Anaïs F Stenson1, Sanne J H van Rooij2, Sierra E Carter3, Abigail Powers2, Tanja Jovanovic4. 1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States. Electronic address: astenson@wayne.edu. 2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States. 3. Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, United States. 4. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: 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. METHOD: 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. RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that maternal trauma impacts children's ability to modulate fear responses in the presence of a safety signal, independent of the children's own trauma exposure. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that children's fear inhibition is impacted by maternal trauma exposure. Prior studies have linked fear inhibition to mental health outcomes, highlighting the need to understand intergenerational modulation of fear learning and physiology.
OBJECTIVE: 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. METHOD: 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. RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that maternal trauma impacts children's ability to modulate fear responses in the presence of a safety signal, independent of the children's own trauma exposure. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that children's fear inhibition is impacted by maternal trauma exposure. Prior studies have linked fear inhibition to mental health outcomes, highlighting the need to understand intergenerational modulation of fear learning and physiology.
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Authors: Georgina Hartzell; Anaïs F Stenson; Sanne J H van Rooij; Ye Ji Kim; L Alexander Vance; Rebecca Hinrichs; Nadine Kaslow; Bekh Bradley; Tanja Jovanovic Journal: Psychol Trauma Date: 2020-01-09
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