Source: UOC
In
2021 alone, it is estimated that one billion children around the world
experienced some kind of violence or neglect, ranging from sexual to
physical or emotional abuse. Such experiences during childhood represent
a significant risk to children’s physical and mental health and shorten
their life expectancy.
In
this regard, an international study in which the UOC has participated
provides, for the first time, scientific evidence showing that carrying
out a mindfulness-type meditation intervention, in combination with
artistic expression activities and psychological therapy for trauma, is
beneficial for adolescents who have suffered from traumatic experiences.
The results of this work, published on an open-source basis in Scientific Reports,
show that this approach gives rise to epigenetic changes in
trauma-sensitive biological pathways associated with a significant
reduction in post-traumatic stress symptoms.
Given
the risk of intergenerational transmission of abusive and cruel
behavior, these results could represent a way of interrupting
intergenerational cycles of suffering.
“Our
study provides, for the first time, scientific evidence that this kind
of intervention works,” said the study’s main author, Perla Kaliman, a
course instructor for the Master’s Degree in Nutrition and Health from
the UOC’s Faculty of Health Sciences and researcher at the Center for
Healthy Minds.
For
this reason, she continued, “we hope that our results help foster
public health policies aimed at lessening both children’s suffering and
risk factors for their health.”
The long-term risks of adverse childhood experiences
Experiencing
violence or neglect during early childhood and adolescence is
associated with the acquisition of markers at an epigenetic level that
affects people’s physical and mental health, with long-term
consequences.
Children
experiencing four or more ACEs (physical, emotional or sexual abuse,
physical or emotional neglect, or growing up in a dysfunctional home
with parents with mental illnesses, addictions, alcoholism, violence,
incarcerated family members or with their biological parents separated)
have an increased risk of developing diseases such as type 2 diabetes,
heart problems, obesity, cancer, respiratory and mental illnesses, as
well as a greater likelihood of drug and alcohol abuse.
ACEs
also increase the likelihood of being more vulnerable to stress, having
inflammatory responses and risky behavior. It has also been seen how
these epigenetic changes speed up the biological aging process and can
be passed down from parents to children over a number of generations.
This
study, a collaboration between the UOC researcher Perla Kaliman, the
Colombian NGO Innocence in Danger Colombia, headed by Susana Roque, the
psychiatrist Elkin Llanes Anaya of the University of Santander
(Colombia) and the Center for Healthy Minds, headed by Richard Davidson,
was based on a sample of 44 girls aged between 13 and 16 who had
suffered from four or more ACEs and who were living in children’s homes.
“When
someone lives through this level of cumulative adverse experiences,
they’re 14 times more at risk of suicide, 11 times more likely to take
intravenous drugs, more than four times more at risk of depression and
of behaving riskily, not to mention it being associated with more than
40 health conditions. These kinds of experiences are the greatest threat
to public health at a global level that remains undertreated,” said
Kaliman.
Yoga + meditation + artistic expression
They
divided the girls into two groups: the first one continued with their
normal activities. The second group, though, took part in a one-week
multimodal therapy program organized by Susana Roque López and including
30-minute yoga sessions, guided mindfulness meditation practices and
artistic expression activities such as dance, music, drawing and
theater.
Over
the last two days, the girls underwent group sessions of a kind of
psychological therapy called EMDR, involving the desensitization and
reprocessing of trauma. Researchers took samples of participants’ saliva
before and after the intervention, from which their DNA was isolated to
carry out the epigenetic analyses.
In
their initial work, the researchers showed how following this program
led to a substantial reduction in the risk of suffering from
trauma-related mental health problems.
Now,
in this recently-published follow-on study, they have seen how
epigenetic changes arise in some genes associated with the effects of
trauma, such as vulnerability to stress, inflammatory responses and a
propensity for risky behavior. The scientists found hundreds of
epigenetic changes associated with improved mental health in response to
the program.
“We’ve
seen a highly significant reduction in the scores from post-traumatic
stress surveys, below the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress. And these
benefits have lasted for at least two months after completing the
program,” said Kaliman, explaining that the reduction in stress through
meditation and the artistic activities triggered a cascade of
neurotransmitters and hormones that act on the brain and modify gene and
epigenetic expression.
The
authors believe that this kind of program can help regulate emotions
more effectively and foster resilience in those affected by childhood
trauma.
About this psychology and trauma research news
Author: Press Office
Source: UOC
Contact: Press Office – UOC
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Open access.
“Epigenetic impact of a 1-week intensive multimodal group program for adolescents with multiple adverse childhood experiences” by Perla Kaliman et al. Scientific Reports
