Rates of anxiety, depression and other mental health issues have risen sharply in recent years, while smartphones and social media platforms have made exposure to distressing events and traumatic experiences almost constant. Experts have long warned about the potential impact on well-being, but new research suggests that a person's genes could help explain why some individuals develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after trauma while others remain "resilient," a finding that could one day improve prevention, care and treatment. The study, led by researchers at King's College London, has found that genetic factors may influence how strongly people respond to different types of trauma, particularly experiences that occur during childhood.
The findings suggest that some genes may increase vulnerability to PTSD following certain traumatic events, although experts stress that genetics alone cannot predict who will develop the condition. "We know people differ in their response to trauma with the most common response being resilience," Dr. Jonathan Coleman, senior lecturer in statistical genetics at King's and the study's senior author, told Newsweek.
"This suggests vulnerability differs between people, and one potential source of that difference is genetics, alongside social support, life experiences, and other non-genetic factors." Coleman said previous research had identified DNA changes that appear more frequently in people with PTSD, but the new study goes further. "It shows the effect of some of those genetic changes seem to be stronger in people who have experienced particular traumatic events," he said. "Right now, the results from our research are a starting point, but knowing who's most at risk is important, and combining insights from genetics and trauma research could really help us to improve how we deliver care to those who need it in the future." PTSD can develop after exposure to traumatic events, but not everyone who experiences trauma goes on to develop the disorder.
Symptoms commonly include flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive thoughts, avoidance of reminders associated with the event, and ongoing feelings of stress, panic or fear. Researchers have long understood that both environmental and genetic factors play a role in determining risk. However, less clear has been whether different kinds of traumatic experiences interact with genetic risk in different ways.
The study, published in the European Journal of Psychotraumatology, sought to answer that question by examining gene-environment interactions across a wide range of potentially traumatic experiences. The researchers analyzed mental health and genetic data from 144,702 participants drawn from the U.K. Biobank and three National Institute for Health and Care Research studies.
Participants completed assessments of PTSD symptoms and reported whether they had experienced 11 different forms of trauma during childhood and adulthood. The childhood experiences included emotional abuse, emotional neglect, physical abuse, physical neglect and sexual abuse. Adult traumas included serious accidents, serious illness, sexual assault, violent crime, exposure to war, and witnessing death.
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