Child Abuse Impacts How Children's Genes are Activated

Child abuse may not just impact a person emotionally; it may also influence their genes. Scientists have found that maltreatment can actually affect the way genes are activated, which could have implications for a child's long-term development.

Previous studies have shown that children who have experienced abuse are more likely to develop mood, anxiety, and aggressive disorders. In addition, they often have more difficulty when it comes to regulating their emotions. These problems can disrupt relationships and affect school performance. Yet scientists weren't sure whether this was simply mental or if actual genes were being affected.

The researchers examined DNA methylation in the blood of 56 children between the ages of 11 or 14. DNA methylation is one of several biochemical mechanisms that cells use to control whether genes are turned on or off. About half of these children examined had been abused.

In comparison to the children who hadn't been maltreated, the abused children had increased methylation on several sites of the glucocorticoid receptor gene, which is also known as NR3C1.

"This link between early life stress and changes in genes may uncover how early childhood experiences get under the skin and confer lifelong risk," said Seth Pollak, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Our finding that children who were physically maltreated display a specific change to the glucocorticoid receptor gene could explain why abused children have more emotional difficulties as they age."

The findings are important for understanding how abuse can impact a child later in life. In addition, the study could have implications for designing more effective interventions for children that have been abused. That said, researchers need to conduct further studies in order to determine whether the effects of poor parenting on gene methylation can be reversible.

The findings are published in the journal Child Development.