The Silent Echoes of War: Parenting and Trauma Transmission in Bosnia and Herzegovina

This study examines the relationship between war-related trauma experienced by mothers in Bosnian families, their parenting styles, and the intergenerational transmission of trauma. The data were collected from a sample of 146 mother-child pairs, consisting of mothers who were directly exposed to the 1992–1995 Bosnian War and their children born after the war. The findings revealed that maternal trauma was significantly associated with control-oriented parenting practices (r = .17, p < .05), but showed no significant relationship with acceptance levels (r = -.07, p > .05). Multivariate analysis indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in parenting styles among mothers with low, moderate, and high levels of trauma exposure. Mediation analysis further demonstrated that maternal trauma partially influenced secondary trauma symptoms in children through control-oriented parenting behaviors. This partial mediation was supported by a reduction in the direct effect from β = .18 to β = .15. Overall, the results highlight the critical role of parenting behaviors in the intergenerational transmission of trauma. These findings underscore the need for trauma-informed interventions that also address parenting practices in families affected by war, in order to mitigate long-term psychological consequences in post-conflict societies.