EUGENE, Ore. — April 29, 2024 — University of Oregon researchers discovered a link between birth mothers who experienced stressful childhood events and their children’s behavior problems.
This was true even though the children were adopted as newborns, raised by their adoptive parents, and were never directly exposed to the stresses their birth mothers had experienced.
If a child’s adoptive mother also experienced stressful events as a youth, such as abuse, neglect, violence or poverty, then the child’s behavior issues were even more pronounced, the researchers found.
The research, led by Leslie Leve, a professor in the UO College of Education and scientist with the Prevention Science Institute, recently appeared in the journal Development and Psychopathology.
This study underscores the importance of efforts to prevent child neglect, poverty, and sexual and physical abuse, and to intervene with help and support when children experience them.
“We can’t always prevent bad things from happening to young children,” Leve said. “But we can provide behavioral health supports to individuals who have been exposed to childhood trauma or neglect to help them develop coping skills and support networks, so that difficult childhood experiences are less likely to negatively impact them — or the next generation.”
Leve is the Lorry Lokey Chair in Education and head of the counseling psychology and human services department.
In the only study of its kind, Leve and other researchers have followed 561 adopted children, their birth parents and adoptive parents for more than a decade. Participants were recruited through 45 adoption agencies in 15 states nationwide. The researchers collected data from the birth parents when children in the study were infants and from the adoptive parents when the children were age 6-7 and again at age 11.
The researchers found when birth mothers reported more adverse childhood experiences and other life stress when they were young, their children showed less “effortful control” at age 7. Examples of “effortful control” include the child being able to wait before initiating new activities when asked and being able to easily stop an activity when told “No.”
At age 11, the children of these same mothers showed more “externalizing behavior,” such as rule-breaking and aggressive behavior.
The study also points the way for additional inquiry. For example, exactly how does stress in one generation become associated with behavior in the next generation?
“We know from nonhuman animal studies that stress can change the expression of genes by essentially changing which genes are turned “on” or “off” when passed on to the next generation,” Leve said. “That could be a plausible pathway.”
Further, what is the effect of the environment in which the child was raised?
“Can we find something positive in the rearing environment, perhaps parents’ warmth or sensitivity, that can help offset the child’s genetic or biologic risk for impulsive or externalizing behavior?” Leve asked. That is the next question the research team is asking.
Along with Leve, the study’s authors include Veronica Oro and David DeGarmo with the UO’s Prevention Science Institute; Misaki Natsuaki with University of California, Riverside; Gordon Harold, University of Cambridge; Jenae Neiderhiser, The Pennsylvania State University; Jody Ganiban, George Washington University; and Daniel Shaw, University of Pittsburgh.
— By Sherri Buri McDonald, University Communications
This research was supported by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development; the National Institute on Drug Abuse; National Institutes of Health Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research; National Institute of Mental Health; National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease; National Institute of Health’s Office of the Director; and the Andrew and Virginia Rudd Family Foundation.
About the University of Oregon College of Education
The University of Oregon College of Education is a community of leading researchers and practitioners dedicated to transformational scholarship, integrated teaching, and collaborative practice designed to enhance individual lives and systems. The College of Education is UO’s highest-ranking and largest research-contributing college known for its innovative teaching and research in special education, counseling psychology, human services, education, and prevention science. The college is a leader in culturally responsive Indigenous and bilingual teacher preparation programs as well as community-based research.
About the University of Oregon Prevention Science Institute
The Prevention Science Institute at the University of Oregon is a multidisciplinary research institute focused on improving the lives of children, families and adults through science, outreach and program delivery. PSI includes faculty from across the UO who work together to understand prevention and health promotion through translational science and applied intervention research. PSI conducts research from multiple perspectives, including translational research that focuses on interactions between the brain, social context and behavior; developing, testing and delivering effective intervention programs; and efficacious ways to disseminate programs into community, agency and school settings.
Media Contact:
Molly Blancett
University Communications
blancett@uoregon.edu
541-515-5155
Source Contact:
Leslie Leve
Lorry Lokey Chair in Education
Professor and Department Head, Counseling Psychology and Human Services
UO College of Education
leve@uoregon.edu