Intergenerational development of rumination in adolescents with internalizing disorders: The mediating role of maternal rejecting parenting style and intergenerational trauma.

BACKGROUND

As a cognitive vulnerability factor for adolescent internalizing problems, rumination develops through several main mechanisms, with intergenerational transmission being one of the significant mechanisms. However, the specific pathways of intergenerational transmission remain unclear, particularly regarding the contributions of parenting style and intergenerational transmission of trauma.

OBJECTIVE

The study investigates how maternal rumination contributes to the development of rumination in adolescents with internalizing disorders.

PARTICIPANTS AND

SETTING

We included 130 pairs of out-patient adolescents with internalizing disorders and their biological mothers. Participants completed self-rating scales for rumination, childhood trauma, maternal parenting styles and anger rumination.

METHODS

Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed using Amos 26.0. Subsequently, a bootstrap analysis was employed to examine the mediating effects.

RESULTS

The intergenerational transmission model of rumination showed good fit indices (CMIN/DF = 1.27, GFI = 0.87, RMSEA = 0.05, CFI = 0.96). Indirectly, maternal rumination affected offspring's rumination through a two-fold mediation pathway: higher maternal rumination was associated with increased maternal anger rumination and greater rejecting parenting style, shaping the childhood trauma in offspring, and ultimately resulting in elevated levels of rumination in the offspring; the other path included maternal childhood trauma, which indirectly contributed to offspring rumination by mediating the increase in childhood trauma exposure in the offspring.

CONCLUSIONS

This study indicates that the transmission of rumination across generations is not a linear process but is shaped by complex mediators, including anger rumination, rejecting parenting style, and childhood trauma. This research highlights the intra-family cumulative risk mechanisms, which may provide support for targeted family-based interventions.