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From: http://www.preventionaction.org/passing-down-trauma-generation-generation
The research on these matters is not clear. Some studies suggest that the offspring of Holocaust survivors are more prone to psychological problems; others show that the second and third generations are about as well adjusted as anyone else.
In many cases, there is a clear possibility that the researchers who conduct the studies and the individuals who participate in them will have allowed their assumptions to color the findings. Researchers may assume that the offspring of survivors cannot fare as well as those who have escaped contact with such terrible events. So they may pose questions, choose subjects or interpret findings in such a way as to confirm those preconceptions.
To circumvent such problems, Miri Scharf of the University of Haifa in Israel used data that did not have its origins in any study of the long-term effects of trauma. Rather, it had been collected during research into the functioning of a group of adolescent boys and their parents during the teenagers’ transition from living at home to entering mandatory service in the Israeli army.
As part of this study, mothers and fathers provided demographic information, which included declarations as to whether either of their own parents was a Holocaust survivor. To examine any lingering effects of trauma, Scharf compared the 88 families in the study with Holocaust backgrounds to other unaffected families.
She found that adolescents in families where both parents were the offspring of Holocaust survivors were different from their peers. They perceived their parents to be less accepting and less supportive of their independence, and they reported having less positive self-perceptions than their counterparts.
Additionally, according to their peers in the army, this group demonstrated poorer adjustment during basic training than fellow recruits who had only one parent with a Holocaust background. Indeed, parents and adolescents in families where only the mother or the father had a Holocaust background did not appear to be as affected by the Holocaust legacy.
Miri Scharf is reported as telling the Israeli newspaper Haaretz online "When only one parent is a survivor, the kids do fine. The problems begin when their homes have too many dark shadows in them."
Herself the daughter of Holocaust survivors, she says she became aware of the effects of living with "third-generation emotional baggage" when she was working with students whose grandparents were survivors. "Some of them spoke of having a hard time trusting, of their fear of getting screwed over. This comes from a terrible air of suspiciousness at home."
Scharf’s analysis suggests that trauma does indeed linger in families across generations. With these insights in mind, when considering how to help other children in trouble, it might be important to investigate not only their own experiences, but also that of their parents and grandparents.
• Summary of “Long-term effects of trauma: Psychosocial functioning of the second and third generation of Holocaust survivors” by Miri Scharf in Development and Psychopathology, Volume 19, Issue 2, pp603-622, 2007.
From: http://www.preventionaction.org/prevention-news/genes-may-influence-fault-lines-beneath-trauma/607
The exact causes of PTSD are not well understood, but a recent study by Kerry J Ressler and colleagues at Emory University has contributed to this emerging understanding. They surveyed 900 adults, mostly African Americans, aged 18 to 81 years, from poor, urban neighborhoods.
Because of their backgrounds, many of the participants had severe traumatic experiences as both children and adults. The researchers also collected saliva samples from participants to collect genetic information.
They found that, by itself, abuse in childhood was not enough to increase PTSD symptoms following adult trauma. The symptoms appeared to increase only in individuals who were abused in childhood and had certain variations in the stress-related gene called FK506 binding protein (5FKBP5). Interestingly, the researchers also found that other variations of this gene seemed to protect people from an increase in symptoms following trauma.
More research is needed before such evidence can be used in the real world. One possible outcome is that soldiers (and others going into high stress situations) could undergo screening to determine their ability to handle trauma.
But the fabric of ordinary life might also benefit By some measures post-traumatic stress disorder in US inner cities is said to be as prevalent as it is among populations of war veterans. The Emory team noted another, perhaps more commonsense implication of the research: "If we could simply reduce childhood abuse, it would have a major impact on mental health".
[See also “Genes and Post-Traumatic Stress” in TIME magazine and ”Combined Factors May Change Biology Of Stress-Response System As It Develops” in Medical News Today]
• Summary of “Association of FKBP5 Polymorphisms and Childhood Abuse with Risk of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Adults” by Elisabeth Binder, Kerry J. Ressler, and colleagues from Emory University and other facilities in Journal of the American Medical Association, March 19, 2008, Volume 299, Number 11, pp 1291-1305.
Passing down trauma from generation to generation
3 December 2007
Does trauma linger in families? Are the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors likely to have been scarred by stressful family environments, guilt, and poor parenting? Or will they have learned resilience from their parents and grandparents? The research on these matters is not clear. Some studies suggest that the offspring of Holocaust survivors are more prone to psychological problems; others show that the second and third generations are about as well adjusted as anyone else.
