Ingabire Marie C, Caparos Serge, Rutembesa Eugène, Blanchette Isabelle
Département de Psychologie, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada.
Département de Psychologie, Université Paris 8, Paris, France.
S Afr J Psychiatr. 2025 May 15;31:2410. doi: 10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v31i0.2410. eCollection 2025.
Most studies on the influence of mothers' trauma-related psychopathology on their offspring's hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning have been conducted in Western contexts. Furthermore, those studies have focused on the association between mothers' post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and their offspring's HPA axis functioning. More research is needed among African populations exposed to mass violence to mitigate the intergenerational transmission of trauma.
To investigate the link between mothers' PTSD and depression and their offspring's basal cortisol level.
This cross-sectional study was conducted in two provinces of Rwanda (Kigali City and the Southern Province) among families of survivors of the 1994 genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi.
A total of 45 dyads of mothers and their adult offspring were recruited. They answered questionnaires that measured sociodemographic characteristics, trauma exposure, PTSD and depression symptoms. Participants also provided saliva samples for cortisol extraction.
Mothers' depression was negatively associated with their offspring's overall basal cortisol level. There was no link between mothers' PTSD and their offspring's overall basal cortisol level. The relationship between the offspring's overall basal cortisol level and their own psychopathology was not significant.
These preliminary findings showed an HPA axis disruption among offspring of mass violence-exposed and depressed mothers.
This study contributes to the literature by showing that depression is a relevant correlate of neuroendocrine functioning and should be investigated more consistently in research on the intergenerational consequences of trauma exposure.
大多数关于母亲创伤相关精神病理学对其后代下丘脑 - 垂体 - 肾上腺（HPA）轴功能影响的研究都是在西方背景下进行的。此外，这些研究主要关注母亲的创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）与其后代HPA轴功能之间的关联。在经历大规模暴力的非洲人群中，需要更多研究来减轻创伤的代际传播。
调查母亲的创伤后应激障碍和抑郁症与其后代基础皮质醇水平之间的联系。
这项横断面研究在卢旺达的两个省份（基加利市和南部省份）针对1994年针对图西族的种族灭绝幸存者家庭开展。
共招募了45对母亲及其成年后代。他们回答了测量社会人口统计学特征、创伤暴露、创伤后应激障碍和抑郁症状的问卷。参与者还提供了唾液样本用于提取皮质醇。
母亲的抑郁症与其后代的总体基础皮质醇水平呈负相关。母亲的创伤后应激障碍与其后代的总体基础皮质醇水平之间没有联系。后代的总体基础皮质醇水平与其自身精神病理学之间的关系不显著。
这些初步研究结果表明，在经历大规模暴力且患有抑郁症的母亲的后代中存在HPA轴功能紊乱。
本研究通过表明抑郁症是神经内分泌功能的一个相关因素，为该文献做出了贡献，并且在创伤暴露的代际后果研究中应更持续地对其进行调查。
