Mental illness associated with early childhood adversity may be passed from one generation to another, according to a study of adults whose parents evacuated Finland as children during World War II. Researchers found that daughters of female evacuees had the same high risk for mental health disorders as their mothers, even though they did not experience the same adversity. The study by researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden and Helsinki University in Finland could not determine why the higher risk for mental illness persisted across generations. In addition to separation from their families, the children faced the stresses of adapting to their foster families, and in many cases, learning a new language. The researchers compared the risk of being hospitalised for a psychiatric (mental health) disorder among offspring of the evacuees to the risks of psychiatric hospitalisation among the offspring of the siblings who remained with their parents.

Source: Hindustan Times December 01, 2017 03:45 UTC