Abstract
BackgroundChildhood abuse has far-reaching effects, not only for survivors of maltreatment but also for subsequent generations. However, the mechanism of such intergenerational linkages has not been fully explored. This study investigated this linkage with special reference to its gender-specific features.MethodsA dataset of parents and their children, obtained from a cross-sectional survey in the Tokyo metropolitan area of Japan, was used. The study sample consisted of 1750 children aged between 2 and 18 years (865 daughters and 885 sons) and their parents (1003 mothers and fathers). Regression models were estimated to assess the associations among 1) both parents’ childhood physical abuse and neglect (childhood abuse), 2) parents’ psychological distress, as measured by the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6), and 3) children’s problem behaviour, as measured by the clinical scales of the Child Behavior Checklist.ResultsDaughters’ problem behaviour was more closely associated with mothers’ than fathers’ childhood abuse, whereas sons’ problem behaviour was more closely associated with their fathers’ experience. The impact of mothers’ childhood abuse on daughters’ problem behaviour was mediated at a rate of around 40 % by both parents’ psychological distress. The proportion of the effect mediated by parents’ psychological distress was less than 20 % for the impact of fathers’ childhood abuse on sons’ problem behaviour.ConclusionThe intergenerational impact of parental childhood abuse on children’s problem behaviour is gender specific, i.e. largely characterized by the same gender linkages. Further studies that explore the mechanisms involved in the intergenerational impact of childhood abuse are needed.
Highlights
Childhood abuse has far-reaching effects, for survivors of maltreatment and for subsequent generations
The mediating effect of psychological distress, may be more limited for fathers than mothers, given that fathers’ commitment to childcare is generally lower than mothers’ especially in a Japanese context [14]. Because these issues have not been fully explored in previous studies, we investigated the intergenerational association between parents’ childhood abuse and children’s problem behaviour using a cross-sectional dataset of people in Japan with special reference to its genderspecific features
We investigated four types of parent–child dyads to determine how sensitive the intergenerational impact of parental childhood abuse is in relation to these combinations
Summary
Childhood abuse has far-reaching effects, for survivors of maltreatment and for subsequent generations. Oshio and Umeda BMC Public Health (2016) 16:403 Unless these potential gender-specific relationships are considered, any observed association between parental childhood abuse and children’s problem behaviour would be misleading, in that it may reflect only averaged genderspecific relationships, which are not very informative. Little is known about the contribution of fathers’ poor mental health to the paternal linkage between childhood abuse and children’s problem behaviour. Most studies of parental influence on children’s problem behaviour have focused exclusively on mothers, assuming that mothers’ greater role as primary caregivers means that they have the strongest effect on children’s psychosocial development [2,3,4, 9,10,11]. The mediating effect of psychological distress, may be more limited for fathers than mothers, given that fathers’ commitment to childcare is generally lower than mothers’ especially in a Japanese context [14]
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