Experiences of childhood adversity across generations - Continuity or change? A study from the Northern Ireland youth wellbeing survey.

BACKGROUND

Although a wealth of international literature consistently links cumulative experiences of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with physical, mental and emotional problems in later life, only a few studies have focused on intergenerational ACE exposure and research using nationally representative populations is lacking.

OBJECTIVE

This paper examines intergenerational associations between parent and child ACE scores in a large nationally representative sample of parent-child dyads.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Participant comprise 1042 pairs of parents and young people (11-19 year olds) who both completed questions relating to their exposure to ACEs (N = 1042) as part the Northern Ireland Youth Wellbeing Survey (NIYWS) - a stratified random probability household survey of the prevalence of mental health disorders among 2 to 19 year olds in Northern Ireland (N = 3074).

METHODS

Hierarchical regression was used to identify the relationship between parent and young people ACE scores and investigate the extent to which this is influenced by child, parent, family and socio-economic variables.

RESULTS

In the final model, young person ACE scores were associated with older child age (β = 0.082, p = .016), younger parental age (β = -0.083, p = .022), fewer children in the household (β = -0.120, p < .001), poor child health (β = 0.160, p < .001), low family support (β = 0.118, p = .001) and the household being in receipt of benefits (β = 0.223, p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

This study found a small association between parent and young person ACE exposure which was attenuated through other variables.