Intergenerational trauma case study
A limitation of the current literature is that it has particularly focused on the effects of maternal stress/trauma exposure on offspring, especially during pregnancy, and thus the current review preferentially explores intergenerational transmission of stress from this perspective. Note, however, that numerous reports refer to parental stress, anxiety, and depression as if these were interchangeable constructs.įurthermore, we attempt to distinguish between stress exposures that occurred before conception, at the time of conception, at the time of pregnancy, or in the early postnatal period, where possible. By emphasizing this distinction, it is our intention to clarify that effects of parental stress and effects of parental psychopathology may be differentially transmitted to offspring. Throughout this discussion, we attempt to highlight studies investigating intergenerational transmission in the aftermath of stress exposure rather than transmission of parental psychopathology to offspring. We note affected offspring clinical features, from physical, behavioral, cognitive, and psychological, as well as biological correlates, including neuroendocrine, epigenetic, and neuroanatomical changes. We begin this review by discussing the field’s progression in understanding regarding stress and its long-lasting marks, ie, via PTSD and intergenerational effects. Here, we present evidence for the phenomenon of intergenerational transmission, particularly focusing on biological correlates in the second generation, to better understand the mechanism(s) of transmission from parent to offspring. This process has been referred to as ‘intergenerational transmission’. In recent years, as a result of advances in the understanding of epigenetic mechanisms, an additional hypothesis has been promulgated-that offspring of severely stress-exposed parents are at risk for adverse outcomes because of enduring epigenetic changes in parental biological systems that have arisen in response to stress exposure and are transmitted ( Yehuda and Bierer, 2009). For instance, stress-exposed parents may confer vulnerability via genetic risk factors (ie, their offspring may inherit the same or similar genetic risks that have an impact on their own stress vulnerability), or through behavioral alterations stemming from the development of stress-related psychopathology (ie, affecting their ability to parent or the childhood environment of the offspring). The mechanism(s) through which this risk is conferred, however, have not been fully elucidated. Severe stress exposure in a parent-the kind that can result in mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-is a risk factor for a number of adverse outcomes, including psychopathology, in offspring. Although understanding the etiology of effects in offspring is currently impeded by methodological constraints, and limitations in our knowledge, we summarize current information and conclude by presenting hypotheses that have been prompted by recent studies in the field.
![intergenerational trauma case study intergenerational trauma case study](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/3e/99/49/3e994947b2414839b5408bd7b8ccc513--trauma-charts.jpg)
![intergenerational trauma case study intergenerational trauma case study](https://i1.rgstatic.net/publication/343188245_A_case_report_of_an_unexpected_traumatic_brain_injury_following_severe_child_abuse/links/5f1ad81e45851515ef44e1c2/largepreview.png)
Furthermore, we review findings concerning offspring biological correlates of parental stress, in particular, offspring neuroendocrine, epigenetic, and neuroanatomical changes, in an attempt to determine the extent of parental stress effects. Here, we review clinical observations in offspring, noting that offspring of stress- or trauma-exposed parents may be at greater risk for physical, behavioral, and cognitive problems, as well as psychopathology. We further extend this definition to include the transmission of stress to offspring via early postnatal care, as animal studies demonstrate the importance of early maternal care of pups in affecting offsprings’ long-term behavioral changes. Alternatively, biological variations stemming from stress exposure in parents could more directly have an impact on offspring, a concept we refer to here as ‘intergenerational transmission’, via changes to gametes and the gestational uterine environment. Parental stress-mediated effects in offspring could be explained by genetics or social learning theory. These findings have been extended to less extreme forms of stress, where differential physical, behavioral, and cognitive outcomes are observed in affected offspring. The hypothesis that offspring are affected by parental trauma or stress exposure, first noted anecdotally, is now supported empirically by data from Holocaust survivor offspring cohorts and other populations.