In many cases, there is a clear possibility that the researchers who conduct the studies and the individuals who participate in them will have allowed their assumptions to color the findings. Researchers may assume that the offspring of survivors cannot fare as well as those who have escaped contact with such terrible events. So they may pose questions, choose subjects or interpret findings in such a way as to confirm those preconceptions.
To circumvent such problems, Miri Scharf of the University of Haifa in Israel used data that did not have its origins in any study of the long-term effects of trauma. Rather, it had been collected during research into the functioning of a group of adolescent boys and their parents during the teenagers’ transition from living at home to entering mandatory service in the Israeli army.
As part of this study, mothers and fathers provided demographic information, which included declarations as to whether either of their own parents was a Holocaust survivor. To examine any lingering effects of trauma, Scharf compared the 88 families in the study with Holocaust backgrounds to other unaffected families.
She found that adolescents in families where both parents were the offspring of Holocaust survivors were different from their peers. They perceived their parents to be less accepting and less supportive of their independence, and they reported having less positive self-perceptions than their counterparts.
Additionally, according to their peers in the army, this group demonstrated poorer adjustment during basic training than fellow recruits who had only one parent with a Holocaust background. Indeed, parents and adolescents in families where only the mother or the father had a Holocaust background did not appear to be as affected by the Holocaust legacy.
Miri Scharf is reported as telling the Israeli newspaper Haaretz online "When only one parent is a survivor, the kids do fine. The problems begin when their homes have too many dark shadows in them."
Herself the daughter of Holocaust survivors, she says she became aware of the effects of living with "third-generation emotional baggage" when she was working with students whose grandparents were survivors. "Some of them spoke of having a hard time trusting, of their fear of getting screwed over. This comes from a terrible air of suspiciousness at home."
Scharf’s analysis suggests that trauma does indeed linger in families across generations. With these insights in mind, when considering how to help other children in trouble, it might be important to investigate not only their own experiences, but also that of their parents and grandparents.
• Summary of “Long-term effects of trauma: Psychosocial functioning of the second and third generation of Holocaust survivors” by Miri Scharf in Development and Psychopathology, Volume 19, Issue 2, pp603-622, 2007.
From: http://www.preventionaction.org/prevention-news/genes-may-influence-fault-lines-beneath-trauma/607
Genes may influence the fault-lines beneath the trauma
14 May 2008
Physicians and therapists used to think that extremely stressful experiences caused post-traumatic stress disorder in just about everyone. But research is gradually painting a more complex picture. It appears that individuals who have a certain genetic makeup andhave had stressful experiences earlier in life are most vulnerable to PTSD following later trauma.The exact causes of PTSD are not well understood, but a recent study by Kerry J Ressler and colleagues at Emory University has contributed to this emerging understanding. They surveyed 900 adults, mostly African Americans, aged 18 to 81 years, from poor, urban neighborhoods.
Because of their backgrounds, many of the participants had severe traumatic experiences as both children and adults. The researchers also collected saliva samples from participants to collect genetic information.
They found that, by itself, abuse in childhood was not enough to increase PTSD symptoms following adult trauma. The symptoms appeared to increase only in individuals who were abused in childhood and had certain variations in the stress-related gene called FK506 binding protein (5FKBP5). Interestingly, the researchers also found that other variations of this gene seemed to protect people from an increase in symptoms following trauma.
More research is needed before such evidence can be used in the real world. One possible outcome is that soldiers (and others going into high stress situations) could undergo screening to determine their ability to handle trauma.
But the fabric of ordinary life might also benefit By some measures post-traumatic stress disorder in US inner cities is said to be as prevalent as it is among populations of war veterans. The Emory team noted another, perhaps more commonsense implication of the research: "If we could simply reduce childhood abuse, it would have a major impact on mental health".
[See also “Genes and Post-Traumatic Stress” in TIME magazine and ”Combined Factors May Change Biology Of Stress-Response System As It Develops” in Medical News Today]
• Summary of “Association of FKBP5 Polymorphisms and Childhood Abuse with Risk of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Adults” by Elisabeth Binder, Kerry J. Ressler, and colleagues from Emory University and other facilities in Journal of the American Medical Association, March 19, 2008, Volume 299, Number 11, pp 1291-1305.
