Infant epigenetic aging moderates the link between Black maternal childhood trauma and offspring symptoms of psychopathology

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Brooke McKenna, Emory University; Anna Knight, Emory University; Alicia K Smith, Emory University; Elizabeth Corwin, Emory University; Sierra E. Carter, Emory University; Prof. Rohan Palmer, Emory University; Anne Lang Dunlop, Emory University; Patricia Brennan, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2023-09-29
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579423001232
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Development and Psychopathology
• Volume: 1
• Start Page: 1
• End Page: 13
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities [R01MD009746 to PAB and EJC; R01MD009064 to AKS and ALD], National Institute of Nursing Research [R01NR014800 to EJC and ALD], National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [R24ES029490 to ALD], National Institute of Social Sciences [dissertation grant to BGM], and the American Psychological Foundation [Elizabeth Munsterberg Koppitz Child Psychology Graduate Fellowship to BGM]. Author BGM was supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (DGE-1444932).
• Keywords: intergenerational; epigenetic aging; trauma; child psychopathology
• Research Categories: Psychology, Developmental; Biology, Genetics

Abstract

Although offspring of women exposed to childhood trauma exhibit elevated rates of psychopathology, many children demonstrate resilience to these intergenerational impacts. Among the variety of factors that likely contribute to resilience, epigenetic processes have been suggested to play an important role. The current study used a prospective design to test the novel hypothesis that offspring epigenetic aging – a measure of methylation differences that are associated with infant health outcomes – moderates the relationship between maternal exposure to childhood adversity and offspring symptomatology. Maternal childhood adversity was self-reported during pregnancy via the ACEs survey and the CTQ, which assessed total childhood trauma as well as maltreatment subtypes (i.e., emotional, physical, and sexual abuse). Offspring blood samples were collected at or shortly after birth and assayed on a DNA methylation microarray, and offspring symptomatology was assessed with the CBCL/1.5–5 when offspring were 2–4 years old. Results indicated that maternal childhood trauma, particularly sexual abuse, was predictive of offspring symptoms (ps = 0.003–0.03). However, the associations between maternal sexual abuse and offspring symptomatology were significantly attenuated in offspring with accelerated epigenetic aging. These findings further our understanding of how epigenetic processes may contribute to and attenuate the intergenerational link between stress and psychopathology.