Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences, Family Strengths, and Chronic Stress in Children.
Eileen M Condon, Margaret L Holland, Arietta Slade and 3 others
PMID 30789545WHAT IT FOUND
In 54 low-income families, mothers' childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms were associated with child behavior problems; trauma was also associated with higher systolic blood pressure, and family strengths with lower child BMI and eczema.
These are associations, not proof.
Key findings
01Mothers' childhood trauma was associated with higher systolic blood pressure percentiles in their children.
02Mothers' PTSD symptoms were associated with higher reported child behavior problem scores.
03Mothers' reported childhood family strengths were associated with lower child BMI and lower odds of eczema.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 54 families were studied, and the authors said the correlation analyses were underpowered. The study measured exposures and outcomes at one time, so it cannot show that maternal trauma or PTSD caused child problems. Multiple comparisons were not adjusted, and some highlighted associations had p-values between .05 and .1. The family strengths measure was an unvalidated subscale created from CTQ items. Child health and behavior were mostly parent-reported, and there were no standardized pediatric reference ranges for hair cortisol or salivary biomarkers. Hair samples were missing for several children because of short hair, parent refusal, or corticosteroid use, and some saliva samples were insufficient or excluded because of illness.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that mothers' childhood trauma or PTSD causes their children's blood pressure or behavior problems. This was a small cross-sectional study of 54 families, and it only measured associations at one time.