Yikes! This isn't fair that your stressful life affects your kids long-term. It certainly makes the case for expectant mothers to focus on managing their stress just the same as emphasizing cutting out smoking, drinking (or only minimally drinking), etc. is done for an optimal chance of a healthy pregnancy outcome.
Stressed-out parents make lasting impressions on their kids, according to a new study that finds the negative experience causes changes to a child's genes that are still present in their teenage years.
The finding reveals a mechanism by which childhood experiences impact a person's biology, the researchers said.
"This is very exciting, because we've shown that day-to-day stress in early childhood can predict changes in DNA that can be observed in adolescence," said study researcher Marilyn Essex, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin's School of Medicine and Public Health. "It's further proof of the importance of those early years and the lasting effects of children's family environments during infancy and preschool."
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
