The Impact of Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences on Offspring’s Internalizing and Externalizing Problems

Abstract

Objective Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with negative physical and mental health outcomes across the lifespan, but research on intergenerational transmission of maternal ACEs and its impact on the offspring’s mental health problems are limited. The study examines the effects of maternal ACEs on the risk of internalizing or externalizing problems among offspring.Methods There were 450 mother-child dyads. Mothers completed the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire. The child outcomes included internalizing and externalizing problems assessed by the Korean Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL) and Korean Youth Self-Report (K-YSR), depression assessed by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC) and anxiety assessed by the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED).Results 36.1% of mothers experienced at least one ACE, and 11.1% experienced three or more ACEs. Cumulative maternal ACEs were associated with internalizing problems, externalizing problems, depression and anxiety in the offspring. Household dysfunction from maternal ACEs was significantly associated with delinquent behavior, anxiety/depression, and somatic complaints in the offspring.Conclusion The findings support the hypothesis that maternal ACEs are related to mental health problems in the offspring. Further research is needed to determine the factors mediating intergenerational transmission as well as intervention strategies to prevent ACEs and mental health problems in the offspring.

COMT Val 158 Met polymorphism protects the impact of a mother's history of childhood trauma on emotional and behavioral problems in preschool children

“…However, little attention has focused on how parents' childhood experiences, adverse or positive, can in uence cross-generational transmission. Interestingly, a body of studies on the intergenerational effect of maternal childhood trauma revealed a marked negative impact on their children's triggering behavioral problems such as socio-emotional symptoms, depression, anxiety, internalizing, externalizing and total problems (Cooke et al, 2019;kang et al, 2021;Roubinov et al, 2022;Russotti et al, 2021). Here, our results are in agreement with previous data, demonstrating that children of mothers who suffered childhood trauma are at greater risk of externalizing, internalizing and total problems.…”

“…Recent studies address the need for a broader investigation of potential mechanisms that explains the maternal childhood trauma impact across generations (Cooke et al, 2019;kang et al, 2021;Roubinov et al, 2022). An important objective is to understand why some children are at risk of developing behavioral problems in response to maternal childhood trauma, while others are not.…”

Using Microbiome-Based Approaches to Deprogram Chronic Disorders and Extend the Healthspan following Adverse Childhood Experiences

“…Examples of ACE DOHaD-like programming of later-life NCDs include: asthma [12], obesity and diabetes [13], cardiovascular disease [14], neurobehavioral disorders [15], and cancer [16]. Furthermore, beyond the scope of this present review, ACEs can transmit elevated intergenerational risk for chronic disorders across generations [17,18]. The CDC developed an ACE pyramid to visually reflect the diverse outcomes of ACEs across the lifespan [19].…”

Using Microbiome-Based Approaches to Deprogram Chronic Disorders and Extend the Healthspan Following Adverse Childhood Experiences

“…Examples of ACE DOHaD-like programming of later-life NCDs include: asthma [12], obesity and diabetes [13], cardiovascular disease [14], neurobehavioral disorders [15 ], and cancer [16]. Furthermore, beyond the scope of this present review, ACEs can transmit elevated intergenerational risk for chronic disorders across generations [17,18]. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed an ACE pyramid to visually reflect the diverse outcomes of ACEs across the lifespan [19].…”