Intergenerational associations of adverse and positive maternal childhood experiences with young children’s psychosocial well-being

ABSTRACT

Background: Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are believed to have negative consequences on offspring health. However, positive childhood experiences (PCEs) may be concurrent with ACEs, and little is known about how ACEs and PCEs transmit intergenerationally in the context of each other.

Objective: To explore the independent effect of maternal ACEs and PCEs on offspring psychosocial well-being and how ACEs and PCEs are intergenerationally transmitted in their context.

Method: Data were 2587 mother–child dyads in Anhui provinces of China. Mothers retrospectively reported their ACEs and PCEs, as well as provided demographic characteristics and their children’s psychosocial well-being. Logistic regression models were performed to explore the associations of maternal ACEs and PCEs with offspring psychosocial well-being.

Results: Separate unadjusted logistic regression models showed that children with mothers reported high ACEs scores were more likely to have psychosocial challenges (total difficulties and prosocial problems), while children whose mothers reported high PCEs scores were less likely to have psychosocial challenges. When we added maternal ACEs and PCEs to a same model, we found that PCEs slightly neutralised the negative effects of ACEs on offspring’s total difficulties and prosocial problems. When stratified by sample, mothers with high PCE scores and higher maternal ACEs were related with a higher risk of offspring total difficulties; mothers with low levels of ACEs and high PCEs tend to report a lower risk of offspring total difficulties.

Conclusions: Results suggest that PCEs are positively and intergenerationally transmitted. Results suggest that PCEs are positively and intergenerationally transmitted. More programme should be provided to increase maternal PCEs. When preventing the intergenerational transmission of ACEs, specific interventions should be provided to mothers with different levels of PCEs.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Positive childhood experiences positively transmit intergenerationally.

• Stronger relationship between maternal ACEs and risk of offspring total difficulties was observed among mothers with above-average positive childhood experiences scores.

• A stronger relationship between maternal PCEs and fewer offspring total difficulties was observed among mothers with low adverse maternal childhood experiences scores.

Antecedentes: Se cree que las experiencias maternas adversas en la infancia (ACEs, por sus siglas en inglés) tienen consecuencias negativas en la salud de su descendencia. Sin embargo, las experiencias positivas de la infancia (PCEs, por su sigla en inglés) pueden coincidir con las ACEs, y se sabe poco sobre cómo las ACEs y las PCEs se transmiten intergeneracionalmente en el contexto de cada una.

Objetivo: Explorar el efecto independiente de las ACEs y PCEs maternas en el bienestar psicosocial de la descendencia y cómo las ACEs y PCEs se transmiten intergeneracionalmente en su contexto.

Método: Los datos fueron de 2.587 díadas madre-hijo de las provincias de Anhui en China. Las madres informaron retrospectivamente sus ACEs y PCEs, así como las características demográficas y el bienestar psicosocial de sus hijos. Se realizaron modelos de regresión logística para explorar las asociaciones de ACEs y PCEs maternos con el bienestar psicosocial de la descendencia.

Resultados: Los modelos de regresión logística separados no ajustados, mostraron que los niños cuyas madres reportaron puntajes ACEs altos tenían más probabilidades de tener desafíos psicosociales (dificultades totales y problemas prosociales), mientras que los niños cuyas madres reportaron puntajes PCEs altos tenían menos probabilidades de tener desafíos psicosociales. Cuando agregamos las ACEs y las PCEs maternas a un mismo modelo, encontramos que las PCEs neutralizaron ligeramente los efectos negativos de las ACEs en las dificultades totales y los problemas prosociales de la descendencia. Al estratificar por muestra, las madres con puntajes de PCEs alto y ACEs maternos más alto se relacionaron con un mayor riesgo de dificultades totales en la descendencia; las madres con niveles bajos de ACEs y PCEs altos tienden a reportar un menor riesgo de dificultades totales en la descendencia.

