Thompson Stephanie, Moini Natasha, Shimomaeda Lisa, Green Lindsey, Whiley Dannielle, Lengua Liliana J
Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Dev Psychobiol. 2025 May;67(3):e70043. doi: 10.1002/dev.70043.
This study examined the pathways from mothers' adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to infants' respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), testing potential mechanisms of current contextual risk, maternal RSA, and parenting in accounting for the intergenerational transmission of adversity. Participants were 200 first-time mothers and their infants living in low-income contexts. Mothers reported on ACEs and contextual risk (economic insecurity, cumulative risk) during their pregnancy (T1). Observed parenting behaviors and mothers' and infants' baseline RSA were obtained when the infants were 2-4 months of age (T2) and 4-6 months of age (T3). The results from path analyses showed that mothers' experiences of ACEs were related to higher current economic insecurity and cumulative risk. Higher current economic insecurity predicted lower baseline RSA at T2 in infants but not in mothers, whereas mothers' report of ACEs predicted lower maternal baseline RSA at T2. Higher maternal baseline RSA at T2 predicted relative increases in infant RSA from T2 to T3. Maternal responsiveness was unrelated to ACEs and current contextual risk but predicted relative increases in infant baseline RSA from T2 to T3, indicating an independent effect of parenting. The findings highlight potential pathways for the intergenerational transmission of experiences of adversity. Mothers' own experiences of adversity as a child may impact a psychophysiological substrate of emotion regulation of infants through current economic insecurity and maternal emotional regulation, whereas maternal parenting appears to independently support a correlate of infant regulation.
本研究考察了母亲童年不良经历（ACEs）与婴儿呼吸性窦性心律不齐（RSA）之间的路径，检验了当前情境风险、母亲RSA和养育方式在解释逆境代际传递中的潜在机制。研究对象为200名生活在低收入环境中的初为人母者及其婴儿。母亲们报告了孕期（T1）的ACEs和情境风险（经济不安全、累积风险）。在婴儿2至4个月大（T2）和4至6个月大（T3）时，观察了养育行为以及母亲和婴儿的基线RSA。路径分析结果显示，母亲的ACEs经历与当前更高的经济不安全和累积风险相关。当前更高的经济不安全预示着婴儿在T2时的基线RSA较低，但母亲的情况并非如此，而母亲报告的ACEs预示着母亲在T2时的基线RSA较低。母亲在T2时较高的基线RSA预示着婴儿RSA从T2到T3的相对增加。母亲的反应性与ACEs和当前情境风险无关，但预示着婴儿基线RSA从T2到T3的相对增加，表明养育方式具有独立作用。研究结果突出了逆境经历代际传递的潜在路径。母亲童年时自身的逆境经历可能通过当前的经济不安全和母亲的情绪调节影响婴儿情绪调节的心理生理基础，而母亲的养育方式似乎独立支持婴儿调节的一个相关因素。
