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There's no getting around the fact that bad things happen to people,
我们没有办法应付厄运降临的事实，
things that are often outside of their control.
事情经常失去控制。
And the psychological effects of wars, natural disasters, and other types of violence and accidents
战争、自然灾害、其他暴力和事故的心理作用
don't just go away when the war ends.
并不会随战争结束而消失。
They can leave people traumatized.
它们会留给人们创伤。
Many people who are exposed to traumas like war get diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD,
很多遭受战争等创伤的人都被诊断患有创伤后应激障碍（PTSD），
where thoughts or anxieties about the events can plague them in other parts of their lives,
他们对事件的想法或焦虑会困扰他们生活的其他方面，
and seemingly benign things can trigger a fear response.
并且看似无害的东西也会引发恐惧反应。
But hopefully, once a war goes down in history and few generations pass,
但顺利的话，一旦战争在历史上堙没，并且几代人过去之后，
we'll be free of the trauma, right?
我们就不会遭受创伤了，对吧？
Unfortunately, it's not so simple. Trauma can affect future generations, too.
不幸的是，事情并非如此简单。创伤可能会影响后代。
For example, in a study of 100 Holocaust survivors,
例如，在对100名大屠杀幸存者的研究中，
researchers found that their children were more likely to get a PTSD diagnosis,
研究人员发现，他们的孩子更容易患上PTSD，
even though they didn't report any more traumatic experience in their lives than a similar control group did.
即使报道说这些人与类似对照组相比，生命中没有更痛苦的经历。
What they did get was stories from their parents really distressing stories.
他们患上PTSD是因为他们父母的痛苦故事。
And hearing about threats to your family, even in the past, can be traumatic on its own.
得知对家人的威胁，即使是在过去，可能也会给自己带来创伤。
But that might not be the only explanation.
但这可能不是唯一的解释。
Trauma could also be inherited biologically, sort of like what gets passed on through our genes.
创伤从生物学上讲可以遗传，类似于通过基因传递的物质。
And since it's a big part of understanding, people is knowing about the different factors
因为它是理解的重要部分，人们正在逐步了解
that can affect their thought processes and behaviors,
影响他们思维过程和行为的不同因素，
psychologists want to figure out how this works.
所以心理学家想弄明白其原理。
So far, we do have some evidence that trauma can be passed biologically from one generation to the next,
到目前为止，我们确实有一些证据表明，创伤可以通过生理一代代传递，
but it's very limited.
但它非常有限。
A lot of it comes from a study published in 2015,
很多证据来自于2015年发表的一项研究，
where researchers did some genetic tests on a sample of 32 Holocaust survivors, 22 of their children,
研究人员对32名大屠杀幸存者、22名他们的子女，
as well as a demographically similar control group.
以及人口统计学上类似对照组样本进行了基因测试。
They were looking at what's known as the methylation of the genes,
他们研究的是基因的甲基化，
where a DNA molecule gets a sort of hop-on, called a methyl group.
即一个DNA分子得到某种甲基。
If a gene has a lot of methyl groups attached to it,
如果一个基因有很多甲基链接，
they can create problems with copying that gene,
甲基会在基因复制时会产生困难，
or can keep the gene from doing what it's supposed to.
或者阻止基因去做它应该做的事情。
Studying methylation is part of the field of epigenetics,
研究甲基化是表观遗传学的一部分，
the study of what can be inherited or passed on from parent to child biologically,
表观遗传学是从生物学上，对父母到孩子的遗传进行的研究，
but outside of the actual letters of your DNA.
但它在DNA的实际意义范围之外。
Since methylation levels can change based on your environment,
因为甲基化水平可以根据环境而变化，
it's a way things that happen in your life can affect what you pass down.
是生活事件影响遗传的一种方法。
And the researchers found that compared to the control groups,
研究人员发现，与对照组相比，
both the Holocaust survivors and their children had higher methylation levels in a gene related to stress response.
在与应激反应相关的基因中，大屠杀幸存者和他们的孩子都有更高的甲基化水平。
Previous research showed that gene was related to an increased risk of developing a psychological disorder like PTSD,
先前的研究表明，基因与增加的患心理障碍如创伤后应激障碍的风险有关，
in people who experienced some kind of trauma in their childhood.
有这些障碍的人在童年时经历过某种创伤。
So the team thought they might have found a biological way for trauma to be inherited:
因此，研究小组认为他们可能发现了一个创伤被遗传的生物学途径：
through increased methylation that gets passed on.
通过增加遗传的甲基化作用。
But there are some problems with this study.
