Childhood Emotional and Conduct Problems in Childhood and Adolescence Differentially Associated with Intergenerational Maltreatment Continuity and Parental Internalizing Symptoms

Caregivers' own childhood maltreatment experiences potentiate the risk for psychopathology and perpetration of maltreatment against one's children. In turn, both of these factors may negatively impact children's mental health. The nature of these intergenerational patterns of maltreatment may vary as a function of type of child outcome and may also be influenced by child age and sample characteristics (i.e., involvement of Child Protection Services, CPS). The present study uses a Structural Equational Model to examine cross-sectional relationships between caregiver maltreatment experiences in childhood and child-rated emotional and conduct problems and tests the mediational effect of caregiver internalizing symptoms and child maltreatment exposure. This sample is comprised of 791 children aged 3-16 years (Mage = 10.6 years; n = 302 3 to 8-year-olds, n = 489 9 to 16-year-olds; 51.5% male) and their caregivers (88.4% biological mothers). Children were recruited from CPS (n = 124), youth psychiatric services (n = 144), and the general population (n = 523). Results indicated indirect links between caregivers' childhood maltreatment experiences and their children's emotional and conduct problems. Specifically, caregiver-perpetrated child maltreatment predicted was related to child conduct problems, whereas both caregiver-perpetrated child maltreatment and caregiver internalizing symptoms were related to child emotional problems. Multi-group analyses revealed no moderation effect of CPS involvement. Our results highlight the importance of independent outcome-specific intergenerational patterns in prevention approaches for families with maltreatment experiences.