Intergenerational Continuity in Child Maltreatment: Mediating Mechanisms and Implications for Prevention

• Published in: Child development 2011-01, Vol.82 (1), p.162-176
• Main Authors: Berlin, Lisa J., Appleyard, Karen, Dodge, Kenneth A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aggression; Aggression - psychology; Aggressiveness; Bias; Child; Child Abuse; Child abuse & neglect; Child Abuse - prevention & control; Child Abuse - psychology; Child maltreatment; Child molestation; Child Neglect; Child of Impaired Parents - psychology; Child Rearing; Childhood; Crime Victims - psychology; Depressive Disorder - diagnosis; Depressive Disorder - psychology; Female; HOW FAMILIES INFLUENCE CHILDREN'S HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT; Human aggression; Humans; Infant; Infants; Intergenerational Relations; Isolation; Juvenile victims; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mediation; Mental Health; Mother-Child Relations; Mothers; Parents; Prevention; Prospective Studies; Psychiatric disorders; Risk Factors; Social Isolation; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01547.x

In the interest of improving child maltreatment prevention, this prospective, longitudinal, community-based study of 499 mothers and their infants examined (a) direct associations between mothers' experiences of childhood maltreatment and their offspring's maltreatment, and (b) mothers' mental health problems, social isolation, and social information processing patterns (hostile attributions and aggressive response biases) as mediators of these associations. Mothers' childhood physical abuse—but not neglect—directly predicted offspring victimization. This association was mediated by mothers' social isolation and aggressive response biases. Findings are discussed in terms of specific implications for child maltreatment prevention.