Specific stressors such as child abuse and nonspecific stressors such as low socioeconomic status (SES) have both been implicated in the risk for mental illness. Lower SES has been linked with elevated risk of depression, anxiety, and addiction, as well as poorer general health. These associations could be driven by a variety of factors, including higher stress levels, poor housing quality, and exposure to violence.
A growing body of research shows that epigenetic modification may be one mechanism by which adverse experience influences the risk for mental illness. “Generally, relatively increased DNA methylation of gene promoters, which is most often associated with decreased gene expression, has been associated with exposure” to stressors, wrote the authors of a new study.
[For more of this story, written by Tori Rodriguez, go to http://www.psychiatryadvisor.c...sion/article/504151/]
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