Impact of maternal childhood trauma on child behavioral problems: The role of child frontal alpha asymmetry

Abstract

Childhood trauma is associated with many long‐term negative outcomes, and is not limited to the individual experiencing the trauma, but extends to subsequent generations. However, mechanisms underlying the association between maternal childhood trauma and child psychopathology are not well understood. Here, we targeted frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) as a potential underlying factor of the relationship between maternal childhood trauma and child behavioral problems. Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded from (N = 45) children (Mean age = 57.9 months, SD = 3.13) during an eyes‐closed paradigm in order to evaluate FAA. Mothers reported on their childhood trauma experiences using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and on their child's behavior using the child behavior checklist (CBCL). We found that maternal childhood trauma significantly predicted child total, internalizing, and externalizing behavior at age 5 years. We also observed a role for FAA such that it acted as a moderator, but not mediator, for behavioral problems. We found that children with relative more right/less left frontal activity were more at risk to develop behavioral problems when their mother had been exposed to trauma in her childhood. These results indicate that child frontal asymmetry may serve as a susceptibility marker for child behavioral problems.

Prefrontal activation in preschool children is associated with maternal adversity and child temperament: A preliminary fNIRS study of inhibitory control

“…Finally, we used retrospective report of adversity. Although this is one of the most frequently used methods for measuring life adversity (Glackin et al., 2021; Miller, Dennis, et al., 2022; van de Ven et al., 2020), retrospective and prospective reports have been shown to have low agreement and may be associated with health outcomes via different pathways (Baldwin et al., 2019).…”

“…Taken together, mothers’ cumulative adversity exposure and adversity exposure during different life stages, such as childhood and pregnancy, could have long‐lasting consequences for the biobehavioral development of their offspring. In support of this perspective, researchers have reported that maternal history of adversity exposure is associated with individual differences in children's parasympathetic nervous system functioning (Glackin et al., 2021), behavioral problems (van de Ven et al., 2020), temperament (Bouvette‐Turcot et al., 2020), and morphology (Moog et al., 2018) and functional connectivity (Hendrix et al., 2021) in the brain. It is not yet clear, however, whether young children's PFC functioning (i.e., activation) is altered following maternal or child adversity.…”

Providing patient‐centred care as Medical Radiation Practitioners to children and young persons in out of home care

“…11,12 This in turn, results in trauma subsequently affecting the lives of the child, other family members and their descendants. 13,14 Research has now shown that complex trauma alters DNA and results in intergenerational trauma. 15,16 Modern neuroimaging is leading to a greater understanding of the physiological changes due to trauma.…”

“…The toxic stress response produces biological alteration to the developing brain in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus and corpus callosum 11,12 . This in turn, results in trauma subsequently affecting the lives of the child, other family members and their descendants 13,14 . Research has now shown that complex trauma alters DNA and results in intergenerational trauma 15,16 …”

Intergenerational Transmission of Parental Adverse Childhood Experiences and Children’s Outcomes: A Scoping Review

“…Along with mediation models, studies of moderating effects may also advance the literature by identifying individual and contextual factors that strengthen or weaken the effects of ACEs. There are many plausible categories of moderators that may influence the intergenerational transmission of ACEs and, unlike studies of mediation in this area, studies of moderation have largely focused on genetic and biological factors such specific gene variants (Bouvette-Turcot et al, 2015), hormones (Thomas-Argyriou et al, 2020), and brain functions (van de Ven et al, 2020). Other moderator groups that have received less attention include demographic indicators such child age and parent education status (Rieder et al, 2019; Stepleton et al, 2018) and psychosocial processes such as parent-child attachment (Bouvette-Turcot et al, 2013) and social support (Hatch et al, 2020).…”