2-092 - Intergenerational Risk and Resilience: Continuity, Discontinuity, and Mechanisms of Transmission

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Maternal experiences of childhood adversity are transmitted via biological and psychosocial pathways to their offspring. Less is understood are the mechanisms of transmission, or the unique effects of type versus developmental timing of these experiences across generations. Building on a well-attended symposium at SRCD 2017, this symposium brings together presenters and studies from four diverse institutions and geographical locations to address how and when risk and resilience are transmitted intergenerationally. The symposium will (1) provide insight into mechanisms that buffer or exacerbate poor outcomes, (2) explore type and timing of maternal adversity across the lifespan as determinants of maternal and child outcomes, and (3) identify the unique role of resilience in the context of intergenerational risk.

Study 1 uses a sophisticated longitudinal design and identifies multiple intermediary mechanisms by which maternal adversity is transmitted. Study 2 takes a life-course approach using person-centered methodology to explore the influence of maternal adversity on mother-child outcomes. Study 3 examines whether the type versus developmental timing of maternal childhood resilience, above and beyond experiences of childhood adversity, influences maternal outcomes in the perinatal period (making a strong case for type rather than the timing.) Together, these papers provide a comprehensive presentation of the long-term contributions of type and timing of risk and resilience on intergenerational outcomes and insight into key mechanisms driving these pathways and processes. An integrative discussion from a leading expert in intergenerational maternal-child health will highlight central themes in risk and resilience research, as well as implications for policy and practice.

Sub Unit

• Developmental Psychopathology

Chair

• Dillon T. Browne, Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo

Discussant

• Nicole R. Bush, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics

Individual Presentations

• Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences and Developmental Milestones: Cumulative Effects and Transmission via Psychopathology - Presenting Author: Dillon T. Browne, Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo; Non-Presenting Author: Kaja Lewinn, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco; Non-Presenting Author: Fran Tylavsky, The University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center; Non-Presenting Author: Nicole R. Bush, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics

• A Latent Class Analysis of Maternal Adverse Childhood, Adult, and Postpartum Experiences: Implications for Health and Development - Presenting Author: Nicole Racine, University of Calgary; Non-Presenting Author: Andre Plamondon, Université Laval; Non-Presenting Author: Shelia McDonald, Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary; Non-Presenting Author: Suzanne Tough, Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary; Non-Presenting Author: Sheri Madigan, University of Calgary and the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Calgary

• Type versus Timing of Adverse and Benevolent Childhood Experiences for Women’s Psychological and Reproductive Health - Presenting Author: Jillian S. Merrick, University of Denver; Non-Presenting Author: Angela J. Narayan, University of Denver; Non-Presenting Author: Victoria Atzl, University of Denver; Non-Presenting Author: Luisa Rivera, Emory University; Non-Presenting Author: Alicia F. Lieberman, University of California, San Francisco