Maternal childhood adversity and offspring epigenetic aging: a scoping review of four studies
A scoping review of four studies reports that maternal adverse childhood experiences were associated with faster epigenetic aging in offspring, but only under certain conditions, depending on the clock used, the child's age, sex and maternal race. The field is described as young and heterogeneous. [1]
Automatic summary · not editorially reviewed
The key findings
Adverse childhood experiences are traumatic events before age 18 and can be transmitted across generations. [1]
Four English-language databases were searched for studies published from 1995 to 2026, and four studies were included. [1]
Maternal adverse childhood experiences were associated with offspring epigenetic age acceleration, but the association was highly conditional. [1]
The source at a glance
- Study type / format
- Scoping review of four studies, synthesizing findings with content analysis.
- Population / context
- Mother–child pairs in the four included studies; the abstract does not report their number or settings.
- Summary based on
- Study abstract
- Publication status
- Preprint · peer-review status not confirmed
- Original publication
- October 20, 2026
Maternal childhood adversity and epigenetic clocks in offspring
Adverse childhood experiences are traumatic events before age 18. The review notes they are common and can be passed across generations. Some recent studies suggest that parental experiences of this kind are linked to epigenetic aging in their children. Epigenetic aging here means biological age estimated from chemical marks on DNA, often called epigenetic clocks. The review asked whether maternal adverse childhood experiences are associated with offspring epigenetic aging.
Supporting source [1]
Search of four databases for maternal adversity studies
The authors searched four English-language databases for studies published from 1995 to 2026 on maternal adverse childhood experiences and offspring epigenetic aging. Two reviewers independently screened titles, abstracts and full texts. The findings of the included studies were combined using content analysis. Four studies met the criteria and were included.
Supporting source [1]
Conditional links, strongest for Horvath and Bohlin clocks
Maternal adverse childhood experiences were associated with accelerated epigenetic aging in the children, but the association depended heavily on the epigenetic clock used, the child's age, sex and maternal race. Positive findings were most consistent for the Horvath clock in childhood and the Bohlin clock in male newborns. Sex and race were key moderators, and restless sleep during pregnancy acted as a second hit. The authors call the evidence young, with high heterogeneity, and ask for large prospective diverse cohort studies using standardized clocks. These are associations, not proof of cause.
Supporting source [1]
How to interpret this
Abstract only; the full text was not reviewed. Only four studies were included, and the authors describe high heterogeneity and a nascent field. Findings are associations, not causes.
Based on the study abstract; the full paper, tables and supplementary data were not reviewed.
Source & supporting passages
Ni J, Xu Z, Wei R, Cao Y, Chen T, Zhang F. · europepmc.org · October 20, 2026