Conclusiones: Los resultados sugieren que los PCEs se transmiten positiva e intergeneracionalmente. Se deben proporcionar más programas para aumentar los PCEs maternos. Al prevenir la transmisión intergeneracional de ACEs, se deben proporcionar intervenciones específicas a las madres con diferentes niveles de PCEs.

背景：母亲的不良童年经历 (ACE) 被认为会对后代健康产生负面影响。 然而，积极的童年经历 (PCE) 可能与 ACE 同时发生，而对于 ACE 和 PCE 如何交织着进行代际传递知之甚少。

目的：探讨母亲 ACE 和 PCE 对后代社会心理健康的独立影响，以及 ACE 和 PCE 如何在其背景下代际传递。

方法：数据为中国安徽省2,587对母子。 母亲们回顾性地报告了她们的 ACE 和 PCE，并提供了人口统计特征和她们孩子的社会心理健康状况。 使用逻辑回归模型探索了母亲 ACE 和 PCE 与后代社会心理健康的关联。

结果：单独的未经调整的逻辑回归模型显示，母亲报告 ACEs 得分高的儿童更有可能出现社会心理挑战（总体困难和亲社会问题），而母亲报告 PCEs 得分高的儿童出现社会心理挑战的可能性更小。 当我们将母亲 ACE 和 PCE 添加到同一模型时，我们发现 PCE 略微抵消了 ACE 对后代的总体困难和亲社会问题的负面影响。 按样本分层时，具有高 PCE 分数和较高母亲 ACE 的母亲与较高的后代总体困难风险相关； ACE 水平低和 PCE 高的母亲倾向于报告后代总体困难风险较低。

结论：结果表明，PCE 呈正向代际传递。 应提供更多计划来增加产妇 PCE。 在预防 ACE 的代际传递时，应针对不同 PCE 水平的母亲进行针对性干预。

KEYWORDS:

• Maternal ACEs
• maternal PCEs
• offspring psychosocial well-being
• Chinese preschoolers
• resilience

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• ACEs maternos
• PCEs maternos
• bienestar psicosocial de la descendencia
• pre-escolares chinos
• resiliencia

关键词:

• 母亲 ACE
• 产妇 PCE
• 后代社会心理健康
• 中国学龄前儿童
• 心理韧性

1. Background

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) include abuse, neglect, and dysfunctional households, can be harmful to individuals’ health (Felitti et al., 1998). A new and emerging line of studies examined the intergenerational transmission of ACEs and found that mothers’ ACEs not only affect their parenting abilities but also their children's behavioural problems (Greene et al., 2020; McDonald et al., 2019). There are two main categories of behaviour problems: those that are externalising (defined by aggressiveness and acting-out behaviours) and those that are internalising (characterised by anxiety, withdrawal, and depression) (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000). Previous research has emphasised the influence of maternal ACEs on their offspring behavioural problems, and there may be biological and psychosocial mechanisms which can explain the relationship between maternal ACEs and offspring behavioural problems (Cooke et al., 2019). Previous studies have suggested that almost 70% of Chinese preschool mothers experienced at least one ACEs (Wang et al., 2022). Therefore, we should pay more attention to the intergenerational transmission of the ACEs of Chinese preschool mothers on their offspring’s psychosocial well-being.

Positive childhood experiences (PCEs) include internal and external perceived safety, security, support, and positive and predictable quality of life from birth to the age of 18 (Narayan et al., 2018). Studies have shown that parental PCEs may also transmit across generations as well and should be included when screening for parents’ and children’s ACEs (Narayan et al., 2021). PCEs are viewed as factors promoting positive adult functioning (Narayan et al., 2018), which may buffer the effect of maternal ACEs on offspring negative outcomes. Therefore, current study aimed to explore the independent relationships between maternal ACEs, PCEs, and offspring psychosocial well-being, and the associations of maternal ACEs and PCEs with offspring psychosocial well-being in the context of each other.

