Parent emotion regulation difficulties statistically mediate the association between parental adverse childhood experiences and child emotion regulation

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with adult high-risk behaviors and diseases. There is value in screening parents for ACEs given the repercussions parental ACEs may have on parenting behaviors and child development. The primary aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of parental ACE screening in the home setting. A secondary aim was to evaluate whether or not maternal ACEs correlated with maternal mental health measures. Two home visiting programs that support early childhood development and conduct parental mental health screening implemented ACE screening for parents of infants <1year of age. Descriptive statistics were produced for population surveillance of ACEs as well as standard practice screens for depression, anxiety, substance use, and intimate partner violence. Logistic models were used to examine associations between ACE score and mental health measures. A total of 110 parents completed the ACE screen. All possible ACE score outcomes were represented (0-10). A trend toward association of positive prenatal maternal depression screen with ACE score was identified (p=.05). This novel prospective home-based screening program for parental ACEs was feasible and identified a trend toward increasing ACE score association with positive prenatal maternal depression screen.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are life events that occur before the age of 18. ACEs can lead to toxic stress and development of negative health behaviors and chronic diseases, especially for ≥4 ACEs. Current research primarily focuses on adult ACEs. The interaction between parent ACEs and their children’s subsequent health is poorly studied. This study assessed parent and children ACE exposure on presentation to our burn unit and their impact on burn recovery. Children presenting to the burn unit were enrolled. Parents completed a self-report ACE-18 survey. ACE-18 questions included parent ACEs and child ACEs. Parents completed a strengths and needs survey and parent resiliency questionnaire. Follow-up surveys, including child depression screening (DSM-V) and Burn Outcome Questionnaire (BOQ), were completed at 1–3 months post-injury. Baseline analysis comparing the number of child ACEs (0 ACE and ≥1 ACE) or ages (<5 years and ≥5 years) were performed using SPSS 25.0. Significance was assumed at <0.05. Sixty-nine children were enrolled. The average age was 5.3 ± 5.0 years (63.8% <5 years). Most were male (57%) and white (77%). The average total burn surface area was 4.1 ± 5.2%. Parents reported a mean of 2.4 ± 2.9 ACEs for themselves and 1.3 ± 1.8 ACEs for their children. A correlation was observed between parent ACE exposure and child ACE exposure (r = 0.57; p = 0.001). Children ≥5 years were more likely to have more ACEs (2.1 ± 2.6 vs. 0.8 ± 0.9; p = 0.0025) and parents with more ACEs (3.9 ± 3.9 vs. 1.5 ± 1.6; p = 0.0005). Average family needs were 2 ± 2.2; 46.4% reported 2 or more needs, including food insecurity (15.9%), housing insecurity (7.2%), and imprisonment of a household member (5.8%). Family needs were higher for families of children with ≥1 ACE (2.4 ± 2.4 vs. 1.3 ± 1.8; p = 0.042) and of children ≥5 years (3.0 vs. 1.4; p = 0.04). Older children were more likely to present with flame (p = 0.03) or flash burn-related injury (p = 0.006). Thirty-four participants (49.3%) completed follow up at 1–3 months post-injury (50.9 ± 22.5 days). Besides less male participants (47%), the follow-up population was comparable to the overall population. Most children presented with no signs of depression (88 to 100% depending on the questions), acceptable pain (86%) and were active (95%). Our data suggest that families of burned children and children themselves, especially those ≥5 years, present with an ACE burden and a significant number of needs and negative social determinants of health. The strength of ACE assessment may be in preventing future trauma and health consequences. This understanding may enable health care providers to engage patient strengths and take into consideration their needs when devising a care plan to bring the child to a healthier life.

