Parents’ stress leaves mark on the DNA of children

Media Inquiries news [a] uwhealth (p) org Related Information Department of Psychiatry Stay Connected Follow UWSMPH on Twitter Follow UWSMPH on Facebook Madison, Wisconsin - Parents who are stressed during their children's early years can leave an imprint on their sons' or daughters' genes - an imprint that lasts into adolescence and may affect how these genes are expressed later in life, according to a study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin and the University of British Columbia. The study, published online today in the journal Child Development, focused on epigenetics - the expression of genes, as opposed to the underlying sequence of DNA. A central component of epigenetics is methylation, in which a chemical group attaches to parts of the DNA - a process that acts like a dimmer on gene function in response to social and physical environments. Marilyn Essex , a professor of psychiatry at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, has been conducting research on participants in the long-running Wisconsin Study of Families and Work. This ongoing project follows the health and development of children from approximately 500 Madison- and Milwaukee-area families. In the current study, researchers measured methylation patterns in cheek-cell DNA collected from more than 100 adolescents at age 15. These patterns were compared to data obtained in 1990 and 1991, when these same children were infants and toddlers, and their parents were asked to report on their stress levels - including depression, family-expressed anger, parenting stress and financial stress.