maternal trauma and its effects on unborn children and grandchildren
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new research paves the way for understanding how intergenerational trauma can affect even those who did not directly experience the original traumatic event.
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trauma can significantly impact a person’s health by increasing the risk of developing chronic disease. however, research shows that it’s not just your own life-altering experiences that can cause negative health consequences—a phenomena aptly named intergenerational trauma.
intergenerational trauma is often connected solely to mental health. it states that when a previous generation goes through something psychologically damaging, their offspring or descendants will utilize the same passed-down coping mechanism when they’re faced with their own wounding experiences.
new research has found that while psychological damage plays a role in intergenerational trauma, there’s also a biological component at play—and it all starts with changes to gene expression in mothers driven by first-hand traumatic experiences.
dr. connie mulligan, a professor at the university of florida, and a team of researchers investigated what happens genetically when mothers are exposed to severe trauma, specifically during times of war.
they found that infants born to mothers who experienced trauma are far more likely to have low birthweights, as well as an altered microbiome, both of which are tied to an increased risk of fetal mortality, slowed cognitive development, and a higher risk of developing chronic diseases.
the research
to determine why exactly maternal trauma can impact unborn children, dr. mulligan and the research team looked at dna methylation, a process in which certain substances known as methyl groups are added to dna to change how genes function while maintaining the integrity of the dna sequence.
genes will turn on or off in the human body depending on cellular processes. a gene that turns on will provide the directions for making specific proteins needed to perform a task, whereas if the gene is turned off, those proteins will not get made, so the task cannot be done.
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both on and off genes are designed to help the body, but when certain changes happen through dna methylation, specific genes that cause harm could be turned on, leading to chronic diseases. in some cases, turning off genes can lead to improper functions that drive the onset of health issues.
the affected genes are part of the epigenome, which is the term used to describe a grouping of chemical modifications that regulate how genes express themselves and, how genes are used and when. the epigenome does not alter the dna sequence. typically, this epigenome is designed to be fluid throughout one’s life so that any necessary changes to respond to environmental or psychosocial stressors, such as traumatic events, can occur freely.
dr. mulligan and her team found that changes to dna and gene expression in the epigenome in mothers who experience trauma can affect both their unborn children and grandchildren as those changed genes develop in the fetus. this led to prenatal and germline effects due to dna and gene expression.
“when the women were pregnant, they experienced the trauma directly. their developing baby experienced it prenatally, and then the oocytes in their developing baby experienced the violence through a germline exposure,” said dr. mulligan. “so, in other words, all three generations were exposed to the violence in one sense or another.”
she goes on to note that these marks on the epigenome in mothers are so significant that “you don’t even have to directly experience violence to have it leave a mark.”
what this means for children of trauma survivors
with biological changes, dna, and gene expression being the cornerstones of cellular function, adaptation to changing environments, and overall health, scientists are now able to observe how these changes can be passed down to unborn children and grandchildren. this paves the way for understanding how intergenerational trauma can affect even those who did not directly experience the original traumatic event.
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this new research shows that the imprint of trauma isn’t just psychological at all and that both biology and psychology play a role in how future generations respond to stress and trauma themselves, as well as their health profile as these generations age.
“the psychological effects and then the molecular epigenetic effects might work in concert, either in a positive way or a negative way,” said dr. mulligan.
while research regarding exactly how these dna changes affect unborn children and grandchildren in terms of their health into adulthood is still ongoing, the methylation effects can now be used as markers of trauma that, if inherited through generations, can significantly impact the health of a mother’s descendants long after the event that caused the dna methylation to occur.
according to dr. mulligan, it’s important to note that even though the study is focused on war violence in syrian refugees, it doesn’t mean that other forms of trauma are not subject to these methylation changes. this research suggests that other types of trauma put someone at risk of developing these genetic changes and, thus, their offspring.
“even though our study is focused on refugees, our results are really relevant to populations everywhere because, unfortunately, sexual violence, domestic violence, and gun violence are present throughout the world,” said dr. mulligan. “unfortunately, it’s really relevant for all of us.”
as for what’s next, dr. mulligan hopes to investigate the fourth generation, those who were not present within the mother’s body during the violence, to see if the genes can be inherited after traumatic events.
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