Intergenerational Transmission Research Articles

The fall armyworm converts maize endophytes into its own probiotics to detoxify benzoxazinoids and promote caterpillar growth.

The fall armyworm (FAW, Spodoptera frugiperda) threatens maize production worldwide, and benzoxazinoids (Bxs) are known as the main secondary metabolites produced by maize to defend against FAW. However, we do not yet know whether and in what ways certain endophytes in the digestive system of FAW can metabolize Bxs, thus enhancing the fitness of FAW when feeding on maize. Using Bxs as the sole carbon and nitrogen source, we isolated Pantoea dispersa from the guts of FAW. P. dispersa can colonize maize roots and leaves as indicated by GFP-labeling and further successfully established itself as an endophyte in the Malpighian tubules and the gut of FAW after FAW feeding activities. Once established, it can be vertically transmitted through FAW eggs, suggesting the potential that FAW can convert maize-derived endophytes into symbiotic bacteria for intergenerational transmission. The prevalence of P. dispersa in FAW guts and maize leaves was also confirmed over large geographic regions, indicating its evolutionary adaptation in fields. Bxs determination in the gut and frass of FAW combined with bioassays performance on maize bx2 mutants revealed that the colonization of P. dispersa can promote FAW growth by metabolizing Bxs rather than other metabolites. Additionally, genome and transcriptome analyses identified plasmid-borne genes, rather than chromosomes of this species, were crucial for Bxs metabolism. This was further validated through in vitro prokaryotic expression assays by expressing two candidate genes form the plasmid. FAW can convert maize endophytes into its own probiotics to detoxify Bxs and thus enhance caterpillar growth. This represents a novel strategy for lepidopteran pests-transforming allies of the host into its own-thereby shedding light on the rapid spread of FAW and enhancing our understanding of ecological and evolutionary mechanisms underlying the pest-microbe-plant interactions. Video Abstract.

Determinants of pre-conception care awareness among young and middle-aged women in the Morena district of Madhya Pradesh

Pre-conception care pertains to any preventive, promotive, and curative interventions for improving the health outcomes of women. Contrary to the growing burden of intergenerational transmission of chronic diseases, women lacked awareness and access to services for pre-conception care. Considering this, we conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the awareness, perceptions, and practices of pre-conception care among women from young and middle-aged groups in the Morena district of Madhya Pradesh. It was a cross-sectional study conducted with 383 women of reproductive age group (15-40 years) using a structured and pre-validated quantitative questionnaire. Out of 383 women, 171 belonged to the younger age group (15-24 years) and 212 to the middle-aged group (25-40 years). More than 50% of women had not heard of pre-conception care, and more than 90% of women in both groups had low dietary diversity. Middle-aged women had higher pre-conception care compared to younger women (βeta coefficient (95% Confidence Interval); p-value: 0.49 (0.03, 0.95); 0.03).

Chinese students’ willingness to study abroad: The personal and familial influencing factors

Background: Studying abroad is no longer a new phenomenon. The popularity of Chinese students studying abroad is well known and the enthusiasm for studying abroad among students has been consistently strong for many years, especially with the continuous development of the Chinese economy. Aims: This paper will examine personal and family factors which influence the willingness to study abroad among Chinese university students. The application of these influencing factors can potentially have an impact in the formulation of government-related policies, the establishment and development of study abroad agencies, and the decision process among students when choosing to study abroad. Methods: The current study utilized a self-report approach to examine the potential impact of several personal and family factors on the willingness to study abroad. Results: Utilizing multivariate analysis and statistical analysis modeling, it was found that willingness to study abroad is greatest among female students with moderate to high grades, who are from urban areas and non-agricultural households, with fathers in high status occupations, mothers with higher levels of education, and higher family income. These factors embody the intergenerational transmission of benefits associated with family capital.

