Suchergebnisse

Parental exposure to child maltreatment (CM) is an important predictor of their offspring's CM experiences and mental health. However, less attention has been paid to examine possible mechanisms of transmission, which is critical to inform prevention and intervention efforts. The current study tested (1) whether the association between parental CM exposure and offspring CM exposure was mediated by (a) parental exposure to violence in adulthood or (b) other emotional stressors/adversities in adulthood and (2) the indirect effects from parental CM exposure to offspring mental health outcomes through parental adversity and offspring CM exposure. Data came from a longitudinal study of maltreatment on adolescent development, and analyses focused on adolescents living with a biological parent ( N = 185, 51% female). Biological parents (95% mothers) reported on their history of CM and exposure to other adversities across their lifetime. Adolescents self-reported lifetime CM experiences and current depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and externalizing behaviors in late adolescence ( Mage= 18.49). Results showed a significant indirect effect of parent CM exposure on offspring's CM exposure and mental health through parental emotional stressors/adversities, but not physical violence. These findings highlight different types of stressors that may impact the risk for intergenerational transmission of CM and subsequent offspring mental health.

AbstractExecutive functioning in adulthood is associated with early‐in‐life disadvantage. Furthermore, distinct and independent underlying processes account for differences in specific domains of adult executive functioning. The duration of poverty from birth to age 9 is associated with reduced adult inhibitory control assessed by the Flanker task (n = 233, M = 23.52 years). This effect is largely explained by lower levels of maternal responsiveness in adolescence. Early poverty also related to worse working memory in adulthood, and this effect is partially explained by elevated allostatic load during adolescence, an index of chronic physiological stress.

AbstractChildhood socioeconomic status (SES) predicts executive function (EF), but fundamental aspects of this relation remain unknown: the developmental course of theSESdisparity, its continued sensitivity toSESchanges during that course, and the features of childhood experience responsible for theSES–EFrelation. Regarding course, early disparities would be expected to grow during development if caused by accumulating stressors at a given constant level ofSES. Alternatively, they would narrow if schooling partly compensates for the effects of earlier deprivation, allowing lower‐SESchildren to 'catch up'. The potential for later childhoodSESchange to affectEFis also unknown. Regarding mediating factors, previous analyses produced mixed answers, possibly due to correlation amongst candidate mediators. We address these issues with measures ofSES, working memory and planning, along with multiple candidate mediators, from theNICHDStudy of Early Childcare (n= 1009). Early family income‐to‐needs and maternal education predicted planning by first grade, and income‐to‐needs predicted working memory performance at 54 months. Effects of earlySESremained consistent through middle childhood, indicating that the relation between early indicators ofSESandEFemerges in childhood and persists without narrowing or widening across early and middle childhood. Changes in family income‐to‐needs were associated with significant changes in planning and trend‐level changes in working memory. Mediation analyses supported the role of early childhood home characteristics in explaining the association betweenSESandEF, while early childhood maternal sensitivity was specifically implicated in the association between maternal education and planning. Early emerging and persistentSES‐related differences inEF, partially explained by characteristics of the home and family environment, are thus a potential source of socioeconomic disparities in achievement and health across development.