Understanding the intergenerational transmission of paternal trauma: the role of mentalization and parental sensitivity

Principal investigator : Karl Larouche¹

Co-Investigators : Célia Matte-Gagné^2,3,4,5, Nicolas Berthelot⁶, Julia Garon-Bissonnette⁷

Département de psychologie de l’Université de Sherbrooke – Campus Longueuil
Centre de recherche universitaire sur les jeunes et les familles (CRUJeF)
École de psychologie, UL;
GRIP
Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec–Université Laval
Département des sciences infirmières, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR),
Peabody college of education and humain development, Vanderbilt University

Study summary:

Nearly one in three fathers with a child aged 0 to 6 years report having experienced at least one form of abuse or neglect during their childhood; this proportion rises to nearly 45% when other traumatic experiences are considered. These experiences have been associated with lower parental sensitivity among fathers, which may compromise the quality of the father-child attachment relationship and increase the risk of socio-emotional and behavioural difficulties in children, as early as infancy. Despite this, protective factors that may mitigate the intergenerational effects of paternal trauma have received very little research attention. Trauma mentalization, defined as the ability to reflect coherently and with emotional grounding on traumatic experiences and their psychological and relational consequences, nevertheless appears to be a promising protective factor.

This longitudinal study, conducted among 115 fathers who experienced childhood trauma and have a child under two years of age, aims to assess whether trauma mentalization is positively associated with parental sensitivity and the security of the father-child attachment relationship, and negatively associated with children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviours. A secondary objective is to determine whether parental sensitivity constitutes an explanatory mechanism linking trauma mentalization to father-child attachment and children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviours. The results will help identify concrete levers for mitigating the intergenerational transmission of paternal trauma, particularly by supporting the development of mentalization-based interventions.