Intergenerational Transmission of Psychological Maltreatment and Adolescent Depression

Intergenerational Transmission of Psychological Maltreatment and Adolescent Depression

Cultural and Practical Barriers to Seeking Help for Intimate Partner Violence Among Korean Immigrants: Exploring Gender and Age Differences

Immigrants in the United States, including Korean immigrants, are more vulnerable to intimate partner violence (IPV), yet they are less likely to seek help than non-immigrants. This qualitative study sought to understand barriers to seeking help for IPV among Korean immigrants and to explore age and gender differences in Korean immigrants’ understanding of these barriers. We conducted four focus groups with 38 adults grouped by age and gender. Thematic analysis was employed to understand Korean immigrants’ perceptions of IPV and barriers to help-seeking. As a result, four prominent themes emerged: (1) differential understanding of IPV, (2) Confucian cultural influences on IPV, (3) cultural barriers to help-seeking, and (4) practical barriers to help-seeking. Women participants showed an in-depth understanding of IPV, recognizing various forms beyond physical violence within the immigrant social context. Younger participants highlighted the intergenerational transmission of IPV. Cultural factors, rooted in Confucianism such as strict gender roles and women’s self-sacrifice, exacerbate IPV. Cultural barriers include shame culture, treating IPV as a private matter, and the emphasis on family unity. Practical barriers are linked to the challenges immigrants face. These insights illustrate the need for targeted IPV interventions tailored to distinct gender and age demographics within the community.

Methylation Patterns of Diabetes and Obesity Susceptibility Genes in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Cross-Sectional Analysis from Karachi, Pakistan.

Background: Women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and their offspring have an increased risk of adverse perinatal and long-term health outcomes, which may be attributable to epigenetic modification of diabetes and obesity susceptibility genes. We aimed to investigate the methylation patterns of eight genes in GDM and normoglycemic (NG) mothers, and their respective offspring. Methods: This cross-sectional study, conducted at Aga Khan University from August 2019 to December 2022, recruited pregnant women in the first trimester of gestation from the outpatient obstetrics clinic. Participants were classified as NG or GDM based on the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Pakistan. Venous blood samples were collected from mothers and cord blood from neonates. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were used for DNA extraction and methylation analysis using methylation-specific PCR. Maternal and neonatal clinical data were recorded. Statistical analysis was performed using R, including binary logistic regression to assess the association between various gene methylation levels and GDM. Results: The study found that GDM mothers had significantly higher fasting blood glucose, 2-hr OGTT, and serum carboxymethyl lysine (CML) levels compared to NG mothers, but no significant differences in neonatal birth weight or serum CML levels. Chemerin methylation was significantly lower in GDM mothers and their babies, while NAMPT, MTNR1B, FNDC5, FAT4, and FTO methylation levels were higher in GDM offspring compared to NG offspring. GDM mothers also had higher methylation levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene (BDNF). Multivariable binary logistic regression identified methylation levels of maternal BDNF and neonatal MTNR1B to be independently associated with GDM. Conclusions: Our study shows a trend of epigenetic modifications in both GDM mothers and their offspring in various genes related to metabolism and inflammation, suggesting an intergenerational transmission of increased risk of developing metabolic disorders. These findings emphasize the need for high throughput studies, early screening, tight glucose control during pregnancy, and postnatal follow-up to mitigate long-term health risks.

Maternal early overfeeding negatively impacts cardiac progenitor cells differentiation and cardiomyocyte maturation in the neonatal offspring.

Maternal obesity has been positively correlated with an increased cardiometabolic risk in the offspring throughout life, implying intergenerational transmission. However, little is known about the early life cardiac cell modifications that imply the onset of heart diseases later in life. This study analyzed cardiac progenitor cells and cardiomyocyte differentiation on day of birth in the offspring born to obese dams. The litter size reduction model was used to induce obesity in female Swiss mice. Both maternal groups, the Small Litter Dams (SLD-F1), which were overfed during lactation, and the Normal Litter Dams (NLD-F1), control group, were mated to healthy male mice. Their first generation offspring (SLD-F2 and NLD-F2, n=6 by group) were euthanized on birth. Mothers from SLD had increased body mass, Lee Index, fat deposits, hyperglycemia, and glucose intolerance, confirming the obese phenotype. The offspring born from SLD-F1 had also increased body mass, Lee Index, and fasting hyperglycemia. The heart of SLD-F2 showed decreased cardiac mass/body mass ratio, increased cardiac collagen deposits, and a greater number of undifferentiated cardiac c-kit+ and Sca-1+ progenitor cells, and increased NKX2.5+ cardiomyoblasts compared to control. In addition, SLD-F2 demonstrated immature cardiomyocytes. Obese dams negatively impact its offspring, leading to altered biometric and metabolic parameters, along with an immature heart already at birth, with extracellular matrix adverse remodeling, delayed cardiac progenitor cells differentiation and restrained cardiomyocyte maturation, which can be related with the development of cardiometabolic disease in the adulthood.

