Date of Submission

2014

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

Department Chair

Robert A DiTomasso, PhD, ABPP, Chair, Department of Psychology

First Advisor

Elizabeth A Gosch, PhD, ABPP, Chairperson

Second Advisor

Susan Panichelli Mindel, PhD

Third Advisor

Takato Suzuki, PhD

Fourth Advisor

Sandra Capaldi, PsyD

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between maternal PTSD symptoms and parenting, specifically the authoritarian and permissive parenting styles, and parental dimensions of nurturance, consistency, control, and physical punishment. Participants included a convenience sample of 84 mothers (40% Hispanic, 35% African American, and 25% Caucasian) from a community behavioral-health agency in Philadelphia. The mothers completed a brief demographic questionnaire, the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist – Civilian Version (PCL – C), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Parenting Authority Questionnaire – Revised Version (PAQ – R), and the Parenting Dimensions Inventory – Short Version (PDI – S). Based on PCL – C scores, the sample of mothers was divided into two groups: mothers with low levels of PTSD symptoms and mothers with severe to moderate PTSD symptoms. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was utilized to compare the groups of mothers with low PTSD symptoms with mothers with severe to moderate PTSD symptoms across parenting variables, while controlling for maternal depression. The results of this study indicated that after depression was controlled, maternal PTSD symptom severity was not associated with authoritative, authoritarian, or permissive parenting styles, nor within parenting dimensions of nurturance, consistency, control, and physical punishment.

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