Stress is very harmful. It makes a person helpless and brings worries and sufferings followed by many diseases. It creates fear in mind and invites depression. It also spoils the creativity. Moreover, stress results in giving untold miseries. Especially for children stress is very destructive. It hampers their studies and pulls them downward. They struggle to concentrate on their studies and always remain absent minded. Furthermore they fail to excel in their classes.
The general belief regarding stress is that it is situational and is largely due to the unhealthy environment in which the child lives. But a recent study has proved that parental stress leaves lasting marks on children. Researchers at the University of British Columbia and the Child & Family Research Institute have shown that parental stress during their children’s early years can leave an imprint on their sons’ or daughters’ genes. It lasts into adolescence and may affect how these genes are expressed later in life. The study focuses on epigenetics - the expression of genes as opposed to the underlying sequence of DNA. A central component of epigenetics is methylation, in which a chemical group attaches to parts of the DNA - a process that acts like a dimmer on gene function in response to social and physical environments.
Researchers measured the methylation patterns in cheek cell DNA collected from more than 100 adolescents. Earlier these patterns were compared to them when they were infants and toddlers, and their parents were asked to report on their stress levels- including depression, family-expressed anger, parenting stress and financial stress.
Comparing DNA methylation to stress, researchers found that higher stress levels reported by mothers during their child’s first year correlated with stress in adolescents. They also discovered stress that correlated with fathers’ higher reported stress during their child’s pre-school years. The team also found that fathers’ stress level is more strongly associated with daughters, while mothers’ stress level has an effect with both boys and girls.