Resilience affects whether childhood trauma results in harmful gene response
Previous research has shown that chronic exposure to trauma is associated with an increase in pro-inflammatory gene expression and a decrease in antibodies and antiviral responses in immune cells. Those molecular responses have been linked to cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, infections and mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression. Brandon Kohrt, M.D., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and global health at Duke, and colleagues conducted a five-year longitudinal study of former child soldiers exposed to the trauma of a decade-long civil war in Nepal. The findings were published during the week of July 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . "This study has important implications for responding to young people exposed to war, terrorism and natural disasters," Kohrt said. The researchers focused on 154 former child soldiers and 136 youths who experienced the war as civilians. They were evaluated using the Child PTSD (post-tra...