[Adverse Childhood Experiences in Mothers and Intergenerational Family Violence].

Abstract

For children, own adverse experiences, as well as their exposure to intimate partner violence poses a severe risk for health and development. In order to answer the question of intergenerational transmission of family violence, adverse childhood experiences in mothers are considered to be a significant risk factor for the occurrence of child maltreatment and intimate partner violence in families, which, however, has been little studied in Germany. Therefore, this paper uses cross-sectional data of 5.646 mothers that was taken fromthe representative study "Kinder in Deutschland - KiD 0-3". Multiple binary-logical regression models were calculated in order to examine the influence ofmaternal adverse childhood experiences on various forms of family violence. As a result, 823 mothers (9,3 %) reported adverse childhood experiences; 157 (2,8 %) admitted that their child had already been exposed to physical harm or harsh punishment, and 168 (3,0%) reported intimate partner violence since the birth of their child, respectively 493 (8,7 %) since any past relationship. Taking demographic and socioeconomic factors into account, the occurrence of all three forms of violence becamemore likely inmothers with adverse childhood experiences: physical harm of the child (OR = 2,78, p ≤ 0,001), current intimate partner violence of themother (OR = 3,76, p ≤ 0,001), as well as her lifetime experiences in general (OR = 3,67, p ≤ 0,001). Therefore, the support and guidance of families (e.g., by early childhood interventions) should take into account the connection between negative maternal childhood experiences, as well as familial forms of violence, and, if applicable, make generous preventative offers. In case of signs for familial violence, additional protective steps should be applied.