(PS12-42) Piloting a Parenting Group Curriculum for Interrupting Intergenerational Patterns of Abuse

Abusive parenting practices often occur in intergenerational patterns (Bandura 1973; Widom & Wilson, 2014). One third of children who experience abusive parenting continue the pattern with their own children (Oliver, 1993;). Interrupting intergenerational patterns thus seems to be a promising avenue for reducing child maltreatment. Further, researchers have found that caregivers are more engaged with parenting curricula when they address their own experiences of being parented (Buston et al., 2020). However, most parenting interventions focus only on the present child and related parent-child relationship. Therefore, a parenting curriculum that uses a multi-generational approach to interrupting intergenerational patterns of abuse, is gravely needed, especially for those most at risk of child maltreatment.

This study was a preliminary evaluation of a parenting group curriculum developed with the goal of helping caregivers interrupt negative parenting practices passed down via social learning. The curriculum combines Cognitive-Behavioral strategies with concepts from Attachment Theory, Child-Parent Psychotherapy, and Betrayal Trauma Theory. Caregivers gain an understanding of how their experiences of being parenting and their trauma history impact their core beliefs, automatic thoughts, and parenting behaviors and learn cognitive and behavioral strategies to engage in deliberate parenting in line with their parenting values. The group also teaches skills to reduce the risk of maltreatment and strengthen the parent-child relationship, such as effective recognition and response to their child’s needs.

The parenting group was pilot tested on 3 cohorts of mothers receiving services at Thriving Families, a non-profit serving high-risk pregnant and new mothers in the Denver area: Cohort 1 (May 2023), telehealth, n = 18; Cohort 2 (October 2023), telehealth, n = 8; Cohort 3 (anticipated March 2024), in person. Reduced scores on a measure of child abuse potential from pre to post intervention were significantly correlated with caregiver post-intervention agreement with the statement, “I feel that reflecting on how I was parenting is important” (r = 0.42, p = 0.07). Improvements in child-parent closeness were correlated with caregiver agreement with the statement, “I feel empowered to do things differently from my parents” (r = 0.50, p = 0.02). Caregivers who reported higher comfort with sharing in the group also reported decreases in acceptance of couple violence from pre to post intervention (r = 0.45, p = 0.05). With the addition of data from the third cohort, analyses will examine caregiver-reported changes in child abuse potential, violence acceptance, parental stress, and caregiver-child relationships from pre- to post- intervention. Caregiver trauma history, baseline depression and trauma symptoms, caregivers’ relationship to the biological father, and intervention satisfaction will be examined as moderators of treatment progress. These preliminary data suggest that the parenting group is an innovative intervention with potential to reduce distress across generations.