Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Aug 3:6:27792.
doi: 10.3402/ejpt.v6.27792. eCollection 2015.

Assessing the family dynamics of childhood maltreatment history with the Childhood Attachment and Relational Trauma Screen (CARTS)

Paul Frewen  1 , Matthew Brown  2 , Jonathan DePierro  3 , Wendy D'Andrea  3 , Allan Schore  4
Affiliations

Assessing the family dynamics of childhood maltreatment history with the Childhood Attachment and Relational Trauma Screen (CARTS)

Paul Frewen et al. Eur J Psychotraumatol. .

Abstract

Background: Existing survey measures of childhood trauma history generally fail to take into account the relational-socioecological environment in which childhood maltreatment occurs. Variables such as the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim, the emotional availability of caregivers, witnessing the abuse of others, and the respondent's own thoughts, feelings, and actions in response to maltreatment are rarely assessed by current measures.

Methods: To address these concerns, the current study further investigated the family dynamics of childhood maltreatment using the Childhood Attachment and Relational Trauma Screen (CARTS) in 1,782 persons assessed online.

Results: Paired differences in means between item-rated descriptiveness of self, mothers, and fathers suggested that respondents' relationship with their biological fathers was less positive and secure than their relationship with their biological mothers, and that biological fathers were more often the perpetrator of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse than biological mothers. However, results further suggested that ratings between self, mothers, and fathers were positively correlated such that, for example, reports of a mother's or a respondent's own abusive behavior were more likely in the presence of reports of a father's abusive behavior. In addition, analyses evaluating witnessing violence demonstrated that fathers were rated as more often violent toward mothers than the reverse, although intimate partner violence was also frequently bidirectional. Analyses of sibling ratings further demonstrated that older brothers were either as or more frequently abusive when compared with parents. Finally, results suggested that childhood emotional, physical, and sexual abuse were much more often perpetrated by family members than extra-familial and non-family members.

Conclusions: In so far as these findings are consistent with the prior childhood trauma and attachment literature, the current study further supports the utility of the CARTS as a means of assessing the family dynamics of childhood attachment and maltreatment within a relational-socioecological framework.

Keywords: Childhood abuse and neglect; attachment; childhood maltreatment; childhood trauma; posttraumatic stress disorder.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Aguilar B, O'Brien K. M, August G. J, Aoun S. L, Hektner J. M. Relationship quality of aggressive children and their siblings: A multiinformant, multimeasure investigation. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. 2001;29(6):479–489. doi: 10.1023/A:1012273024211. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Anderson K. L. Perpetrator or victim? Relationships between intimate partner violence and well-being. Journal of Marriage and Family. 2002;64(4):851–863. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2002.00851.x. - DOI
    1. Archer J. Sex differences in aggression between heterosexual partners: A metaanalytic review. Psychological Bulletin. 2000;126(5):651–680. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.126.5.651. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Armistead L, Klein K, Forehand R. Parental physical illness and child functioning. Clinical Psychology Review. 1995;15(5):409–422. doi: 10.1016/0272-7358(95)00023-I. - DOI
    1. Bates E. A, Graham-Kevan N, Archer J. Testing predictions from the male control theory of men's partner violence. Aggressive Behavior. 2014;40(1):42–55. doi: 10.1002/ab.21499. - DOI - PubMed