ECPN Student Poster Contestant: The Intergenerational Impact of Childhood Trauma in Hispanic Families: The Mediational Roles of Depression and Parent-Adolescent Communication

Introduction: Previous research has reported that trauma experienced in a primary caregiver’s (PC’s) childhood is a strong risk factor for subsequent externalizing behaviors in their youth (Ehrensaft & Cohen 2012). Although Ehrensaft and Cohen (2012) investigated trauma in a PC’s childhood and its intergenerational effects on youth externalizing behaviors, this association has not been investigated in Hispanics families. Moreover, there exist substantial gaps in the literature explaining the mechanisms by which this association occurs. The purpose of this study is to examine whether PC-adolescent communication and PC’s depressive symptomatology mediates the relationship between PC’s childhood trauma and adolescent externalizing behaviors.

Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized baseline data from an ongoing randomized control trial evaluating the relative effectiveness of an online parenting intervention in preventing drug use, HIV risk behaviors, and sexually transmitted infections in Hispanic adolescents. The sample consisted of 354 primary caregivers (M = 43.08; SD = 6.42; 92.7% Female) and their adolescents between the ages of 12-16 (M = 13.89; SD = 1.34; 51.3% Female). Trauma experienced in a PC’s childhood was measured using the Adverse Childhood Experience, whereas PC’s perception of adolescent externalizing behaviors was measured using the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist. PC’s depressive symptomatology was measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. PC-adolescent communication was measured using the Parent Adolescent Communication Scale. To test for mediation, MPlus (8.0) with FIML estimation was used.

Results & Conclusions: Study results show a positive association between PC’s childhood trauma and adolescent externalizing behaviors (β= 0.11, p < 0.05). Additionally, the results indicated a positive association between PC’s childhood trauma and PC's depressive symptomatology (β= 0.15, p < 0.05) which, in turn, was related to externalizing behaviors in their adolescents (β= 0.19, p < 0.001). The mediation effects of PC’s depressive symptomatology on the association between PC’s childhood trauma and externalizing behaviors was significant (β= 0.03, p < 0.05). Moreover, PC’s childhood trauma was negatively associated with PC-adolescent communication (β= -0.18, p < 0.01) which was related to their adolescent’s externalizing behaviors (β= -0.28, p < 0.001). The mediation effects of PC-adolescent communication was also significant (β= 0.05, p < 0.01). A clear understanding of childhood trauma in Hispanic PC’s may aid future efforts in the development of preventive interventions targeting externalizing behaviors in Hispanic youth.