scholarly journals Comparison of three models of adverse childhood experiences: Associations with child and adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren M. Henry ◽  
Kathy Gracey ◽  
April Shaffer ◽  
Jon Ebert ◽  
Tarah Kuhn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
Externalizing Symptoms ◽  
Child And Adolescent ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Adverse Childhood ◽  
Internalizing And Externalizing ◽  
Internalizing And Externalizing Symptoms

The role of HPA-axis function during pregnancy in the intergenerational transmission of maternal adverse childhood experiences to child behavior problems

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Jenna C. Thomas-Argyriou ◽  
Nicole Letourneau ◽  
Deborah Dewey ◽  
Tavis S. Campbell ◽  
Gerald F. Giesbrecht ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Behavior Problems ◽  
Child Behavior ◽  
Externalizing Behavior ◽  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
Child Behavior Problems ◽  
Internalizing Behavior ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Adverse Childhood ◽  
Internalizing And Externalizing

Abstract The current study aimed to understand the mediating and/or moderating role of prenatal hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis function in the association between maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems at age 4. The influence of timing and child sex were also explored. Participants were 248 mother–child dyads enrolled in a prospective longitudinal cohort study (the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition Study). Maternal ACEs were retrospectively assessed while maternal self-reported depression and diurnal salivary cortisol were assessed prospectively at 6–26 weeks gestation (T1) and 27–37 weeks gestation (T2). Maternal report of child internalizing and externalizing problems was assessed at 4 years (T3). Results revealed that there was a negative indirect association between maternal ACEs and child internalizing behavior via a higher maternal cortisol awakening response (CAR). Maternal diurnal cortisol slope moderated the association between maternal ACEs and child behavior problems. Some of these effects were dependent on child sex, such that higher ACEs and a flatter diurnal slope at T1 was associated with more internalizing behavior in female children and more externalizing behavior in male children. There were timing effects such that the mediating and moderating effects were strongest at T1.

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