The intergenerational transmission of maternal adverse childhood experiences on offspring’s psychiatric disorder and the mediating role of maternal depression: Results from a cross sectional study

2022 ◽  
pp. 135910452110569
Author(s):  
Na Ri Kang ◽  
Young Sook Kwack ◽  
Jung-Kook Song ◽  
Moon-Doo Kim ◽  
Joon Hyuk Park ◽  
...  

Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) may negatively affect the mental health and development of their offspring. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of maternal ACE and offspring’s psychiatric disorder and the mediating effect of maternal depression. The subjects included 463 mothers (42.78 ± 5.68 years) and their offspring aged 6–18 years (13.26 ± 3.90 years). Mothers reported their ACE before age 18 and completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II and Diagnostic Predictive Scales (DPS), a screening tool for offspring’s psychiatric disorder. 35.42% of subjects had at least one ACE, and 11.0% reported three or more ACEs. Higher maternal ACE scores were associated with a significantly higher prevalence of offspring’s psychiatric disorders ( p < 0.001). Household dysfunction of maternal ACE (OR = 2.263, p < 0.001) is significantly associated with offspring’s psychiatric disorder. In the mediation model in which the household dysfunction affects the number of offspring’s psychiatric disorders, the partial mediation model through maternal depression was significant. The mother’s experience of household dysfunction before the age of 18 has a significant impact on her offspring’s psychiatric disorder and supported significant mediation through maternal depression. Further research is needed to determine the mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of ACE and offspring’s psychopathology.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Brown ◽  
Manuel Eisner ◽  
Susan Walker ◽  
Mark Tomlinson ◽  
Pasco Fearon ◽  
...  

Mothers from middle-income countries (MIC) are estimated to have higher rates of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and depression during pregnancy compared to mothers from high income countries. Prenatal depression can adversely impact on a mother's feelings towards her foetus and has thus been hypothesised to be partially responsible for intergenerational transmission of risk associated with maternal ACEs. However, the extent to which prenatal depressive symptoms mediate the association between maternal ACEs and foetal attachment is unknown. The current study investigated this question in a multi-country sample of mothers in their third trimester of pregnancy. Expectant mothers (n = 1,185) from eight MICs completed measures of foetal attachment, ACEs and prenatal depression. Full-sample path mediation analyses, adjusting for relevant covariates, suggested an overall full mediating effect of prenatal depression, as the relationship between ACEs and foetal attachment became non-significant when adding maternal depression as a mediator. However, at the individual-country level, both positive and negative effects of ACEs on foetal attachment were observed after the inclusion of depressive symptoms as a mediator, suggesting that cultural and geographical factors may influence a mother’s empathic development after ACE exposure. The findings reinforce the importance of screening for prenatal depression during antenatal care in MICs. Addressing prenatal depression within maternal health care may support foetal attachment and contribute to reducing the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage.


Author(s):  
E-Jin Park ◽  
Shin-Young Kim ◽  
Yeeun Kim ◽  
Dajung Sung ◽  
Bora Kim ◽  
...  

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are known to be closely related to depression, anxiety and sleep problems. However, it remains unclear whether adolescents with ACEs have sleep problems regardless of depression or anxiety or under a mediating effect from depression or anxiety. Therefore, our aim was to examine whether depression or anxiety mediates the relationship between ACEs and sleep problems in adolescents by using a community sample. The Early Trauma Inventory Self Report–Short Form (ETISR-SF) and List of Threatening Experiences Questionnaire (LTE-Q) were used to assess traumatic ACEs. Ultimately, data from 737 students (M = 448, F = 289, 15.1 ± 1.4 years old) were included in the statistical analysis. A total of 576 (78.1%) participants reported that they had experienced one or more ACEs. Adolescents with ACEs had higher levels of depression, anxiety and sleep problems than did adolescents without ACEs, and boys tended to experience more trauma than girls. Depression and anxiety partially mediated the relationship between ACEs and sleep problems. The results of this study suggest the need for depression and anxiety interventions for adolescents with ACEs to reduce the long-term consequences, including sleep problems and physical health problems.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 111 (3) ◽  
pp. 564-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. R. Dube ◽  
V. J. Felitti ◽  
M. Dong ◽  
D. P. Chapman ◽  
W. H. Giles ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (8) ◽  
pp. 653-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ljiljana Samardzic ◽  
Gordana Nikolic ◽  
Grozdanko Grbesa ◽  
Maja Simonovic ◽  
Tatjana Milenkovic

