Parental History of Childhood Maltreatment and Offspring Attachment Insecurity and Disorganization: Two Meta-Analyses

Summary & key facts

Researchers looked at about 25 studies with roughly 2,600 people to see if parents who were mistreated as children are more likely to have children with insecure or disorganized attachment. They found a very small link between parents' childhood mistreatment and children being insecurely attached, and no clear link with disorganized attachment. The results are uncertain because many studies used parents' own reports of their childhoods, types of maltreatment could not be separated, and newer studies showed smaller effects. Overall, a parent's history of childhood maltreatment does not by itself seem to determine a child's attachment pattern, but more and better research is needed.

Key facts:

• The researchers combined about 25 studies that included roughly 2,600 people and children who were mostly infants and toddlers, with an average age of about 19 months.
• There was a very small but statistically detectable link between parents' history of childhood mistreatment and children showing insecure attachment. The measured effect was about 0.06 on the researchers' scale, which means the relationship
• There was no clear or significant link between parents' childhood mistreatment and children showing disorganized attachment. The measured effect for disorganization was about 0.03 and was not statistically significant.
• For disorganized attachment, more recent studies showed weaker effects, and tests suggested publication bias. That means published studies might overestimate the true link.
• The reviewers could not draw conclusions about specific types of childhood mistreatment because there were too few studies that looked at different kinds of abuse or neglect separately.
• Most studies relied on parents' own reports of their childhood mistreatment. The authors say we need studies that use more objective or independent measures of parents' histories before we can be sure about the size and nature of any interg

Abstract

Research findings have shown that parental history of childhood maltreatment (CM) increases the risk of insecure and disorganized attachment in offspring. However, the extent of the detrimental effects of childhood trauma on attachment in the next generation is unclear. The current meta-analyses aimed at synthesizing the available literature on the link between parental history of CM and offspring attachment insecurity and disorganization (with no restriction of offspring age). In total, 25 studies (23 unique samples; N = 2,592) comprising u = 61 effect sizes were included. Offspring age ranged from 12 to 79 months (Mweighted = 18.69; SDweighted = 11.53). Findings from two three-level random effects meta-analyses revealed a weak but significant combined effect of parental history of CM on child attachment insecurity (k = 20, u = 35, r = .06) and a non-significant effect on child attachment disorganization (k = 12, u = 26, r = .03). For the meta-analysis on disorganization, effect sizes were weaker in more recent studies, and trim and fill analyses provided evidence of publication bias. These findings provide a nuanced view of the intergenerational transmission of childhood trauma phenomenon, whereby parents' self-reported history of CM does not appear decisive for child attachment. Conclusions could not be drawn for specific types of CM because of the small number of studies. Research with more objective measures of parental exposure to CM is needed to gain a more comprehensive view of the possible intergenerational effects of CM on child attachment.

Topics

Child Abuse and Trauma Child Welfare and Adoption Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse

Categories

Clinical Psychology Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Biology Demography Developmental psychology Early childhood Family history Genetics Internal medicine Medicine Meta-analysis Offspring Pregnancy Psychology Radiology Sociology

Conditions & symptoms

Feeling disconnected from others