Despite the expanding
research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and corpus of studies on
intergenerational maltreatment in high-risk families, studies have not examined
intergenerational ACEs more broadly, much less in severely disadvantaged
families.
This study investigated the intergenerational continuity of ACEs in
mothers and young children aged 4 to 6 years living in emergency homeless shelters.
It also examined whether unpacking ACEs into categories of exposure to
maltreatment versus family dysfunction affected intergenerational continuity
patterns or child socioemotional problems in school.
Negative parenting, in the
form of observed inept coercive discipline with children, and cumulative
sociodemographic risk were examined as additional predictors of child ACEs and
socioemotional problems.
Mothers (N = 95; aged 20-45; 64.2% African American,
3.2% African Native, 11.6% Caucasian, 7.4% biracial/multiracial, and 13.6%
other) completed questionnaires on parent and child ACEs and cumulative risk
factors. They participated in videotaped parent-child interactions rated for
observed coercive discipline, and teachers provided reports of children's
socioemotional problems.
Results indicated that higher parental ACEs predicted
higher child ACEs, with higher numbers of parental ACEs in either category
(maltreatment or family dysfunction) predicting higher levels of child ACEs in
both categories. However, child exposure to maltreatment, but not family
dysfunction, significantly predicted elevations in children's socioemotional problems.
Findings underscore the role of intergenerational childhood adversity in homeless families
and also emphasize that unpacking ACEs in children may illuminate key areas of
vulnerability for school adjustment.
Purchase full article at: http://goo.gl/j7fVf3
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv
insight
No comments:
Post a Comment