Madigan, Sheri;
Turgeon, Jessica;
Racine, Nicole;
Zhu, Jenney;
Alink, Lenneke RA;
Ereyi-Osas, Whitney;
Jang, Greta;
(2025)
Patterns of continuity and discontinuity of childhood maltreatment across generations: A meta-analysis.
Development and Psychopathology
, 37
(5)
pp. 2590-2611.
10.1017/S0954579425000239.
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Abstract
Empirical tests of the "cycle of maltreatment" hypothesis have typically focused on the presence or absence of child maltreatment across generations. However, this narrow focus does not account for diverse intergenerational pathways of maltreatment. This systematic review and meta-analysis synthesizes data to determine the distribution of cycle maintainers, breakers, initiators, and unaffected families (i.e., controls). Of the 65 independent studies (80 samples), 30 examined intergenerational cycles of maltreatment broadly, while 27 reported data for physical abuse, 17 sexual abuse, 5 neglect, and 1 emotional abuse specifically. For maltreatment, 17.1% (95%CI: 12.1%, 22.1%) were cycle maintainers, 23.6% (95%CI: 18.0%, 29.2%) were cycle breakers, 11.4% (95%CI: 7.8%, 15.1%) were cycle initiators and 47.8% (95%CI: 39.7%, 55.9%) controls. Thus, although a parent's maltreatment history is a risk factor, results suggest that a greater proportion of parents break the cycle of maltreatment versus maintain it. Moderator analyses showed that study design, assessment methods, and demographic characteristics influence maltreatment transmission rates. Intergenerational patterns of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and neglect are also detailed. Our findings underscore the complexity of intergenerational maltreatment, highlighting the need to explore not only its maintenance but also the protective factors that help break cycles and the risk factors that drive its initiation.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Patterns of continuity and discontinuity of childhood maltreatment across generations: A meta-analysis |
| Location: | United States |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1017/S0954579425000239 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954579425000239 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | child maltreatment, intergenerational transmission, meta-analysis |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10218371 |
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