Intergenerational cycles of adversity likely increase one's risk of criminal legal system involvement, yet associations with potential contributors, such as parents' adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and positive childhood experiences (PCEs), have not been explored. To investigate the association of parents' ACEs and PCEs with their adult children's involvement in US legal systems, from arrest to conviction. The study team analyzed data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), a nationally representative cohort study of families in the US. PSID-2013 survey data were merged with the 2014 PSID Childhood Retrospective Circumstances Study (CRCS), collected May 2014 to January 2015, which asked adults aged 18 to 97 years to retrospectively report on their childhood experiences. Parents and their adult children were linked in the data set. Data were analyzed from October 2022 to September 2023. The child arrest outcome was regressed on parents' ACE and PCE scores using logistic regression models. In addition, multinomial logistic regression models were used to assess the associations of parents' ACE and PCE scores with the number of times their child was arrested and convicted. Of 12 985 eligible individuals, 8072 completed the CRCS. Among CRCS participants, there were 1854 eligible parent-child dyads (ie, parents and their adult children) that formed the analytic sample. The mean (SD) age of offspring at the time of CRCS completion was 38.5 (10.9) years, and 1076 offspring (51.3%) were female. Having 4 or more parental ACEs was associated with 1.91-fold (95% CI, 1.14-3.22) higher adjusted odds of arrest before age 26 and 3.22-fold (95% CI, 1.62-6.40) higher adjusted odds of conviction before age 26 years, compared with children of parents without ACEs. These associations persisted after controlling for parental PCEs. In this nationally representative study, children of parents with higher ACEs were at greater risk of arrest during adolescence and young adulthood, even after controlling for parents' PCEs. Addressing and preventing childhood adversity through multigenerational life course approaches may help disrupt intergenerational pathways to the criminal legal system.

The purpose of the present study was to examine intergenerational transmission of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) from parents to children and examine the buffering influence of forgiveness of oneself and others. Participants were 150 parents and children enrolled in Head Start in an upper midwestern, rural state who volunteered to complete questionnaires measuring ACEs and levels of forgiveness of oneself and others. Multiple correlation and regression were used to examine the associations between parent-reported parent and child ACEs and self-forgiveness and forgiveness of others. Analyses revealed that parental ACEs and child ACEs were positively correlated. Parents with low and medium levels of self-forgiveness and forgiveness of others had a stronger positive correlation between their own experience of ACEs and their child’s, whereas, for parents with high levels of self-forgiveness and forgiveness of others, the correlation between parent and child ACEs was reduced statistically to zero. The cycle of intergenerational transmission of ACEs may be interrupted, or at very least notably buffered, by forgiving oneself and others.

Over 60% of U.S. adults have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE) and 20% have experienced three or more ACEs. ACEs can be defined as exposure to abuse, neglect, household dysfunction, or community-level adversity during childhood. Since the original ACE study in the 1990s, a large body of literature has indicated that ACEs are associated with poor physical and mental health outcomes, health behaviors, and interpersonal outcomes across the life span. A growing body of work has indicated that the negative implications of ACEs can be transmitted across generations. More specifically, parental ACEs are associated with their children’s low birth weight, poor development, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Both direct and indirect pathways, through parents’ mental health and parenting practices, between parents’ ACEs and children’s outcomes have been established. Social workers are uniquely positioned to identify and treat parental ACEs to strengthen families and communities and prevent the intergenerational transmission of ACEs. Identification of parental ACEs can be done within the context of pediatric primary care, obstetric, and/or pediatric behavioral health visits. However, a family approach to treating parental ACEs is not straightforward, as parental ACE screening tools and evidence-based interventions targeting parental ACEs have yet to be established. To move the field of ACE research forward, social workers should engage in research to (a) identify a parental ACE screening tool; (b) identify at what point along a parent’s life course ACE screenings, and subsequent interventions, should be administered; and (c) create evidence-based interventions that address parental ACEs.

