Alytia A Levendosky
Biographic Data
| ID | 4073442 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alytia A Levendosky |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alytia A |
| FAMILY NAME | Levendosky |
| SIGNATURE | LEVENDOSKY A A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Michigan State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0968-6569 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 41 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 213 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 40 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1998 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Maternal Child Maltreatment and Intimate Partner Violence: Effects on Perceptions of Infant Temperament and the Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation and Responsiveness
Maternal adverse experiences, such as maltreatment in childhood and later intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy, can disrupt the mother-child relationship and influence maternal perceptions of infant temperament. The present study explored how these adversities influence mothers’ views of their infants’ temperaments and examined the role of maternal emotion regulation and responsiveness to their infants as mediators of these relationsh…
Emotion regulation difficulties during pregnancy mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and emotional, external, and restraint eating
Predictors of Change in Language Style Matching: Predictors of Change in Mother-Child Language Style Matching in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence
Association between dimensions of borderline personality organization and pathological narcissism
They need nurturance; they need to be seen: Early care and education for children exposed to intimate partner violence
Conducting virtual assessments in developmental research: Covid-19 restrictions as a case example
Developmental researchers face considerable challenges regarding maximizing data collection and reducing participant attrition. In this article, we use our experiences implementing our study on the effects of timing of prenatal stress on maternal and infant outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic as a framework to discuss the difficulties and solutions for these challenges, including the development of two types of virtual assessments. Specific inf…
Differences in intimate partner violence exposure across college, crowdsourced, and at-risk samples
These findings highlight the importance of sampling in studies of IPV and thus have ramifications for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
The mediating role of posttraumatic stress symptoms on somatization in adolescents: A two-wave longitudinal study
While arousal and reactivity symptoms seem to play a key role in adolescents suffering from somatization symptoms, cumulative adversity have their own direct and strong contribution. Clinicians should consider assessing PTSS and cumulative adversity when caring for adolescents suffering with somatic symptoms to better deliver intervention plans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
Mothers’ Experience of Intimate Partner Violence and Subsequent Offspring Attachment Security Ages 1–5 Years: A Meta-Analysis
Attachment status in early childhood is a key yet modifiable contributor to the development of social–emotional competence. The security and organization of the infant–mother attachment bond is particularly susceptible to stressors in the caregiving environment. While the impacts of normative interparental conflict on infant attachment are increasingly understood, the potentially unique place of intimate partner violence (IPV) in this pathway has…
Incremental effects of betrayal trauma and borderline personality disorder symptoms on suicide risk
These findings highlight the utility of assessing history of trauma over and above BPD symptoms in the prediction of suicide risk and have implications for future research and clinical intervention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
The Impact of Psychopathology Associated With Childhood Trauma on Quality of Life in Portuguese Adolescents: A Two-Wave Longitudinal Study
Introduction: The aim of this study was to explore the mediating effect of psychopathology between childhood adversity and trauma and quality of life (QOL) in adolescents. The second aim of the study was testing the moderation by social support of this mediation effect. Methods: Self-reports of childhood adversity and trauma, QOL, social support, and psychopathology were collected from 150 Portuguese adolescents' who had been exposed to at least …
Maternal parentification history impacts evaluative cognitions about self, parenting, and child
Parentification occurs when children are unfairly charged with fulfilling parental instrumental and emotional needs. Parentification is associated with risk to evaluative self cognitions from childhood to emerging adulthood, but this association has not yet been studied among parents. The transition to parenthood is typically characterized by declines in self‐esteem, suggesting it is a critical period for understanding the risk parentification hi…
Realness is a core feature of authenticity
We established realness as the relatively stable tendency to act on the outside the way one feels on the inside, without regard for proximal personal or social consequences. In nine studies, we showed that realness is a) a core feature of individual differences in authenticity, b) generally adaptive but largely unrelated to agreeableness, c) highly stable, d) reliably observable in dyadic behavior, and e) predictive of responses to situations wit…
Influence of betrayal trauma on death anxiety
Main and moderating effects of temperament traits on the association between intimate partner violence and hazardous alcohol use in a sample of young adult women
Study findings extend previous research on the effects of temperament traits to the context of IPV, underscoring the importance of including temperament in the assessment of IPV survivors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)
Gender Role and Gender as Predictors of Behavior Problems in Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence
PTSD Symptoms in Young Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence
Intimate partner violence (IPV) places infants and young children at risk for development of trauma symptoms. However, this is an understudied consequence of IPV because young children pose particular difficulties for assessment of trauma symptoms. The authors collected maternal reports on mothers' and children's posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and IPV yearly, from ages 1 to 7. Approximately half of the children exposed to IPV at ea…
The Interaction of Maternal Personality Traits and Intimate Partner Violence as Influences on Maternal Representations
Maternal representations of the infant and self‐as‐mother predict attachment security and may be differentially influenced by environmental stressors such as intimate partner violence (IPV), but no study has yet examined potential direct and interactive effects of maternal personality. Maternal representations (Working Model of the Child Interview; C.H. Zeanah, D. Benoit, L. Hirshberg, M.L. Barton, & C. Regan, 1994), maternal personality (Revised…
How intimate partner violence affects children: Developmental research, case studies, and evidence-based intervention.
