Intergenerational transmission of the family environment: Mediating and moderating factors, and associations with cardiovascular health

The transmission of family characteristics across generations is a well-established phenomenon. Both advantages (e.g., a higher socioeconomic position), and disadvantages (e.g., child maltreatment) are likely to “run in families”. However, the pathways underlying the transmission of the family environment are poorly understood, as their health consequences. The aim of this study is to examine a) the extent to what characteristics of the family environment are transmitted across generations, b) the mediating and moderating factors that account for this transmission, and c) the role transmission plays in cardiovascular health of offspring. The family environment is conceptualized in the study in terms of two characteristics: qualities of the parent–child relationship and socioeconomic position (SEP). Three subsamples were derived from the population-based Young Finns Study (YFS; N = 3,596), which is a cohort study representative of the Finnish population. The parents of the original YFS participants represented Generation 1 (G1; mean age = 38 years in 1980). They were measured for two dimensions of parent–child relationship qualities (emotional warmth and acceptance) and four dimensions of SEP (education, occupation, income, and employment stability) at the baseline of the study in 1980. Their offspring (original YFS participants) represented Generation 2 (G2), who were 10 years old on average in 1980. When participants in G2 had become adults, they were examined in 2007 and 2012 for the same family characteristics that were measured from their parents. The G2 participants were also subjected to personality testing in 2001, and assessed for ideal cardiovascular health in 2007 and 2012 according to the American Heart Association’s guidelines. The findings revealed that qualities of the parent–child relationship were transmitted from one generation to another in a domain-specific way. Intergenerational transmission of emotional warmth was stronger in the mother–son than in the mother–daughter dyads. G2 character traits such as Self-directedness and Cooperativeness partly mediated (16%) the transmission of emotional warmth from one generation to another. SEP was also transmitted across generations. Offspring SEP in adulthood partly mediated (33%) the positive impact of higher parental SEP on offspring cardiovascular health in adulthood. In addition, the G2 participants who achieved higher SEP than their parents had better cardiovascular health in adulthood than those who stayed in their SEP of origin. These findings indicate that the family environment in terms of parent–child relationship qualities and SEP is likely to be transmitted from one generation to another. The transmission was modest in magnitude, but significant even after controlling for various demographic and family characteristics in both generations and taking the exceptionally long duration of the follow-up period into account. To some extent, the child’s personality development and continuity of socioeconomic position seemed to explain pathways linking parental and child characteristics. These results shed light on the factors that account for the transmission, and may be useful in early prevention efforts involving the targeting of interventions to families and children at risk. Given the observational nature of this study, there is a need for randomized experimental trials to assess the extent to which interventions directed at early-life or later-life circumstances will mitigate the intergenerational transmission of psychosocial risks.