Intergenerational Transmission of Posttraumatic Orientation to Bodily Signals Following Child Maltreatment.

Recent studies have indicated that CM (child maltreatment) may influence individuals' perception of their bodies, often resulting in a posttraumatic orientation to bodily signals (OBS). Given the intricate relationship between bodily and interpersonal experiences, it is hypothesized that posttraumatic OBS may be intergenerationally transmitted. However, knowledge regarding this phenomenon, and its underlying mechanisms, remains limited. Two studies tested (a) the link between CM and posttraumatic OBS, mediated by posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms and attachment security, and (b) the intergenerational transmission of a posttraumatic OBS following CM among dyads of parents and their young adult offspring. The first study included 445 young adults (mean age = 352, SD = 10.2), and the second study included 393 dyads (parents' mean age = 58, SD = 5.91; offspring's mean age = 27, SD = 3.91). The participants completed self-reported questionnaires. Study 1 found that posttraumatic OBS was associated with CM, through the mediation of PTS symptoms (indirect effect = 0.15, p = .005), and insecure attachment (indirect effects between 0.132 and 1.44, p < .006). The second study found two pathways of intergenerational transmission. The first pathway showed indirect paths between parents' CM exposure and offspring's posttraumatic OBS, through parents' reaction to CM (PTS symptoms, anxious attachment, and avoidant attachment) and posttraumatic OBS (indirect effects between 0.006 and 0.013, p < .039). The second pathway revealed indirect links between parents' CM exposure and offspring's posttraumatic OBS, through parents' and offspring's reaction to CM (indirect effects between 0.006 and 0.56, p < .015). The study's findings add empirical evidence that posttraumatic OBS is a significant implication of CM. The second study illuminates the intergenerational transmission of a posttraumatic OBS following parental CM exposure, uncovering PTS symptoms, and insecure attachment styles as potential underlying mechanisms.

Effects of parental socioeconomic status on offspring's fetal neurodevelopment.

Emerging evidence underscores the prenatal period's critical role in shaping later cognition and health, influenced by an intricate interplay of parental genetic and environmental factors. Birth weight is commonly used as a retrospective indicator of fetal development, but recent focus has shifted to more specific proxies of neurodevelopment, like cortical sulcal patterns, which are established in utero and remain stable after birth. This study aimed to elucidate the interrelated effects of parental socioeconomic status, brain volume, birth weight, and sulcal patterns in the anterior cingulate cortex. Utilizing structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), parental educational attainment, and related polygenic risk scores, the study analyzed 203 healthy right-handed participants aged 9 to 18. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that the anterior cingulate cortex sulcal pattern is influenced by parental socioeconomic status and global brain volume, with socioeconomic status correlating with a polygenic risk score. These findings suggest that prenatal neurodevelopmental processes may mediate the intergenerational transmission of inequalities.

Childhood Trauma as a Mediator of Intergenerational PTSD Symptom Transmission in Rwanda: A Cross-Sectional Study

Childhood Trauma as a Mediator of Intergenerational PTSD Symptom Transmission in Rwanda: A Cross-Sectional Study

Can digital factor participation create opportunities for “rags to riches”? Based on the perspective of intergenerational income mobility

Intergenerational hierarchical solidification threatens the sustainable development of economies and societies in countries worldwide. In this paper, we match macro data on digital factor participation at the city level with micro data from the Chinese Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from 2010 to 2018 to explore whether digital factor participation can break hierarchical solidification and create opportunities for “rags to riches” on the basis of the perspective of intergenerational income mobility. We find that digital factor participation contributes to facilitating upwards income mobility between generations, alleviating intergenerational hierarchical solidification. Additionally, its marginal effects are most pronounced in the low-income groups, indicating that digital factor participation serves as a booster for “poor second generations” to leapfrog rather than an accelerator for wealth accumulation among the “wealthy second generations”. Furthermore, our research reveals that digital factor participation potentially facilitates intergenerational occupational vertical “shift” channels and promotes the horizontal migration of the labour force, which in turn weakens intergenerational transmission effects, promotes intergenerational income mobility, and breaks intergenerational hierarchical solidification. Our study highlights the importance of seizing the opportunities presented by digital factor participation, as such participation offers more equitable opportunities for the lower class, which is particularly concerning in the context of the intensifying global trend of social stratification.