但这项研究存在一些问题。
Among other things, the sample size was pretty small.
除其他因素外，它的样本量相当小。
And we'd have to look back a few more generations to see if the methylation changed when the trauma happened,
我们还需要回顾几代人来看看，当创伤发生时甲基化是否会改变，
or if it was always higher in that group.
或者它是否在那个组中总是更高的。
So, the evidence so far is kinda tenuous, and we'll need a lot more research before we know for sure.
因此，到目前为止，证据还不够充分，我们还需要更多研究才能确定。
That said, the idea that trauma can be inherited isn't too far-fetched.
也就是说，创伤可以被遗传的观点有点儿牵强。
We know that other chronic stresses can have an effect on children, sometimes through a biological mechanism.
我们知道其他慢性压力有时可能会通过生物机制对孩子产生影响，
But even if we never find a biological way to explain
但即使我们从未找到一个生物学方法来解释
how parents who've experienced trauma can pass it on to their kids,
那些经历过创伤的父母如何把创伤传给孩子，
there's a much simpler explanation that has a lot more research to back it up.
但仍有一个更简单的解释，它有更多研究支持。
Usually, parents shape a lot of the environment their kids grow up in,
通常，父母会塑造孩子成长的环境，
which can make a big difference when it comes to their mental health.
这对他们的心理健康有很大影响。
We know this happens with some clinical conditions, like depression.
我们知道这种情况发生在一些临床症状上，比如抑郁症。
Depression can run in families, and we know about some genes that might be risk factors.
抑郁症出现在家庭中，而且我们知道一些基因可能是危险因素。
If one person gets diagnosed with depression,
如果一个人被诊断患有抑郁症，
it's not only more likely that a child will get a diagnosis, but also that a grandchild will.
不仅他的孩子更有可能确诊，孙辈也有可能得抑郁症。
But even in cases in which there isn't this long family pattern,
但即使没有这种长期的家庭模式，
having a depressed parent has effects on a child's functioning,
患有抑郁症的父母对孩子的机能也有影响，
like how well they handle daily life stresses.
比如他们如何处理好日常生活的压力。
You can see similar patterns with alcoholism.
你可以看到与酗酒相似的模式。
Even though there's a known genetic element that makes children of alcoholics more likely to be alcoholic themselves,
尽管有一种已知的遗传因素让酗酒者的孩子更容易酗酒，
there are other ways people can inherit that stress from their parents.
但人们可以通过其他方式从父母那里继承这种压力。
Having an alcoholic parent makes people more likely to show higher neuroticism,
父母酗酒更可能让人在青少年时期表现出更高的神经过敏症、
psychiatric stress, and aggressive behavior in adolescence,
精神压力和攻击性行为，
but the thing is, it makes a difference whether their parent is a recovered alcoholic or not.
但问题是，不管他们的父母是否再次酗酒，这种行为都有作用。
Meaning, it's not just their shared genetics.
意思是，这不仅仅是因为他们共同的基因。
The environment the child is living in can put them at increased risk.
孩子所处的环境使他们面临更大的风险。
And if a parent has experienced trauma, that can have a big effect on their kids' environment.
如果父母经历过创伤，对孩子的环境会有很大影响。
For children of Holocaust survivors, for example,
例如，对于大屠杀幸存者的孩子来说，
even hearing stories from their parents could change their view of the world.
即使听说的父母故事也能改变他们对世界的看法。
So we know there's a risk that's carried to children,
所以我们知道有一种风险会传染给孩子们，
even if the epigenetics idea turns out to be a fluke.
即使表观遗传学的想法是侥幸成功的。
But it's also important to remember that a risk factor isn't an equal sign.
但重要的是记住，一个风险因素不是一个等号。
Having a parent that experienced trauma or had a clinical disorder doesn't mean you will too.
有经历过创伤或有临床症状的父母并不意味着你也会这样。
Research shows that things like promoting positive parent-child interactions
研究表明，促进积极的亲子互动
and teaching coping skills to children of depressed parents can reduce some of these risks.
同时向有抑郁症父母的孩子传授应对技巧等活动可以减少这些风险。
So even though kids are at risk of inheriting some negative consequences if their parents have experienced trauma,
所以，如果孩子们的父母经历过创伤，即使他们有继承一些消极后果的风险，
it is certainly not inevitable.
都是可以避免的。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych,
感谢您收看本期的心理科学秀，
and if you're interested in learning more about the science of epigenetics,
如果你对学习更多表观遗传学有兴趣，
you can check out our video about it on the main SciShow channel.
可以在主科学秀频道观看我们的视频。