1.1. Maternal ACEs and offspring psychosocial well-Being

Mothers with higher level of ACEs tend to be at risk in mental health problems and problematic parenting, which may affect psychosocial well-being in offspring. Letourneau et al. (2019) found that maternal ACEs may lead to anxiety and depression, thus causing their children to internalise and externalise problems. In addition, studies suggest that mothers with higher exposure to ACEs may have parenting difficulties, which increase the risk of offspring problem behaviours (Greene et al., 2020). Previous studies have suggested that maternal ACEs are associated with problematic parenting and emotional dysregulation (Bailey et al., 2012; Julian et al., 2018; Lomanowska et al., 2017). These difficulties might make it more difficult to establish stable, supportive households, which might then have an impact on a child's development and the wellbeing of the family (Collins et al., 2000). Other studies have found biological mechanisms between maternal ACEs and offspring psychosocial well-being (Monk et al., 2019). Currently, there are differences in the strength and statistical significance of relationships between parental ACEs and behaviour problems in children, and one possible explanation for these disparities is the variation in sample sociodemographic characteristics (Racine et al., 2018). In comparison to western countries, Asian cultures are seen to be more supportive of strict parenting practices and punishments (Wang and Liu, 2014). In China, it is usual for parents to seldom express their love for their children and instead to display their authority by disciplining or intimidating them when children don't perform according to their expectation (Evans, 2012). Additionally, several studies noted that in traditional Chinese society, the social expectations for girls are higher, which might increase the self-blame experienced by Chinese female and eventually result in mental health issues for Chinese mothers who have experienced ACEs (Jiang et al., 2022). Therefore, it is important to identify whether maternal ACEs affects psychosocial well-being in the offspring.

1.2. Maternal PCEs and offspring psychosocial well-being

Research on PCEs and the extent to which they may act as important protective factors for the intergenerational transmission of ACEs have been largely overlooked by the extant literature. From the perspective of developmental psychopathology, early experiences are transactional and cumulative, and their interaction with subsequent developmental stages may differentially predict the pathways of risk versus resilience (Cicchetti, 2016; Masten et al., 2021; Sameroff, 2000). Previous studies have suggested that PCEs may confer the potential for more resilient functioning and are associated with low mental health risks (Bellis et al., 2018; Bethell et al., 2019). Despite facing adversity, parents with rich PCEs may be better able to use these resources to protect their children against from negative outcomes (Narayan et al., 2021). However, a recent study conducted in a Chinese sample found that participants with higher PCEs were more likely to have mental problems than participants with lower PCEs (Xu et al., 2022). To date, few studies have revealed the intergenerational effect of PCEs and ACEs in their context. Therefore, this study aims to extend previous research by revealing the intergenerational effects of PCEs and ACEs in their context among Chinese preschool mothers and their children.

1.3. Current study

In this study, we aimed to extend literatures by examining the independent effect of maternal ACEs and PCEs on offspring psychosocial well-being, as well as how maternal ACEs and PCEs are associated with offspring psychosocial well-being in the context of one another. Based on previous studies, we hypothesised that: (1) maternal PCEs are independently negatively associated with offspring psychosocial well-being; (2) PCEs will counteract ACEs’ detrimental impacts on offspring psychosocial well-being; (3) the relationship between maternal ACEs and psychosocial well-being will be decreased among those with higher than average PCEs scores; and (4) PCEs will have less effect on offspring psychosocial well-being on those with four or more maternal ACEs compared to mothers with three or fewer ACEs.

2. Methods

2.1. Study design and participants

Data were obtained from the first wave of the Anhui Family Cohort study, which aims to break the intergenerational cycle of ACEs. Parent–child dyads from 11 kindergartens in Anhui provinces of China in 2022. Kindergartens in China provide educational and care services for children aged 3–6 before children enter elementary school. The gross domestic product (GDP) of Anhui province in 2020 was CNY 3,868.1 billion, representing moderate level in China (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2021). The detail of study design and participants also can be found in our previous study (Zhu et al., 2022). Of the total sample, the average age of mothers were 34.38 years (SD = 4.89). Their offspring were 2,587 three- to six-year-old preschoolers (51.8% male) with a mean age (M) of 64.24 months (SD = 10.33). Over 90% of families have an annual income that is greater than 50,000 Yuan and higher than the poor family income standard (Ji et al., 2020).

