The Moderating Role of Socioeconomic Status on Parent Adverse Childhood Experiences and Child Behavior

• In Event: Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Topic - Family Context & Processes

Abstract

A growing body of research has shown a clear relationship between parents’ Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and a variety of physical and behavioral health problems in children (Schickedanz et al., 2018). It is also known that positive socioeconomic status (SES) can be protective of childhood behavioral issues (Conger, Conger, & Martin, 2010). Few studies have researched what protective factors can alleviate the effects of parent ACEs on child behavioral health; therefore, the present study looks at whether SES can act as a moderator of this relationship. To sustain improvement in public health and further discover greater preventative interventions, it is important to identify what factors may contribute to poor behavioral health in children.
The current study completed a secondary analysis on 43 parents (M age = 33.85, 86% female) who were participants in a larger study looking at development of self-regulation in early childhood (M child age = 2.5, 44% female) where a number of questionnaires were administered. The Adverse Childhood Experience survey (Felitti et al., 1998) was used to measure the parent’s exposure to childhood emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, and household dysfunction during childhood, The Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (Eyberg & Pincus, 1999) measured the frequency and severity of disruptive behaviors in children, demographic questions pertaining to the parents’ annual income and education level were utilized to measure SES. Parent income and education level were standardized and averaged to provide an overall total SES score for the present study.
To determine if SES moderated the associations between parental ACEs and intensity of child behavior problems, a regression analysis was conducted. The overall model was significant, R2 = .255, F(3, 39) = 4.457, p = .009, and accounting for 26% of unique variance in behavior problem intensity. The analysis showed that parent ACEs (p = .948) and SES (p = .35) did not affect child behavior individually, but the interaction between the two was significant (t = 2.507, p = .016). The interaction showed that higher ACES predict lower behavior problems among low SES participants.
These results were unexpected as past research has shown parental ACEs and low SES to be risk factors for child development, but in this study, their combination was protective for child behavior problems. However, some studies do conclude that individuals who have faced trauma may have higher levels of resiliency (Almedom, 2005; Bonanno, 2011). In one study, parents who have experienced high-levels of trauma describe aspiring to make their children’s lives better in the context of exposure to stressors and economic deprivations (Woods-Jaeger et al., 2018). Parents with trauma may also be hypervigilant of potential threats due to their own history and recognize the importance of nurturing their children (Woods-Jaeger et al., 2018). The parents in the current study could have higher levels of resilience and adapted a more vigilante parenting style due to their past trauma. Further studies should research individuals with high ACE scores and their parenting morals and values to better understand how past trauma affects their parenting styles.

Authors

• Sarah Krell, Eastern Michigan University
  Presenting Author

• Krysten Schultz, Eastern Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kristin Aho, Eastern Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jamie Lawler, Eastern Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Angela D Staples, Eastern Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author