Parental Adverse Childhood Experiences and Child Behavior Problems: The Role of Anxiety and Trauma Type

• In Event: Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Topic - Family Context & Processes

Abstract

Objectives: Intergenerational trauma is the phenomenon of past traumas influencing the mental health of future generations within a family (Bombay et al., 2009). While the mechanisms behind this are complex, the literature suggests that parental childhood traumas are associated with negative offspring outcomes through parent psychopathology and affected parenting practices (Letourneau et al., 2019). Less is known about which trauma types pose the most significant risk. The goal of the current study was to examine the relation between parental adverse childhood experiences, trauma type, parental anxiety and child behavior problems in a sample of at-risk families.

Methods: 52 low-income African American parent-child dyads were recruited as part of a larger study of Detroit Head Start preschool children. Data regarding participant demographics, parent adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and parent anxiety were collected using self-reported survey questionnaires. Child internalizing and externalizing behaviors were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The mean child age was 4.10 years (SD = .53) and 54% of the children were female. The mean parent age was 30.73 years (SD = 7.91).

Results: Linear regressions revealed that parental anxiety was significantly predicted by childhood experiences of sexual assault (b = .36, p = .01), lack of family love (b = .42, p < .003), neglect (b = .37, p < .01), and observed mother abuse (b = .29, p < .04). Multiple regression with bootstrapping was then used to test the proposed mediation model (see Figure 1). Results revealed that the total amount of childhood adverse experiences among parents was positively associated with parental anxiety (p = .04), which in turn, related to increased internalizing (p = .01) and externalizing symptoms (p = .02) in children. Parental anxiety was found to significantly mediate the relation between childhood experiences of sexual assault (Indirect effect = .54, 95% CI Range = .10-1.54; Indirect effect = .46, 95% CI Range = .04-1.45), lack of family love (Indirect effect = .36, 95% CI Range = .03-1.16; Indirect effect = .35, 95% CI Range = .03-1.16), and neglect (Indirect effect = .54, 95% CI Range = .09-1.57; Indirect effect = .47, 95% CI Range = .03-1.49) and child internalizing and externalizing symptoms, respectively.

Conclusions: Parents with more adverse experiences in childhood were more likely to experience anxiety, which in turn predicted more externalizing and internalizing behaviors in their children. These findings support past literature suggesting that parental anxiety may be a pathway connecting parent childhood trauma and offspring psychopathology. Results also show that this relation is likely influenced by the type of trauma a parent experiences, given that certain childhood traumas had a larger impact on parent mental health than others. Future research is needed to tease apart the unique influence of each adverse event given the high correlation among some trauma types. These findings highlight the need to promote positive mental health outcomes among parents who have experienced adverse childhood events for themselves and for the well-being of their children.

Authors

• Karen B Glownia, Eastern Michigan University
  Presenting Author

• Heather C. Janisse, Eastern Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Alyssa Buthman, Eastern Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jessica Riggs, Eastern Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author