Maternal childhood maltreatment and children's psychopathology across childhood: Exploring the role of maternal early caregiving quality in a low-risk sample

BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment can have severe, long-lasting mental health consequences for survivors themselves and these effects can also be transmitted to the next generation: children of childhood maltreatment survivors are at a higher risk for various behavioural problems. However, the impact of maternal childhood maltreatment on developmental trajectories of child behaviour problems is not yet clear. OBJECTIVE: This longitudinal observational study examined associations between maternal childhood maltreatment and children's externalizing and internalizing behaviour trajectories and whether these associations were moderated by maternal early caregiving quality. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: A total of 164 Dutch mothers and their children (44.5% girls). METHODS: Mothers reported on their maltreatment experiences and their children's externalizing and internalizing behaviours at 6, 7, 10, and 12.5 years of age. RESULTS: Externalizing behaviour decreased significantly across development and there was some evidence that this decrease was stronger in more severely maltreatment-exposed mothers. Internalizing behaviour increased significantly across development, but maternal childhood maltreatment was not associated with internalizing behaviour trajectories. No moderating effects of caregiving quality emerged, but some evidence for direct associations between caregiving quality and externalizing behaviour (trajectories) was found. CONCLUSIONS: Future research should replicate these findings in more diverse, high-risk samples and further explore protective moderators of the intergenerational effects of childhood maltreatment.