Intergenerational continuity of child maltreatment: The role of maternal emotional dysregulation and mother–child attachment.

Abstract

Objective: Child maltreatment is a prevalent problem, and a lot remains unknown regarding the prevalence and mechanisms involved in its intergenerational continuity. The present study examines the sequential role of maternal emotional dysregulation and mother-to-child attachment in the intergenerational continuity of specific maltreatment types (Objective 1) as well as cumulative child maltreatment (Objective 2) among mother-young adult dyads. Method: A sample of 186 mothers and their young adult children (18-25 years old) completed an online survey measuring child maltreatment, attachment, maternal emotional dysregulation, and sociodemographic characteristics. The Canadian Survey of Economic Well-Being-Index of Material Deprivation was used to document mothers' material deprivation. Results: Path analyses revealed that physical neglect was the maltreatment type in the mothers' childhood that was the most consistently associated with their emotional dysregulation, attachment, and maltreatment in the next generation. Direct trajectories elucidating the homotypic and heterotypic continuity of child maltreatment were identified. A multigroup analysis revealed significant differences between the nondeprived and deprived groups for Objective 1. Regarding Objective 2, indirect paths indicated that an increase in the number of child maltreatment types that were experienced by mothers was associated with increased emotional dysregulation, which was negatively associated with attachment. In turn, attachment was negatively associated with cumulative child maltreatment in young adults. Conclusions: The present study highlights the importance of including neglect in studies of intergenerational continuity and of exploring the role of material deprivation in depth. The damage caused by cumulative child maltreatment is supported by our findings. Screening for past maltreatment experiences and their impacts on maternal functioning may be warranted when working with distressed families.

Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences (Aces) and Subsequent Adult Psychopathologies Through the Lens of Attachment Theory: A Position Paper

“…Karatay Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, (11), 309-333. DOI: 10.54557/karataysad.1348004 of maltreatment in the subsequent generation (Langevin, Gagné, Brassard, & Fernet, 2023). Hence, parents' own history of maltreatment can form a risk for ACEs and the formation of insecure attachment with their children.…”

Emerging Adults’ Adverse Life Events and Psychological Functioning: A Comparison Based on Intergenerational Trajectories of Child Maltreatment

“…For instance, parents with CM histories and mental health difficulties were likely to respond negatively to ambiguous cues from their children ( Berlin et al, 2011 ). All in all, these negative impacts of CM on mental health and parenting appear to make children more vulnerable to victimization ( Baril & Tourigny, 2016 ; Langevin, Gagné, et al, 2023 ) by (re)creating familial environments that might be more conducive to abuse and neglect ( Noll et al., 2017 ). These dynamics could also result in higher levels of CM exposure for maltreated children in the CM continuity versus discontinuity trajectories (where CM does not continue intergenerationally), but this remains to be explored.…”

“…The present study aimed to further our understanding of the intergenerational effects of CM by examining the effects of mothers’ histories of CM on EA’: (1) level of exposure to five types of CM, (2) adult interpersonal and non-interpersonal adverse life events (including IPV victimization), and (3) on psychological functioning (psychological distress, emotional dysregulation, posttraumatic stress symptoms), while accounting for material deprivation. Although we focused primarily on individual-level risk factors within this study, material deprivation was accounted for as a contextual risk factor associated with early CM and intergenerational continuity of CM ( Langevin, Gagné, et al, 2023 ; van IJzendoorn et al, 2010 ), and with many mental health outcomes ( Belle, 1990 ).…”

Emotion dysregulation and reward responsiveness as predictors of autonomic reactivity to an infant cry task among substance‐using pregnant and postpartum women

“…Extant research has implicated both emotion‐ and reward‐based processing in parenting behaviors across levels of analysis (for reviews, see Pechtel et al., 2013; Rutherford et al., 2015). Behavioral measures of maternal emotion regulation—or mothers’ abilities to successfully identify, regulate, and cope with negative emotions—have consistently been linked to parenting practices and child outcomes across developmental periods (e.g., Binion & Zalewski, 2018; Carreras et al., 2019; Langevin et al., 2023; Leerkes et al., 2017; Morelen et al., 2016). Further, research has shown that maternal emotion dysregulation during pregnancy is associated with child outcomes (Van den Bergh et al., 2020).…”