The objectives of the study were informed to teachers and school principals, and parents were invited to attend the parent-teacher conference to introduce the aim of this study. A total of 2587 parents received the invitation, and all agreed to participate in this study. After receiving the consent forms, online questionnaires were sent to the parents. Parents were requested to answer all the study questions in the questionnaire as well as to provide their demographic information. 2587 online questionnaire were received, all the parents provided the valid data that was used in the subsequent data analysis. This study was approved by the ethics committee of our affiliated university.

2.2 Measurement

2.2.1. Maternal ACEs

Maternal ACEs were measured using the Chinese version of the Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ) (WHO, 2019; Wang et al., 2022). Mothers were asked to report adverse childhood experiences before the age of 18 years. The ACE-IQ includes seven categories: emotional abuse (two items, i.e. ‘Did a parent, guardian, or other household members yell, scream or swear at you, insult or humiliate you?’), emotional neglect (two items, i.e. ‘Did your parents/guardians understand your problems and worries?’), physical abuse (two items, i.e. ‘Did your parents/guardians understand your problems and worries?’), physical neglect (three items, i.e. ‘Did your parents/guardians understand your problems and worries?’), peer bullying (three items, i.e. ‘Did your parents/guardians understand your problems and worries?’), community violence (two items, i.e. ‘Did you see or hear someone being threatened in real life?’), and household dysfunction (six items, i.e. ‘Did you live with a household member who was ever sent to jail or prison?’). The first five categories were measured using a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (never true) to 5 (very often true). If they responded as ‘rarely true,’ ‘sometimes true,’ ‘often true,’ or ‘very often true’ to any of the category's items, they were considered to have been exposed to it; otherwise, they were coded ‘0.’ Household dysfunction was measured using a 2-point scale and participants answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’. If they answered ‘yes’ to any of the six questions, they were considered to have been exposed to household dysfunction and labelled ‘1,’ whereas those who did not were coded ‘0.’ The cumulative ACE-IQ score ranged from 0 to 7 in this study. The ACE-IQ Chinese version showed a satisfied Cronbach’s alpha in our study (0.77).

2.2.2. Maternal PCEs

The Benevolent Childhood Experiences (BCEs) Scale was used to measure maternal PCEs (Narayan et al., 2018), which has been proved good validity and reliability (Zhan et al., 2021). Mothers reported PCEs according to their positive experiences before the age of 18. The PCEs contained 10 yes/no items related to predictable and positive quality of life, social support, perceived internal and relational safety (Narayan et al., 2018). The total score of BCEs scale ranged from 0 to 10, with a high score indicating a high level of PCEs. Cronbach’s α of the Chinese version of BCEs scale was 0.70.

2.2.3. Offspring psychosocial well-Being

Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) Chinese version was used to measure offspring’s psychological well-being (Du et al., 2008; Goodman, 1997; Shan et al., 2019). Mothers reported their offspring behaviours according to the past six months. The scale includes five subscales: conduct problems (five items), hyperactivity (five items), emotional problems (five items), peer problems (five items), and prosocial behaviour (five items). Mothers responded on a 3-point scale ranging from 0 (not true) to 2 (certainly true). The prosocial behaviour subscale reflects the child’s strength, while the other four subscales comprise children’s total difficulties. The score for prosocial behaviour ranged from 0 to 10 and was cut off into at-risk (0-5) and normal group (≥6). The scores for total difficulties ranged from 0 to 40 in the at-risk (≥14) and normal (0-13) groups (Shan et al., 2019). The cut-off values have been validated in Chinese children aged 3–16 years (Du et al., 2008). Cronbach’s α for prosocial behaviour and total difficulties were 0.75 and 0.76, respectively.

2.2.3. Covariates

Child age (months), child sex (1 = male, 2 = female), mother’s age (years), and family socioeconomic status (SES) were included as covariates (Zhu et al., 2022). Five indicators were used for SES: father and mother’s occupation, education level, and family income. The details can be found in Table 1.

