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1. Severe drought exposure in utero associates to children’s epigenetic age acceleration in a global climate change hot spot

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-48426-7  

   Qiao, Xi; Straight, Bilinda; Ngo, Duy; Hilton, Charles E; Owuor_Olungah, Charles; Naugle, Amy; Lalancette, Claudia; Needham, Belinda L (May 2024, Nature Communications)

   Abstract The goal of this study is to examine the association between in utero drought exposure and epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) in a global climate change hot spot. Calculations of EAA in adults using DNA methylation have been found to accurately predict chronic disease and longevity. However, fewer studies have examined EAA in children, and drought exposure in utero has not been investigated. Additionally, studies of EAA in low-income countries with diverse populations are rare. We assess EAA using epigenetic clocks and two DNAm-based pace-of-aging measurements from whole saliva samples in 104 drought-exposed children and 109 same-sex sibling controls in northern Kenya. We find a positive association between in utero drought exposure and EAA in two epigenetic clocks (Hannum’s and GrimAge) and a negative association in the DNAm based telomere length (DNAmTL) clock. The combined impact of drought’s multiple deleterious stressors may reduce overall life expectancy through accelerated epigenetic aging. 

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2. Epigenetic signatures of intergenerational exposure to violence in three generations of Syrian refugees

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-89818-z  

   Mulligan, Connie J; Quinn, Edward B; Hamadmad, Dima; Dutton, Christopher L; Nevell, Lisa; Binder, Alexandra M; Panter-Brick, Catherine; Dajani, Rana (February 2026, Scientific Reports)

   Maternal trauma influences infant and adult health outcomes and may impact future generations through epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation (DNAm). Research in humans on the intergenerational epigenetic transmission of trauma effects is limited. In this study, we assessed DNAm signatures of war-related violence by comparing germline, prenatal, and direct exposures to violence across three generations of Syrian refugees. We compared families in which a pregnant grandmother versus a pregnant mother was exposed to violence and included a control group with no exposure to war. We collected buccal swab samples and survey data from mothers and 1-2 children in each of 48 families (n = 131 participants). Based on an epigenome-wide association study (EWAS), we identified differentially methylated regions (DMPs): 14 were associated with germline and 21 with direct exposure to violence. Most DMPs showed the same directionality in DNAm change across germline, prenatal, and direct exposures, suggesting a common epigenetic response to violence. Additionally, we identified epigenetic age acceleration in association with prenatal exposure to violence in children, highlighting the critical period of in utero development. This is the first report of an intergenerational epigenetic signature of violence, which has important implications for understanding the inheritance of trauma. 

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3. Floods and Children’s Education in Rural India

   https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2024.10.1.10  

   Khalid, Nazar; Behrman, Jere; Hannum, Emily; Thapa, Amrit (January 2024, RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences)

   Floods cause extensive damage in high-income countries, including the United States, but problems are more severe in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that lack preventative and mitigating infrastructure. Marginalized children’s education in LMICs might be particularly vulnerable. Using the Indian Human Development Survey, we investigate flood exposure implications for the education of school-age rural children, paying particular attention to children from marginalized groups. Results show that lower-caste Hindu, Muslim, and poorer children with less-educated parents in agricultural households are more likely to experience flooding. Interactions between flooding and marginalization characteristics indicate that flood exposure is associated with disproportionately negative learning outcomes for girls and that economic resources may mitigate flood exposure effects on delayed school progress. While greater exposures for marginalized groups are concerning, the limited number and modest magnitudes of documented negative effect heterogeneities for marginalized children are somewhat better news. 

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4. Explaining Income Disparities in Young Children’s Development: The Role of Community Contexts and Family Processes

   Coley, R. L. (January 2019, Early childhood research quarterly)

   null (Ed.)

   Growing economic disparities and the increased sorting of families into economically segregated communities have heightened the need to clearly delineate pathways through which family income promotes children’s development. Combining hypotheses from investment and stress theories, we developed and tested a multi-context and cross-domain conceptual model assessing how community and family contexts mediate links between family income and children’s cognitive and behavioral skills at kindergarten entry. We drew data on family income, parenting processes, and child functioning from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study– Birth Cohort (ECLS-B; N ≈ 10,650), following children from infancy through age 5. We used Geographic Information Systems technology to create and validate community measures using administrative data from the Economic Census, Decennial Census, National Center of Education Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigations, and Environmental Protection Agency, which were then linked to each child in the ECLS-B. Using structural equation modeling, our analyses revealed three primary lessons. First, lower-income children have limited access to community educational and cultural resources and heightened exposure to community stressors including concentrated disadvantage and violent crime. Second, these community features are associated with parenting processes, such that parent-child interactions tend to be less stimulating and supportive and more punitive in communities with fewer resources and heightened stressors. And third, community and family contexts together mediate connections between family income and children’s cognitive and behavioral functioning. Results, albeit showing small effect sizes, provide a more complex, multi-contextual view than prior research, delineating the role of both resources and stressors at community and family levels in explaining income disparities in young children’s developmental success. 

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5. Local groundwater decline exacerbates response of dryland riparian woodlands to climatic drought

   https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16376  

   Williams, Jared; Stella, John C.; Voelker, Steven L.; Lambert, Adam M.; Pelletier, Lissa M.; Drake, John E.; Friedman, Jonathan M.; Roberts, Dar A.; Singer, Michael Bliss (January 2022, Global Change Biology)

   Dryland riparian woodlands are considered to be locally buffered from droughts by shallow and stable groundwater levels. However, climate change is causing more frequent and severe drought events, accompanied by warmer temperatures, collectively threatening the persistence of these groundwater dependent ecosystems through a combination of increasing evaporative demand and decreasing groundwater supply. We conducted a dendro-isotopic analysis of radial growth and seasonal (semi-annual) carbon isotope discrimination (Δ13C) to investigate the response of riparian cottonwood stands to the unprecedented California-wide drought from 2012 to 2019, along the largest remaining free-flowing river in Southern California. Our goals were to identify principal drivers and indicators of drought stress for dryland riparian woodlands, determine their thresholds of tolerance to hydroclimatic stressors, and ultimately assess their vulnerability to climate change. Riparian trees were highly responsive to drought conditions along the river, exhibiting suppressed growth and strong stomatal closure (inferred from reduced Δ13C) during peak drought years. However, patterns of radial growth and Δ13C were quite variable among sites that differed in climatic conditions and rate of groundwater decline. We show that the rate of groundwater decline, as opposed to climate factors, was the primary driver of site differences in drought stress, and trees showed greater sensitivity to temperature at sites subjected to faster groundwater decline. Across sites, higher correlation between radial growth and Δ13C for individual trees, and higher inter-correlation of Δ13C among trees were indicative of greater drought stress. Trees showed a threshold of tolerance to groundwater decline at 0.5 m year−1 beyond which drought stress became increasingly evident and severe. For sites that exceeded this threshold, peak physiological stress occurred when total groundwater recession exceeded 3 m. These findings indicate that drought-induced groundwater decline associated with more extreme droughts is a primary threat to dryland riparian woodlands and increases their susceptibility to projected warmer temperatures. 

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