scholarly journals Epigenetic traces of childhood maltreatment in peripheral blood: a new strategy to explore gene–environment interactions

2014 ◽  
Vol 204 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudolf Uher ◽  
Ian C. G. Weaver
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Childhood Maltreatment ◽  
Peripheral Blood ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Blood Samples ◽  
Gene Environment ◽  
New Strategy ◽  
New Research ◽  
The Life Course

SummaryMaltreatment in childhood affects mental health over the life course. New research shows that early life experiences alter the genome in a way that can be measured in peripheral blood samples decades later. These findings suggest a new strategy for exploring gene–environment interactions and open opportunities for translational epigenomic research.

scholarly journals A Faith to Move Mountains? Childhood Abuse, Religious Change, and Mental Health at Midlife

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 461-461
Author(s):  
Laura Upenieks
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Childhood Abuse ◽  
Childhood Maltreatment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Attendance ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Religious Importance ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract Of all the various forms of adversity experienced during childhood, childhood maltreatment (emotional and physical abuse) is shown to have the largest impacts on mental health and well-being. Yet we still have a limited understanding of why some victims of early maltreatment suffer immense mental health consequences later on in the life course, while others are able to cushion the blow of these early insults. Using two waves of data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS), this study considers change in religiosity as a buffer across three dimensions for victims of childhood abuse: religious importance, attendance, and the specific act of seeking comfort through religion. Results suggest that increases in religious comfort during adulthood are positively associated with adult mental health for victims of abuse, while decreases in religious comfort over time were associated with worse mental health. Changes in religious attendance and religious importance were not significant associated with mental health for victims of abuse. Taken together, my results show that the stress-moderating effects of religion for victims of childhood maltreatment are contingent on the stability or increases or decreases in religiosity over the life course, which has been overlooked in previous work.

scholarly journals DOES EARLY-LIFE RACIAL DISCRIMINATION EXPLAIN A MENTAL HEALTH PARADOX AMONG BLACK ADULTS?

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S192-S192
Author(s):  
Courtney S Thomas Tobin ◽  
Myles D Moody
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Black Adults ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Stress And Health ◽  
Health Paradox

Abstract To evaluate the impact of early life racial discrimination (ELRD) on mental health among Black adults. Data were from the Nashville Stress and Health Study (n=618). OLS regression models examined the relationship between ELRD and adult psychological distress; logistic regression estimated the probability of past-year major depressive disorder (MDD). We also assessed whether ELRD moderated the relationship between adult discrimination and mental health. Childhood (b=1.07, SE=0.51, p=0.04) and adolescent ELRD (b=1.32, SE=0.42, p=0.002) were associated with adult distress. Individuals who experienced childhood ERLD had 88% lower odds of adult MDD than individuals with no ELRD. Significant interaction analyses showed that ELRD was generally protective against adult discrimination. While ELRD importantly shapes distress and MDD among Black adults, patterns vary by outcome. Results indicate that adult distress and MDD develop through cumulative adversity processes that are further influenced by sensitive periods in the life course.

The Intersection of Childhood Maltreatment and Marriage: Implications for Adult’s Health

2021 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2098450
Author(s):  
Michael Fitzgerald ◽  
Bryan Spuhler ◽  
Cailyn Hamstra
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Childhood Maltreatment ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Marital Support ◽  
Physical Health Problems ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Marital Strain ◽  
Mental And Physical Health

Childhood maltreatment is associated with mental and physical health problems across the life course. Marriages may be a risk factor for continued mental and physical health problems or, alternatively, they could buffer the effects of maltreatment severity on adult health. Using data from the study of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS), we evaluated marital support and strain as moderators of child maltreatment and adults’ subjective evaluations of physical and mental health in a sample of 760 married adults using the life course perspective. Results show that the interaction between childhood maltreatment severity and marital strain was associated with poorer physical health and was marginally associated with mental health. Marital support did not significantly interact with childhood maltreatment severity in predicting adult mental or physical health. Results suggest maltreatment and marital strain interact resulting in a greater accumulation of disadvantage leaving adults at risk for health problems.

scholarly journals A Polygenic Score for Body Mass Index is Associated with Depressive Symptoms via Early Life Stress: Evidence for gene-environment correlation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reut Avinun ◽  
Ahmad R. Hariri
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Indirect Effect ◽  
Genetic Risk ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Early Life Stress ◽  
Gene Environment

