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Intergenerational transmission of biological effects of trauma
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The question of whether and how the effects of cultural trauma can be transmitted intergenerationally from parents to offspring, or even to later generations, has evoked interest and controversy in academic and popular forums. Recent methodological advances have spurred investigations of potential epigenetic mechanisms for this inheritance, represe...
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... concept of epigenetic transmission or inheritance warrants clarification (see Figure 1). Parental, or intergenerational effects, are those induced by the offspring's direct exposure to the trauma, such as in utero exposure, which may affect the embryo or fetus and its developing germline (Heard & Martienssen, 2014). ...
Citations
... For adults, therapy and long-term behavioral management strategies are essential to prevent the intergenerational and transgenerational transmission of trauma to offspring. 69,70 These approaches ensure a comprehensive strategy for addressing the impact of trauma across the lifespan. ...
... Further, family systems theory posits that an individual cannot be considered as a separate entity from their system, emphasizing the need to understand familial patterns to grasp an individual's current functioning (Fitzgerald et al. 2020;Nichols 2012;Ballard et al. 2016). In addition, recognizing the link between cultural trauma and identity (Lehrner and Yehuda 2018), it becomes crucial to consider the historical and generational trauma of one's culture in the conceptualization and treatment of Black women and families. Thus, clinicians should be mindful of the intergenerational impact of oppressive family narratives which can be addressed utilizing culturally responsive systemic approaches such as trauma-informed socioculturally attuned family therapy (TI-SAFT; Lee et al. 2023). ...
This study examines the intergenerational transmission of the strong Black woman (SBW) narrative between Black mothers and daughters, exploring how this transmission contributes to both resilience and psychological stress. Utilizing a collective case study design with 10 participants (5 mother‐daughter dyads), the study reveals how the SBW narrative, encompassing pride in identity, community support, and survival lessons, is perpetuated within Black families. It also delves into strategies Black women believe can facilitate healing from generational trauma, emphasizing changing the narrative and fostering new attitudes toward self‐care. The findings underscore the importance of utilizing culturally responsive systemic approaches to explore how generational narratives shape identity and mental health. These insights highlight the need for understanding and addressing the complexities of generational trauma and cultural narratives in mental health practices.
... Empirical research has begun to explore the physiological reality of intergenerational trauma through epigenetics (e.g. Bierer et al., 2014;Lehrner & Yehuda, 2018). The basis of this research is that trauma in the parents can modify the gene expression in the offspring, particularly the stress receptors (Jackson et al., 2018a(Jackson et al., , 2018bLehrner & Yehuda, 2018;Sullivan, 2013). ...
... Bierer et al., 2014;Lehrner & Yehuda, 2018). The basis of this research is that trauma in the parents can modify the gene expression in the offspring, particularly the stress receptors (Jackson et al., 2018a(Jackson et al., , 2018bLehrner & Yehuda, 2018;Sullivan, 2013). Stress is exhibited in the shortening of the telomeres, which are capping structures at the end of chromosomes (Jackson et al., 2018a(Jackson et al., , 2018b. ...
Black Americans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder have less access to mental healthcare compared to White Americans. Many factors contribute to this inequity, including broader disparities within the healthcare system driven by systemic racism, and an underutilization of mental health services by Black Americans due to provider bias and stigma around mental health care. These disparities are rooted in a racist historical context of exclusion and abuse of the Black community by the White psychiatric establishment, and a perpetration of further trauma on Black clients, a context that is largely missing from traditional mental health education and literature on Black mental health today. This article aims to provide a necessary historical context of how the U.S. mental health care system has excluded Black Americans from trauma treatment. We use a contemporary trauma lens to demonstrate the ways in which Black trauma has existed throughout U.S. history, but how White psychiatry has cast trauma symptoms as evidence of racial inferiority, has excluded Black individuals from treatment, and has abused Black patients, thereby increasing Black trauma. The purpose of this review is to inform and educate mental health providers about our collective history, to counter a narrative of amnesia which identifies Black underutilization of services but forgets the exclusion from and abuse of Black people within the mental health system. We conclude with recommendations that providers can utilize to engage in antiracist practice and create an affirmative space for Black Americans to utilize trauma treatment and mental health care freely.
... At the same time, the vignettes illustrate protective factors. Ali and colleagues (2023) and Lehrner and Yehuda (2018) discussed the concept of posttraumatic growth at the individual level or shared resilience and growth at the collective level. The protective factors illustrated in the above vignettes showcase individual and community resilience. ...
