Parents whose own needs skew their perceptions: The absence of parental protection

Parents in cluster 4 fail to protect their children and, in the cases that I have seen, more often have psychiatric disorder than do parents who maltreat their children. The disorders tend to be midrange in severity (e.g., depression, substance abuse, anxiety disorders, PTSD) and to reflect parents’ anxiety (or hopelessness, in the case of depression) regarding their own safety and comfort.