Parenting in Infancy: A Mechanism of the Intergenerational Transmission of Risk

• In Event: 3-061 - The Intergenerational Reach of Childhood Adversity: Exploring Transmission Mechanisms in Developmental and Ecological Contexts

Integrative Statement

Introduction: Children of parents who experienced childhood maltreatment are at higher risk of developing mental health problems than their peers (Schickedanz et al., 2018). These intergenerational effects are likely mediated by less-positive parenting, which may result from the impaired mental health documented in maltreated parents (Racine et al., 2018); however, little research has examined the role of parenting in this transmission of risk.

The current study responds to an urgent need to identify specific and malleable mechanisms that can be targeted to interrupt intergenerational cycles of adversity and enhance children’s wellbeing. Using a longitudinal, multi-method study, the current study investigated whether parenting during infancy—a sensitive period for the development of regulatory capacities that promote resilience—explained effects of mothers’ childhood maltreatment on their children’s mental health during toddlerhood, independent of concurrent cumulative risk. We expected children of maltreated mothers to have higher internalizing and externalizing symptoms at 36 months via less positive parenting during infancy.

Methods: Mothers (N = 387) and their children were followed from pregnancy through child age 3-years (Borkowski et al., 2013). Mothers were racially and socio-economically diverse. Mothers provided demographic information during pregnancy, and a cumulative risk index was computed from mothers’ age, race, education, income, marital and occupational status. At child age 6-months, mothers completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ; Bernstein & Fink, 1998). The total score—the sum of all maltreatment subtypes—was used.

At 6 months, mothers completed the Parenting Style Questionnaire (PSQ; Sommer et al., 2000). Correlated PSQ subscales (punishment, abuse/neglect, authoritarianism) were averaged to create a composite, with higher scores reflecting more-positive parenting. At 8 months, parenting was observed during a free-play (Landry et al., 1997) and an interview about parenting (Caldwell & Bradley, 1984). The behavioral codes (e.g., warmth, responsiveness, positive affect) and PSQ composite were used to create a latent positive parenting factor. Mothers rated their children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms at 36 months (Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment; Briggs-Gowan & Carter, 1998).

Results: A structural equation model predicting 36-month child internalizing and externalizing symptoms was estimated (Figure 1). The effects of cumulative risk on internalizing and externalizing were were not significant and were cut for the sake of parsimony. The final model demonstrated good fit (RMSEA = .05, CFI = .98, and SRMR = .04). Greater childhood maltreatment, β = −.14, p < .05, and cumulative risk, β = −.38, p < .01, predicted less-positive parenting; less-positive parenting predicted more internalizing, β = −.18, p < .05, and externalizing symptoms, β = −.27, p < .01. Mothers’ childhood maltreatment did not have a direct effect on child symptoms, but had indirect effects on internalizing, β = .03, p < .10, and externalizing symptoms, β = .04, p < .05, via parenting.

Conclusion: Results have important implications for early childhood policy and prevention. Every-day parenting during infancy may be one mechanism by which risk is passed from mothers to children. Notably, these effects were observed independent of concurrent cumulative risk, highlighting the long reach of childhood maltreatment.

Author

• Alex Busuito, Pennsylvania State University
  Presenting Author