Insightfulness as a protective factor to the intergenerational transmission of adversity
Description
Previous research demonstrates the intergenerational impact of mothers’ ACEs on their children’s behavioral outcomes. However, few studies examine effects on children’s self-regulation, and even fewer study potential protective factors in the parent-child relationship. The present study intends to understand how mothers’ ACEs exposure may impact their preschool-aged children’s self-regulation (separated into components of executive function (EF), effortful control (EC), and attention/impulsivity) and whether insightful parenting acts as a protective factor. Seventy-four mothers and children were recruited through Head Start and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinics. Mother-child dyads represented a racially and ethnically diverse sample and had household incomes below the federal poverty line. Mothers reported ACEs exposure, while trained assessors observed children’s performance on tasks from the Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment (PSRA). Mothers’ coded interviews of dyadic interactions with their children produced a dichotomous insightfulness variable. The tested hypothesis predicted that maternal insightfulness would moderate the relation between maternal ACEs and children’s self-regulation, such that only for non-insightful mothers would higher ACEs be associated with lower self-regulation in their children. Results did not support the hypothesis. There was no demonstrated main effect of maternal ACEs on children’s self-regulation (p > .05) and no moderation by insightfulness (p > .05). There was a significant main effect of child age across all three components of self-regulation (p < .05). Overall, results did not indicate clear links between maternal ACEs and children’s self-regulation, requiring further research into the intergenerational transmission of early adversity and potential protective factors to transmission.