A family study of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder following rape trauma

Davidson, Jonathan; Tupler, Larry A.; Wilson, W. H.; Connor, Kathryn M.

doi:10.1016/s0022-3956(98)00016-8

Cited by 59 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The familial vulnerability appears to be partially genetic. Previous work has also supported major depression as both vulnerability for (e.g., Davidson et al, 1998) and a consequence of having PTSD (Breslau et al, 1998). Our results suggest that contrasting findings from previous studies may reflect two simultaneous phenomena.…”

Section: Twin Research June 2003mentioning

confidence: 93%

A High Risk Twin Study of Combat-Related PTSD Comorbidity

et al. 2003

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Section: Twin Research June 2003mentioning

confidence: 93%

A High Risk Twin Study of Combat-Related PTSD Comorbidity

et al. 2003

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“…Trauma survivors who develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have greater rates of familial psychopathology compared to similarly-exposed persons who do not develop this disorder (Davidson et al, 1985;Davidson et al, 1989;Davidson et al, 1998;Dijanic et al, Manuscript Correspondence should be addressed to Rachel Yehuda,Psychiatry OOMH,Bronx Veterans Affairs Medical Center,130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx NY 10468, Rachel.Yehuda@va.gov. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal, not paternal, PTSD is related to increased risk for PTSD in offspring of Holocaust survivors

Yehuda

Bell

Bierer

et al. 2008

Journal of Psychiatric Research

293

225

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Background-A significant association between parental PTSD and the occurrence of PTSD in offspring has been noted, consistent with the idea that risk for PTSD is transmitted from parent to child. Two recent reports linking maternal PTSD and low cortisol in offspring prompted us to examine the relative contributions of maternal vs. paternal PTSD in the prediction of PTSD and other psychiatric diagnoses.

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“…6,7 Parental PTSD seems to be a relevant risk factor for PTSD, as evidenced by a greater prevalence of PTSD, but not trauma exposure, in adult offspring of Holocaust survivors with PTSD compared with children of Holocaustexposed parents without PTSD. [8][9][10][11][12] Our group previously reported that offspring of Holocaust survivors with PTSD showed significantly lower mean 24-hour urinary cortisol excretion [13][14][15] and enhanced cortisol suppression in response to low dexamethasone administration 16 than offspring of Holocaust survivors without PTSD. Urinary cortisol excretion and plasma cortisol suppression after dexamethasone treatment were negatively correlated with the severity of parental PTSD symptoms, even after controlling for PTSD and other symptoms in offspring.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental Posttraumatic Stress Disorder as a Vulnerability Factor for Low Cortisol Trait in Offspring of Holocaust Survivors

Yehuda¹,

Teicher²,

Seckl³

et al. 2007

Arch Gen Psychiatry

175

109

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Context: Lower cortisol levels in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may reflect a preexisting vulnerability associated with developing the disorder after trauma exposure. Because offspring of trauma survivors with PTSD have a greater prevalence of PTSD after their own life events than offspring of trauma survivors without PTSD and offspring of nonexposed persons, examination of patterns of basal cortisol secretion in such offspring provides an opportunity to test this hypothesis.Objective: To characterize the patterns of basal cortisol secretion in offspring of Holocaust survivors with and without parental PTSD and children of nonexposed parents.Design: Cortisol secretion was measured every 30 minutes for 24 hours. The raw hormonal data were subjected to a chronobiological analysis by applying singleoscillator and multioscillator cosinor analyses, a nonlinear least squares curve-fitting program, to determine circadian and ultradian regulatory dynamics. Setting:The study was conducted under controlled conditions at the General Clinical Research Center at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.Participants: Twenty-three Holocaust offspring with parental PTSD and 10 without parental PTSD were compared with 16 children of nonexposed parents. No participant had PTSD. Main Outcome Measures:Mean cortisol levels during the 24-hour cycle and other chronobiological parameters (amplitude, acrophase, circadian quotient, and goodness-of-fit coefficient) derived from singleoscillator and multioscillator models.Results: Offspring with parental PTSD displayed lower mean cortisol levels, reflected by the circadian mesor and reduced cortisol amplitude, compared with offspring without parental PTSD and children of nonexposed parents. This effect seemed to be specifically related to the presence of maternal PTSD. Conclusions:Low cortisol levels and other chronobiological alterations in offspring are associated with the risk factor of maternal PTSD, raising the possibility that these alterations are acquired via glucocorticoid programming either from in utero exposures or in response to maternal behaviors early in life. Psychiatry. 2007;64(9):1040-1048 P HENOMENOLOGICAL AND BIOlogical differences between trauma survivors with and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are generally considered consequences of the traumatic event that precipitated PTSD or correlates of symptom expression. However, any variable that distinguishes traumaexposed persons with PTSD from those without PTSD might be a pretraumatic risk factor for the disorder. Once identified, such risk factors may prove to be useful as predictors of who will develop PTSD after exposure to trauma, or they may even identify potential new targets for prophylaxis and treatment. Arch GenExamination of biological correlates of pretraumatic risk factors is warranted because trauma exposure alone does not fully explain why PTSD develops.1 Thus, a broader range of factors, including genetic or epigenetic modifications, might explain why reinstatement of physiologic homeostasis ...

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A family study of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder following rape trauma

Cited by 59 publications

References 27 publications

A High Risk Twin Study of Combat-Related PTSD Comorbidity

A High Risk Twin Study of Combat-Related PTSD Comorbidity

Maternal, not paternal, PTSD is related to increased risk for PTSD in offspring of Holocaust survivors

Parental Posttraumatic Stress Disorder as a Vulnerability Factor for Low Cortisol Trait in Offspring of Holocaust Survivors

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