Generations²: Weakened Resilience in Parenting Self-Efficacy in Pregnant Women who were Abused in Childhood: An Experimental Test

This dataset presents statistical data for an experimental study in which we tested whether the combination of a history of childhood abuse and confrontation with difficult infant temperament is associated with negative changes in parenting self-efficacy. First-time pregnant women (N = 243) reported on the occurrence of abuse in childhood and completed a task in which they were asked to respond to infant cry sounds. During this task women filled out their parenting self-efficacy after a baseline measure, after an easy-to-soothe infant (baby 1) and after a difficult-to-soothe infant (baby 2). The dataset contains information with respect to abuse experiences (yes/no and resolved/unresolved) and parenting self-efficacy measures (baseline, baby 1, and baby 2). Results showed that women who reported childhood abuse did not differ from women who reported no childhood abuse in parenting self-efficacy at baseline or in response to the easy-to-soothe infant (relative to baseline), but decreased more in parenting self-efficacy following the difficult-to-soothe infant. Effects did not vary according to resolution of trauma.