Childhood trauma stays with you

I saw this in the print edition of USA Today on Aug. 16, 2010

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20100816/apa16_st.art.htm?loc=interstitialskip

By Sharon Jayson
USA TODAY

SAN DIEGO — Growing up in a troubled home can cut your life short or lead to a host of health problems later on, according to studies presented over the weekend at the American Psychological Association meeting.

In several major presentations, researchers outlined evidence that weathering difficulties as a child can set your health on the wrong course decades later.

"Our latest research shows that those reporting multiple adversities could shorten their life span by seven to 15 years," says Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, a health psychologist at the Ohio State University College of Medicine. "What we have is clear evidence that adverse childhood experience may have lasting, measurable consequences." Such events include losing a parent, being abused or witnessing parental marital strife, which can lead to inflammation and cell aging much earlier than those who haven't had such strife, she says.

Researchers analyzed depression and childhood trauma in a sample of 132 healthy older adults to see how negative emotions and stressful experiences affect biochemical markers of stress such as telomeres — the ends of strands of DNA. Shorter telomeres have been linked with aging, age-related diseases and death.

Participants completed questionnaires on depression; past child abuse or neglect; a parent's death during childhood; witnessing severe marital problems; growing up with a family member suffering from mental illness or alcohol abuse; or lacking a close relationship with at least one adult.

"We found that childhood adversity was associated with shorter telomeres and increased levels of inflammation," Kiecolt-Glaser says. "Inflammation over time can lead to cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers."

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In her latest study, 212 teens ages 14-16 were monitored over three years to gauge the effect of poverty on sensitivity to stress and early signs of heart disease. Findings showed that years later, those from poor economic households had stiffer arteries and higher blood pressure as well as more thickening of their carotid artery walls.

The adolescent years are a critical time when stress has more impact, Matthews says, perhaps "because of their hormonal changes and their sensitivity to peer rejection, acceptance and how they interpret others' attitudes toward themselves," she says.

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