Background
Research conducted using small samples of persons exposed to extreme stressors has
documented an association between parental and offspring posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), but it is unknown whether this association exists in the general population
and whether trauma exposure mediates this association. We sought to determine whether
mothers' posttraumatic stress symptoms were associated with PTSD in their young adult
children and whether this association was mediated by higher trauma exposure in children
of women with PTSD.
Methods
Using data from a cohort of mothers (n = 6924) and a cohort of their children (n = 8453), we calculated risk ratios (RR) for child's PTSD and examined mediation by
trauma exposure.
Results
Mother's lifetime posttraumatic stress symptoms were associated with child's PTSD
in dose–response fashion (mother's 1–3 symptoms, child's RR = 1.2; mother's 4–5 symptoms,
RR = 1.3; mother's 6–7 symptoms, RR = 1.6, compared with children of mothers with
no symptoms, p < .001 for each). Mother's lifetime symptoms were also associated with child's trauma
exposure in dose–response fashion. Elevated exposure to trauma substantially mediated
elevated risk for PTSD in children of women with symptoms (mediation proportion, 74%,
p < .001).
Conclusions
Intergenerational association of PTSD is clearly present in a large population-based
sample. Children of women who had PTSD were more likely than children of women without
PTSD to experience traumatic events; this suggests, in part, why the disorder is associated
across generations. Health care providers who treat mothers with PTSD should be aware
of the higher risk for trauma exposure and PTSD in their children.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 23, 2012
Accepted:
March 6,
2012
Received in revised form:
March 6,
2012
Received:
December 21,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
