Academic Journal
Intergenerational transmission of child abuse risk: Cognitive mediators in a multigenerational study.
| Τίτλος: | Intergenerational transmission of child abuse risk: Cognitive mediators in a multigenerational study. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Fairchild JN; Department of Psychology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA., Rodriguez CM; Department of Psychology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA. Electronic address: crodriguez@odu.edu. |
| Πηγή: | Child abuse & neglect [Child Abuse Negl] 2026 Oct; Vol. 180, pp. 108238. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jul 30. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier Science Inc Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 7801702 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-7757 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01452134 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Child Abuse Negl Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Oxford : Elsevier Science Inc Original Publication: Oxford, Elmsford, N. Y., Pergamon Press. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Child Abuse*/psychology , Parenting*/psychology , Aggression*/psychology , Intergenerational Relations*, Mothers/psychology ; Humans ; Female ; Longitudinal Studies ; Adult ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Child ; Parent-Child Relations ; Risk Factors ; Cognition |
| Περίληψη: | Background: Although the intergenerational transmission of aggressive parenting behaviors is well documented, few studies utilize multigenerational, multi-informant longitudinal designs to clarify the mechanisms underlying continuity in child abuse risk. Objective: This study examined the underlying cognitive process accounting for the intergenerational transmission of child abuse risk, testing whether prenatal parenting attitudes approving aggressive parenting predicted parental child negative intent attributions sequentially mediating associations between first (G1) and second (G2) generation child abuse risk. Participants and Setting: G2 parents were drawn from a longitudinal study of first-time mothers and their male partners recruited during the third trimester of pregnancy. Multigenerational data were available for 120 G1 mothers of G2 parents. Methods: A longitudinal, multi-informant, sequential mediation model was estimated. Child abuse risk variables were estimated using multiple measures for G1 and G2 parents. G1 abuse risk was modeled predicting G2 parents' prenatal approval of parent-child aggression (PCA) as a mediator predicting negative child intent attributions at six months postpartum, which then predicted G2's child abuse risk. Results: G1 child abuse risk predicted greater G2 prenatal approval of PCA use. Prenatal PCA approval mediated the association between G1 and G2 child abuse risk, both directly and sequentially through increased negative child intent attributions at six months postpartum. Conclusions: Prenatal approval of PCA represents a key cognitive mechanism linking child abuse risk across generations, highlighting pregnancy as a critical period for prevention-focused intervention. (Copyright © 2026 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest None. |
| Grant Information: | R15 HD071431 United States HD NICHD NIH HHS |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Approval of parent-child aggression; Child abuse potential; Cycle of abuse; Multigenerational; Negative attributions |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260730 Date Completed: 20260903 Latest Revision: 20260903 |
| Update Code: | 20260904 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC13521304 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.chiabu.2026.108238 |
| PMID: | 42531907 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
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