Researchers have estimated that 15 million American children are exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) each year, with 7 million exposed to severe violence in their homes. The past decade has seen a surge in research and interventions for such children. We now know that IPV exposure affects children's physical health, social and emotional behavior, cognitive functioning, and neurobiological and relational development. Furthermore, a number o…
The influence of domestic violence on the development of the attachment relationship between mother and young child
Eastern Michigan UniversityThis paper uses a case study from a longitudinal research project to illustrate theinsuence of domestic violence on the developing attachment relationship be-tween mother and child that begins during pregnancy. The case study illustratesparticular mechanisms involved in damaging the motherÐchild relationship inthe context of domestic violence, including maternal projection, projectiveidentiÞcation, as well as emotional …
Does Witnessing Intimate Partner Violence Contribute to Toddlers' Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors
This research examines the relationship between witnessing of intimate partner violence (IPV) and externalizing and internalizing behaviors using birth to age 3 data from a longitudinal study (N = 187). We hypothesized that for infants and toddlers, direct witnessing of IPV, compared to living in a household where IPV occurred, would be more disruptive of behavior because it affects the child's emotional security within the family. Findings suppo…
A social‐contextual understanding of concordance and discordance between maternal prenatal representations of the infant and infant–mother attachment
This prospective study examined the relationship between maternal prenatal representations of the infant and later infant–mother attachment, including contextual factors related to concordance and discordance among dyads over time. Participants were 173 pregnant women between the ages of 18 and 40 who were interviewed during their last trimester of pregnancy and 2 and 13 months after birth. Maternal representations were assessed by the Working Mo…
How intimate partner violence affects children: Developmental Research, Case Studies, and Evidence-Based Intervention
Understanding the “ghosts in the nursery” of pregnant women experiencing domestic violence: Prenatal maternal representations and histories of childhood maltreatment
Selma Fraiberg and colleagues (1975) conceptualized the “ghosts in the nursery” as experiences from a mother's past that influenced her ability to form a warm and attuned relationship with her child. Contemporary infant mental health interventions often ask the mother to reflect on her own history of attachment relationships to gain insight into as well as to strengthen her developing relationship with her child. This study investigated the assoc…
The child as held in the mind of the mother: The influence of prenatal maternal representations on parenting behaviors
Using a longitudinal design, this study examined the relationship of a mother's prenatal representation of her child and her parenting behavior with that child at 1 year of age in a sample of women who were either exposed or not exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) ( N = 164; M child age = 1.1 years, SD = .11 years; 52% male). Controlling for prenatal IPV, a MANCOVA analysis revealed that prenatal representational typology was significantly…
Parenting in Battered Women: The Effects of Domestic Violence on Women and Their Children
The child as held in the mind of the mother: The influence of prenatal maternal representations on parenting behaviors
Using a longitudinal design, this study examined the relationship of a mother's prenatal representation of her child and her parenting behavior with that child at 1 year of age in a sample of women who were either exposed or not exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) ( N = 164; M child age = 1.1 years, SD = .11 years; 52% male). Controlling for prenatal IPV, a MANCOVA analysis revealed that prenatal representational typology was significantly…
The Direct and Indirect Effects of Domestic Violence on Young Children's Intellectual Functioning
Mothers' Perceptions of the Impact of Woman Abuse on Their Parenting
Previous studies have examined the effects of domestic violence on women's parenting solely through questionnaire data. The current study, consistent with feminist theory, examines women's narratives about parenting in domestic violence situations through a semistructured interview. Thematic analysis of these interviews revealed that most women believed that their parenting was affected by their partner's violence. Interestingly, women reported n…
The impact of domestic violence on mothers' prenatal representations of their infants
This study examined the relationship between domestic violence during pregnancy and mothers' prenatal representations of their infants and themselves as mothers. Two hundred and six women were recruited from the community and interviewed during their last trimester of pregnancy. Forty‐four percent of women reported experiencing domestic violence during the current pregnancy, while 56% reported no domestic violence during the pregnancy. Maternal r…
The Social Networks of Women Experiencing Domestic Violence
The research literature has demonstrated that battered women living in shelters experience impaired social support. This study examines this phenomenon among battered women living in the community. This study compared a group of pregnant battered women ( n =145) and a group of pregnant nonbattered women ( n =58) in terms of their structural [e.g., total number of supporters, network members in violent relationships with their partners (an index o…
PTSD Symptoms in Young Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence
Intimate partner violence (IPV) places infants and young children at risk for development of trauma symptoms. However, this is an understudied consequence of IPV because young children pose particular difficulties for assessment of trauma symptoms. The authors collected maternal reports on mothers' and children's posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and IPV yearly, from ages 1 to 7. Approximately half of the children exposed to IPV at ea…