Table 1. Demographic information for participants and descriptive information for all variables.

Variables	Category	n (%) or Mean ± SD
Child’s age (month)		64.24 ± 10.33
Child’s gender	Boy	1340 (51.8)
	Girl	1247 (48.2)
Maternal age (year)		34.38 ± 4.89
Father’s occupation	Unemployed, nontechnical worker, and farmer	154 (6.0)
	Semi-technical worker and small business owner	666 (25.7)
	Technical worker and semi-professional	577 (22.3)
	Professional, officer, and owner of mid-sized business	736 (28.4)
	High-level professional and administrators	454 (17.5)
Mother’s occupation	Unemployed, nontechnical worker, and farmer	716 (27.7)
	Semi-technical worker and small business owner	341 (13.2)
	Technical worker and semi-professional	556 (21.5)
	Professional, officer, and owner of mid-sized business	823 (31.8)
	High-level professional and administrators	151 (5.8)
Father’s education level	Primary school or below	21 (0.8)
	Middle school or below	414 (16.0)
	High school or vocational secondary school	416 (16.1)
	Vocational college degree	579 (22.4)
	Bachelor's degree	1005 (38.8)
	Master's degree or above	152 (5.9)
Mother’s education level	Primary school or below	33 (1.3)
	Middle school or below	461 (17.8)
	High school or vocational secondary school	370 (14.3)
	Vocational college degree	674 (26.1)
	Bachelor's degree	948 (36.6)
	Master's degree or above	101 (3.9)
Family’s annual income	<50000 RMB	255 (9.9)
	50001–10,0000 RMB	749 (29.0)
	100,001–150,000 RMB	672 (26.0)
	150,001–300,000 RMB	677 (26.2)
	>300,000 RMB	234 (9.0)
ACEs		3.44 ± 1.85
PCEs		9.10 ± 1.45
Total difficulties	Normal	2077 (80.3)
	At risk	510 (19.7)
Prosocial problems	Normal	2036 (78.7)
	At risk	551 (21.3)

ACEs: adverse childhood experiences; PCEs: positive childhood experiences.

2.2.4. Data analysis

First, we used descriptive analysis to describe the demographic characteristics of the participants. We then used a series of logistic regressions for the binary outcome variable. Two separate unadjusted logistic regression models were used to test the independent associations between maternal ACEs and PCEs and offspring total difficulties and prosocial problems (Hypothesis 1). We then adjusted for children’s age, sex, months’ age, five SES indicators, the PCEs score, and the ACEs score in each model (Hypothesis 2). To test the relationship between maternal ACEs and total difficulties and prosocial problems in the context of PCEs (Hypothesis 3), we stratified the participants by PCEs score into two groups by a mean split (≤9.0 vs. > 9.0), which were often used in Western and Chinese samples in grouping PCEs (Crandall et al., 2019; Hou et al., 2022). A logistic regression model was used to examine maternal ACEs, total difficulties, and prosocial problems in the two PCEs groups. Children’s age, sex, months’ age, and five SES indicators were controlled in the model. To test the relationship between maternal PCEs and total difficulties and prosocial problems in the context of ACEs (hypothesis 4), we stratified the participants by score on ACEs into high and low ACEs groups (≥4.0 vs. 0–3) (Meehan et al., 2022). Furthermore, logistic regression was performed for PCEs and offspring outcomes in the two ACEs groups and was controlled for children’s age, sex, months’ age, and five SES indicators. SPSS (version 28.0; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used for data analysis.

