Digital Commons Network^™

Predicting Child Abuse Potential During Pregnancy, Kylene Krause

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined how mothers' perceptions of their childhood relationships with their mothers, expectations about being a mother, demographic characteristics, and perceptions of social support are related to a woman's child abuse potential during pregnancy. Data were collected during an initial interview with women during their third trimester of pregnancy as part of a larger longitudinal study. One hundred twenty high-risk women between the ages of 18 and 42 were recruited through fliers from public locations and pregnancy-related programs in southeastern Michigan to participate in this study. Results showed that perceptions of a higher quality childhood relationship with one's mother, …