ABSTRACTBackgroundIncreasing childhood overweight and obesity rates are associated with not only adverse physical, but also mental health outcomes, including depression. These negative outcomes may be caused and/or exacerbated by the bullying and shaming overweight individuals experience. As body mass index (BMI) can be highly heritable, we hypothesized that a genetic risk toward higher BMI, will predict higher early life stress (ELS), which in turn will predict higher depressive symptoms in adulthood. Such a process will reflect an evocative gene-environment correlation (rGE) wherein an individual’s genetically influenced phenotype evokes a reaction from the environment that subsequently shapes the individual’s health.MethodsWe modeled genetic risk using a polygenic score of BMI derived from a recent large GWAS meta-analysis. Self-reports were used for the assessment of ELS and depressive symptoms in adulthood. The discovery sample consisted of 524 non-Hispanic Caucasian university students from the Duke Neurogenetics Study (DNS; 278 women, mean age 19.78±1.23 years) and the independent replication sample consisted of 5 930 white British individuals from the UK biobank (UKB; 3 128 women, mean age 62.66±7.38 years).ResultsA significant mediation effect was found in the DNS (indirect effect=.207, bootstrapped SE=.10, 95% CI: .014 to .421), and then replicated in the UKB (indirect effect=.04, bootstrapped SE=.01, 95% CI: .018 to .066). Higher BMI polygenic scores were associated with higher depressive symptoms through the experience of higher ELS.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that evocative rGE may contribute to weight-related mental health problems and stress the need for interventions that aim to reduce weight bias, specifically during childhood.

Does Early Life Racial Discrimination Explain a Mental Health Paradox among Black Adults?

2021 ◽  
pp. 089826432098818
Author(s):  
Courtney S. Thomas Tobin ◽  
Myles D. Moody
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Black Adults ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of early life racial discrimination (ELRD) on mental health among Black adults. Methods: Data were from the Nashville Stress and Health Study ( n = 618). Ordinary least squares regression models examined the relationship between ELRD and adult psychological distress; logistic regression estimated the probability of past-year major depressive disorder (MDD). We also assessed whether ELRD moderated the relationship between adult discrimination and mental health. Results: Childhood (b = 1.07, SE = .51, p = .04) and adolescent ELRD (b = 1.32, SE = .42, p = .002) were associated with adult distress. Individuals who experienced childhood ERLD had 88% lower odds of adult MDD than individuals with no ELRD. Significant interactions showed that childhood and adolescent ELRD was protective against adult discrimination. Discussion: While ELRD importantly shapes distress and MDD among Black adults, patterns vary by outcome. Results indicate that adult distress and MDD develop through cumulative adversity processes that are further influenced by sensitive periods in the life course.

scholarly journals Early Life Experiences Moderate the Relationship Between Genetic Risk of Autism and Current and Lifetime Mental Health

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Su Hyun Shin ◽  
Cheryl Wright ◽  
Susan Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Genetic Risk ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Random Effect ◽  
Epidemiologic Studies ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Psychiatric Problems

Although individuals with autism are at greater risk of mental health challenges than others, we know little about the relationship between the mental health of older adults (50+) and autism because they are less likely to be diagnosed. Identifying the risk and protective factors that are associated with mental health can increase educational awareness, inform clinical practice, and provide information to help diagnose and treat older adults with autism. This study used longitudinal panel data of the 2008–2016 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. It estimated individual random-effect models by interacting a genetic propensity toward autism and early life experiences to test whether the latter has a moderating effect on the relationships between genetics and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) score, self-reported depression, and history of psychiatric problems. Results suggest that individuals with a higher genetic propensity for autism are less likely to develop psychiatric problems if they report a positive maternal relationship early in life. Further, a combined effect of police encounters early in life and genetic risk for autism is associated with higher CES-D scores, increased odds of self-reported depression, and a history of psychiatric problems. Clinical applications of these findings include the need to establish and support high-quality relationships by addressing both child and caregiver needs. Further, these findings support the need to design and implement proactive interventions to teach police and autistic individuals how to successfully navigate these encounters.

scholarly journals The Paraventricular Thalamus: A Potential Sensor and Integrator of Emotionally Salient Early-Life Experiences

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassandra L. Kooiker ◽  
Matthew T. Birnie ◽  
Tallie Z. Baram
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Mental Health Disorders ◽  
Negative Experiences ◽  
Future Behavior ◽  
Infancy And Childhood ◽  
Health Disorders ◽  
Paraventricular Thalamus

Early-life experiences influence a broad spectrum of behaviors throughout the lifespan that contribute to resilience or vulnerability to mental health disorders. Yet, how emotionally salient experiences early in life are encoded, stored, and processed and the mechanisms by which they influence future behaviors remain poorly understood. The paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) is a key structure in modulating positive and negative experiences and behaviors in adults. However, little is known of the PVT’s role in encoding and integrating emotionally salient experiences that occur during neonatal, infancy, and childhood periods. In this review, we (1) describe the functions and connections of the PVT and its regulation of behavior, (2) introduce novel technical approaches to elucidating the role of the PVT in mediating enduring changes in adult behaviors resulting from early-life experiences, and (3) conclude that PVT neurons of neonatal rodents are engaged by both positive and negative emotionally salient experiences, and their activation may enduringly govern future behavior-modulating PVT activity during emotionally salient contexts.

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