Associations of Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences with Behavioral Problems in Preschool Children

Abstract

Investigations have found maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) cause an intergenerational danger to their children’s health. However, no study has investigated the effects of maternal ACEs on behavioral problems of preschool children in China and gender differences on these effects. This paper aims to investigate the role of maternal ACEs on behavioral problems of preschool children in China and explore gender differences as related to these behavioral problems. Stratified cluster sampling method was used to select 7318 preschool children from 12 districts in Hefei city, China. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect information on maternal exposure to ACEs and Conners’ Parent Rating Scales. Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between maternal ACEs and children’s behavioral problems. The prevalence of behavioral problems in preschool children was 16.0%, while it was higher among girls (18.4%) than boys (13.92%) (χ2 = 27.979, p < 0.001). The rate of behavioral problems in children in the group of mothers with ACEs was higher than those without ACEs (all p < 0.05). Maternal ACEs were associated with increased risk of the behavior problems in preschool children (adjusted OR 2.91, 95% CI 2.45–3.45), and no gender difference (in girls 3.01, 2.38–3.81, in boys 2.79, 2.17–3.58, respectively) was found. Maternal ACEs were associated with increased risk of each type of the behavioral problems of preschool children, except that maternal emotional neglect was not associated with psycho-physical problems, impulse-activities, and anxiety. The only gender differences found were higher conduct problems related to maternal emotional abuse and ACEs and higher anxiety related to maternal physical abuse and community violence in girls compared with boys. Mothers exposured to ACEs are more likely to have children with behavioral health problems in preschool period. Further research is needed to explore the mechanisms by which maternal ACEs influence children’s behavioral problems.

Patterns of adverse childhood experiences among Chinese preschool parents and the intergenerational transmission of risk to offspring behavioural problems: moderating by coparenting quality

“…A variety of measurements will be useful for future research. Third, despite the fact that child sexual abuse is strongly linked to behavioural problems in children around the world (Linde-Krieger & Yates, 2018 ), this study examined participants’ actual adherence to the recommendations of previous studies (Wang et al, 2021 ). Furthermore, we did not include childhood sexual abuse due to the stigma and sensitivity associated with sexual victimisation in China.…”

“…The Chinese version of the Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire was used to measure parental ACEs (Wang et al, 2021 ; World Health Organisation, 2019 ). The main caregivers were asked to retrospectively report adverse experiences during childhood.…”

“…Research has demonstrated a link between adversative and dysfunctional childhood experiences and later-life psychological, behavioural, interpersonal, and health issues (Felitti et al, 1998 ; Hughes & Cossar, 2016 ; Vig et al, 2020 ). Studies have reported that 69.7% of mothers experienced at least one type of ACE in China (Wang et al, 2021 ), which is much higher than the rates in developed Western countries (Eismann et al, 2019 ; Testa & Jackson, 2021 ). A growing body of research suggests that parental ACEs can increase the risk of and are linked to worse offspring developmental function (Folger et al, 2018 ), social-emotional function (Folger et al, 2017 ), behavioural problems (Schickedanz et al, 2018 ), physical health (Lê-Scherban et al, 2018 ), vulnerability (Newcomb & Locke, 2001 ), and interference with a parent's ability to acquire preventive healthcare for their children (Eismann et al, 2019 ).…”

Maternal adverse childhood experiences and health-related quality of life in preschool children: a cross-sectional study

“…A systematic review has further revealed that maternal ACEs were associated with externalizing problems in their offspring across all included studies (n = 11), while the findings were mixed for children’s internalizing problems, with 72.7% (8 out of 11) of the included studies showed a significant association [ 12 ]. In addition, there is still debate going on about the gender differences in the association between maternal ACEs and children’s outcomes [ 13 , 15 ]. A study in Chinese preschool children has found that girls were more likely to have conduct problems than boys when their mothers reported exposure to emotional abuse [ 13 ].…”

“…In addition, there is still debate going on about the gender differences in the association between maternal ACEs and children’s outcomes [ 13 , 15 ]. A study in Chinese preschool children has found that girls were more likely to have conduct problems than boys when their mothers reported exposure to emotional abuse [ 13 ]. Also, girls were more likely to report anxiety compared to boys when their mothers had experience of physical abuse or community violence [ 13 ].…”