DISSOCIATIVE MOTHERS SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE OF PARENTING

This study examined to what extent the symptoms of dissociative mother s interfered with their parenting and their subjective experiences of mothering. A group of 54. dissociative inpatient or day-patient mother s, 20 nondissociative inpatient mothers, and 20 hospital staff mothers were screened for Dissociative Disorders using the Structured Clinica l Interview for Dissociative Disorders (SCID-D). They were then asked to fill out a self-report questionnaire on various aspects of motherin g. This questionnaire, the Subjective Experiences of Parenting Scale ( SEPS), examined 14 parenting characteristics: parenting partner suppor t; relative support; abusiveness towards the child; extent to which sy mptoms interfered with parenting; constructive parenting traits; suppo rtive versus hurtful discipline; extent of showing affection; ability to express affection; attachment behaviors; cognitive distortions; reg ulation of anger; self versus mother in parenting; subjective experien ce of mothering; and actions to promote the developmental growth of th e child. Dissociatives presented significantly more negative parenting behavior and related attributes than staff controls on 13 of the 14 p arenting characteristics. Compared to nondissociative patients, the di ssociative cohort presented poorer parenting behavior and related attr ibutes on 9 of the 14 characteristics. Overall, the dissociatives expe rienced more problems with parenting attitudes and behaviors than eith er comparison group. Dissociative mothers manifested affective, behavi oral, and cognitive difficulties in parenting.