Breaking the Cycle: How Parents with Childhood Adversity Perceive Intergenerational Risks

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are linked to long-term health, mental health, and relational problems, with growing evidence of their intergenerational transmission. While prior research has established correlations between parental ACEs and children’s adversity, less is known about how parents perceive and address this risk. The involved study examined how eleven parents (seven women, four men) aged 30–68 years, from the Midwestern United States, with self-reported high ACE experiences of 4 or more, interpret their perceived influence of their childhood experiences on their children’s risk of adversity. Participants were racially diverse and varied in socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. Using a qualitative grounded theory, participants completed in-depth, semi-structured interviews exploring their ACE histories and parenting practices. Four themes emerged from the data analysis, which included- (1) mental health and relationship concerns; (2) patterns of continuity; (3) education and awareness; and (4) intentional vs. reactive parenting. These themes emerged to introduce a trauma-informed concept of an intentional, transformative parenting model, describing a deliberate and adaptive process aimed at reducing intergenerational risk. Within this model, parents can act as agents of resilience by combining self-awareness, education, therapeutic support, and intentional caregiving as a way to strengthen and promote intergenerational healing.