In contrast to the findings at bin 3/site 6, offspring methylation at bin 2/sites 3 to 5 was associated with childhood physical and sexual abuse in interaction with an FKBP5 risk allele previously associated with vulnerability to psychological consequences of childhood adversity. Methylation levels for exposed parents and their offspring were significantly correlated. Interestingly, in Holocaust survivors, methylation at this site was higher in comparison with control subjects, whereas in Holocaust offspring, methylation was lower. These effects were observed at bin 3/site 6. Holocaust exposure had an effect on FKBP5 methylation that was observed in exposed parents as well in their offspring. Cytosine-phosphate-guanine sites for analysis were chosen based on their spatial proximity to the intron 7 glucocorticoid response elements.
The involvement of epigenetic mechanisms in intergenerational transmission of stress effects has been demonstrated in animals but not in humans.Ĭytosine methylation within the gene encoding for FK506 binding protein 5 (FKBP5) was measured in Holocaust survivors (n = 32), their adult offspring (n = 22), and demographically comparable parent (n = 8) and offspring (n = 9) control subjects, respectively. 4 Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany HMNC Holding GmbH, Munich, Germany.3 Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, New York. Electronic address: 2 Traumatic Stress Studies Division, Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York Mental Health Care Center, PTSD Clinical Research Program & Laboratory of Clinical Neuroendocrinology and Neurochemistry, James J. 1 Traumatic Stress Studies Division, Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York Mental Health Care Center, PTSD Clinical Research Program & Laboratory of Clinical Neuroendocrinology and Neurochemistry, James J.
Moreover, the findings show that event centrality is a distinctive mechanism in intergenerational transmission in survivor families.Įvent centrality Holocaust Intergenerational transmission Secondary traumatization.Ĭopyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. Findings elucidate unique intergenerational transmission of the Holocaust trauma in survivor families, which comprise both personal and societal constituents. In the comparison groups, trauma transmission was not observed in three generations.
Moreover, PTSD symptoms in Holocaust G1 predicted Holocaust G3's event centrality through secondary traumatization in both Holocaust G2 and G3 and event centrality in Holocaust G2. In survivor families, the indirect effect of PTSD symptoms in Holocaust G1 predicted Holocaust G2's secondary traumatization, which subsequently predicted Holocaust G3's secondary traumatization. Holocaust G3 also reported significantly higher scores in event centrality relative to Comparison G3. Holocaust G2 and G3 reported significantly higher secondary traumatization relative to Comparison G2 and G3, respectively. Holocaust G1 reported higher levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms relative to Comparison G1. Participants included 92 Holocaust survivor-offspring-grandchild triads (Holocaust G1-G2-G3) and 67 comparison triads (Comparison G1-G2-G3). The present study examined the intergenerational transmission of the Holocaust trauma in relation to levels of secondary traumatization and event centrality across three generations in a cross-sectional survey.