Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been associated with offspring health, yet the pathways underlying this intergenerational impact remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the independent and serial mediating roles of family harmony and parenting styles in the association between maternal ACEs and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of their preschool children.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 4243 preschoolers and their mothers from Chengdu, China. Mothers reported 12 types of ACEs (i.e., physical abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, witnessing domestic violence, household substance abuse, household mental illness, incarcerated household member, parental separation or divorce, parental death, bullying, and community violence), family harmony levels, parenting styles (i.e., emotional warmth, rejection, and overprotection), and their child’s HRQOL (physical, emotional, social, and school functioning). Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the mediating roles of family harmony and maternal parenting styles in the association between maternal ACEs and children’s HRQOL.
RESULTS: Among all participating mothers, 85.8% (n=3641) reported at least one ACE. Preschoolers exposed to maternal ACEs had significantly lower scores (p<0.05) across all HRQOL dimensions and summary scales. In simple mediation analyses, family harmony and maternal parenting styles of emotional warmth and rejection were significant mediators in the association between maternal ACEs and total HRQOL scores. In the serial mediation analyses, the effect size (β) of the serial mediating effect was -0.004 (95%CI: -0.006, -0.002) through family harmony and emotional warmth, and was -0.007 (95%CI: -0.009, -0.004) through family harmony and rejection for the HRQOL total scale.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings confirmed the intergenerational deleterious impacts of maternal ACEs on offspring health in various aspects, including physical and psychosocial development. Furthermore, it shed light on potential strategies to reduce this deleterious effect through targeted interventions at the family level, including improving family harmony and promoting positive parenting.