Online Lecture 4: Intergenerational transmission of health and behaviors
2024-11-08 14:00 - 16:00 (Europe/Paris) | Teams
Lecturer: Dr. Emre Sari, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre

Content of the lecture/ workshop: This lecture presents the complex mechanisms of nature and nurture in persisting health and health behaviors across multiple generations: how health and related behaviors are passed on between generations, emphasizing their historical context. It will illustrate both social and biological pathways, including genetic inheritance and epigenetic modifications, as well as the influence of parental behaviors, socioeconomic status, and cultural practices on the health outcomes of the offspring. This lecture will exemplify research findings on how early life experiences health, nutritional status during childhood, and adverse experiences in childhood health over successive generations across different historical periods, including the effects of pandemics, famines, and wars. The lecture also discusses how public policy can mitigate or worsen these intergenerational effects.

Objectives of the lecture/ workshop:

To explore the historical impacts of major events and social changes on the health of successive generations.
To understand some basic mechanisms underlying the intergenerational transmission of health and behavior.
To introduce the necessity of using historical, individual-level datasets and discuss potential methodological approaches for studying intergenerational health transmission over time.

Requirements: Active participation.

Recommended reading:

Cook, C. J., Fletcher, J. M., & Forgues, A. (2019). Multigenerational Effects of Early-Life Health Shocks. Demography, 56(5), 1855–1874. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-019-00804-3
Lee, C. (2014). Intergenerational health consequences of in utero exposure to maternal stress: Evidence from the 1980 Kwangju uprising. Social Science and Medicine, 119, 284–291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.07.001
Lindeboom, M., Portrait, F., & van den Berg, G. J. (2010). Long-run effects on longevity of a nutritional shock early in life: The Dutch Potato famine of 1846-1847. Journal of Health Economics, 29(5), 617–629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2010.06.001
Sadruddin, A. F. A., Ponguta, L. A., Zonderman, A. L., Wiley, K. S., Grimshaw, A., & Panter-Brick, C. (2019). How do grandparents influence child health and development? A systematic review. Social Science & Medicine, 239, 112476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112476
Sari, E. (2023b). Multigenerational Health Perspectives: The Role of Grandparents’ Influence in Grandchildren’s Wellbeing. International Journal of Public Health, 68, 1606292. https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2023.1606292
Sari, E., Moilanen, M., & Lindeboom, M. (2023). Role of grandparents in risky health behavior transmission: A study on smoking behavior in Norway. Social Science & Medicine, 338, 116339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116339
Sari, E., Moilanen, M., & Sommerseth, H. L. (2021). Transgenerational Health Effects of In Utero Exposure to Economic Hardship: Evidence from Preindustrial Southern Norway. Economics & Human Biology, 43(C), 101060. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.EHB.2021.101060
Serpeloni, F., Radtke, K., de Assis, S. G., Henning, F., Nätt, D., & Elbert, T. (2017). Grandmaternal stress during pregnancy and DNA methylation of the third generation: An epigenome-wide association study. Translational Psychiatry, 7(8), e1202. https://doi.org/10.1038/tp.2017.153
Skinner, M. K., Manikkam, M., & Guerrero-Bosagna, C. (2010). Epigenetic transgenerational actions of environmental factors in disease etiology. Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, 21(4), 214–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tem.2009.12.007
van den Berg, G. J., & Pinger, P. R. (2016). Transgenerational effects of childhood conditions on third generation health and education outcomes. Economics and Human Biology, 23, 103–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2016.07.001

You can download the presentation by Emre Sari in .pdf

Online Lecture 5: Medical perspectives
2024-11-22 14:00 - 16:00
Lecturer: Prof. Oonagh Walsh, Glasgow Caledonian University (ZOOM)
Content of the lecture/ workshop: This lecture uses a history of Irish mental health to help students understand the impact that chronic mental ill-health can have on mortality rates. It discusses epigenetic change as a factor in establishing specific patterns of mental and physical ill-health that may shorten life spans, and draws upon longitudinal studies from the Netherlands, Sweden, and the Holocaust as examples.
Objectives of the lecture/ workshop: To help students to understand the impact of traumatic events such as famine and warfare on vulnerable populations. The physical and psychological stresses on the developing foetus, and the potential for transgenerational trauma transmission that may shorten life expectancy, will be discussed.
Requirements: It is advisable to review the articles to facilitate an informed discussion during class.
Recommended reading:

Oonagh Walsh, ‘Nature or Nurture: Epigenetic Change and the Great Famine in Ireland’ in Christine Kinealy, Ciaran Reilly and Jason King (eds) Women and the Great Hunger (Quinnipiac University Press, 2016).
Schulz, Laura ‘The Dutch Hunger Winter and the developmental origins of health and disease’ in PNAS 107 (39) 16757-16758: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1012911107
Kellermann NP. Epigenetic transmission of Holocaust trauma: can nightmares be inherited? Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci. 2013;50(1):33-9. PMID: 24029109: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256539887_Epigenetic_Transmission_of_Holocaust_Trauma_Can_Nightmares_Be_Inherited
Drew, LRH. ‘Mortality and Mental Illness’ in Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 2005;39(3):194-197.

Optional reading:

Tyerman, Zachary et al , ‘History of Serious Mental Illness Is a Predictor of Morbidity and Mortality in Cardiac Surgery’ in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Volume 111, Issue 1, 109 – 116
Lawrence, D. ‘Excess mortality, mental illness and global burden of disease’ in Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci 2015 Apr;24(2):141-3.
Susan Finnerty, ‘Physical Health of People with Severe Mental Illness’ (Dublin: Mental Health Commission), https://www.mhcirl.ie/sites/default/files/2020-12/MHC_PhysicalHealthReport.pdf
Walker ER, McGee RE, Druss BG. ‘Mortality in mental disorders and global disease burden implications: a systematic review and meta-analysis’ in JAMA Psychiatry, 2015 Apr;72(4):334-41.
Richardson C, Robson A, Sood L, Ferrier IN, Owen A. ‘Mortality in the Victorian asylum: was it so high? Standardised Mortality Rate compared with historical methods’ in History of Psychiatry, 2024;0(0).
T Roseboom, S de Rooij, R Painter, The Dutch famine and its long-term consequences for adult health. Early Hum Dev 82, 485–491 (2006).
Ahmed, F. Epigenetics: Tales of adversity. Nature 468, S20 (2010).
Kelly, B.D., Intellectual disability, mental illness and offending behaviour: Forensic cases from early twentieth-century Ireland, Irish Journal of Medical Science, 179, (3), 2010, p409-416

You can download the presentation slides by Prof. Oonagh Walsh in PDF here.
