Parents' Maltreatment Histories, Dimensions of Emotion Regulation, and Connections to Offspring Self-Regulation: A Sex-Specific Transmission Pathway

Abstract

Introduction: Parents with childhood maltreatment histories are at risk for emotion regulation (ER) problems, which are associated with reduced self-regulation among their offspring. However, gaps remain in the literature regarding this indirect transmission pathway. First, ER consists of multiple dimensions and it is unclear which dimension is most affected by childhood maltreatment. Second, less is known regarding which parental ER dimension is linked to offspring self-regulation. Thus, the present study aimed to examine the direct and indirect associations between parental maltreatment histories and child self-regulatory capacity via dimensions of parental ER.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 101 youth (75% African American/Black; 53% female; M _age = 10.28; SD = 1.19) and their primary caregivers were recruited from a low-income community in the Southeastern United States. Structural equation modeling was used to model the effect of parents' self-reported childhood maltreatment on youth physiological self-regulation (measured by heart rate variability reactivity [HRV-R]), via parents' self-reported ER.

Results: Parental maltreatment history was significantly associated with five of the six components of ER. Further, the indirect effect of parents' childhood maltreatment on child HRV-R was significant when parents reported more difficulty engaging goal-directed behaviors. Moderation analyses by sex showed that daughters had greater dysregulation regardless of parental maltreatment histories, while parents' ER was found to play a more significant role in the intergenerational transmission of dysregulation to sons.

Conclusions: The current study extends the literature on self-regulation development in children of low-income, maltreatment-exposed parents. Our study may inform parent-child interventions for improving self-regulation.

Keywords: childhood maltreatment history; emotion regulation; heart rate variability; intergenerational effects of maltreatment; moderated mediation; sex differences.

Fig. 1

Conceptual model of study hypotheses

Fig. 2

Measurement model for the latent factor representing parental history of childhood maltreatment from the four subscales of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire Note. Model fit was good: χ²(2) = 7.578, p < .05, CFI = .964, SRMR = .033. Standardized parameter estimates are shown in the figure *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

Fig. 3

Structural equation model of the association between parental history of childhood maltreatment and their emotion regulation Note. Model fit was good: CFI = .974, TLI = .951, RMSEA = .054, SRMR = .068. Race and income were controlled for in the analysis and non-significant paths were trimmed. Race (African American = 1, Other = 0) was significantly related to DERS non-acceptance (β = −.234, SE = .087, p < .01). Standardized parameter estimates are shown in the figure *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

Fig. 4

Structural equation model of the association between parent’s emotion regulation and children’s self-regulation as measured by HRV reactivity, moderated by child’s sex Note. Child sex is coded as 1 = male and 2 = female. BMI was controlled for. Model fit was good: CFI = 1.000, TLI = 1.000, RMSEA < .001, SRMR < .001. Standardized parameter estimates are shown in the figure ^ap < .10, *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

Fig. 5

Structural equation model of the indirect association between parental history of childhood maltreatment and child’s HRV reactivity, through parent’s emotion regulation, and moderated by the sex of the child Note. Sex of the child is coded as 1 = male and 2 = female. Model fit was good: CFI = .977, TLI = .965, RMSEA = .044, SRMR = .053. Standardized parameter estimates are shown in the figure ^ap < .10, *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

Fig. 6

Graph depicting the association between parent’s ER difficulties (high scores on the Goals subscale of the DERS ) and child’s HRV reactivity, moderated by the sex of the child Note. Variables were centered before the moderation analysis