The effects on children of their parents' accumulated adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), or the mechanisms through which the intergenerational transmission of trauma operates, is still poorly understood. The present study explored whether mothers' experiences of childhood adversity predicted the presence of social, emotional, or behavioural difficulties in their children, and if the association of maternal ACEs with these child outcomes was mediated by maternal mental health and the quality of the parent-child relationship. 

Highlights
• Negative outcomes associated with childhood adversity are apparent in the children of those directly affected.
• This study examines pathways through which maternal ACEs predict the presence of difficulties in children.
• Mothers' mental health and parent-child closeness mediated the association between mothers' ACEs and child outcomes.
• The importance of identifying opportunities for ACE screening to inform interventions is highlighted.
• This has the potential to interrupt the intergenerational cycle of risk.