title: Adverse childhood experiences of persons at risk for Huntington's disease or BRCA1/2 hereditary breast/ovarian cancer.
abstract: Huntington's disease (HD) is known to have a negative impact on family life. Offspring of HD patients may be exposed to adversity in childhood because of the parent's disease and its psychological consequences. BRCA1/2 hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (BRCA1/2) increases the risk for offspring of being exposed to parental disease or loss. Childhood adversity is associated with psychopathology and various other problems in later life. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) before age 16 were assessed in adults at 50% risk for HD (n = 74) or BRCA1/2 (n = 82) and in controls (n = 101), using the Negative Life Events Scale. Mean number and occurrence of ACEs were compared between groups. The odds of having experienced adversity in childhood were higher in HD offspring and BRCA1/2 offspring than in controls. HD offspring reported a higher mean number of ACEs than controls or BRCA1/2 offspring. In HD offspring, the prevalence of parental disease and parental dysfunction experienced before age 16 was higher than in controls. In BRCA1/2 offspring, the prevalence of parental loss before age 16 was higher than in controls. This study indicates that 53% of HD offspring and 45% of BRCA1/2 offspring are exposed to adversity in childhood or adolescence. The relevance of these findings for counseling in predictive testing programs, reproductive decision-making, and child rearing matters is discussed.
authors: Center for Human and Clinical Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. l.b.van_der_meer@lumc.nl
authors: L B
authors: LB
authors: van der Meer
authors: E
authors: E
authors: van Duijn
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Wolterbeek
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Tibben
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019313:BRCA1 Protein / Q000235:genetics; D024682:BRCA2 Protein / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D061325:Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D008016:Life Change Events; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019313:BRCA1 Protein; C492913:BRCA1 protein, human; D024682:BRCA2 Protein; C551750:BRCA2 protein, human