A social‐contextual understanding of concordance and discordance between maternal prenatal representations of the infant and infant–mother attachment
This prospective study examined the relationship between maternal prenatal representations of the infant and later infant–mother attachment, including contextual factors related to concordance and discordance among dyads over time. Participants were 173 pregnant women between the ages of 18 and 40 who were interviewed during their last trimester of pregnancy and 2 and 13 months after birth. Maternal representations were assessed by the Working Mo…
Understanding the “ghosts in the nursery” of pregnant women experiencing domestic violence: Prenatal maternal representations and histories of childhood maltreatment
Selma Fraiberg and colleagues (1975) conceptualized the “ghosts in the nursery” as experiences from a mother's past that influenced her ability to form a warm and attuned relationship with her child. Contemporary infant mental health interventions often ask the mother to reflect on her own history of attachment relationships to gain insight into as well as to strengthen her developing relationship with her child. This study investigated the assoc…
Realness is a core feature of authenticity
We established realness as the relatively stable tendency to act on the outside the way one feels on the inside, without regard for proximal personal or social consequences. In nine studies, we showed that realness is a) a core feature of individual differences in authenticity, b) generally adaptive but largely unrelated to agreeableness, c) highly stable, d) reliably observable in dyadic behavior, and e) predictive of responses to situations wit…
The Influence of Community Violence on the Functioning of Women Experiencing Domestic Violence
The relationships among women's experiences of domestic violence, community violence, and their mental health functioning were explored (N = 94). Social contagion theory was used to argue for the link between community violence and family violence. Results revealed that women's experiences of domestic violence were not related to community violence. Furthermore, women's mental health functioning was solely associated with their experiences of dom…
Infant exposure to domestic violence predicts heightened sensitivity to adult verbal conflict
The current study examined whether one-year-old infants whose mothers had been victims of domestic violence during the infant's lifetime (exposed; n = 30), compared to those who had not (not exposed; n = 59), would be more likely to experience distress in response to a simulated verbal conflict and whether amount of distress expressed would be influenced by infant temperament. Infants were videotaped during and for five minutes after an experimen…
Family Support and Mental Health in Pregnant Women Experiencing Interpersonal Partner Violence: An Analysis of Ethnic Differences
This study investigated the relationship between family support and mental health in a community sample of pregnant women experiencing interpersonal partner violence (IPV). This study also examined how family support may differentially affect mental health in Black and White women experiencing IPV. A total of 110 participants (32 Black and 78 White) were obtained from the first time period of a longitudinal study examining the effects of domestic…
Gender Role and Gender as Predictors of Behavior Problems in Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence
The Interaction of Maternal Personality Traits and Intimate Partner Violence as Influences on Maternal Representations
Maternal representations of the infant and self‐as‐mother predict attachment security and may be differentially influenced by environmental stressors such as intimate partner violence (IPV), but no study has yet examined potential direct and interactive effects of maternal personality. Maternal representations (Working Model of the Child Interview; C.H. Zeanah, D. Benoit, L. Hirshberg, M.L. Barton, & C. Regan, 1994), maternal personality (Revised…
The Future of Research on Intimate Partner Violence: Person-Oriented and Variable-Oriented Perspectives
This article uses the distinction between the person and the variable orientations as a frame for structuring (1) research on IPV, (2) results of this research, and (3) an agenda for future research. The main tenet of this agenda is that causes, processes, and effects of IPV are person and context specific; therefore, results that relate variables to each other are of limited value if it can be shown that the processes that take place, the meanin…
Family Psychopathology and Perceived Stress of Both Domestic Violence and Negative Life Events as Predictors of Women’s Mental Health Symptoms
Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Children of Battered Women
The posttraumatic stress symptoms of 64 children ages 7 to 12 were assessed by their mothers, who had experienced emotional and physical abuse during the past year. A measure of child symptoms based on DSM-IV criteria was used. Of the children exposed to violence, 13% qualified for a complete posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis. However, 52% suffered from intrusive and unwanted remembering of the traumatic event(s), 19% displayed traum…
Mothers' Perceptions of the Impact of Woman Abuse on Their Parenting
Previous studies have examined the effects of domestic violence on women's parenting solely through questionnaire data. The current study, consistent with feminist theory, examines women's narratives about parenting in domestic violence situations through a semistructured interview. Thematic analysis of these interviews revealed that most women believed that their parenting was affected by their partner's violence. Interestingly, women reported n…
Parenting in Battered Women: The Effects of Domestic Violence on Women and Their Children
The Direct and Indirect Effects of Domestic Violence on Young Children's Intellectual Functioning
The impact of domestic violence on the maternal-child relationship and preschool-age children's functioning.
