The Influence of Parental Trauma Factors on Parenting Opinions: An Intergenerational Perspective

This study explores one potential mechanism of intergenerational trauma: parenting opinions. Intergenerational trauma is the process by which the effects of trauma exposure in parents, in turn, affects their children. Parental traumas are often associated with negative outcomes for children (such as the development of internalizing and externalizing symptoms). This study investigates whether trauma-related aspects in parents (e.g., interpersonal type of trauma, event severity, age of trauma, and number of traumas) are related to more unrealistic parent expectations that may negatively impact children. Multiple linear regression and ANCOVA tests were used to assess hypotheses. Results showed that trauma frequency and severity in combination predict higher levels of unrealistic parent expectations. In isolation, less robust results of exploratory analyses suggest that interpersonal trauma type is linked to higher levels of support of children’s autonomy and functional impairment uniquely contributes to lower levels of support of children’s autonomy.