Maternal verbal hostility amid the COVID-19 lockdown: The role of childhood verbal abuse, emotional stability and parental burnout

An increase of domestic violence is described since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Childhood maltreatment is a risk factor potentially predictive of negative parental behaviors. Parents with high levels of neuroticism and parental burnout could engage in child abuse. According to the literature, stressed parents could act the same abusive behaviors experienced in their childhood. An online survey was administered to a sample of 767 mothers during the first weeks of the lockdown, aiming at analyzing the association between parental early experiences of childhood verbal abuse and verbal hostility against their children during the lockdown, and the role of emotional stability and parental burnout. Findings support that childhood verbal abuse predicts maternal verbal hostility, and this relationship is mediated by neuroticism and parental burnout.