The relationship between parental adverse childhood experiences and offspring preschool readiness: the mediating role of psychological resilience.

Abstract

Parental adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) may represent a risk for offspring school readiness. Previous studies suggested that children's psychological resilience may mediate between the intergenerational transmission of parental ACEs and offspring school readiness. Using structural equation modeling, our study aimed to explore the role of psychological resilience in the association between parental ACEs and preschool readiness. A sample of 711 Chinese parents of preschool children aged three (53.3% boys) and their kindergarten teachers participated in this research. Parents reported their ACEs and their children's psychological resilience, whereas teachers reported children's preschool readiness. Parental ACEs directly affect children's social competence, learning disposition, and classroom rules. Psychological resilience mediated the pathways from parental ACEs to self-care abilities, emotional maturity, cognitive and communicative skills, and social competence learning dispositions. This study highlights the importance of parental ACEs and psychological resilience in preschool readiness. Specific interventions related to children's psychological resilience should help break the intergenerational cycle of ACEs in preschool readiness.