The findings illuminate our understanding as to how social support interventions can enhance recovery and reduce stigma associated with living with a psychiatric condition by attention to perceptions of whether one is valued and recognized by others. Mattering to others among consumers of social and health care interventions can serve to engage individuals who may withdraw from supports or internalize negative self-stereotypes based on internalized stigma. (PsycINFO Database Record

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are among the leading environmental causes of morbidity and mortality. Extending research on within-generation effects, more recent scholarship has explored between-generation consequences of ACEs. Despite growing interest in the intergenerational effects of parents’ ACEs on children’s outcomes, this line of scholarship has yet to be coalesced into a comprehensive review. The current study is a scoping review on the intergenerational transmission of parental ACEs and children’s outcomes. Ten databases such as PubMed, APA PsycArticles, and Social Work Abstracts were searched. To be included, empirical studies must have been published in English and analyzed associations between a cumulative measure of at least four parental ACEs and children’s outcomes. Sixty-eight studies qualified for the review and, among these, 60 were published in the most recent 5 years (2018–2022). Fifty-one studies had sample sizes smaller than 500, and 55 focused on the effect of maternal ACEs. Nearly all studies demonstrated that parental ACEs could affect children’s outcomes directly or indirectly via mechanisms like maternal mental health problems or parenting-related factors. By scoping the extant literature, this review advances the knowledge base regarding the intergenerational impacts of parental childhood trauma and children’s outcomes. It also reveals methodological limitations that should be addressed in future research to strengthen causal inferences along with practical implications for interventions that aim to interrupt the intergenerational transmission of trauma.

Background Prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) may alter responses to stress. Children with PCE tend to grow up in suboptimal caregiving environments, conducive to child maltreatment (CM). Guided by the diathesis-stress model, the present study examined differences in self-reported responses to stress and coping in adolescents with and without PCE and explored whether childhood maltreatment (CM) moderated the effects of PCE. Methods Adolescents (N=363; 184 PCE, 179 non-cocaine exposed (NCE)), primarily African-American and of low socioeconomic status, were prospectively enrolled in a longitudinal study at birth. The Responses to Stress Questionnaire was used to assess volitional coping (primary control, secondary control, disengagement) and involuntary responses (involuntary engagement, involuntary disengagement) to stress at the 15- and 17-year follow-up visits. CM was assessed retrospectively at age 17 using the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire. Results Findings from longitudinal mixed model analyses indicated that PCE was associated with poorer coping strategies only among adolescents with a history of CM. Adolescents with PCE who experienced CM reported less dominant use of primary (e.g., problem solving, emotional regulation) and secondary control (e.g., cognitive restructuring) and more dominant use of disengagement (e.g., denial, avoidance) and involuntary disengagement (e.g., inaction) than adolescents with PCE who did not experience CM or NCE adolescents regardless of CM. CM was associated with more dominant use of involuntary engagement (e.g., intrusive thoughts). Conclusions PCE may increase sensitivity to CM, predisposing increased vulnerability to environmental risk. Continued studies into adulthood will elucidate how coping and involuntary stress responses affect social, vocational, and behavioral adjustment.

Background: Although prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) has been linked with greater externalizing behavior, no studies have investigated heterogeneity of developmental trajectories in children with PCE to date. The present study aimed to: (1) identify developmental trajectories of externalizing problems in childhood by using a person-oriented analytic approach; (2) examine whether trajectories differ by PCE and other environmental and biological correlates; and (3) investigate how trajectories were associated with adolescent substance use and sexual behavior. Methods: Adolescents (N=386; 197 PCE, 187 non-cocaine exposed (NCE)), primarily African-American and of low socioeconomic status, were prospectively enrolled in a longitudinal study at birth. Externalizing problems were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) at ages 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Substance (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana) use, via self-report and biologic assays, and early (before age 15) sexual intercourse were assessed at age 15. Results: Latent class growth modeling indicated four distinctive developmental trajectories of externalizing behavior from ages 4 to 12: low-decreasing group (32%); moderate-decreasing group (32%); accelerated risk group (14%); and elevated-chronic group (22%). PCE and maternal psychological distress interactively differentiated developmental trajectories of externalizing behavior, which were related to subsequent adolescent substance use and early sexual behavior differently across gender. Conclusions: The two high-risk trajectories (accelerated risk and elevated-chronic groups), comprising 36% of the sample, identified in the present study may reflect multi-causality of early substance use and perhaps greater risk for transition to substance use disorders later in development.

Prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) may increase adolescent substance use through alterations of neurotransmitter systems affecting fetal brain development. The relationship between PCE and substance use at 15 and 17 years was examined. Subjects (365: 186 PCE; 179 non-cocaine exposed (NCE)) supplied biologic and self-report data using the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) and Computerized Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (C-DISC 4) at ages 15 and 17. The relationship between PCE and substance use was assessed using General Estimating Equation (GEE) analyses controlling for confounding factors including violence exposure and preschool lead level. Teens with PCE vs. NCE teens were 2 times more likely to use tobacco (OR = 2.1; 95% CI 1.21–3.63; p < .001) and marijuana (OR = 1.85; CI 1.18–2.91; p < .001) and have a substance use disorder at age 17 (OR = 2.51; CI 1.00–6.28; p < .05). Evaluation of PCE status by gender revealed an association between PCE and marijuana use that was more pronounced for boys than girls at 17 years. Violence exposure was also a significant predictor of alcohol (p < .001), tobacco (p < .05), and marijuana (p < .0006) use and substance abuse/dependence (p < .01). Externalizing behavior at age 12 fully mediated the effects of PCE on substance use disorder at age 17 and partially mediated effects of PCE on tobacco use, but did not mediate effects on marijuana use. The percentage of substance use reported increased between 15 and 17 years, with no differences between the PCE and NCE groups. Data suggest specialized drug use prevention measures for children with PCE may benefit this high risk group.