Citation

Paul SE, Boudreaux MJ, Bondy E, Tackett JL, Oltmanns TF, Bogdan R. Dev. Psychopathol. 2019; 31(3): 1157-1171.

Affiliation

Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences,Washington University in St. Louis,St. Louis, MO,USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Cambridge University Press)

DOI

10.1017/S095457941900066X

PMID

31156081

Abstract

One generation's experience of childhood maltreatment is associated with that of the next. However, whether this intergenerational transmission is specific to distinct forms of maltreatment and what factors may contribute to its continuity remains unclear. Borderline personality pathology is predicted by childhood maltreatment and characterized by features (e.g., dysregulated emotion, relationship instability, impulsivity, and inconsistent appraisals of others) that may contribute to its propagation. Among 364 older adults and 573 of their adult children (total n = 937), self-reported exposure to distinct forms of childhood maltreatment (i.e., emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, and emotional and physical neglect as assessed by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) showed homotypic and heterotypic associations across generations with little evidence that latent factors unique to specific forms of maltreatment show generational continuity. General nonspecific indices of childhood maltreatment showed evidence of intergenerational transmission after accounting for demographic factors and parent socioeconomic status (b = 0.126, p = 9.21 × 10-4). This continuity was partially mediated by parental borderline personality pathology (assessed longitudinally through a variety of measures and sources, indirect effect: b = 0.031, 95% confidence interval [0.003, 0.060]). The intergenerational continuity of childhood maltreatment may largely represent general risk for nonspecific maltreatment that may, in part, be propagated by borderline personality pathology and/or shared risk factors.

Language: en

Keywords

abuse; borderline personality; childhood maltreatment; intergenerational transmission; neglect; stress