Intergenerational transmission of childhood trauma in youths with mood disorders and their parents

ObjectiveChildhood trauma is a significant environmental stressor linked to mood disorder. It can affect not only the individuals directly involved but also the next generation through the intergenerational transmission of trauma. This study aimed to investigate, for the first time, the co-occurrence of childhood trauma in youths with mood disorders and their parents. MethodsWe assessed 443 individuals, 100 youths with DSM-5 mood disorders, 100 youths healthy controls (HCs), 92 s' parents and 161 adult HCs. History of childhood trauma was obtained using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). The distribution patterns of childhood trauma subtypes was estimated through a multivariate model. Intraclass correlations (ICC) were calculated to account for the familial clustering of the sample. ResultsWe found significantly higher scores for Patients as compared to Young-HC in all the subtypes of childhood trauma (p < 0.05). Considering Parents and Adult-HC groups, Physical abuse (p = 0.001) and Emotional neglect showed higher scores in Parents (p < 0.001). Regarding the familial clustering of the sample, emotional (p < 0.001) and sexual abuse (p = 0.001), and emotional (p = 0.3) and physical neglect (p = 0.003) showed statistical significance, but only emotional abuse reveled a medium level ICC (0.25). ConclusionsOur study highlights the effect of intergenerational transmission of childhood trauma on the diagnosis of mood disorders in youths. Our findings underscore the significance of systematically assessing childhood trauma, in particular emotional abuse, in youths with mood disorders and their parents. Additionally, there is urgent need for evidence-based preventive measures aimed at promoting positive parenting strategies and emotionally supportive environments for children.

Associations between parental psychopathology and youth functional emotion regulation brain networks

Parental mental health is associated with children’s emotion regulation (ER) and risk for psychopathology. The relationship between parental psychopathology and children’s functional ER networks and whether connectivity patterns mediate the relationship between parent and youth psychopathology remains unexplored. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (N = 4202, mean age = 10.0) and a multilevel approach, we analyzed the relationship between self-reported parental psychopathology and their offsprings’ connectivity of four ER networks, as well as associations with self-reported youth psychopathology at a 3-year follow-up. Parental internalizing and total problems were associated with 1) higher connectivity between a subcortical-cortical integrative and ventrolateral prefrontal cortical (PFC) network, 2) lower connectivity between dorsolateral and ventrolateral PFC networks involved in cognitive aspects of ER, and 3) lower connectivity within a subcortical ER network (β = -0.05-0.04). Parental externalizing and total problems were associated with lower connectivity within the integrative network (βext = -0.05; βtot = -0.04). Mediation analyses yielded direct effects of parental to youth psychopathology, but no mediation effect of ER network connectivity. Overall, our results show that ER network connectivity in youth is related to parental psychopathology, yet do not explain intergenerational transmission of psychopathology.

Plugging in at school: Do schools nurture digital skills and narrow digital skills inequality?

Information and communication technology (ICT) have become indispensable in contemporary schools in post-industrialized countries. Whether schools have succeeded on vesting students with the needed digital skills important in today’s highly digitalized societal landscape however remains unclear. In this paper, we examine whether school resources in terms of ICT infrastructure, use of ICT in education, and availability of technical expertise are pertinent to students’ digital skillfulness. We also investigate whether such school ICT resources are unevenly distributed among students of different socioeconomic backgrounds, and whether students of different socioeconomic backgrounds unevenly benefit from these resources. In doing so, we illuminate school ICT resources’ role in the process of intergenerational transmission of inequalities. To test our expectations, we employ ICILS 2018 data on 14,183 students in 751 schools across seven OECD countries. Our findings indicate that schools indeed play a meaningful role in nurturing digital skills, namely through students’ use of ICT in educational tasks. We also find that students from more advantageous socioeconomic backgrounds more often attend well ICT-resourced schools, pointing at the uneven distribution of school ICT resources in a way that reflects social reproduction. Alongside that, the availability of technical expertise in schools seems particularly fruitful for low-SES students’ digital skills development. This evinces that schools compensate for limited ICT skills socialization in the family, pointing at social mobility processes.

Lability in parent-child warmth and hostility and adolescent externalizing behaviors.

