3. Literature Review

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Intergenerational trauma: A biological, social, and clinical approach

Asli Gursoy

University of British Columbia

PSYC 304: Brain and behavior

Dr. Hagar Goldberg

November 18, 2021

Abstract

This project will be aiming to answer to what extent intergenerational trauma is a product of genes and environment, and how we can take steps to heal it. In the process of collecting research, there was a lack of discourse about intergenerational trauma in comparison to direct trauma. This was concerning, mainly because this type of trauma is especially prevalent in minority populations and Indigenous people with the trauma forced upon them due to oppression, and systematic racism throughout generations. As a pressing area of concern for the field of psychology, this literature review will be evaluating sources to explain intergenerational trauma through a neuroscientific, societal, and clinical lens by discussing epigenetics and attachment styles as factors of intergenerational trauma and its treatment.

Literature Review

Intergenerational trauma has both physical and emotional effects on offspring. Merrill et al.’s (2021) research found that paternal adverse childhood experiences predict health problems in their infant offspring such as infant sleep and attention problems. This was done through an epigenome-wide association study of blood DNA methylation from 3-month-old infants, regressing it onto fathers’ retrospective adverse childhood experiences at multiple epigenetic markers to discover associations. This study is a good example for the effect of epigenetics because it allows for distinction between environmental and genetic factors; DNA Methylation is present in the infant at birth, not after they have time to adopt paternal behavior by observation. Moreover, it provides a rare human study on paternal trauma’s effects on infants. Nonetheless, this article does not go further than report its findings; there is no inferences to therapeutic interventions. It also focuses mainly on physical symptoms of trauma more than the emotional ones. So in addition, a review by Gottschalk et al in 2017 found that GAD is a heritable condition, with a heritability of 30%. It was found to be closely related to childhood separation anxiety, social phobia, and panic. These are all closely tied to stress, of which can cause epigenetic changes that can be passed down generationally. The underlying aspect of both these studies is stress through adverse experiences, as well as childhood anxiety of which is accompanied by an increased stress response. Stress, as a result, is likely the key factor to epigenetic changes regarding intergenerational trauma.

Hewitt (2017) provided a psychodynamic oriented model of therapy of which deduced the importance of interpersonal relationships and attachment styles in trauma and defensive behaviors formed as a result. He clarified how feelings of abandonment and shame underlie most of these defenses. Moreover, identifying that unmet attachment needs bringing up anxious feelings that are avoided by defensive behaviors is a self-perpetuating cycle. This can be extended to intergenerational trauma in its cyclic nature. Here, the distinction was made that not all defensive behaviors are maladaptive. Expanding on this, a study by Isobel et al. (2020) focused on treatment and explained the relational cycle of intergenerational trauma through attachment styles. Any relational trauma experienced can be replicated in relationships with children via attachment style due to the relational nature of childhood neurobiological development. This explains intergenerational trauma separate from a specific event; instead, it is said to be an outcome of traumatic attachment usually acquired over time. Furthermore, this study delved into treatments and found that prevention is the key intervention. The following would be resolving and understanding trauma and trauma responses. This approach is lacking, however, in that it does not fully account for infants that have been biologically affected, whose brains have gone through significant changes early in development. It also does not expand on how to treat the physical effects, such as stress induced diseases, or physical effects of trauma. It’s possible that the same prevention techniques would work, but a question that is still difficult to answer is to what extent.

Schore (2009) brought forward a multi-faceted approach by including developmental effects of relationally induced intergenerational trauma. Treatment interventions were also discussed thoroughly. One’s image of oneself is affected by the physical changes that occur in the right brain of children who are exposed to unhealthy attachment styles from their parents. These changes are triggered by Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal stress axis responses, of which consequently trigger autonomic nervous system responses: high heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate occur as a result. In terms of treatment, psychotherapy aiming to redirect dissociative defensive behaviors is identified. This was lacking in depth, therefore a more focused piece of literature in a similar line of thought was needed. This related well to Mendelsshon’s (2008) introduction of intergenerational trauma through the lens of shame, guilt and the ‘Heroic Dilemma.’ This dilemma was deemed a defensive response to intergenerational trauma in specific. It explains the feeling of pride within the context of one’s trauma, hiding a painful past. This perspective can be viewed as counter-representative – this pride could be explained as identifying with one’s trauma, or the acceptance of it. It could likewise counter the negative effects of shame, of which Hewitt identified as one of the core factors of defensive behavior. However, it can also be that pride in excess hardens maladaptive, defensive coping behaviors, of which can be very harmful to the self if one will not accept one’s actions as hurtful due to this dissociation. Therefore, this reading provides an interesting perspective to the treatment and influences of feelings of shame and guilt.

Conclusion

The selected articles provided differing views on intergenerational trauma, including epigenetic changes, the physical effects of stress, attachment styles, the battle with guilt and pride, all the way to treatment. Upon reflection, the findings built upon each other in the aspects of which felt missing or not as expanded on. This article summarized studies that related to causes, maintenance factors and treatment interventions of intergenerational trauma to provide a balanced reference to a topic of which does not receive sufficient attention in discourse.

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References

de Mendelssohn, F. (2008). Transgenerational transmission of trauma: Guilt, shame, and the “heroic dilemma.” International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 58(3), 389–401. https://doi.org/10.1521/ijgp.2008.58.3.389

Gottschalk, M., & Domschke, K. (2017). Genetics of generalized anxiety disorder and related traits. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 19(2), 159–168. https://doi.org/10.31887/dcns.2017.19.2/kdomschke

Hewitt, P. L., Flett, G. L., & Mikail, S. F. (2017). Chapter 6: A Theoretical Model for Treatment of Perfectionistic Behavior. In Perfectionism: A relational approach to conceptualization, assessment, and treatment (pp. 149–173). The Guilford Press.

Isobel, S., Goodyear, M., Furness, T., & Foster, K. (2018). Preventing intergenerational trauma transmission: A critical interpretive synthesis. Journal of Clinical Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.14735

Merrill, S. M., Moore, S. R., Gladish, N., Giesbrecht, G. F., Dewey, D., Konwar, C., MacIssac, J. L., Kobor, M. S., & Letourneau, N. L. (2021). Paternal adverse childhood experiences: Associations with infant DNA methylation. Developmental Psychobiology, 63(6). https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.22174

Schore, A. N. (2009). Relational trauma and the developing right brain. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1159(1), 189–203. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04474.x