Emotional neglect and parents’ adverse childhood events

INTRODUCTION: Emotional neglect means that the child’s emotional and developmental needs are not fulfilled by the parents or other caregivers. Adverse childhood events (ACEs) are a risk factor for mental health problems and impaired parenting skills. The objective here was to examine whether parents’ ACEs increase the child’s risk of experiencing emotional neglect. METHODS: The participants in the present study were members of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (NFBC1986). Emotional neglect experiences were measured in 190 members of this cohort by means of the Trauma and Distress Scale (TADS), and ACEs in both parents were measured with a specific questionnaire. A linear regression model was used to examine the association between parents’ ACEs and the children’s emotional neglect scores. RESULTS: The children’s mean emotional neglect score was 8.11 on a scale from 5 to 25. There was no significant difference between males (mean 8.01) and females (mean 8.19). Only father’s ACEs were associated with child’s emotional neglect score. In the linear regression model, the children’s emotional neglect scores increased by 0.3 points for father’s ACE. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that father’s ACEs may increase the child’s risk of experiencing emotional neglect. It seems that childhood adversities are transferred from parents to children, but larger samples would be needed to confirm these findings.