Complex interplay of emotional availability with migration-related and sociodemographic factors: an exploratory study of mothers and their infants with a history of migration and exile in Germany

Abstract

Background: Children born in Germany, who have a so-called migration background face great challenges. This is not due to their parents' history of migration itself, but rather due to the complex interplay of trauma, sociodemographic factors and numerous social barriers faced by children with an immigration background, which have an impact on their early development. While the effects of (acute) parental trauma, which often accompany flight and migration, on their children have been increasingly studied in recent decades, the effects of peri-and post-migration circumstances have rarely been investigated. Method: Our exploratory statistical analysis is based on data obtained during the formative evaluation of the early prevention project 'Strong together!'. The analysis aims to investigate the emotional availability of migrated mothers in their interactions with their children, and the association between emotional availability, migratory circumstances and sociodemographic factors. To address the first research question, video recordings of 25 mother–child dyads were evaluated using the Emotional Availability Scales (EA Scales, Biringen, 2008). Findings of our sample were compared with samples of migrated as well as non-migrated mother-child dyads from other studies. To answer the second question, non-parametric tests were conducted to examine the associations between emotional availability and various migration-related and sociodemographic factors. Results: On average, ratings on the sensitivity scale indicated that the observed mothers were 'inconsistently sensitive' in the interaction with their child. This result appears to be similar to that found in migrant parents in other studies. Also, sensitivity was lower than observed in non-migrant samples. A higher – albeit subclinical – trauma-related symptom load was associated with more sensitive, more structured and less hostile interactions. Those who had fled war or persecution scored higher on the child responsiveness scale and, to a lesser extent, the sensitivity scale. In addition, women who had been in Germany for a shorter period of time were more sensitive and less hostile in their interactions with their children. Results highlight the necessity to offer prevention to children born to migrant mothers, independent of their self-report on trauma-related symptoms. Furthermore, they suggest that there is no straightforward association between migration-related stress and emotional availability.