... The term epigenetics consists of the words genetics and epigenesis, i.e. the development of a living being. Numerous studies in recent years have investigated the connection between experienced trauma and the impact on genes (17)(18)(19)(20)(21). However, in addition to affecting genetic transmission, trauma can lead to changes in the behavior of the next generation. ...
Introduction: Getting sick with cancer is a traumatic event for the affected person and can result with various psychological difficulties, and invasive methods of treatment further deepen them. The previously experienced psychological trauma of a close person can influence the response of a person who is currently experiencing trauma, because the far-reaching power of posttraumatic consequences extends through a natural biological barrier far into the next generation (the so called "transgenerational impact of traumatization"). Objective: To assess the impact of transgenerational transmission on the development of PTSD in women with breast cancer. Methods: The sample consisted of 120 women treated at the Oncology Department of University Hospital Center Osijek, included in liaison psychiatric treatment. A detailed clinical examination with a psychiatric interview was used with the application of DSM-IV diagnostic criteria, a specially structured non-standardized questionnaire for the assessment of etiological factors and the Los Angeles Symptom Checklist of PTSD symptoms (LASC) for determining PTSD. Results: No statistical significance was obtained between the presence of a family member with cancer and the average total score on the LASC in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer. Conclusion: Although there was no correlation between the existence of a family member suffering from cancer and the development of PTSD in the test subjects, during psychotherapy procedures we observed the existence of symptoms that did not meet the criteria for establishing a diagnosis of PTSD, but could interfere with the development of various psychological responses. By including cancer patients in psychotherapy procedures, we can prevent the development of more severe psychological responses in the second generation, which due to the genetic influence in the inheritance of the disease, will develop cancer, and the psychological disorder associated with it, and achieve a far reaching effect on strengthening adaptation mechanisms.
... In other words, epigenetics shows how environment and behavior can affect an organism's expression of genes in ways that can be passed down to future generations. This has contributed to what some consider a post-genomic science or a rejection of genetic determinism (Lehrner and Yehuda 2018;Mansfield and Guthman 2014). In one sense, epigenetics counters the abstraction at work in reductionist understanding of genetics, reembedding genes within their biological and social environments. ...
Ecological restoration increasingly relies on genetic tools and technologies to identify distinct populations, monitor populations, and even modify organisms to improve fitness. In this article, we review the role of genetic and genomic technologies in restoration and conservation, using the restoration of cutthroat trout in the Western United States as one example. Reducing restoration and conservation directives to the molecular scale often relies on a view of genes as discrete bits of information that produce controllable and predictable traits. This leads to life-and-death decisions about wildlife populations, even as measures of “pure” genes for organisms are constantly changing. We review the implications of a reductionistic approach centered on genetic composition of organisms and consider the broader relevance of these issues to the future of ecological restoration.
... Historical oppression, marked by traumas, has left lasting imprints on communities, shaping their experiences and influencing future generations. While the direct transmission of trauma is complex and involves various factors, including cultural, environmental, and societal aspects, research suggests that exposure to severe stressors can lead to epigenetic changes that have an intergenerational impact (Lehrner & Yehuda, 2018). This review of related research explores the multifaceted consequences of past traumas on oppressed communities, such as forced labor, excessive and harmful discrimination, and exposure to harmful chemicals. ...
It is widely recognized that countries scoring high in capitalism, democracy, and the rule of law (CDR) tend to have impressive levels of real per capita gross domestic product (GDP) adjusted for purchasing power parity (GDPppp). However, the key to the rule of law is collaboration, and the ability to work together may have been eroded in communities that have experienced past traumas such as forced labor, excessive discrimination and exposure to harmful chemicals. These distressing outcomes can be inherited by future generations through negative epigenetic transgenerational psycho-sequela, leading to poor academic and employment performance, low income, self-harm, negative community relations, and increased aggression. This paper aims to explore the development of a managerial framework for rehabilitating psychological health that aims to revive lost collaboration skills. The originality of this work lies in the managerial framework that facilitates the restoration of collaboration skills, which are fundamental to exceptional economic growth and higher average income countrywide.
... Matoba (2023) recommended making conscious the repressed suffering of one's ancestors to heal the self. Additionally, several trauma researchers have attempted to tether generational trauma to the biological concept of epigenetics (e.g., changing the expression of offspring's genes based on environmental factors experienced by the parents), whereby trauma symptomology can be inherited via reproduction (Lehrner & Yehuda, 2018;Rashid et al., 2022;Youssef, 2022). However, definitions of epigenetics remain unclear, and data are inconclusive with regard to human application (Deans & Maggert, 2015;Dias & Ressler, 2014). ...
