Table 1 Comparison of characteristics of children and mothers by the number of maternal ACEs
Characteristics | Number of maternal ACEs (n = 4243) | P-value for difference | P-value for trend | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 (n = 602) | 1 (n = 1919) | 2 (n = 774) |  ≥ 3 (n = 948) | |||
Maternal characteristics | ||||||
 Age (years), mean ± SD | 33.7 ± 4.6 | 33.0 ± 4.5 | 32.9 ± 4.6 | 33.2 ± 4.7 | 0.009 | 0.381 |
 Marital status, n (%) | ||||||
  Married | 588 (97.7%) | 1,855 (96.7%) | 750 (96.9%) | 897 (94.6%) | 0.006 | 0.002 |
  Unmarried | 14 (2.3%) | 64 (3.3%) | 24 (3.1%) | 51 (5.4%) |  |  |
 Educational background, n (%) | ||||||
  Junior high school or below | 23 (3.8%) | 205 (10.7%) | 80 (10.3%) | 79 (8.3%) |  < 0.001 | 0.181 |
  Senior high school | 108 (17.9%) | 485 (25.3%) | 197 (25.5%) | 198 (20.9%) | ||
  Bachelor degree or above | 471 (78.2%) | 1,226 (64.0%) | 497 (64.2%) | 670 (70.7%) | ||
 Monthly per-capita income, n (%) | ||||||
   ≤ 5000 RMB | 135 (22.4%) | 569 (29.7%) | 209 (27.0%) | 262 (27.6%) |  < 0.001 | 0.536 |
  5001–10000 RMB | 170 (28.2%) | 492 (25.6%) | 200 (25.8%) | 244 (25.7%) | ||
   > 10000 RMB | 240 (39.9%) | 587 (30.6%) | 261 (33.7%) | 341 (36.0%) | ||
  Uncertain | 57 (9.5%) | 271 (14.1%) | 104 (13.4%) | 101 (10.7%) | ||
 Negative emotional states, n (%) | ||||||
  Depression | 3 (0.5%) | 59 (3.1%) | 35 (4.5%) | 121 (12.8%) |  < 0.001 |  < 0.001 |
  Anxiety | 7 (1.2%) | 91 (4.7%) | 44 (5.7%) | 152 (16.0%) |  < 0.001 |  < 0.001 |
  Stress | 6 (1.0%) | 64 (3.3%) | 39 (5.0%) | 135 (14.2%) |  < 0.001 |  < 0.001 |
 Level of family harmony, mean ± SD | 22.9 ± 3.6 | 21.1 ± 4.8 | 20.5 ± 4.5 | 19.6 ± 4.4 |  < 0.001 |  < 0.001 |
Child characteristics | ||||||
 Girls, n (%) | 282 (46.8%) | 907 (47.3%) | 389 (50.3%) | 472 (49.8%) | 0.339 | 0.108 |
 Age (years), mean ± SD | 4.7 ± 1.0 | 4.6 ± 1.0 | 4.6 ± 1.0 | 4.6 ± 1.0 | 0.264 | 0.383 |
 Status of single child, n (%) | ||||||
  Yes | 272 (45.2%) | 837 (43.6%) | 355 (45.9%) | 493 (52.0%) | 0.001 |  < 0.001 |
  No | 330 (54.8%) | 1,082 (56.4%) | 419 (54.1%) | 455 (48.0%) | ||
 Primary caregivers, n (%) | ||||||
  Mothers | 470 (78.1%) | 1,426 (74.3%) | 571 (73.8%) | 670 (70.7%) | 0.048 | 0.002 |
  Fathers | 18 (3.0%) | 69 (3.6%) | 23 (3.0%) | 37 (3.9%) |  |  |
  Grandparents or other people | 114 (18.9%) | 424 (22.1%) | 180 (23.3%) | 241 (25.4%) |  |  |