violent experience is communicated across generations via non-verbal and verbal behavior within the caregiver-child dyad. We are particularly concerned with the impact such communication has on the development of children's emotional regulation and social cognition during the first four years of life. The ultimate goal of our work is to develop effective interventions that will interrupt cycles of violence in families. We are exploring markers for intervention-based change in parental sensitivity and response to child distress. We have also begun to explore the relationships of maternal brain functioning to maternal PTSD and mentalization in response to child distress and mentalization in response to child distress via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We are also using fMRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) results to predict response to child-parent intervention.

Selected Publications:

Schechter DS, Coots T, Zeanah CH, Coates SW, Davies, M, Myers, M, Trabka, KA, Liebowitz MR (2005) Maternal mental representations of the child in an inner-city clinical sample: Violence-related posttraumatic stress and reflective functioning. Attachment and Human Development, 7: 313-331.

Schechter DS (2004) How post-traumatic stress affects mothers' perceptions of their babies: A brief video feedback intervention makes a difference. Journal of Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families, 24: 43-49.

Coates SW, Schechter DS (2004) Preschoolers' traumatic stress post-9/11: Relational and developmental perspectives. Disaster Psychiatry: A Closer Look. Psychiatric Clinics of North America , 27: 473-489.

Schechter DS, Zeanah CH, Myers MM, Brunelli SA, Liebowitz MR, Marshall RD, Coates SW, Trabka KT, Baca P, Hofer MA (2004) Psychobiological dysregulation in violence-exposed mothers: Salivary cortisol of mothers with very young children pre- and post-separation stress. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 68: 319-337.

Schechter DS (2004) Intergenerational communication of violent traumatic experience within and by the dyad: The case of a mother and her toddler. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 3: 203-232.

Schechter DS, Kaminer, T, Grienenberger JF, Amat J (2003) Fits and starts: A mother-infant case study involving pseudoseizures across three generations in the context of violent trauma history (with Commentaries by RD Marshall, CH Zeanah, T Gaensbauer). Infant Mental Health Journal, 24: 510-28.

Schechter DS, Brunelli SA, Cunningham N, Brown J, Baca P (2002) Mother-daughter relationships and child sexual abuse: A pilot study of 35 mothers and daughters (ages 1-9 years). Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 66: 39-60.

Schechter DS, Marshall RD, Salman E, Goetz D, Davies SO, Liebowitz MR (2000) Ataque de nervios and childhood trauma history: An association? Journal of Traumatic Stress, 13: 529-534.


Book Chapters:

Schechter, D.S. (2003). Intergenerational communication of maternal violent trauma: Understanding the interplay of reflective functioning and posttraumatic psychopathology. In S.W. Coates, J.L. Rosenthal and D.S. Schechter (eds.) September 11: Trauma and Human Bonds. Hillside , NJ : Analytic Press, Inc. pp. 115-142.

Schechter, D.S. (2003). Gewaltbedingte Traumata in der Generationenfolge: Bericht ueber eine laufende klinische Studie mit Muettern und Kleinkindern. In K.-H. Brisch and T. Hellbruegge (eds.). Bindung und Trauma. Risiken und Schutzfaktoren in der kindlichen Entwicklung. Stuttgart , Germany : Klett-Cotta Verlag. pp 224-234.


Published Abstracts:

Schechter, D.S., Coots, T., Zeanah, C.H., Myers, M.M., Kaminer, T., Davies, M., Liebowitz, M.R. (2004). Consequences of interpersonal violence exposure on maternal perception and behavior with young children. XIV Biennial International Conference on Infant Studies, International Society for Infant Studies, Conference Proceedings CD-ROM.

Schechter, D.S., Zeanah, C.H., Myers, M.M., Marshall, R.D., Brunelli, S.A., Coates, S.W., Baca, P., Hofer, M.A. (2002). HPA-axis functioning in mothers with interpersonal violent trauma history. XIII Biennial International Conference on Infant Studies, International Society for Infant Studies, Conference Proceedings CD-ROM.


Edited Books:

Coates, S.W., Rosenthal, J., Schechter, D.S. (2003). September 11: Trauma and Human Bonds. Hillside , NJ : The Analytic Press.