Background: Existing research documented the connection between individuals’ childhood trauma exposure and adverse health and behavioural health outcomes. However, less attention has been paid to understanding trauma in an intergenerational context. Objective: This study aims to fill this research gap by (1) exploring the association between parents’ trauma histories and child behavioural outcomes; (2) unpacking the effects of different types of parental trauma on child behavioural outcomes; (3) examining whether these associations vary by parental roles. Participants and Setting: This study recruited 202 parents from an online data collection platform – Amazon Mechanical Turk. Methods: We conducted regression analyses to examine the associations between parental adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their child’s behavioural problems and functioning. Results: Findings showed that only parental childhood maltreatment ACEs, but not family dysfunction ACEs, were significantly associated with child behavioural problems and functioning. The impact of parental child maltreatment ACEs on child behavioural problems was equally significant between fathers and mothers. In contrast, mothers’ childhood maltreatment ACEs exerted a more potent effect on child functioning. Conclusion: Study findings highlighted the need for child behavioural health services to incorporate the screening and treatment of parental ACEs in treatment programmes to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma.

Hospitalization in a PICU is a stressful experience for children and their parents, with many experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after discharge. Risk factors may include preillness traumatic events, such as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). We sought to assess the feasibility of screening ACEs in parents of children admitted to a PICU, their prevalence, and their association with post-PICU PTSD symptoms in them and their children. Single-center prospective observational study. Urban academic children's hospital from January to December 2021. One hundred forty-five children (2-18 yr old, admitted ≥ 2 d) and their parents. None. Data on parental demographics, ACEs, coping skills, and PICU environmental stressors, as well as patient clinical data, were collected. One month after PICU discharge, parents completed inventories assessing PTSD symptoms in them and their children. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were used to explore associations of ACEs with post-PICU PTSD. Of 145 enrolled parents, 95% completed the ACE questionnaire, 58% of whom reported greater than or equal to 1 ACE, and 14% had substantial (≥ 4) ACEs. Parent and patient follow-up was 79% and 70%, respectively. Sixteen percent of parents had provisional PTSD. Regression analysis showed parents with greater than or equal to 4 ACEs had 10 times greater odds of parental PTSD, compared to parents with less than 4 ACEs, (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 10.2; 95% CI, 1.03-100.9; p = 0.047). Fifty-six percent of patients screened at risk for PTSD. There was no association between substantial parental ACEs and patients' risk for PTSD (aOR = 3.5 [95% CI, 0.56-21.31]; p = 0.18). ACEs were common among parents of critically ill children. Having substantial parental ACEs was associated with provisional parental PTSD after their child's PICU admission, but not with PTSD in the children. Family-centered care that seeks to mitigate post-PICU stress should be mindful of the potential relevance of parental ACEs.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Investments in Adverse Childhood Experience Prevention Efforts

Despite the expanding research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and corpus of studies on intergenerational maltreatment in high-risk families, studies have not examined intergenerational ACEs more broadly, much less in severely disadvantaged families. This study investigated the intergenerational continuity of ACEs in mothers and young children aged 4 to 6 years living in emergency homeless shelters. It also examined whether unpacking ACEs into categories of exposure to maltreatment versus family dysfunction affected intergenerational continuity patterns or child socioemotional problems in school. Negative parenting, in the form of observed inept coercive discipline with children, and cumulative sociodemographic risk were examined as additional predictors of child ACEs and socioemotional problems. Mothers (N = 95; aged 20-45; 64.2% African American, 3.2% African Native, 11.6% Caucasian, 7.4% biracial/multiracial, and 13.6% other) completed questionnaires on parent and child ACEs and cumulative risk factors. They participated in videotaped parent-child interactions rated for observed coercive discipline, and teachers provided reports of children's socioemotional problems. Results indicated that higher parental ACEs predicted higher child ACEs, with higher numbers of parental ACEs in either category (maltreatment or family dysfunction) predicting higher levels of child ACEs in both categories. However, child exposure to maltreatment, but not family dysfunction, significantly predicted elevations in children's socioemotional problems. Findings underscore the role of intergenerational childhood adversity in homeless families and also emphasize that unpacking ACEs in children may illuminate key areas of vulnerability for school adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record