Both longer term developmental changes (increases in hostility, decreases in warmth) and lability (year-to-year fluctuations) in parent-child relationship quality across childhood and adolescence have been linked to adolescent externalizing behaviors. Using a prospective longitudinal study of 561 children who were adopted into nonrelative families at birth (57% male, 56% White, 19% multiracial, 13% Black, 11% Hispanic) where parental warmth and hostility reflect environmental influences or child-evoked reactions, we examined associations between parent-child relationship measures and externalizing behaviors at age 11 and across adolescence (i.e., from age 11 to 13-15 years). Because studies considering gene-environment interplay especially in associations between lability and child externalizing behaviors are sparse and parent-child relationship measures support the intergenerational transmission of psychopathology, we also tested whether parent psychopathology of both adoptive parent (AP; environmental intergenerational transmission) and birth parents (genetic intergenerational transmission) moderated these associations in multivariate regression models. Findings generally supported more effects of fathers' than mothers' warmth and hostility. Although there were some linear associations of increased lability with externalizing behaviors, these did not persist in the context of a multivariate model. Associations between both parents' increasing hostility across childhood on age 11 externalizing behaviors and for fathers increasing hostility and decreasing warmth on increases in externalizing behaviors across adolescence more likely reflect a combination of bidirectional evocative and parenting environmental associations than purely parenting environmental transmission. Moderation by parent psychopathology was sparse, and sensitivity tests revealed no differences by child sex. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Intergenerational transmission of fertility: evidence from China's population control policies

Abstract This paper examines how the number of siblings that parents have affects their fertility decisions in China. The population control policies in China affected individuals unequally across birth cohorts and regions. The exogenous variation in fertility is used to identify the effect of the number of siblings on the number of children for the next generation. The results show that a couple tends to have 0.034–0.068 more children (2.3–4.6% of the average number of children) and is 2.4–6.8 percentage points more likely to violate the One-Child Policy (9.3–27.1% of the violation rate) if the husband and the wife have one more sibling each. Moreover, the effect on fertility is stronger for couples in lower-income provinces where the fertility rate is higher and in rural areas where the One-Child Policy was enforced less strictly. Finally, I show that the ideal family size of the husband and wife is an important channel through which the number of siblings affects fertility. I also find that the effect of people's number of siblings has a larger effect on their ideal number of children than on their actual number of children, suggesting that they are constrained from achieving their fertility ideals.

Celeste Ng in Conversation with Maxine Hong Kingston: Intergenerational Trauma and the Asian American Experience in Everything I Never Told You.

This paper delves into the representation of intergenerational trauma within Asian American literature, focusing on Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You, Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, and the critiques by Viet Thanh Nguyen. Ng’s work is analyzed for its nuanced portrayal of trauma as an intrinsic part of the Asian American experience, distinguishing it from earlier works that, as Nguyen argues, tend to conform to the “model minority” stereotype. The paper examines Ng’s sensitive unpacking of trauma, particularly its non-punctual, systemic nature, and its intergenerational transmission, especially in parent-child relationships. Additionally, it contrasts Ng’s approach with Kingston’s, exploring how trauma in The Woman Warrior is masked by cultural reinterpretation and the desire to please dominant Western narratives. By employing the theories of Cathy Caruth, Naomi Mandel, and Greg Forter, the essay argues that Ng repositions trauma as a core theme in Asian American literature, filling a significant gap left by previous works and redefining the narrative of Asian American identity and heritage.

It takes three: Parental hostility, brain morphology and child externalizing problems in a parent-offspring neuroimaging trio design.

