![]() ![]() This embodied experience of trauma has been supported by research documenting that many biological systems are affected by stress exposure, and implicated in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is not uncommon to hear a trauma survivor state: “I’m not the same person I used to be,” regarding the effects of trauma exposure. People surviving extreme adversity often describe feeling ‘transformed’ by those experiences. It is important to recognize the ways in which this research may unintentionally be received as supporting a narrative of permanent and significant damage in offspring, rather than contributing to discussions of potential resilience, adaptability, and mutability in biological systems affected by stress. Scientists have an obligation to assist in translating important research findings and nascent avenues of research to the public. The authors discuss the importance of clarity in language when describing epigenetic findings for lay audiences, the need to emphasize the limitations as well as the promise of research on intergenerational transmission of trauma effects, and the importance of countering popular interpretations that imply a reductionist biological determinism. ![]() Reports have ranged from overly simplistic and sensationalistic claims to global dismissals. The article describes some of the ways in which initial epigenetic findings in the offspring of trauma survivors have been represented in the popular media. However, the attribution of any specific epigenetic mechanisms in human studies of offspring of trauma survivors is premature at this time. Epigenetic research in animals has provided models for how such effects might be transmitted. This article describes the initial observations that have led to recent examinations of epigenetic mechanisms in association with effects of parental trauma exposure on offspring. This topic has stimulated discussion and controversy in the scientific literature, the popular press, and culture at large. There has been great interest in the possibility that effects of trauma might be passed from parent to offspring through epigenetic mechanisms. ![]()
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