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Intergenerational Transmission of Parental Knowledge on Child Psychosocial Adjustment among Rural African American Families: A Pilot Study

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Abstract

Parental knowledge attenuates delinquency in adolescence and may be particularly effective in low-resourced environments. Moreover, parenting behaviors in one generation may influence subsequent generations’ psychosocial adjustment. In this pilot study with data spanning three generations, we explored whether the first generation’s (G1; n = 48) parental knowledge throughout the second generation’s (G2; n = 48) adolescence was associated with the third generation’s (G3; n = 60) psychosocial adjustment outcomes. Further, we examined potential mediators and moderators of the links between G1 parental knowledge and G3 outcomes. G1 parental knowledge predicted lower G3 depressive symptoms, anxiety, risky behaviors, and poor self-control. Although mechanisms remain unclear given non-significant mediation models, socioeconomic hardship moderated the association between G1 parental knowledge and G3 anxiety.

Highlights

  • This pilot study evaluates the influence of parental knowledge across three generations.

  • Parental knowledge in one generation was associated with the third generation’s psychosocial adjustment.

  • Families’ socioeconomic hardship influenced the extent to which parental knowledge was related to children’s anxiety.

  • Future research should explore mechanisms for intergenerational transmission of parenting.

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Funding

Data collection and manuscript preparation were supported by grants from the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (R01 HD030588, R03 HD093918), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (P50 DA051361), the NIH Common Fund (DP2 MD013947), the Jacobs Foundation (Early Career Research Fellowship 2018-1288-07), and the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (Young Investigator Grant #27302).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, 125 Baldwin St., Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Kelsey L. Corallo, Sarah M. Lyle & Katherine B. Ehrlich

  2. Georgia Health Policy Center, Georgia State University, 55 Park Pl. NE, Atlanta, GA, 30303, USA

    Kelsey L. Corallo

  3. Psychology Discipline, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL, 33711, USA

    Sarah M. Lyle

  4. Center for Family Research, University of Georgia, 1095 College Station Rd., Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Tianyi Yu, Gene H. Brody & Katherine B. Ehrlich

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  1. Kelsey L. Corallo
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Correspondence to Kelsey L. Corallo.

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Corallo, K.L., Lyle, S.M., Yu, T. et al. Intergenerational Transmission of Parental Knowledge on Child Psychosocial Adjustment among Rural African American Families: A Pilot Study. J Child Fam Stud 32, 3275–3287 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-023-02620-1

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