Intergenerational impacts of trauma and hardship through parenting

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21344393
AutoresSarah K G Jensen (0000-0001-6407-3055, Boston College School of Social Work Boston College Chestnut Hill MA USA, autor de correspondencia), Vincent Sezibera (0000-0002-0811-3216, Centre for Mental Health University of Rwanda Kigali Rwanda), Shauna M Murray (0000-0002-5768-5931, Boston College School of Social Work Boston College Chestnut Hill MA USA), Robert T Brennan (0000-0001-6158-225X, Boston College School of Social Work Boston College Chestnut Hill MA USA), Theresa Betancourt (0000-0002-3683-4440, Boston College School of Social Work Boston College Chestnut Hill MA USA)
Año2021
Volumen62
Número8
Páginas989-999
Fecha de publicación2021-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0021-9630 • E-ISSN: 1469-7610
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/jcpp.13359
PMID33284991
OpenAlexW3111119209
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas8
Referencias citadas26

BACKGROUND: Millions of people worldwide experience severe trauma in their lifetime. Trauma has immediate and long-term effects on emotional wellbeing. Moreover, the experiences of one generation may influence subsequent generations via social and biological pathways. Poor mental health and emotion dysregulation associated with trauma may affect parenting behaviours, which may have long-lasting effects on children's development. METHODS: We use longitudinal data from a unique sample of 732 caregivers of children aged 6-36 months living in extremely poor rural households in Rwanda to examine associations of caregiver lifetime trauma, recent daily hardships, mental health, and emotion dysregulation with parenting behaviours reflecting parental acceptance and rejection of their offspring. RESULTS: Cumulative trauma exposure (β = .234, p < .001) and recent daily hardships (β = .323, p < .001) are associated with higher levels of internalising symptoms. Trauma (β = .257, p < .001) and daily hardships (β = .323, p < 0.001) are also associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Internalising symptoms predict more rejection (β = .177, p = .001), but show no association with acceptance. Caregiver PTSD symptoms predict more rejection (β = .277, p < .001) and less acceptance (β = -.190, p = .003). Both internalising symptoms (β = .557, p < .001) and PTSD symptoms (β = .606, p < .001) are strongly associated with poor emotion regulation. Indirect effects suggest that caregiver trauma and hardships affect parenting indirectly via elevated caregiver internalising symptoms and PTSD and that some of these effects are accounted for by emotion dysregulation. CONCLUSIONS: Caregiver internalising and PTSD symptoms are important mechanisms through which caregiver trauma and hardship affect parenting behaviours. Emotion dysregulation is a shared mechanism linking caregivers' mental health problems with parenting behaviours that reflect acceptance and rejection of the child. Emotion regulation is indicated as a key target for prevention of adverse effects of caregiver trauma on mental health and child wellbeing

Affect (linguistics) · Mental health · Offspring · Pregnancy · Psychiatry · Child Abuse and Trauma · Clinical Psychology · Migration, Health and Trauma · Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research · Psychology