When addressing abuse and neglect, counselors are expected to understand risk factors, patterns, and transmission across generations. The phrase “intergenerational child abuse” refers to how abusive behaviors and dynamics are often passed down from one generation to the next.

Option B, learned patterns of behavior, fits this concept because:

Children who grow up in abusive homes may learn that violence, coercion, or neglect are normal ways to relate.

Without intervention, they may replicate these patterns with their own children or partners.

This reflects social learning principles—behavior is observed, internalized, and then repeated.

The counselor’s role includes recognizing these learned, patterned behaviors and helping clients break the cycle through awareness, new skills, and protective interventions.

Why the other options are not correct:

A. Specific traumatic reaction – Refers more to an individual’s response to a particular trauma (e.g., PTSD symptoms), not the across-generation transmission of abuse.

C. Parental alienation syndrome – A controversial concept typically used in the context of high-conflict custody disputes, not as a general explanation for intergenerational abuse.

D. Genetic predisposition – While biology can influence temperament, intergenerational child abuse is more accurately associated with relational and learned patterns rather than strict genetic inheritance.

This reflects the NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas related to recognizing the impact of family-of-origin experiences, abuse, and maladaptive relational patterns across generations.