The satanic panic of the 1980s represented a paradigm shift in the categorization of trauma from select, political demographics (e.g., women, veterans, prisoners of war) to the population at large. In the present chapter, I track the flashpoints of the satanic panic and demonstrate how the psychological research responded to the cultural phenomenon to produce the contemporary field of trauma studies. While Americans were concerned about secret cults of devil worshipers, therapists, consultants, and media personalities were hard at work to profit from those anxieties. Grounded in Foucault and Virilio, trauma studies has epitomized the technologies of social control via popular psychology literature to create a traumatized subject, who is bound by their genealogy, medicalized, politicized, and transformed into a product in the trauma-informed market of the 21st century.
... We must bear in mind that trauma can not only be individual but also communal and cultural. The impact of trauma can last for many generations, facilitating or suppressing how genes are expressed in later generations (Lehrner and Yehuda 2018). For some time now, research in the field of epigenetics has been uncovering the impact trauma has on one's genes. ...
... For some time now, research in the field of epigenetics has been uncovering the impact trauma has on one's genes. Amy Lehrner and Rachel Yehuda write, "Epigenetics has been described as the means through which environmental influences 'get under the skin,' directing transcriptional activity and influencing the expression or suppression of genes" (Lehrner andYehuda 2018, p. 1764). ...
... In the conclusion of their article on cultural trauma and epigenetics, Amy Lehrner and Rachel Yehuda helpfully note that while parental and cultural trauma affects development, it is still challenging to narrow down the specifics of that impact. At the same time, while much attention is given to the negative impacts of trauma, they also note that "the narrative we tell about its meaning has much power in determining its consequences" (Lehrner andYehuda 2018, p. 1773). In other words, the traumatized can create meaning that can be destructive or constructive. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic proved challenging and traumatic for many, with its effects still being felt four years later. This article contends that the witness of Jesus of Nazareth and the early Christian communities can serve as guides for navigating post-pandemic life. This article will do so by examining the historical context of first-century Jewish Palestine with attention given to the Roman Empire’s brutality and traumatizing impact. It will then provide an analysis of the Matthean Jesus’ call to love one’s enemies and the Markan Jesus’ emphasis on bearing the cross as constructive responses to the trauma Matthew and Mark’s communities went through. Lastly, it will show how Jesus and the early Christian communities reveal that pain and trauma can be healthily transcended for better ways and behaviors. Thus, what has happened to us, however painful, can bear the seeds of a healthy purpose and meaning that can lead to us and our world becoming more humanized. The research methodology in this article is interdisciplinary, employing biblical theological, historical, and psychological methodologies.
... Exposure to trauma, whether personally or vicariously, impacts entire communities; especially marginalized communities historically impacted by poverty (Lehrner & Yehuda, 2018;López-Zerón & Parra-Cardona, 2015). Youth living in poorer, rural communities, for example, may experience greater exposure to environmental trauma, such as natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes and flooding; Handley et al., 2015;Peek-Asa et al., 2004). ...
Traumatic events are becoming more prevalent in youth, especially considering the increase in disaster exposure, impacting the wellbeing and mental health of youth. Youth in rural communities are more adversely impacted due to a lack of access to available support and services. Interventions geared toward treating traumatic stress are needed for youth residing in these communities. The Cognitive-behavioral Intervention in Schools is a school-based trauma-focused group therapy intervention geared for adolescents between 5 to 12th grade who have experienced traumatic events. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of CBITS in a rural community impacted by a natural disaster.This study utilized a non-probability sample of youth attending primary and secondary school in a rural community impacted by Hurricane Michael. Data collection occurred with youth and parents at three-time points: pre-, post- and three months post-intervention. Feasibility and acceptability were measured through count data of referrals, assents/consents, and the number of sessions attended. Outcomes explored improvement in trauma symptomology and problem-solving skills. Results showed CBITS is a feasible and acceptable intervention for youth exposed to a natural disaster. Results of the outcome measures showed significant differences between baseline and three-month follow-up and from the post-test to the three-month follow-up on the youth self-report. Parent proxy report showed a significant decrease in PTSD symptomology from the post-test to the three-month follow-up. To examine predictors of improvement at follow-up, a regression analysis was conducted. Results showed that trauma exposure and gender were significant predictors for trauma symptom follow-up scores on the youth self-report. Youth trauma experiences vary, but for youth impacted by natural disasters, CBITS may be a feasible and acceptable intervention. School-based interventions are integral for serving youth who may not receive trauma intervention otherwise, especially for those in rural communities.
