Impact of Physical Abuse on Internalizing Behavior Across Generations

Abstract

This study investigated the multigenerational impact of mothers’ own exposure to physical maltreatment on internalizing symptoms in her child after accounting for her parenting practices, depression, and the child’s own exposure to stressful life events. Children (n = 101, ages 5–16), predominantly African American, were recruited into this cross sectional study using ethnographic mapping and targeted sampling for high-risk neighborhoods. Mothers reported retrospectively on their own exposure to physical maltreatment in childhood, their parenting practices, as well as current depressive symptoms. Maternal report of her child’s exposure to stressful life events and child behavior was also collected. Maternal childhood exposure to physical maltreatment was significantly associated with her child’s internalizing symptoms (p = .004); this effect remained after accounting for child sex, maternal depressive symptoms, harsh parenting practices, and the child’s own exposure to stressful life events. Formal tests of mediation through these pathways were non-significant. Findings suggest mothers’ experience of childhood maltreatment contributes uniquely to children’s internalizing symptoms, potentially through previously uncharacterized pathways. Examination of additional behavioral, psychosocial and biological pathways may help better describe the multi-generational effects of child maltreatment.

Childhood disadvantage, education, and psychological distress in adulthood: A three-wave population-based study

“…The variables used in this study (except age and gender) were self-reported, thus we cannot rule out the possible presence of reporting error (Hepp et al, 2006;Jivraj et al, 2017;Sheikh, 2017a). The test-retest reliability of parental history of psychological problems was not high, which raises the concern that we were not able to fully control for genetic dispositions (Esteves et al, 2017).…”

Psychological abuse, substance abuse distress, dissatisfaction with friendships, and incident psychiatric problems

“…The majority of the 9,502 respondents were aged 45 years and above (61.5%), were female (52.8%), and were living with a spouse (83.9%) ( Genetic influences [59,60], ACEs [1, 6-8, 56, 61], environmental exposures, and ongoing stress are factors that combine to determine how an individual responds to stress, as well as their vulnerability to psychopathology in adulthood [11,51,62]. Accordingly, it is important to determine whether the mediated effect (indirect effect) is due to dissatisfaction with friendships or some other unmeasured or unaccounted-for variable [5,6].…”

Pengaruh Pengalaman Hukuman Fisik dan Jenis Kelamin terhadap Mitos dan Intensi Penggunaan Hukuman Fisik pada Remaja

“…Meta analisis yang dilakukan Gershoff dan Grogan-Kaylor (2016) memperlihatkan bahwa hukuman fisik yang diberikan oleh orang tua dapat berdampak pada tumbuh kembang anak. Kesehatan mental seperti stres, depresi, menurunnya rasa percaya diri anak, serta meningkatkan perasaan malu, dan ketidakberdayaan merupakan beberapa dampak internalisasi (internalizing) pada anak (Esteves et al, 2018;Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor, 2016).…”