Emotion regulation is a skill that develops rapidly in early childhood. Previous research reported that parents play an important role in the development of children's emotion regulation, especially through emotion socialization. This study aims to examine the effect of emotion socialization by mother and father on children’s emotion regulation. Emotion socialization in this study includes the socialization of emotions through parental expression of emotions, parental response to the expression of negative emotions of children, and parental emotion coaching. Participants were 98 pairs of 4-6 years old kindergarten students and their parents. The measurement used Indonesian version of four instruments, includes Self-Expressiveness in the Family Questionnaire (SEFQ), Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale (CCNES), Subscale Coaching of Maternal Emotional Styles Questionnaire (MESQ), and Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC). The results of multiple regression analysis showed F value of 2.114 (p=0.043). In conclusion, the socialization of emotions by mother and father through emotional expression, responses to child's emotional expression, and emotion coaching, simultaneously affect child's emotional regulation. The contribution of parental emotion socialization to children’s emotional competence is 16%, while the remaining 84% is influenced by other variables not examined in this study.

Community-level Adverse Experiences and Emotional Regulation in Children and Adolescents

ObjectiveThe main aim of this research is to determine whether positive or negative maternal reactions in the field of emotional socialization play an intermediary role in the relationship between a child's emotional regulation skills and aggressive behavior.BackgroundPrevious findings show the effects of children's emotion regulation skills and parents' emotional socialization responses on aggressive behavior. However, researchers have not reported how children's emotion regulation skills influence maternal emotional socialization responses or investigated the mediating role of maternal emotional socialization responses on emotion regulation and aggressive behavior.MethodThe study was conducted with 285 mothers of 60‐ to 72‐month‐old children attending preschool. Research data were collected using the Children Aggression Scale—Parent Version, Dealing With Negative Emotions of Children, Emotional Regulation Checklist, Attachment Insecurity Screening Inventory, Parental Attitude Scale, and Child–Parent Relationship Scale.ResultsPositive and negative responses of mothers play a mediating role in the relationship between children's aggression and emotional regulation. Mothers' positive responses were effective in reducing the aggression level of children with a low level of emotional regulation. In addition, even if children's emotional regulation skills are low, positive responses are effective in reducing mothers' negative reactions and thus children's aggression levels.ImplicationsGiven the importance of promoting positive development in children, this study may have important implications for intervention and prevention programs. In particular, family‐based interventions that encourage mothers to use emotional socialization applications and education/techniques that encourage parents' emotional regulation strategies are recommended.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) robustly predict future morbidity and mortality. Researchers are just beginning to investigate intergenerational effects. We hypothesize there are intergenerational associations between parent ACE exposure and worse child health, health behaviors, and health care access and use. We linked data from 2 population-based cross-sectional telephone surveys in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that were used to ask parents about their past exposure to ACEs and their child's health, respectively. Participants were 350 parent-child dyads. Logistic regression models adjusted for parent and child characteristics. Parent ACE score was used to summarize indicators of parents' childhood adversity. Child health outcomes were poor overall health status, asthma diagnosis, obesity, low fruit and vegetable consumption, any soda consumption, inadequate physical activity, excessive television watching, no health insurance, no usual source of health care, and no dental examination in past 12 months. Of adult participants, 80% were female participants and 45% were non-Latino African American. Eighty-five percent of parents had experienced ≥1 ACE and 18% had experienced ≥6 ACEs. In adjusted models, each additional parent ACE was associated with higher odds of poor child overall health status (odds ratio [OR] = 1.19; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07-1.32), asthma (OR = 1.17; 95% CI: 1.05-1.30), and excessive television watching (OR = 1.16; 95% CI: 1.05-1.28). The full scope of the health effects of ACEs may not be limited to the exposed individual, highlighting the need for a 2-generation approach to addressing the social determinants of child health.

