Peer-reviewed article
Maternal childhood abuse and neglect predicts offspring development in early childhood: The roles of reflective functioning and child sex
Julia Garon‐Bissonnette, Gabrielle Duguay, Roxanne Lemieux, Karine Dubois‐Comtois, Nicolas Berthelot ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study followed 111 Canadian mothers from pregnancy through up to 36 months postpartum to understand how mothers' childhood abuse and neglect affects their children's early development. The research found that impaired reflective functioning (a mother's ability to understand and interpret others' mental states) partially explains why children of mothers with childhood trauma show more developmental delays. Boys appeared more vulnerable than girls to developmental problems when their mothers had experienced childhood abuse and neglect.
Key points
- Maternal childhood abuse and neglect predicted offspring developmental delays in early childhood
- Maternal reflective functioning mediated (partially explained) the relationship between maternal trauma and child developmental outcomes
- Child sex moderated outcomes: boys showed a relative risk ratio of 2.62 for accumulating developmental delays when mothers experienced childhood abuse and neglect
- In girls, accumulated developmental problems were associated with impaired maternal reflective functioning; in boys, they were associated directly with maternal exposure to childhood abuse and neglect
- Study used longitudinal measurement from pregnancy through 36 months postpartum
Limitations
The study was observational and cannot establish causality, only associations. The findings are from a single Canadian sample of 111 mothers, which limits generalizability to other populations and contexts.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Recent evidence suggests that offspring of mothers having been exposed to childhood abuse and neglect (CA&N) are at increased risk of developmental problems and that boys are more affected by maternal CA&N than girls. Since impairments in reflective functioning (RF) have been associated with maternal CA&N and offspring development, RF could represent a key mechanism in these intergenerational risk trajectories. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated mediating (RF) and moderating (child sex) mechanisms in the association between maternal CA&N and child development. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: In a longitudinal setting, 111 mothers completed measures during pregnancy and between 11 and 36 months postpartum. METHODS: CA&N and impairments in RF were assessed during pregnancy and offspring development was measured during the longitudinal follow-up using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ-3). Child development was operationalized in two ways: using the global score at the ASQ-3 and using a dichotomous score of accumulation of delays across domains of development. RESULTS: Structural equation modeling indicated that RF mediated the association between maternal CA&N and offspring development. Child sex moderated the association between CA&N and the clustering of developmental problems (Wald = 5.88, p = 0.02), with boys being particularly likely to accumulate developmental delays when their mother experienced CA&N (RR = 2.62). Accumulation of developmental problems was associated with impairments in maternal RF in girls and with maternal exposure to CA&N in boys. CONCLUSIONS: Results provide novel insights on the role of mentalization and child sex in the association between maternal CA&N and child development.