Although preschool-age children are at risk for witnessing domestic violence, the majority of research has focused on children ages 6 to 12 years. This study examines the mediating role of the mother-child relationship on preschool-age children's functioning in families experiencing domestic violence. Maternal report and behavioral observations of mother-child interactions were used to assess relationship quality. Participants consisted of 103 ch…
The impact of domestic violence on mothers' prenatal representations of their infants
This study examined the relationship between domestic violence during pregnancy and mothers' prenatal representations of their infants and themselves as mothers. Two hundred and six women were recruited from the community and interviewed during their last trimester of pregnancy. Forty‐four percent of women reported experiencing domestic violence during the current pregnancy, while 56% reported no domestic violence during the pregnancy. Maternal r…
The Social Networks of Women Experiencing Domestic Violence
The research literature has demonstrated that battered women living in shelters experience impaired social support. This study examines this phenomenon among battered women living in the community. This study compared a group of pregnant battered women ( n =145) and a group of pregnant nonbattered women ( n =58) in terms of their structural [e.g., total number of supporters, network members in violent relationships with their partners (an index o…
Infant exposure to domestic violence predicts heightened sensitivity to adult verbal conflict
The current study examined whether one-year-old infants whose mothers had been victims of domestic violence during the infant's lifetime (exposed; n = 30), compared to those who had not (not exposed; n = 59), would be more likely to experience distress in response to a simulated verbal conflict and whether amount of distress expressed would be influenced by infant temperament. Infants were videotaped during and for five minutes after an experimen…
The Future of Research on Intimate Partner Violence: Person-Oriented and Variable-Oriented Perspectives
This article uses the distinction between the person and the variable orientations as a frame for structuring (1) research on IPV, (2) results of this research, and (3) an agenda for future research. The main tenet of this agenda is that causes, processes, and effects of IPV are person and context specific; therefore, results that relate variables to each other are of limited value if it can be shown that the processes that take place, the meanin…
The Influence of Community Violence on the Functioning of Women Experiencing Domestic Violence
The relationships among women's experiences of domestic violence, community violence, and their mental health functioning were explored (N = 94). Social contagion theory was used to argue for the link between community violence and family violence. Results revealed that women's experiences of domestic violence were not related to community violence. Furthermore, women's mental health functioning was solely associated with their experiences of dom…
Family Support and Mental Health in Pregnant Women Experiencing Interpersonal Partner Violence: An Analysis of Ethnic Differences
This study investigated the relationship between family support and mental health in a community sample of pregnant women experiencing interpersonal partner violence (IPV). This study also examined how family support may differentially affect mental health in Black and White women experiencing IPV. A total of 110 participants (32 Black and 78 White) were obtained from the first time period of a longitudinal study examining the effects of domestic…
Domestic violence, maternal parenting, maternal mental health, and infant externalizing behavior.