3. Results

A total of 2,587 mothers reported ACEs and PCEs with a mean score of 3.44 (SD = 1.85) and 9.10 (SD = 1.45), respectively. In total, 19.7% (n = 510) of the offspring were reported to be at risk for total difficulties and 21.3% (n = 551) were reported to be at a risk of prosocial problems. More than half (57.4%) of the mothers reported having all 10 PCEs. The percentage of participants endorsing emotional abuse, emotional neglect, physical abuse, physical neglect, community violence, peer bullying, and household dysfunction were 46.5%, 22.7%, 58.6%, 44.1%, 69.4%, 65.8%, and 36.7%, respectively. The prevalence rates of each type of PCEs (caregivers with whom felt safe, good friends, comfortable beliefs, like schools, caring teachers, good neighbours, supportive adults, opportunities to have a good time, love yourself, a predictable home routine) were 95.3%, 98.1%, 88.8%, 94.7%, 89.9%, 92.3%, 73.1%, 90.6%, 93.7%, and 93.6%, respectively. Table 1 shows the results of the descriptive statistics. Table 2 shows the correlations of main variables.

Table 2. Correlations for Main Research Variables.

Measure	1	2	3	4
1 ACEs	–
2 PCEs	−.31**	–
3 Total difficulties	.22**	−.17**	–
4 Prosocial problems	−.15**	.13**	−.43**	–

** p < .01.

3.1. Maternal childhood experiences and offspring outcomes

The logistic regression results are presented in Table 3. In the unadjusted model, children whose mothers reported high ACEs scores were more likely to have total difficulties (OR = 1.23; 95%CI = 1.16, 1.29) and prosocial problems (OR = 1.09; 95%CI = 1.03, 1.14). In the adjusted model, when controlling for children’s age, gender, maternal age, family socioeconomic status, and PCEs, the results for ACEs and offspring outcomes remained significant, and the estimates showed a slight decrease for ACEs and total difficulties (OR = 1.18; 95%CI = 1.13, 1.27) and prosocial problems (OR = 1.07; 95%CI = 1.02, 1.14). Children whose mothers reported high PCEs scores were less likely to have risk for total difficulties (OR = 0.82; 95%CI = 0.77, 0.87) and prosocial problems (OR = 0.90; 95%CI = 0.85, 0.95). When controlling for children’s age, gender, maternal age, family socioeconomic status, and ACEs, the results for PCEs and offspring outcomes remained significant, and the estimates showed a slight decrease for PCEs and total difficulties (OR = 0.88; 95%CI = 0.83, 0.94) and prosocial problems (OR = 0.93; 95%CI = 0.87, 0.99).

Table 3. Independent associations between maternal ACEs and PCEs and offspring outcomes.

	ACEs		PCEs
Outcome variables	Unadjusted	Adjusted^a	Unadjusted	Adjusted^b
Total difficulties	1.23 (1.16, 1.29) ***	1.18 (1.13, 1.27) ***	0.82 (0.77, 0.87) ***	0.88 (0.83, 0.94) ***
Prosocial problems	1.09 (1.03, 1.15) **	1.07 (1.02, 1.14) *	0.90 (0.85, 0.95) ***	0.93 (0.87, 0.99) *

Note: ** p < .01, *** p < .001. The reference group for total difficulties and prosocial problems comprised the normal group.

^a Adjusted models for children’s age, sex, maternal age, family socioeconomic status (five factors), and PCEs. ^bAdjusted models for children’s age, sex, maternal age, family socioeconomic status (five factors), and ACEs.

ACEs: adverse childhood experiences; PCEs: positive childhood experiences.

3.2. Associations of maternal ACEs and PCEs with offspring outcomes in the context of one another

After adjusting for covariates, when stratifying the sample by PCEs scores, mothers with high average PCE scores (e.g. > 9 PCEs) and higher maternal ACEs were associated with a higher risk of total difficulties problems in offspring (>9 PCEs: OR = 1.24, 95%CI = 1.14, 1.34; ≤ 9 PCEs: OR = 1.20, 95%CI = 1.10, 1.31). Furthermore, when stratifying the sample by ACEs scores, mothers with low levels of ACEs (e.g. < 4 ACEs) and high PCEs were associated with a lower risk of offspring total difficulties problems (<4 ACEs: OR = 0.79, 95%CI = 0.69, 0.90; ≥ 4 ACEs: OR = 0.89, 95%CI = 0.83, 0.96). The results were shown in Table 4 and Table 5.

Table 4. Association between maternal ACEs and offspring outcomes in the context of PCEs.

