ERIC Number: EJ734183
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Dec
Pages: 11
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-006X
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The Intergenerational Transmission of Externalizing Behaviors in Adult Participants: The Mediating Role of Childhood Abuse
Verona, Edelyn; Sachs-Ericsson, Natalie
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, v73 n6 p1135-1145 Dec 2005
Childhood abuse was investigated as a potential mediator of the intergenerational transmission of externalizing behaviors (EXT) in adulthood among a large general population sample drawn from the National Comorbidity Survey. Community participants (N = 5,424) underwent diagnostic and psychosocial interviews and reported on their own adult symptoms of antisocial behavior and substance dependence, parental symptoms, and childhood abuse history. Multiple group structural equation modeling revealed that (a) EXT in parents was associated with childhood abuse in offspring, particularly among mother-daughter dyads, (b) abuse had a unique influence on adult EXT in offspring above parental EXT, and (c) abuse accounted for the relationship between parental EXT and offspring EXT in female but not male participants. This article emphasizes the importance of examining different environmental processes which may explain familial transmission of destructive behaviors in men and women and highlights the importance of family interventions that target parental symptoms to ameliorate risk to offspring.
Descriptors: Structural Equation Models, Child Abuse, Adults, Interviews, Substance Abuse, Parent Child Relationship, Gender Differences, Risk, Environmental Influences, Family Environment, Diagnostic Tests, Interviews, Behavior Patterns
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A