4 - (IOP 4) PTSD, Restrictive Parenting, and the Buffering Role of Coping Self Efficacy Among Black Mothers

Introduction: Black women are at high risk for interpersonal trauma exposure (Davis et al., 2008) and developing PTSD (Jones et al., 2022). PTSD is associated with greater parenting problems broadly, and examinations of Black mothers similarly suggest links between PTSD and challenges in parenting (Cross et al., 2018). Importantly, there is a lack of research on protective factors that might buffer the link between PTSD symptoms and negative parental behaviors among Black women, which is imperative for the development of effective interventions. Thus, the current study examined whether coping self-efficacy – the self-perceived ability to effectively cope with challenging and stressful situations – moderates the relation between PTSD symptoms and restrictive parenting.

Methods: The sample included 47 mothers of 2-4 year olds, recruited from the greater Baltimore/DC area, who identify as Black and met the clinical cut-off for PTSD on the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (Weathers et al., 2013). Participants also completed the Coping Self Efficacy Scale (Chesney et al., 2006), which assesses confidence in problem-focused coping, ability to prevent or manage unpleasant thoughts and emotions, and capacity to request and receive support from friends and family. The active-restrictive subscale of the Parental Behavior Questionnaire (Reid et al., 2015) was used to assess for restrictive parenting, or parental behaviors characterized by high demands and punishment.

Results: A moderation model was conducted in SPSS using the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2022). Coping self-efficacy buffered the relation between PTSD symptoms and restrictive parenting (b = -.02, SE = .01, p = .024). Higher PTSD severity predicted more restrictive parenting at low levels of coping self-efficacy (b = .27, SE = .08, p = .001), but this effect became nonsignificant at average (b = .09, SE = .07, p = .17) and high (b = -.01, SE = .09, p = .93) levels of coping self-efficacy. Overall, the model explained 32% of the variance in restrictive parenting.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that interventions addressing low coping self-efficacy, for instance by enhancing coping skills (e.g., problem-focused coping, cognitive reappraisal, seeking social support), may reduce restrictive parenting behaviors among Black mothers with PTSD. Future research is needed to better understand contributors to differences in coping self-efficacy among Black women with PTSD.