Intergenerational transmission of parent adverse childhood experiences to child outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Nicole Racine; Audrey-Ann Deneault; Raela Thiemann; Jessica Turgeon; Jenney Zhu; Jessica Cooke; Sheri Madigan

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106479

Intergenerational transmission of parent adverse childhood experiences to child outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Child Abuse Negl. 2023 Oct 9:106479. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106479. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Nicole Racine¹, Audrey-Ann Deneault², Raela Thiemann³, Jessica Turgeon², Jenney Zhu³, Jessica Cooke³, Sheri Madigan²

Affiliations

¹ University of Ottawa, Canada; Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada. Electronic address: nracine2@uottawa.ca.
² University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Alberta, Canada.
³ University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

PMID: 37821290
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106479

Abstract

Objective: The current meta-analytic review provides a comprehensive synthesis of studies examining parent exposure to ACEs and the developmental and mental health outcomes of their children.

Participants and setting: Eligible studies up to August 2021 were identified through comprehensive database searches in PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and Embase. Studies that were included examined the intergenerational effects of parent ACEs on child development (i.e., cognitive, language, motor, social difficulties, and early social-emotional development) or mental health (i.e., internalizing problems, externalizing problems) outcomes.

Methods: Data were extracted by two coders using a standardized extraction protocol. A multi-level meta-analytic approach was used to derive pooled effect sizes and test for moderators.

Results: A total of 52 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Parent ACEs were positively associated with child mental health problems (r=0.17, 95% CI [0.12, 0.21], p<.001), child externalizing difficulties (r=0.20, 95% CI [0.15, 0.26], p<.001), and child internalizing difficulties (r=0.17, 95% CI [0.11, 0.22], p<.001). There were no significant sociodemographic (i.e., child age, parent age, income level, child sex, or racial/ethnic minority status) or methodological (i.e., study type or quality) moderators of these associations. Preliminary evidence suggests that parent ACEs were not associated with offspring developmental outcomes, such as cognitive or language skills.

Conclusions: Results suggest that parent ACEs are associated with some, but not all child outcomes. Additional research focused on the mechanisms of transmission are needed to inform policies and practices related to the intergenerational transmission of ACEs.

Keywords: Adverse childhood experience; Child outcomes; Intergenerational; Parents.