Parental history of positive development and child behavior in next generation offspring: A two-cohort prospective intergenerational study

Letcher, P; Greenwood, CJ; McAnally, H; Belsky, J; Macdonald, JA; Spry, EA; Thomson, KC; O'Connor, M; Sligo, J; Youssef, G; McIntosh, Jennifer; Iosua, E; Hutchinson, D; Cleary, J; Sanson, AV; Patton, GC; Hancox, RJ; Olsson, CA

doi:10.26181/23735214.v1

Parental history of positive development and child behavior in next generation offspring: A two-cohort prospective intergenerational study

journal contribution

posted on 2023-07-24, 05:56 authored by P Letcher, CJ Greenwood, H McAnally, J Belsky, JA Macdonald, EA Spry, KC Thomson, M O'Connor, J Sligo, G Youssef, Jennifer McIntoshJennifer McIntosh, E Iosua, D Hutchinson, J Cleary, AV Sanson, GC Patton, RJ Hancox, CA Olsson

This study examined whether positive development (PD) in adolescence and young adulthood predicts offspring behavior in two Australasian intergenerational cohorts. The Australian Temperament Project Generation 3 Study assessed PD at age 19–28 (years 2002–2010) and behavior in 1165 infants (12–18 months; 608 girls) of 694 Australian-born parents (age 29–35; 2012–2019; 399 mothers). The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Parenting Study assessed PD at age 15–18 (years 1987–1991) and behavior in 695 preschoolers (3–5 years; 349 girls) and their New Zealand born parents (age 21–46; 1994–2018; 363 mothers; 89% European ethnicity). In both cohorts, PD before parenthood predicted more positive offspring behavior (βrange =.11–.16) and fewer behavior problems (βrange = −.09 to −.11). Promoting strengths may secure a healthy start to life.

Funding

Number: DP130101459, DP160103160 and DP180102447; National Health and Medical Research Council, Grant/Award Number: APP1082406 and APP1175086; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Grant/Award Number: 5 RO1 HD32948; New Zealand Health Research Council

History

Publication Date

2023-01-01

Journal

Child Development

Volume

94

Issue

1

Pagination

(p. 60-73)

Publisher

Wiley

ISSN

0009-3920

Rights Statement

© 2022 The Authors. Child Development published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.