ALSPAC parents’ descriptions of childhood stresses in their parents and grandparents [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]
Background: There is evidence that childhood stresses or traumas influence individuals’ descendants’ health and wellbeing through epigenetic mechanisms. However, few longitudinal studies have details of such ancestral data. Methods: Nearly 7,000 parents of the original Avon Longitudinal Study of Par...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wellcome
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Wellcome Open Research |
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| Online Access: | https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/6-115/v2 |
| _version_ | 1811344778116202496 |
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| author | Jean Golding Karen Birmingham Yasmin Iles-Caven |
| author_facet | Jean Golding Karen Birmingham Yasmin Iles-Caven |
| author_sort | Jean Golding |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: There is evidence that childhood stresses or traumas influence individuals’ descendants’ health and wellbeing through epigenetic mechanisms. However, few longitudinal studies have details of such ancestral data. Methods: Nearly 7,000 parents of the original Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort completed questionnaires concerning their parents’ and grandparents’ childhoods. As part of a questionnaire validation exercise we conducted recorded interviews with 100 of these parents. Here we describe some of the vivid accounts from these interviews of stresses encountered by the parents’ ancestors. Results: The interviews provided insights into the childhoods of two previous generations of this cohort, most of whom had lived through one, if not two, World Wars. Many children were brought up, not by their parents but by relatives or acquaintances and/or left home very young to ‘go into service’ or start work. A few interviewees had wealthy relatives with nannies and governesses and attended expensive boarding schools but by far the most frequent accounts were of poverty, often severe, with related lack of education and illiteracy, alcoholism and violence, alongside devastating effects of the World Wars. Conclusions: Although the interviews focussed on stresses in childhood and therefore the accounts seemed somewhat negative, many interviewees described their relatives as having secure, stable childhoods. Of the many struggling families though, the predominant impression was their remarkable resilience; all went on to have children or grandchildren who are stable enough to participate for three decades, entirely altruistically, in ALSPAC. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T19:53:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-be2b8cf79c514b1188f7f74214d4de4a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2398-502X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T19:53:05Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Wellcome |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Wellcome Open Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-be2b8cf79c514b1188f7f74214d4de4a2022-12-22T02:32:27ZengWellcomeWellcome Open Research2398-502X2022-06-01619919ALSPAC parents’ descriptions of childhood stresses in their parents and grandparents [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]Jean Golding0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2826-3307Karen Birmingham1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2826-3307Yasmin Iles-Caven2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9965-9133Centre for Academic Child Health, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Oakfield House, Oakfield Grove, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKCentre for Academic Child Health, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Oakfield House, Oakfield Grove, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKCentre for Academic Child Health, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Oakfield House, Oakfield Grove, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKBackground: There is evidence that childhood stresses or traumas influence individuals’ descendants’ health and wellbeing through epigenetic mechanisms. However, few longitudinal studies have details of such ancestral data. Methods: Nearly 7,000 parents of the original Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort completed questionnaires concerning their parents’ and grandparents’ childhoods. As part of a questionnaire validation exercise we conducted recorded interviews with 100 of these parents. Here we describe some of the vivid accounts from these interviews of stresses encountered by the parents’ ancestors. Results: The interviews provided insights into the childhoods of two previous generations of this cohort, most of whom had lived through one, if not two, World Wars. Many children were brought up, not by their parents but by relatives or acquaintances and/or left home very young to ‘go into service’ or start work. A few interviewees had wealthy relatives with nannies and governesses and attended expensive boarding schools but by far the most frequent accounts were of poverty, often severe, with related lack of education and illiteracy, alcoholism and violence, alongside devastating effects of the World Wars. Conclusions: Although the interviews focussed on stresses in childhood and therefore the accounts seemed somewhat negative, many interviewees described their relatives as having secure, stable childhoods. Of the many struggling families though, the predominant impression was their remarkable resilience; all went on to have children or grandchildren who are stable enough to participate for three decades, entirely altruistically, in ALSPAC.https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/6-115/v2ALSPAC Family History Childhood Stress Transgenerational Inheritance Grandparents Great-grandparentseng |
| spellingShingle | Jean Golding Karen Birmingham Yasmin Iles-Caven ALSPAC parents’ descriptions of childhood stresses in their parents and grandparents [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] Wellcome Open Research ALSPAC Family History Childhood Stress Transgenerational Inheritance Grandparents Great-grandparents eng |
| title | ALSPAC parents’ descriptions of childhood stresses in their parents and grandparents [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_full | ALSPAC parents’ descriptions of childhood stresses in their parents and grandparents [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_fullStr | ALSPAC parents’ descriptions of childhood stresses in their parents and grandparents [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_full_unstemmed | ALSPAC parents’ descriptions of childhood stresses in their parents and grandparents [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_short | ALSPAC parents’ descriptions of childhood stresses in their parents and grandparents [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_sort | alspac parents descriptions of childhood stresses in their parents and grandparents version 2 peer review 2 approved |
| topic | ALSPAC Family History Childhood Stress Transgenerational Inheritance Grandparents Great-grandparents eng |
| url | https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/6-115/v2 |
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