A legacy of fear: Physiological evidence for intergenerational effects of trauma exposure on fear and safety signal learning among African Americans.

Behavioural Brain Research
Anaïs F StensonTanja Jovanovic

Abstract

To determine the influence of maternal trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms on children's physiological response to threat and safety signals during a fear conditioning task in trauma-exposed mothers and children. Participants were African American mother-child dyads (N = 137; children aged 8-13 years). Mothers' trauma history and PTSD symptoms were assessed; Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was conducted from these measures to identify distinct classes. Children reported violence exposure and completed a differential fear conditioning task using fear-potentiated startle (FPS) responses to conditioned danger (CS+) and safety (CS-) signals. Four classes of maternal trauma history and PTSD symptoms emerged: 1) Lower Trauma, 2) Moderate Trauma, 3) High Sexual Abuse, and 4) High Trauma and PTSD Symptoms. Children's FPS to CS + and CS- were tested with maternal class as the between-subjects factor. FPS to the danger signal was not significantly different across maternal classes, but FPS to safety (CS-) was significantly higher for the Lower Trauma and High Trauma and PTSD Symptoms classes than either the Moderate Trauma or the High Sexual Abuse classes. Results indicate that maternal trauma impacts children's ability ...Continue Reading

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Jun 6, 2021·Behavioural Brain Research·Markus FendtTanja Jovanovic

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