“My own flesh and blood”: The implications of child maltreatment for the orientation towards the body among dyads of mothers and daughters

Background: Orientation to bodily signals reflects the ways in which individuals interpret their bodily sensations. Such orientation is formed within early interpersonal context. Findings reveal that trauma may result in catastrophic and fearful orientation towards bodily signals. However, not much is known regarding the link between trauma and orientation towards the body as manifested within a family intergenerational context. Objective: This study examines the link between child maltreatment, complex posttraumatic stress symptoms (CPTS symptoms), and a posttraumatic orientation to bodily signals among dyads of mothers and their young adult daughters. Participants and setting: 194 mother-daughter dyads (mothers’ mean age = 56, SD = 6.3; daughters’ mean age = 26, SD = 3.03) completed self-reported questionnaires, assessing child maltreatment (CTQ), CPTS symptoms (ITQ), and orientation to bodily signals (pain catastrophizing, anxiety sensitivity-physical, body vigilance). Results: Orientation to bodily signals was associated with child maltreatment, through the mediation of CPTS symptoms among mothers (indirect effects between 0.13–0.28; p > 0.021) and daughters (indirect effects between 0.21–0.11; p > 0.032). Mothers’ child maltreatment was associated with daughters’ child maltreatment (effect = 0.35; p < 0.001), and mothers’ orientation to bodily signals was associated with daughters’ orientation (effects between 0.19-0.27; p < 0.016). Daughters’ orientation to bodily signals was partially associated with mothers’ child maltreatment through mothers’ CPTS symptoms and orientation to body (indirect effect = 0.064; p = 0.023). Conclusions: Child maltreatment is implicated in posttraumatic orientation towards bodily signals. Such secondary processes may be intergenerationally transmitted.