Intergenerational transmission of parental childhood maltreatment on child depression: Latent variable model vs. network model

Parent-reported experiences of childhood maltreatment (CM) are associated with an increased risk of depression in offspring. There are two potential pathways to explain this phenomenon: one is the intergenerational transmission effect of maltreatment, and the other is the intergenerational transmission effect of depression.

Based on a longitudinal sample of 529 children and their parents, this study used the emergent network model and the classical latent variable model to test both pathways and try to find new information.

In the latent variable model, intergenerational transmission of CM played a mediating role. In the network model, parental physical abuse was associated with children's emotional abuse and physical neglect; there was also some association between parental depressive symptoms and children's depressive symptoms.

Compared to the intergenerational transmission of depression, the intergenerational transmission of CM plays a more critical role in the relationship between parental CM and offspring depression. The latent variable model is able to compare the size of the mediating effect at the macro level, while the network model is able to provide further insights into which factors play a more important role at the micro level.