Maternal and paternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and offspring health and wellbeing: A scoping review
Research Report:
Research SummaryAPA Citation:
Grafft, N., Lo, B., Easton, S. D., Pineros-Leano, M., & Davison, K. K. (2024). Maternal and paternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and offspring health and wellbeing: A scoping review. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 28, 52-66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-023-03825-y
Abstract Created by REACH:
This scoping review and content analysis summarized 49 articles on the relationship between parents’ adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their children’s physical and mental health outcomes. For each article, participant characteristics, parental ACEs (i.e., mothers’, fathers’, or both), methodology, and child outcomes (e.g., internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors) were reviewed and summarized. Overall, parental ACEs were linked to a variety of negative child outcomes, including internalizing (e.g., anxiety, depression) and externalizing (e.g., aggression) behaviors. Importantly, few studies have focused on fathers’ ACEs, highlighting a gap in the ACEs literature.
Focus:
Parents
Trauma
Children
Subject Affiliation:
Civilian
Population:
Childhood (birth - 12 yrs)
Adolescence (13 - 17 yrs)
Adulthood (18 yrs & older)
Young adulthood (18 - 29 yrs)
Thirties (30 - 39 yrs)
Middle age (40 - 64 yrs)
Methodology:
Review of Literature
Authors:
Grafft, Natalie, Lo, Brian, Easton, Scott D., Pineros-Leano, Maria, Davison, Kirsten K.
Abstract:
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are common, often co-occur, and are associated with poor health outcomes across the life course. Emerging research has emphasized the lasting consequences of ACEs across generations, suggesting parental ACEs are associated with poor physical and mental health outcomes in children. However, the individual effects of fathers’ ACEs and pathways of transmission remain unclear. A scoping review was conducted to summarize the current knowledgebase of the intergenerational consequences of parental ACEs on offspring health, clarify pathways of transmission, understand how ACEs are operationalized in the intergenerational literature, and identify gaps in knowledge.
Publication Type:
Article
REACH Publication
Keywords:
Adverse childhood experiences, Fathers, Intergenerational transmission, Mothers, Offspring
REACH Publication Type:
Research Summary
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