Abstract
Yehuda reviews intergenerational transmission of trauma — how parental trauma may reach offspring via behavioural and epigenetic channels, still contested but active science.
Yehuda, R., & Lehrner, A. (2018). World Psychiatry, 17(3), 243–257. DOI
Key findings
- Cross-generation signal — Offspring of trauma survivors show heightened stress reactivity in some cohorts.
- Epigenetic pathway — DNA methylation and related marks are proposed mediators — not destiny.
- Behaviour still central — Parenting and environment remain major routes alongside biology.
- Caution flag — Human epigenetic claims need replication — hype outruns evidence in places.
Limits
Review — fast-moving field; avoid single-study certainty in room.
Application
When family stress feels older than your biography — hold behavioural and possible biological threads without fatalism. See Transgenerational memory.