Childhood maltreatment and DNA methylation: A systematic review

Mackenzie Rubens; Dagmar Bruenig; Jessica A M Adams; Shruthi M Suresh; Anita Sathyanarayanan; Divna Haslam; Chad E Shenk; Ben Mathews; Divya Mehta

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105079

Childhood maltreatment and DNA methylation: A systematic review

Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2023 Apr:147:105079. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105079. Epub 2023 Feb 9.

Authors

Mackenzie Rubens¹, Dagmar Bruenig¹, Jessica A M Adams¹, Shruthi M Suresh¹, Anita Sathyanarayanan¹, Divna Haslam², Chad E Shenk³, Ben Mathews⁴, Divya Mehta⁵

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kelvin Grove, Queensland 4059, Australia; School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kelvin Grove, Queensland 4059, Australia.
² Australian Centre for Health Law Research, School of Law, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia; Parenting and Family Support Centre, University of Queensland, Australia.
³ Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, USA; Department of Pediatrics, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, USA.
⁴ Australian Centre for Health Law Research, School of Law, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia; Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, USA.
⁵ Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kelvin Grove, Queensland 4059, Australia; School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kelvin Grove, Queensland 4059, Australia. Electronic address: divya.mehta@qut.edu.au.

PMID: 36764637
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105079

Abstract

Child maltreatment (CM) encompasses sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and exposure to domestic and family violence. Epigenetic research investigating CM has focused on differential DNA methylation (DNAm) in genes associated with the stress response, but there has been limited evaluation of the specific effects of subtypes of CM. This systematic review of literature investigating DNAm associated with CM in non-clinical populations aimed to summarise the approaches currently used in research, how the type of maltreatment and age of exposure were encoded via methylation, and which genes have consistently been associated with CM. A total of fifty-four papers were eligible for review, including forty-one candidate gene studies, eight epigenome-wide association studies, and five studies with a mixed design. The ways in which the various forms of CM were conceptualised and measured varied between papers. Future studies would benefit from assessments that employ conceptually robust definitions of CM, and that capture important contextual information such as age of exposure and subtype of CM.

Keywords: Child abuse; Child maltreatment; DNA methylation; Epigenetics.

Publication types

Systematic Review
Review

MeSH terms

Child
Child Abuse* / psychology
DNA Methylation*
Humans