	Stratification by PCEs score
	≤9 PCEs	>9 PCEs
	n = 1103	n = 1484
Outcome variables	ACEs	ACEs
Total difficulties	1.20 (1.10, 1.31) ***	1.24 (1.14, 1.34) ***
Prosocial problems	1.07 (0.98, 1.16)	1.11 (1.03, 1.19) **

Note: ** p < .01, *** p < .001. All models control for children’s age, sex, maternal age, and family socioeconomic status (five factors). The reference group for total difficulties and prosocial problems comprised the normal group.

ACEs: adverse childhood experiences; PCEs: positive childhood experiences.

Table 5. Association between maternal PCEs and offspring outcomes in the context of ACEs.

	Stratification by ACEs score
	<4 ACEs	≥4 ACEs
	n = 1264	n = 1323
Outcome variables	PCEs	PCEs
Total difficulties	0.79 (0.69, 0.90) ***	0.89 (0.83, 0.96) **
Prosocial problems	0.85 (0.75, 0.97) *	0.95 (0.89, 1.02)

Note: * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001. All models control for children’s age, sex, maternal age, and family socioeconomic status (five factors). The reference group for total difficulties and prosocial problems comprised the normal group.

ACEs: adverse childhood experiences; PCEs: positive childhood experiences.

4. Discussion

This study is the first to examine the associations of maternal PCEs with offspring psychosocial well-being among Chinese preschool samples and the impact of mothers’ ACEs and PCEs on offspring psychosocial well-being in the context of one another. Similar to previous studies, this study found negative associations between PCEs and offspring’s total difficulties and prosocial problems. The associations of maternal ACEs and PCEs with offspring outcomes in the context of one another show different results.

Similar with previous studies, children whose mother with high level of ACEs were more likely to have psychosocial difficulties (Greene et al., 2020; McDonald et al., 2019). According to attachment theory (Bowlby, 2008), mothers who experienced adversities in childhood may develop mental representations of unreliability and untrustworthiness with parents, subsequently leading to the formation of insecure and disordered attachments, which in turn lead to the adoption of negative parenting strategies in adulthood and cause offspring psychosocial difficulties (Cooke et al., 2019). Exposure to early adversity may affect brain development and have long last effect on mental illness (Navalta et al., 2018). Previous studies have shown that several areas connected to the default mode network have decreased cortical thickness (i.e. posterior cingulate cortex) and surface area (i.e. rostral anterior cingulate cortex) among young adults who experienced childhood trauma (Price et al., 2021), which may associate with low emotional regulation and tend have to mental illness (Etkin et al., 2010). There is also some consistent evidence that exposure to ACEs is positively related to NR3C1 epigenetic modification and mental illness (Lang et al., 2020). Children's mental health suffers as a result of being raised by a mentally ill parent (Leijdesdorff et al., 2017). Furthermore, a recent study revealed that parental ACEs can affect DNA methylation in her new-born offspring intergenerationally and therefore cause their children’ later behavioural problems (Merrill et al., 2021; Scorza et al., 2020). HPA-axis function is also an explanation of intergeneration transmission of maternal ACEs. Frequency and exposure to ACEs are positive correlated with changes in the function of the maternal HPA-axis and higher levels of its end product, cortisol, and result in offspring behavioural problems (Thomas-Argyriou et al., 2021). The results also revealed that children whose mothers had higher PCEs were less likely to have psychosocial difficulties. Parents with higher PCEs may be more likely to generate feelings of kindness, compassion, and security in their children (Narayan et al., 2019), which may enhance parent–child relationships and decrease the risk of behavioural problems (Zhu et al., 2021). More PCEs in childhood may lead to better long-term mental health outcomes and fewer chronic health problems as children age (Shaw et al., 2003), which may reduce the risk of psychological problems in children (Boursnell, 2011). In addition, a previous study suggested that positive childhood experiences can be transmitted through generations by influencing constructive parental methods (Chen et al., 2008), positive attitudes (Morris et al., 2021), and behaviours (Kosterman et al., 2011).

