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Incongruence in fathers' and mothers' adverse childhood experiences and children's behavior problems

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Family Relations / Family Relations Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies

Published online on

Abstract

["Family Relations, EarlyView. ", "\nABSTRACT\n\nObjective\nTo examine associations between (in)congruence within parent dyads' adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and children's behavior problems.\n\n\nBackground\nDespite evidence that both parents influence child health, studies on multigenerational consequences of ACEs have focused on one parent. Yet many children have two parents exposed to ACEs. Fathers' and mothers' ACEs may intersect, and their shared, or differing, experience of ACEs may have implications for children's health and development.\n\n\nMethods\nParticipants were 400 father–mother dyads from a cohort study. Parents reported on their own home‐based (i.e., abuse, household dysfunction) and community‐based (i.e., discrimination, community violence) ACEs. Fathers reported on children's behavior problems. Three dyadic variables for parent ACEs were created in a structural equation model: parent‐dyad ACE average, absolute magnitude of incongruence in ACEs, and direction of incongruence in ACEs. Ordinary least squares regressions examined associations between dyadic ACEs variables and children's behavior problems. Separate models were estimated for home‐ and community‐based ACEs.\n\n\nResults\nGreater incongruence in parental community‐based ACEs was associated with behavior problems in children (B = 1.04, p < .05).\n\n\nConclusion\nDissimilar experiences of parental community‐based ACEs may have implications for children.\n\n\nImplications\nTo support the development of couple‐level interventions, research should examine pathways of transmission (i.e., coparenting quality).\n\n"]