Linking preschoolers' parasympathetic activity to maternal early adversity and child behavior: An intergenerational perspective

Intergenerational Transmission of Parental Adverse Childhood Experiences and Children's Outcomes: A Scoping Review

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are among the leading environmental causes of morbidity and mortality. Extending research on within-generation effects, more recent scholarship has explored between-generation consequences of ACEs. Despite growing interest in the intergenerational effects of parents' ACEs on children's outcomes, this line of scholarship has yet to be coalesced into a comprehensive review. The current study is a scoping review on the intergenerational transmission of parental ACEs and children's outcomes. Ten databases such as PubMed, APA PsycArticles, and Social Work Abstracts were searched. To be included, empirical studies must have been published in English and analyzed associations between a cumulative measure of at least four parental ACEs and children's outcomes. Sixty-eight studies qualified for the review and, among these, 60 were published in the most recent 5 years (2018-2022). Fifty-one studies had sample sizes smaller than 500, and 55 focused on the effect of maternal ACEs. Nearly all studies demonstrated that parental ACEs could affect children's outcomes directly or indirectly via mechanisms like maternal mental health problems or parenting-related factors. By scoping the extant literature, this review advances the knowledge base regarding the intergenerational impacts of parental childhood trauma and children's outcomes. It also reveals methodological limitations that should be addressed in future research to strengthen causal inferences along with practical implications for interventions that aim to interrupt the intergenerational transmission of trauma.

Intergenerational transmission of parent adverse childhood experiences to child outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

The current meta-analytic review provides a comprehensive synthesis of studies examining parent exposure to ACEs and the developmental and mental health outcomes of their children.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Eligible studies up to August 2021 were identified through comprehensive database searches in PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and Embase. Studies that were included examined the intergenerational effects of parent ACEs on child development (i.e., cognitive, language, motor, social difficulties, and early social-emotional development) or mental health (i.e., internalizing problems, externalizing problems) outcomes.

METHODS

Data were extracted by two coders using a standardized extraction protocol. A multi-level meta-analytic approach was used to derive pooled effect sizes and test for moderators.

RESULTS

A total of 52 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Parent ACEs were positively associated with child mental health problems (r=0.17, 95% CI [0.12, 0.21], p<.001), child externalizing difficulties (r=0.20, 95% CI [0.15, 0.26], p<.001), and child internalizing difficulties (r=0.17, 95% CI [0.11, 0.22], p<.001). There were no significant sociodemographic (i.e., child age, parent age, income level, child sex, or racial/ethnic minority status) or methodological (i.e., study type or quality) moderators of these associations. Preliminary evidence suggests that parent ACEs were not associated with offspring developmental outcomes, such as cognitive or language skills.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that parent ACEs are associated with some, but not all child outcomes. Additional research focused on the mechanisms of transmission are needed to inform policies and practices related to the intergenerational transmission of ACEs.

Threat versus deprivation in mother's childhood: Differential relations to hair cortisol and psychopathology in pregnancy

BACKGROUND

The negative effects of childhood maltreatment can be intergenerational, and the prenatal period may play an important role in this intergenerational transmission. Maternal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction and maternal psychopathology represent two mechanisms through which the effects of childhood maltreatment are hypothesized to be transmitted across generations.

OBJECTIVE

This study first sought to extend prior research on pathways of intergenerational transmission by examining whether mothers' childhood experiences of abuse versus neglect differentially relate to maternal HPA activity and to maternal psychopathology during the prenatal period. Second, exploratory analyses examined the links between maternal variables and their State Protective Service involvement as a parent, as an indicator of maladaptive caregiving.

METHODS

During the third trimester of pregnancy, 51 women reported on experiences of childhood maltreatment, on State Protective Service involvement as an adult parent, and on current depressive and post-traumatic stress symptoms, and provided a hair sample for cortisol assay.

RESULTS

Regression analyses indicated that greater severity of abuse, but not neglect, in childhood was associated with higher maternal depressive symptoms (β = 0.488, p = .020). In contrast, greater severity of neglect, but not abuse, in mothers' childhood was associated with lower maternal hair cortisol concentration (β = -0.437, p = .031). Lower maternal hair cortisol concentration, but not maternal psychopathology or severity of childhood abuse or neglect, in turn, was associated with State Protective Service involvement (β = -0.785, p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Findings extend prior work by suggesting that childhood abuse and neglect may have different sequelae for mothers during pregnancy and that these sequelae may have different relations to parenting.

The significance of mothers' attachment representations for vagal responding during interactions with infants

Little is known about the significance of mothers' attachment for neurobiological responding during interactions with infants. To address this gap, this study examined links between mothers' (N = 139) attachment representations and dynamic change in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) while interacting with infants in the Still-Face Procedure (SFP). Mothers higher on secure base script knowledge (SBSK) exhibited greater RSA reactivity during the SFP characterized by lower RSA during normal play, higher RSA during the still-face, and lower RSA during reunion. Findings indicate that mothers higher on SBSK exhibit RSA responding expected to support active behavioral coping during normal play and reunion - consistent with the need to engage infants in social interaction - and RSA responding during the still-face expected to support efforts to calm the body and empathize with their infant during this distressing social disruption. Findings advance knowledge of the significance of adult attachment for the neurobiology of caregiving.

