A LEGACY OF VIOLENCE IN NONORGANIC FAILURE-TO-THRIVE

It is often postulated that a mother's past experiences influence her ability to function as a parent. If those past experiences involve her as a victim of abuse, what lies ahead for her offspring? We studied 5 9 mothers of children referred for nonorganic failure to thrive (NOFTT ) to the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and compared th eir abuse history with a group of 131 mothers of children with normal growth. The mothers of NOFTT children were younger but of the same soc ioeconomic groups as the comparison mothers. Mothers of NOFTT children had a significantly higher history of abuse when compared to the comp arison group p< 0.001. A surprising 80% of mothers of NOFTT children r eported they were victims of abuse. We alert clinicians to the likelih ood that mothers of children with NOFTT may be victims of abuse and th at successful treatment of the child depends upon treatment of the mot her-child dyad.