We have previously discussed how exposure to trauma can negatively affect various aspects of life, such as mental and physical health, spirituality, actions, careers, and relationships.
We have also covered the impacts of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), or traumatic events before age 18.
Today, we will focus on how trauma and its effects can pass from generation to generation, creating intergenerational trauma.
Before we begin any discussion about the effects of trauma, it is important to remind ourselves that healing and resilience are possible. Many factors can prevent these effects from occurring in the first place, and many factors can lead to their healing if they have occurred.
Our purpose here is to learn about potential ways trauma can adversely impact people, so that we can then use this knowledge to create trauma-informed, healing ministries.
If you begin to feel overwhelmed at any point when reading this article, please pause and seek guidance from a trained mental health professional, a trusted friend, or a mentor.
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What is Intergenerational Trauma?
Intergenerational trauma occurs when the children of trauma survivors are affected by their parents’ trauma. These effects can happen in two ways.
First, children of trauma survivors can experience trauma due to the impact it had on their parents. Trauma increases the likelihood of mental and physical health problems, aggression, and relationship problems, which can cause trauma for the children of survivors.
Additionally, children of trauma survivors are more likely to experience difficulties in many areas of life, even if they themselves don’t face trauma. These effects include:
- Low self-worth
- Depression
- Substance use
- Dissociation
- Hypervigilance
- Suicidal thoughts
- Difficulties forming relationships and attachments
- Aggression
- Extreme stress reactivity
Why Does Intergenerational Trauma Occur?
The Cycling of Trauma Between Generations
Researchers suggest that ACEs can continue between generations because their impacts often create trauma for the next generation, reinforcing the cycle.
For example:
- ACEs increase the risk of early death, which can cause children to experience the death of their parents.
- ACEs increase the risk of high-risk behaviors that could lead to addiction and incarceration, leading to their children experiencing household drug use and incarceration.
- ACEs can impair social skills, leading to difficulties in marriage and family life, potentially causing divorce or separation of parents and difficulties in the parent-child relationship.
- ACEs increase the risk of mental health problems, which could cause their children to grow up with household mental health disorders.
- ACEs increase the risk of aggression, which could lead to an increased likelihood of perpetrating both child and domestic abuse.
Trauma exposure in adulthood can cause similar impacts as ACEs, meaning that even if someone doesn’t experience ACEs, but experiences trauma later in life, the impacts of their trauma could impact future generations by causing trauma for them.
The Cycling of the Impacts of Trauma
In his book It Didn’t Start With You, Mark Wolynn describes how trauma in one generation can affect the next, even if the latter does not experience trauma.
Wolynn discusses how trauma can change parents’ DNA expression, which can then be passed along to their children, making them more likely to experience things like anxiety, anger, and increased reactivity to stress.
You can learn more about this research in this article.
Research About Intergenerational Trauma
Research on the effects of intergenerational trauma became more prominent when researchers began studying Holocaust survivors and their children to explore the long-term impacts of trauma within families.
In one study focused on Holocaust survivors’ children, researchers found they tended to have lower cortisol levels. Cortisol is a key hormone for managing stress. People with lower levels are more prone to developing post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health concerns (1), pointing to biological links between survivors of trauma and their children. In another study, the children of survivors tended to experience more childhood trauma than the children of non-survivors (2).
Other studies have linked trauma survivors’ children to increased risks, including:
- Increased anxiety
- Increased defensiveness in relationships
- Increased worry about relationships
- Increased depression
- Increased substance use
- Increased trauma exposure across the lifespan
- Alterations of brain areas involved in regulating stress. These alterations increase the risk of various mental health problems.
Thus, even without direct trauma exposure, parents’ experiences can affect children in many life areas, potentially increasing their own trauma risk.
Conclusion
Though still developing, research generally supports that trauma and its impacts can pass from one generation to the next.
Healing is possible. Visit this page for resources to help break the cycle.