Parental aggravation may tell more about a child’s mental/behavioral health than Adverse Childhood Experiences: Using the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health

• Published in: Child abuse & neglect 2020-03, Vol.101, p.104330-104330, Article 104330
• Main Authors: Suh, Bin, Luthar, Suniya S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adjustment; Adolescent; Adult; Adverse Childhood Experiences; Aggravation; Aggression; At risk populations; Behavior problems; Caregivers; Child; Child & adolescent mental health; Child Health; Child Rearing; Childhood; Childhood adversity; Childhood experiences; Childhood factors; Childrearing practices; Children; Children & youth; Childrens health; Developmental delays; Emotional Adjustment; Emotional Regulation; Emotions; Externalizing problems; Family Characteristics; Female; Health behavior; Health problems; Health Surveys; Humans; Internalization; Internalizing disorders; Male; Mental health; Middle Aged; Multiple Regression Analysis; National Surveys; Parenting; Parenting - psychology; Parents & parenting; Parents - psychology; Perseveration; Polls & surveys; Problem Behavior - psychology; Resilience; Self control; Social Support; State Surveys; United States
• ISSN: 0145-2134; 1873-7757
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104330

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with a number of health problems and early mortality. Developmental studies have also shown strong links between parents’ contemporaneous negative feelings toward their children and the children’s maladjustment. The relative, unique contributions of ACEs and parents’ feelings of aggravation were examined in predicting to the presence of children’s internalizing and externalizing problems, perseverance and emotional regulation. Also tested was the potential moderating roles of personal support and external emotional resources for parents. Data from the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health were used. A random, nationally representative sample of 35,718 adult caregivers in the United States (US) with children ages 6–17 were included. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to explore the patterns of results in predicting to children’s maladjustment and adjustment, separately by child sex. Parental aggravation consistently had larger effects on children’s maladjustment and adjustment than ACEs (1.47–1.82 timesamong males; 1.31–1.83 time among females, with one exception, i.e. internalizing problems). Personal support for parenting attenuated the relations of both ACEs and parental aggravation with children’s outcomes. In the presence of external resources for parenting, children’s maladjustments tended to be even more pronounced, suggesting that parents seek external resources when problem behaviors become significant in their children. For children at risk, future interventions should consider the value of refocusing attention from the occurrence ACEs per se, to critical, proximal indices – parents’ negative feelings around parenting – that can have stronger links with children’s maladjustment and that are more amenable to change.