Assessing an intergenerational cycle of shame in violence-affected families in Burundi

Childhood abuse (CA), perceived parental rejection, parental trauma-related disorders, and parental maladaptive shame coping behavior (MSCB), including avoidance, withdrawal, and attacking others or oneself, most likely render children vulnerable to shame-proneness. Aiming to understand the intergenerational transmission of shame-coping behavior, we conducted semi-structured interviews, based on internationally recognized self-report questionnaires, separately with children between ages 7 and 15 years old (50% female) and their parents (85% female; parent-child pairs n = 62). Stepwise backwards regression models revealed the importance of parental MSCB (ß = .45, p = .001) and perceived parental rejection (ß = .32, p = .006) for overall MSCB in children. Regarding specific MSCB in children, parental MSCB emerged consistently as a relevant predictor, whilst perceived parental rejection remained relevant only for avoidance and attacking others. The family environment contains significant risk factors for children’s shame-proneness and may cause an intergenerational cycle of shame.