(Converted as ePoster, See Poster Gallery) Maternal Childhood Trauma and Offspring's Developmental Course of Aggressive Behavior from Ages 4 to 12 in an at-Risk Urban Sample

Background: Maternal childhood trauma (MCT) poses an intergenerational risk to their children’s development. Most prior studies used cross-sectional designs, limiting knowledge about long-term or delayed MCT effects on offspring’s developmental trajectory. Using an at-risk urban sample, this study examined whether MCT influences offspring’s levels of aggressive behavior at age 4 or their rate of change in aggressive behavior from a preschool age to preadolescence.

Methods: Participants were 308 mother-child (54% girls) dyads, who were urban, primarily African American, and of low socioeconomic status, recruited at childbirth for a prospective study on the developmental effects of prenatal cocaine/polydrug exposure. Aggressive behavior was measured by caregiver-reported Child Behavior Checklist at child ages 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Maternal childhood trauma was caregiver-reported using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire at the 4-year post-partum assessment. Child-level characteristics (sex, race, prenatal cocaine exposure status) and caregiver-level characteristics (education, socioeconomic status) were also assessed. Latent Growth Curve Modeling (LGCM) was conducted using the AMOS v.21 with full information maximum likelihood estimation. An unconditional LGCM model was specified with the initial level and the rate of change in the aggressive behavior to estimate its change trajectory with time. A conditional LGCM model was specified to examine the effect of MCTs on the aggressive behavior trajectory, adjusted for controls.

Results: The unconditional model fit the data properly, χ²(16) = 44.679, p < .001, CFI = .967, TLI = .957, RMSEA = .076. At age 4, children had an average aggressive behavior score of 54.32 (p < .001), which increased over an 8-year period (mean slope = .236, p < .001). The variance of the intercept and slope parameters was significant, indicating that these children varied significantly on their initial level of aggressive behavior and the rate of increase over time. The conditional model fit the data properly, χ²(36) = 70.967, p < .001, CFI = .961, TLI = .929, RMSEA = .056. Children of mothers with higher levels of childhood trauma had higher levels of aggressive behavior at age 4 (β = .170, p = .015), and this trend in the increase rate (the higher the MCT, the higher the children’s aggression) remained over the 8-year period (β = -.005, p = .950). While girls’ and boys’ initial aggressive behavior level was not significantly different (β = -.061, p = .375), boys demonstrated a more rapid increase in aggressive behavior (β = .294, p < .001).

Conclusions: Typical developmental course of aggressive behavior in general populations involves higher levels during the preschool years followed by a decrease as children transition into school settings and move through adolescence. However, current findings indicated that urban, primarily minority children in poverty exhibit continued increase in aggressive behavior from ages 4 to 12. The screening of aggressive behavior at preschool ages may be an optimal initiation of intervention, especially for boys. Intervention that involves the provision of trauma-informed maternal support may be most effective. Future research needs to explore the mechanisms through which maternal childhood trauma impacts offspring’s long-term aggressive behavior.