Hostility often co-occurs in parents and associates with increased aggression and inattention problems in children. In this population-based cohort of 484 mother-father-child neuroimaging trios, we investigated the degree to which associations of prenatal and childhood parental hostility would be associated with maternal, paternal and child brain structural differences. Also, we examined whether hippocampal volumes of the parents or child mediate the association of prenatal parental hostility with child externalizing behaviors. Maternal and paternal hostility was assessed with the hostility subscale of the Brief-Symptom-Inventory at three time points: prenatally at 30 weeks gestation, and when the child was 3 and 10 years old. During adolescence assessment wave (age 14), maternal, paternal, and offspring assessment included a magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI). Child externalizing problems were assessed with Youth-Self-Report-Child-Behavior-Checklist.Our findings suggest that maternal and paternal hostility were each associated with smaller gray matter, white matter, and hippocampal volumes of their own and their partner's brain. Prenatal maternal but not paternal hostility was associated with smaller total gray matter, white matter, and hippocampal volumes in the offspring. The child's hippocampal volumes partially mediated the associations of prenatal parental hostility (latent-construct) with adolescent externalizing behavior, even after adjusting for prior child externalizing problems. Moreover, parental psychopathology may have long-lasting neurodevelopmental correlates in children that underlie the intergenerational transmission of behavioral problems. The behavior of family members results from a system of interdependent dyadic relationships over time that associate with specific brain structural differences.Significance statement Parental hostility often co-occurs in the parents. Research suggests that what transpires in one family subsystem, e.g. hostility among parents, is related to what transpires in other subsystems, e.g. mother-child or father-child, and can negatively impact child development. To understand the neurobiological effects of parental hostility on the families, these can best be studied with trio analysis as parents and children may all be affected. Overall, the findings elucidate how hostility of a parent negatively relates to different family subsystems and associated brain characteristic, such as the hippocampal volume. Our findings suggest that the behavior of family members results from a system of interdependent dyadic relationships over time that associate with specific brain structural differences.

Intergenerational Transmission of Overweight and Obesity among Preschool Children in Sweden

Abstract Background Child overweight including obesity (OWOB) has quadrupled globally, since 1975. It affects a third of European children and even higher rates persist among expectant parents. Parental pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and health behaviours are known to influence offspring health. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the link between parental and children’s OWOB, alongside parental socio-economic and other factors. Methods This is a population-based repeated cross-sectional study utilized data from the Salut Programme in Västerbotten, Sweden, and Swedish national registers, including 5,937 of 3-year-olds and their parents. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association of child BMI with prenatal BMI and other factors. Further, the Relative Excess Risk due to Interaction (RERI) arising from the interplay between parent’s OWOB status in relation to their children’s OWOB was calculated. Results OWOB prevalence rates for 3-year-olds, expectant mothers, and their partners were 15.1%, 29.1%, and 53.5%, respectively. Both parent’s OWOB significantly affected children’s BMI (with strongest association for mothers). The Relative Excess Risk due to interaction (RERI) was positive for children’s OWOB if both parents were obese, showing an additive interaction effect of individual parental obesity status. The odds for a child to be OWOB was 2.88 (1.83-4.43) if both parents were obese compared to if none of them were obese. Conclusions OWOB among preschool children remain an important public health concern in Sweden. Based on the study findings, Sweden’s regional and national public health initiatives should prioritize targeting parental overweight and obesity as a key strategy to reduce the burden of OWOB among children. Furthermore, the resemblance of these results with comparable studies across the world, emphasizing the importance of initiating interventions with parents before pregnancy or even earlier. Key messages • Parental combined obesity status significantly increase the odds of childhood overweight and obesity. • The importance of initiating interventions with parents before pregnancy for better health outcomes related to child BMI.

Ded Moroz (Father Frost) as a social construct of childhood and society

The article proposes to expand the understanding of the fairy-tale wizard Ded Moroz (Father Frost) as a myth and cultural and symbolic image using sociological approaches. As an analysis methodology, the concept of social construction of reality was applied, which made it possible to characterize the social construct «Ded Moroz (Father Frost)», which performs numerous social functions for the adult population and additional, specific for children. The main functions include participation in the formation of national identity, traditions, political distinction, economic, educational, educational, socializing, additionally described as an incentive in projective research methods. Arguments are presented to prove that Ded Moroz (Father Frost) is not only an attribute of the cultural heritage of Russia, but also unites numerous ideas, social practices of children and the organization of the child's daily space, promotes the socialization of the modern young generation, participates in the intergenerational transmission of values and identity. The subjects and mechanisms of constructing processes, levels and possibilities of application in the periodization of childhood are highlighted. With the help of a representative empirical study of 2023 estimates by young people of the eventfulness of their childhood, including the situation of loss of faith in Ded Moroz (Father Frost) (average age 9.1 years), conclusions were drawn about social factors of stability and variability of the age of debunking the myth of the reality of the fairy-tale hero. Some hypotheses have been proposed for further research, including the new role of a «social worker and social defender» for Ded Moroz (Father Frost), the artificial lengthening of the period of trust in the fairy-tale character by the children themselves in order to receive gifts and entertainment.