Background/Aim. Consequences of individual adverse childhood experiences for adult mental health have been precisely studied during past decades. The focus of past research was mainly on childhood maltreatment and neglect. The aim of this paper was to determine association between multiple adverse childhood experiences and psychiatric disorders, as well as their correlation to the degree and type of aggressiveness in adult psychiatric patients. Methods. One hundred and thirteen psychiatric outpatients were divided into three diagnostic groups: psychotics, non-psychotics and alcoholics and compared with fourty healthy individuals. Adverse childhood experiences data were gathered retrospectively, using the Adverse childhood experiences questionnaire and explanatory interview. Aggressiveness was assessed using Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire. The Student's t test, ANOVA and correlational analysis were used for evaluation of statistical significance of differences among the groups. A value p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results. Our results showed that the mean number of adverse childhood experiences in each group of psychiatric patients, as well as in the whole group of patients, was statistically significantly higher than in the group of healthy individuals (p < 0.001); there was a statistically significant difference in score of physical aggressiveness between the patients exposed to adverse childhood experiences and those who were not exposed to them (p < 0.05); scores of physical aggressiveness were in positive correlation with the number of adverse childhood experiences (p < 0.05). The highest mean score of adverse childhood experiences was evidenced in the group of patients with psychotic disorders. Conclusion. Multiple adverse childhood experiences are significantly associated with psychotic disorders, nonpsychotic disorders and alcohol dependence in adulthood and their presence is important morbidity risk factor for psychiatric disorders. They are in positive correlation with physical aggressiveness of the patients from these diagnostic groups.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Letourneau ◽  
D. Dewey ◽  
B. J. Kaplan ◽  
H. Ntanda ◽  
J. Novick ◽  
...  

AbstractAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs) of parents are associated with a variety of negative health outcomes in offspring. Little is known about the mechanisms by which ACEs are transmitted to the next generation. Given that maternal depression and anxiety are related to ACEs and negatively affect children’s behaviour, these exposures may be pathways between maternal ACEs and child psychopathology. Child sex may modify these associations. Our objectives were to determine: (1) the association between ACEs and children’s behaviour, (2) whether maternal symptoms of prenatal and postnatal depression and anxiety mediate the relationship between maternal ACEs and children’s behaviour, and (3) whether these relationships are moderated by child sex. Pearson correlations and latent path analyses were undertaken using data from 907 children and their mothers enrolled the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition study. Overall, maternal ACEs were associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression during the perinatal period, and externalizing problems in children. Furthermore, we observed indirect associations between maternal ACEs and children’s internalizing and externalizing problems via maternal anxiety and depression. Sex differences were observed, with boys demonstrating greater vulnerability to the indirect effects of maternal ACEs via both anxiety and depression. Findings suggest that maternal mental health may be a mechanism by which maternal early life adversity is transmitted to children, especially boys. Further research is needed to determine if targeted interventions with women who have both high ACEs and mental health problems can prevent or ameliorate the effects of ACEs on children’s behavioural psychopathology.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Jackson

The purpose of this systematic review is to investigate whether the current family court procedure in Scotland, involving cases of adverse childhood experiences exacerbated by parental abuse or household dysfunction, is likely to contribute, even inadvertently, to a deficit in emotional functionality in adults. Firstly, I will explore the literature on adverse childhood experiences, focussing on aspects such as critical periods of development, responsivity to stress, neural plasticity and the importance of family, to establish the potential effects on children’s social development, educational attainment, behavioural system, physical system and neurological development. Secondly, by exploring emotion regulation and the biological mechanisms that regulate the body’s stress hormone response system, I aim to identify how the association between stress and empathy impact the behavioural and emotional systems, to establish whether reduced empathy development is a potential pathway to future psychotic disorders, particularly, within populations with a history of childhood maltreatment.Finally, I will investigate how the court conducts family contact disputes, maintaining a balance between participation and protection of the child, whilst retaining the equilibrium of these views and the welfare principle.


2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 366-375
Author(s):  
Julie Miller-Cribbs ◽  
Jedediah Bragg ◽  
Frances Wen ◽  
Martina Jelley ◽  
Kim A Coon ◽  
...  

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are multiple sources of maltreatment and household dysfunction with tremendous impact on health. A trauma-informed (TI) approach is preferred when working with patients with ACEs. The Professional ACEs-Informed Training for Health© (PATH©) educational program and simulation experience using standardized patients (SP) was developed to help healthcare professionals address ACEs with adults. PATH© is a 3–4 hour curriculum comprised of lecture and discussion, video-based demonstration, simulation experience, and debriefing. It was first developed for primary care (PC) residents in family medicine and internal medicine, and subsequently modified for occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) students. This study evaluates a preliminary dataset focusing on PATH© skills of PC residents and OT and PT students during simulation. Recordings of 53 learner-SP encounters from 15 OT and PT students and 38 PC residents were coded using standardized behavioral codes. A subset of ten recordings of PC residents who participated in simulations in the first and fourth year of the training program allowed for evaluation of training outcomes over time. Results showed that medical residents and OT and PT students demonstrated skills during SP encounters congruent with TI training on addressing ACEs with adults, particularly in explaining ACEs, demonstrating empathy, collaborative treatment planning, and stigma reduction. PC residents showed both positive and negative changes in PATH©-specific skills from year 1 to 4 of the training program. This study supports the PATH© model and simulation-based training in preparing clinicians to address ACEs with adults and provides insight into further curriculum improvement.


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