Prefrontal activation in preschool children is associated with maternal adversity and child temperament: A preliminary fNIRS study of inhibitory control

Exposure to adversity is a well-documented risk factor for cognitive, behavioral, and mental health problems. In fact, the consequences of adversity may be intergenerational. A growing body of research suggests that maternal exposures to adversity, including those prior to childbirth, are associated with offspring biobehavioral development. In a sample of 36 mothers and their preschool-age children (mean child age = 4.21 ± 0.92 years), we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to replicate and extend this work to include brain activation during inhibitory control in young children. We found that measures of maternal exposure to adversity, including cumulative, childhood, and preconception exposures, were significantly and positively associated with activation in the right frontopolar prefrontal cortex (PFC) and in the left temporal and parietal clusters during inhibitory control. In addition, and consistent with previous findings, children's increased negative affect and decreased effortful control were associated with increased right PFC activation during inhibitory control. These findings provide preliminary evidence that maternal and dispositional risk factors are linked to alterations in PFC functioning during the preschool years. Children of mothers with a history of exposure to adversity, as well as children who are less temperamentally regulated, may require increased neural resources to meet the cognitive demands of inhibitory control.

Parental history of childhood maltreatment and child average RSA shape parent-child RSA synchrony

We examined whether dynamic parent-child RSA synchrony varied by individual differences in child average RSA and parental history of childhood maltreatment (CM), which has been linked to parental behavioral and physiological dysregulation. We also examined whether RSA synchrony was curvilinear, reflecting homeostatic regulation. Synchrony was defined as the dynamic association between parent and child RSA reactivity (change relative to their own mean) within epoch across a challenging task. Eighty-three mother-preschooler and 61 father-preschooler dyads participated. State-trait modeling showed that RSA synchrony was curvilinear such that significant relations were only found at lower and higher child reactivity. Children's higher task average RSA predicted maternal RSA augmentation and lower task average RSA predicted maternal RSA withdrawal, regardless of whether child reactivity in the moment was low or high, suggesting individual differences in child regulatory capacity were associated with dynamic maternal reactivity. When maternal CM history and child average RSA were both higher, mothers showed RSA augmentation. Father-child synchrony was not moderated by child average RSA but greater paternal CM history predicted fathers' greater RSA withdrawal regardless of whether child RSA reactivity was low or high. Findings offer novel insights into the nature and meaning of RSA synchrony with parents at risk.

Individual differences in parent and child average RSA and parent psychological distress influence parent-child RSA synchrony

Parent-child synchrony of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) varies by risk, but novel approaches are needed to capture individual contributions to synchrony. Multilevel state-trait modeling was applied to examine how parental psychological distress and parent and child average RSA during challenge (reflecting individual regulatory capacities) shaped RSA synchrony in mother-child (n = 71) and father-child (n = 47) interactions. RSA synchrony was curvilinear such that greater in-the-moment RSA reactivity in one partner prompted greater reactivity in the other. Higher risk (lower average RSA; higher distress) predicted in-the-moment RSA withdrawal to partner RSA changes, whereas lower risk (higher average RSA; lower distress) predicted in-the-moment RSA augmentation. In some models, one's higher average RSA prompted the partner's greater reactivity and thus synchrony when parental distress was higher. However, the presence and direction of synchrony was not consistently adaptive nor maladaptive across models, suggesting its meaning relies on theory and the parent and risk factors in question.

Associations Between Maternal Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Events With Child Psychopathology: Results From a Prospective Longitudinal Study

Introduction: Exposure to interpersonal violence (IPV) can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in mothers, and in turn adversely affect the mother-child relationship during early development, as well as the mental health of their children. Our objectives are to assess: (1) the association of maternal IPV-PTSD to child psychopathology, (2) the association of maternal IPV independently of PTSD to child psychopathology, and (3) the relationship between child exposure to violence to the psychopathology of these children. Methods: We used data from the longitudinal Geneva Early Childhood Stress Project. The sample included 64 children [mean age at Phase 1 = 2.4 (1.0-3.7) years] of mothers with or without IPV-PTSD. Data on mothers was collected during Phase 1, using the Clinical Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), the Brief Physical and Sexual Abuse Questionnaire (BPSAQ) and the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2). Modules of a semi-structured diagnostic interview, and the Violence Exposure Scale were used to collect information on child at Phase 2, when children were older [mean age = 7.02 (4.7-10)]. Results: A higher CAPS score in mothers when children were toddler-age was associated with an increased risk of symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; β = 0.33, p = 0.014) and PTSD in school-age children. The association between maternal IPV-PTSD and child PTSD (β = 0.48, p < 0.001) symptoms remained significant after adjustment for potential confounders. Among children, exposure to violence was associated with an increased risk of symptoms of generalized anxiety (β = 0.37, p = 0.006), major depressive (β = 0.24, p = 0.039), ADHD (β = 0.27, p = 0.040), PTSD (β = 0.52, p < 0.001), conduct (β = 0.58, p = 0.003) and oppositional defiant (β = 0.34, p = 0.032) disorders. Conclusion: Our longitudinal findings suggest that maternal IPV-PTSD during the period of child development exert an influence on the development of psychopathology in school-aged children. Mothers' IPV was associated with child psychopathology, independently of PTSD. Child lifetime exposure to violence had an additional impact on the development of psychopathology. Careful evaluation of maternal life-events is essential during early childhood to reduce the risk for the development of child psychopathology. Early efforts to curb exposure to violence in children and early intervention are both needed to reduce further risk for intergenerational transmission of trauma, violence, and related psychopathology.