Furthermore, when we added maternal PCEs and ACEs to the same model, we found that PCEs slightly neutralised the negative effects of ACEs on offspring’s psychosocial well-being (total difficulties and prosocial problems). According to the compensatory model of resilience, separate from a risk factor, positive or protective variables have a direct, independent impact on a result. Furthermore, these positive factors counteract the negative effects of risk factors and have the opposite result (Zimmerman, 2013). In particular, if women report high ACEs and low positive childhood experiences, assessing PCEs during pregnancy, adulthood, and parenthood may promote chances to provide resources and take preventive action before children are born (Davis & Narayan, 2020).

However, the relationship between maternal ACEs and offspring total difficulties was stronger among those with above-average PCEs scores than among those with average or lower PCEs. Similar to previous studies, ACEs had stronger associations with negative outcomes in those with more PCEs (Crandall et al., 2019; Xu et al., 2022). This may be because individuals who have had more PCEs may feel more shame when ACEs occur (Crandall et al., 2019). Studies have suggested that shame can cause distortions in the child–parent relationship, which can have long-term negative consequences (Kirby et al., 2019). Mothers with high-level shame tend to have less compassion and high-level psychological control for their children (Kirby et al., 2019), thus leading their offspring behavioural problems (Olsen et al., 2002; Zhang et al., 2019).

With four or more ACEs, the benefit of maternal PCEs was still present, but the effect decreased. According to the Challenge Model, moderate levels of adversity immunise against additional adverse exposures, leaving people sensitive to negative outcomes (Zimmerman, 2013). However, if the adversity is too high, the system becomes overwhelmed, and coping becomes difficult (Crandall et al., 2019). Previous studies have also suggested that PCEs can reduce the influence of ACEs on mental health to some extent, but they cannot completely eliminate the detrimental effects of high ACEs exposure (Qu et al., 2022). Therefore, the effect of PCEs may decrease when mothers have high levels of ACEs.

Overall, our study extends the previous study by revealing the negative associations of maternal PCEs and offspring psychological well-being and the associations of maternal ACEs and PCEs with offspring outcomes in the context of one another. This is particular when mothers with high levels of PCEs were associated with a higher risk of total difficulties problems in their offspring. Nonetheless, the results of this study must be interpreted in the context of some limitations. First, this study did not include sexual abuse in maternal ACEs. Although previous studies have suggested that sexual abuse is related to offspring health (Roberts et al., 2004), because of the shame and sensitivity involved in sexual victimisation in China, we did not include childhood sexual abuse. Second, ACEs and PCEs were retrospectively reported by the mothers. Recall bias may exist because of the amount of time that has elapsed between the events and remembrance. Third, the offspring outcomes were reported by their parents. A single source of data may not accurately reflect children’s psychological well-being. In future studies, we recommend integrating these methods in future investigations for more thorough assessments (e.g. teacher-report children’s psychological well-being).

5. Conclusions

Maternal ACEs are negatively associated with offspring psychological well-being, whereas PCEs have a positive effect on intergenerational transmission. In the context of one another, PCEs have a stronger effect on offspring total difficulties when mothers have lower ACE, and ACEs have a stronger effect on offspring total difficulties when mothers have higher PCEs. More programme should be provided to increase maternal PCEs. When preventing the intergenerational transmission of ACEs, specific interventions should be provided to mothers with different levels of PCEs.

Authors’ contributions

Yantong Zhu: Formal analysis, conceptualisation, methodology, writing–original draft.

Gengli Zhang: Editing and reviewing.

Tokie Anme: Data curation, visualisation, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition.

Ethics approval

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Anhui Normal University (AHNU-ET2021034). The children’s parents were informed about the study’s objectives and processes, and that they had the right to withdraw from the study at any time.

Consent to participate

All participants provided written informed consent prior to participation.

Consent for publication

The authors consent to the publication of the work in the journal.

Acknowledgments

We express our deepest gratitude to all the participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI [grant number JP21H00790] and JST SPRING.