When one childhood meets another - maternal childhood trauma and offspring child psychopathology: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Child maltreatment can have a long-term impact on mental health. Less is known about the consequences of child maltreatment on the next generation's psychological wellbeing. AIM: This systematic review aimed to synthesise the existing empirical literature on the association between a mother's history of maltreatment in her own childhood and her children's experiences of psychopathology, and to characterise potential mediating pathways. METHOD: Electronic database and hand searches yielded 12 studies, with a combined sample size of 45,723 mother-child dyads, which met criteria for inclusion in the review. RESULTS: There was evidence of an overall positive association between a mother's history of child maltreatment and her child's experience of emotional and behavioural difficulties across childhood and adolescence. Maternal psychological distress and poorer parenting practices were found to be key mediating pathways of this association. CONCLUSION: Children of mothers who were exposed to maltreatment in childhood appear to be at an increased risk for psychopathology. Mothers with traumatic childhood experiences should be offered improved access to psychological therapies and parenting programmes to help mitigate the potential impact of child maltreatment on future generations.

Association between maternal childhood trauma and offspring childhood psychopathology: mediation analysis from the ALSPAC cohort.

BackgroundStudies have shown that a mother's history of childhood maltreatment is associated with her child's experience of internalising and externalising difficulties.AimsTo characterise the mediating pathways that underpin this association.MethodData on a mother's history of childhood maltreatment, depression during pregnancy, postnatal depression, maladaptive parenting practices and her child's experience of maltreatment and internalising and externalising difficulties were analysed in an Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) sample of 9397 mother-child dyads followed prospectively from pregnancy to age 13.ResultsMaternal history of childhood maltreatment was significantly associated with offspring internalising and externalising difficulties. Maternal antenatal depression, postnatal depression and offspring child maltreatment were observed to significantly mediate this association independently.ConclusionsPsychological and psychosocial interventions focused around treating maternal depression, particularly during pregnancy, and safeguarding against adverse childhood experiences could be offered to mothers with traumatic childhood histories to help protect against psychopathology in the next generation.

Maternal depression during pregnancy and offspring depression in adulthood: role of child maltreatment.

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that maternal depression during pregnancy predicts offspring depression in adolescence. Child maltreatment is also a risk factor for depression. AIMS: To investigate (a) whether there is an association between offspring exposure to maternal depression in pregnancy and depression in early adulthood, and (b) whether offspring child maltreatment mediates this association. METHOD: Prospectively collected data on maternal clinical depression in pregnancy, offspring child maltreatment and offspring adulthood (18-25 years) DSM-IV depression were analysed in 103 mother-offspring dyads of the South London Child Development Study. RESULTS: Adult offspring exposed to maternal depression in pregnancy were 3.4 times more likely to have a DSM-IV depressive disorder, and 2.4 times more likely to have experienced child maltreatment, compared with non-exposed offspring. Path analysis revealed that offspring experience of child maltreatment mediated the association between exposure to maternal depression in pregnancy and depression in adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal depression in pregnancy is a key vulnerability factor for offspring depression in early adulthood.