Causal Mediation Analysis for the Intergenerational Transmission of Violence Reveals Pathways from Child Maltreatment to Elder Mistreatment

The effects of child maltreatment victimization impact the life-course trajectories of families including increasing risk of engaging in elder mistreatment when assuming a family caregiving role. This study evaluates the social-emotional information process theory as a mechanism that causally connects child maltreatment victimization with later engagement in elder mistreatment in the context of dementia family caregiving.

During a 12-month observational longitudinal study, self-identified family caregivers to persons with dementia (N=457) were recruited nationally to complete online surveys at enrollment, 6- and 12-month follow-up. Through a multi-level serial mediation model, we tested the hypothesis that the causal role of past child maltreatment victimization on present-day engagement in elder mistreatment is mediated by cognitive processes (i.e., hostile attribution biases about the care recipient’s behaviors) and emotional processes (i.e., caregivers’ emotion regulation abilities).

Findings show that child maltreatment has a significant indirect effect on elder mistreatment through hostile attribution bias and emotion dysregulation, and that these mediators fully account for the relationship between child maltreatment history and present-day use of elder mistreatment. The total effect of the mediation model is significant (b = 0.016, SD = 0.004, CI [0.010 – 0.024], p < 0.001), and the total variance explained in present-day elder mistreatment is 36%.

A major contribution is demonstration of modifiable mechanisms for the intergenerational transmission of violence as applied to elder mistreatment. Findings highlight the importance of a life-course view, and the consideration of early-life experiences on behavioral aging outcomes.