This study examined whether maternal functioning mediated the relationship between domestic violence (DV) and infant externalizing behavior. Participants were 203 mother-infant dyads. Support was found for a partially mediated model in which maternal functioning mediated the relationship between current DV and infant externalizing behaviors. Past DV was directly associated with infants' externalizing behavior. Results suggest the need for early i…
Trauma symptoms among infants exposed to intimate partner violence
Family Psychopathology and Perceived Stress of Both Domestic Violence and Negative Life Events as Predictors of Women’s Mental Health Symptoms
Resilience Among Children Exposed to Domestic Violence: The Role of Risk and Protective Factors
Individual and family characteristics that predict resilience among children exposed to domestic violence (DV) were examined. Mother–child dyads (n = 190) were assessed when the children were 2, 3, and 4 years of age. DV-exposed children were 3.7 times more likely than nonexposed children to develop internalizing or externalizing problems. However, 54% of DV-exposed children maintained positive adaptation and were characterized by easy temperamen…
Longitudinal Treatment Effectiveness Outcomes of a Group Intervention for Women and Children Exposed to Domestic Violence
Understanding the “ghosts in the nursery” of pregnant women experiencing domestic violence: Prenatal maternal representations and histories of childhood maltreatment
Selma Fraiberg and colleagues (1975) conceptualized the “ghosts in the nursery” as experiences from a mother's past that influenced her ability to form a warm and attuned relationship with her child. Contemporary infant mental health interventions often ask the mother to reflect on her own history of attachment relationships to gain insight into as well as to strengthen her developing relationship with her child. This study investigated the assoc…
The child as held in the mind of the mother: The influence of prenatal maternal representations on parenting behaviors
Using a longitudinal design, this study examined the relationship of a mother's prenatal representation of her child and her parenting behavior with that child at 1 year of age in a sample of women who were either exposed or not exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) ( N = 164; M child age = 1.1 years, SD = .11 years; 52% male). Controlling for prenatal IPV, a MANCOVA analysis revealed that prenatal representational typology was significantly…
How intimate partner violence affects children: Developmental research, case studies, and evidence-based intervention.
Researchers have estimated that 15 million American children are exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) each year, with 7 million exposed to severe violence in their homes. The past decade has seen a surge in research and interventions for such children. We now know that IPV exposure affects children's physical health, social and emotional behavior, cognitive functioning, and neurobiological and relational development. Furthermore, a number o…
The influence of domestic violence on the development of the attachment relationship between mother and young child
Eastern Michigan UniversityThis paper uses a case study from a longitudinal research project to illustrate theinsuence of domestic violence on the developing attachment relationship be-tween mother and child that begins during pregnancy. The case study illustratesparticular mechanisms involved in damaging the motherÐchild relationship inthe context of domestic violence, including maternal projection, projectiveidentiÞcation, as well as emotional …
Does Witnessing Intimate Partner Violence Contribute to Toddlers' Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors
This research examines the relationship between witnessing of intimate partner violence (IPV) and externalizing and internalizing behaviors using birth to age 3 data from a longitudinal study (N = 187). We hypothesized that for infants and toddlers, direct witnessing of IPV, compared to living in a household where IPV occurred, would be more disruptive of behavior because it affects the child's emotional security within the family. Findings suppo…
A social‐contextual understanding of concordance and discordance between maternal prenatal representations of the infant and infant–mother attachment
This prospective study examined the relationship between maternal prenatal representations of the infant and later infant–mother attachment, including contextual factors related to concordance and discordance among dyads over time. Participants were 173 pregnant women between the ages of 18 and 40 who were interviewed during their last trimester of pregnancy and 2 and 13 months after birth. Maternal representations were assessed by the Working Mo…
How intimate partner violence affects children: Developmental Research, Case Studies, and Evidence-Based Intervention
PTSD Symptoms in Young Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence
Intimate partner violence (IPV) places infants and young children at risk for development of trauma symptoms. However, this is an understudied consequence of IPV because young children pose particular difficulties for assessment of trauma symptoms. The authors collected maternal reports on mothers' and children's posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and IPV yearly, from ages 1 to 7. Approximately half of the children exposed to IPV at ea…
The Interaction of Maternal Personality Traits and Intimate Partner Violence as Influences on Maternal Representations
Maternal representations of the infant and self‐as‐mother predict attachment security and may be differentially influenced by environmental stressors such as intimate partner violence (IPV), but no study has yet examined potential direct and interactive effects of maternal personality. Maternal representations (Working Model of the Child Interview; C.H. Zeanah, D. Benoit, L. Hirshberg, M.L. Barton, & C. Regan, 1994), maternal personality (Revised…
Psychology (39 works) · Medicine (33 works) · Poison control (30 works) · Domestic violence (28 works) · Intimate Partner and Family Violence (28 works) · Developmental psychology (23 works) · Clinical Psychology (22 works) · Suicide prevention (21 works) · Social Psychology (19 works) · Child Abuse and Trauma (18 works)