Talk:Transgenerational trauma

Ideological bias, pseudoscientific claims

This page has multiple issues, as has been discussed in several sections above. I've added some template messages until someone more qualified than me can take a look at it.

In particular the epigenetics claims are not well sourced and seem unscientific, as do the purported treatments such as dance and music therapy. The topic in general also very vague, and it's unclear how "trauma" is defined in any non-vacuous way. (i.e. can you point to any group of humans that does not carry "intergenerational trauma"? How is "trauma" distinct from general culture?)

I'm also concerned at how many times this has been assigned as a "class project". I worry that a specific teacher or teachers may have an ideological motive and be assigning students to make edits with a particular agenda in return for class credit. KingSupernova (talk) 04:39, 29 December 2023 (UTC)

I can't speak to the latter, but maybe we should start by taking a look at the dance therapy journal sources. I pulled them up to start reading them and evaluate what they say. Andre🚐 04:41, 29 December 2023 (UTC)

Perhaps change the first sentence to: "Transgenerational trauma is a pseudo-scientific theory regarding the psychological and physiological effects that the trauma experienced by people has on subsequent generations in that group." Magnolia677 (talk) 11:10, 29 December 2023 (UTC)

No, that wouldn't be accurate. Epigenetics are a real thing, scientifically - do you have a source for the opposite? To be clear, epigenetics involve the flipping of the way your body reads DNA, but does not "change" your DNA, and they are heritable somehow. It's new research.Andre🚐 11:18, 29 December 2023 (UTC)

Epigenetics are indeed a thing, that doesn't mean that epigenetic "memories" are inherited. Zenomonoz (talk) 11:30, 9 April 2024 (UTC)

I wonder if some conflation of sources is going on here. Intergenerational trauma redirects here but the expression refers to rather established and mainstream psychological research, see for example

• Sangalang, Cindy C.; Vang, Cindy (2017). "Intergenerational Trauma in Refugee Families: A Systematic Review". Journal of immigrant and minority health. doi:10.1007/s10903-016-0499-7. PMC 5362358.

(This review explicitly excludes all the epigenetic stuff: «We excluded studies that were (a) theoretical or conceptual in nature, in which no direct information was collected from individuals or groups; (b) based on non-refugee populations (e.g. military veterans); (c) focused on biological or epigenetic transmission of trauma; (d) based on clinical case studies or samples of n < 10; or (e) centered around trauma experiences that did not take place in the context of war or conflict».)

Perhaps it would be better to cut down the text with inadequate sources, move the article to Intergenerational trauma and then mention "transgenerational trauma" as one expression mostly linked to some pseudo-scientific strains? Nemo 06:04, 2 September 2024 (UTC)

There is a lot of confusion here. Some sociological fields use the terms 'intergenerational' and 'transgenerational' trauma to refer to non-biological transmission of "trauma" to children. Other researchers then used that same term to refer to some magical biological inheritance of 'trauma' via epigenetics, which still has no basis in reality. This distinction needs to be made clear. I imagine most visitors to the page come here after reading about epigenetic inheritance, so it would be good to clarify most of this page is about theories of social transmission. Zenomonoz (talk) 01:41, 7 September 2024 (UTC)

Sorry, just to be clear, the epigenetic mechanisms of inheritance are new science but are not magical. "Increasing evidence indicates that non-DNA sequence-based epigenetic information can be inherited across several generations in organisms ranging from yeast to plants to humans. This raises the possibility of heritable ‘epimutations’ contributing to heritable phenotypic variation and thus to evolution" Andre🚐 01:44, 7 September 2024 (UTC)

This article has no section about people disputing the claims about "transgenerational trauma", only a question about epigentics. The many college students who were assigned to work on this article will all conclude that "transgenerational trauma" and all it's attached academic trappings are well established facts. Pete unseth (talk) 00:14, 12 April 2025 (UTC)

Transgenerational Trauma

Can someone please include Native American people of the US? It is wonderful to list all the different groups- and it makes me very sad to notice that by pointing out natives of Canada- the group originating in the territory that now forms the US has been excluded. 2600:1700:A7A6:A000:5487:6DB1:3769:AEB5 (talk) 20:39, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Wiki education courses aren't accredited I can only assume

This article has a litany of issues, but the main one seems to be the blending of papers demonstrating no causative effect from epigenetic changes on stress and disorders with papers asserting these epigenetic changes being agents of stress is "proven". I'm inclined to favour the anti-Lysenkoist papers but first they need to be read. In the meantime much of the text in this article should be removed, seeing as it deals with a purportedly genetic medical condition while citing sources which do not meet WP:MEDRS. XeCyranium (talk) 03:32, 9 May 2024 (UTC)

Trim it away! Primary source studies shouldn't be cited, especially on a topic as controversial as this. I will say, the article is confusing a couple of different things. Some of the papers on epigenetics are referring to epigenetic effects in utero and socially (which is sort of a meme social scientist interpretation of how epigenetics works), while others refer the even more ridiculous concept of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance of trauma... Zenomonoz (talk) 05:55, 9 May 2024 (UTC)

That is an entirely real and not ridiculous concept. 2600:4041:5244:B800:18A4:1F12:2966:381F (talk) 15:18, 23 May 2024 (UTC)

Should article be deleted?

Is this page necessary? It seems to me like it could be worth deleting. 2600:8806:6502:D300:DD55:D277:371C:8F3E (talk) 23:58, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

transgenerational effects are mediated by epigenetic mechanisms, including changes in DNA methylation and small non-coding RNAs in the sperm

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29520039/ 2600:4041:5244:B800:18A4:1F12:2966:381F (talk) 15:15, 23 May 2024 (UTC)

Possible to add lede about Polish people?

I remember reading either a book mentioning specific generation of Polish people born between 1920s and 1930s, grewing up under German and then Stalinist repression, theres a term for it and a whole explanation on why the generation experienced trauma but i dont know if its good enough to include Benfor445 (talk) 12:52, 31 August 2024 (UTC)

Second-generation Holocaust Syndrome

I just found this article, after drafting a proposed new article on children of Holocaust survivors. I wonder if my article should be added to this one, instead of standing alone. Draft:Second-generation Holocaust Syndrome Mevsherd (talk) 00:28, 14 May 2026 (UTC)

I saw your post on the Help Desk and followed the links here. My opinions: (1) I'm not sure what needs changed in your draft for it to be accepted (I've only authored two articles myself, and didn't run into a rejection); (2) Holocaust generational trauma certainly is noteworthy enough to merit its own article along with "See Also" links pointing to it from this article and Holocaust; (3) if the standalone article continues to be rejected, then adding material to "Affected Groups" makes sense. Unfortunately, this article does not seem particularly active so I'm not certain how soon you'll get a response from an active editor here. Jtrevor99 (talk) 18:24, 14 May 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for the comment. It seems noteworthy enough, and this article is already a bit sprawling. I think there would typically be a "See also" link, rather than trying to go in depth on indigenous and Holocausr-survivor trauma in one article. Mevsherd (talk) 13:24, 15 May 2026 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Humanities 2013

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 2 June 2026 and 23 July 2026. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Lynne1021 (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Chelseabrooks213.

— Assignment last updated by DrBRCC (talk) 00:35, 14 July 2026 (UTC)