A link between traumatic childhood experiences and biological ageing during pregnancy

This study explored the links between mothers' traumatic childhood experiences (ACEs) and biological ageing during pregnancy, as well as their potential impact on their children from birth.

The study aimed to examine the intergenerational transmission of the biological effects of adverse life experiences by using epigenetic clocks to measure the biological age of mothers during pregnancy and of newborns at birth. ACEs are potentially traumatic experiences that occur before the age of 18 and are associated with accelerated epigenetic ageing in adulthood. This ageing can be measured by epigenetic clocks based on DNA methylation, which provide an estimate of a person's biological age in relation to their chronological age.