HighlightsWhat are the main findings?Parents of preschool children in psychiatric care reported high rates of ACEs, with 30.2% (n = 35) experiencing ≧ 4 ACEs—considerably higher than in the general population.The most common ACEs were parental separation, household mental illness, and emotional abuse.Parental neglect ACEs were significantly associated with adjustment disorder in children.What is the implication of the main finding?Intergenerational effects of ACEs may contribute to early psychiatric symptoms in preschoolers, particularly adjustment disorders. Screening for parental ACEs in child psychiatry could help identify at-risk families and develop early intervention strategies.Parental adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to negative outcomes in children, including emotional and behavioral problems, developmental delays, and higher risk for psychopathology. Most research focuses on school-aged children or community samples, with few studies examining preschool-aged children in child psychiatric care. Understanding parental ACEs in this population is crucial, as early childhood is a sensitive developmental period, and intergenerational effects may be particularly pronounced in children already presenting with psychiatric symptoms. Background/Objectives: The goal of this study was to analyze how parents of patients in an early childhood (0–5.9 yrs) mental health outpatient clinic differ from the general population in terms of the frequency of ACEs. In addition, we investigated the connection between mental health disorders in young children and the specific ACE scores of their parents. Methods: A total of 116 caregivers (34.45 years (SD = 5.28)) and their children (71.6% boys, 28.4% girls) at an average age of 3.99 years (SD = 1.35, range = 0.31–5.95) were included in the analysis. The legal guardians completed the 10-item ACE questionnaire. The young children were diagnosed as part of outpatient treatment using the DC:0–5 classification system. We analyzed the ACE scores and diagnoses descriptively and in comparison to a community sample. Results: An average value of 2.38 parental ACEs was reported by our sample, and 68.1% (n = 79) reported at least one ACE. The high-risk group with four or more ACEs comprised 30.2% (n = 35). The most common diagnosis in young children was the Disorder of Dysregulated Anger and Aggression of Early Childhood, followed by global developmental delay. Adjustment disorder was third in terms of frequency. Among the examined child psychiatric diagnoses, adjustment disorder showed a significant correlation with parents being affected by the ACE category of neglect (OR = 2.54; 95% CI: 1.012–6.369; p = 0.047). Conclusions: Parents who presented their children at an early childhood mental health outpatient clinic reported significantly more ACEs as compared to representative data on ACEs in adulthood. These results highlight the need for further studies with larger samples to enable a more in-depth analysis of the general intergenerational transmission processes and the differential transmission of specific ACEs to specific diagnoses in preschool-aged children.

Evidence on the effects of parental Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on adolescent mental health remains limited. This study investigates the associations between parental ACEs, children's exposure to threat- and deprivation-related ACEs, and adolescent depression and anxiety using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. We conducted a secondary analysis of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), a population-based longitudinal cohort study. Parental ACEs were retrospectively reported by caregivers. Children's exposure to ACEs was assessed from ages 4-17years and categorised as threat-related ACEs (e.g., bullying, hostile parenting, unsafe neighbourhoods, family violence) or deprivation-related ACEs (e.g., financial hardship, parental substance abuse, parental psychological distress, death of a family member, parental separation, parental legal problems). Depressive and anxiety symptoms were self-reported by adolescents at ages between 12 and 17years. Modified Poisson regression models were used to examine the independent and combined associations of parental ACEs and children's threat- and deprivation-related ACEs (assessed before ages 12, 14, and 16years) with depression and anxiety outcomes, including tests for interaction effects. The analysis included 3,956 children aged 12-13years, 3,357 children aged 14-15years, and 3,089 children aged 16-17years. Males comprised 50.8-59.8% and females 40.2-49.2% across all ages. By the age of 17, 30.4% and 9.4% of the adolescents had depression and anxiety, respectively. Parental ACEs (≥2) were associated with increased depression risk at ages 12 to 13years (RR=1.42; 95% CI: 1.10-1.84) and at 16-17years (RR=1.19; 95% CI: 1.02-1.39). Exposure to≥2 deprivation-related ACEs significantly increased the risk of depression across all ages, with relative risks ranging from 1.31 to 2.18. High threat-related ACEs (≥2) were associated with increased depression risk only at 12 to 13years (RR=2.01; 95% CI: 1.28-3.17). No significant interactions were observed. The findings reinforce the ACEs model by showing that, at the population level, early identification of children exposed to early life deprivations rooted in financial crisis or familial adversities, combined with targeted interventions for both children and parents and supportive social policies, can reduce long-term mental health risks.