Study Overview:
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​Childhood trauma and adversity can lead to poor health and early death later in life. However, we don't fully know why this happens. It could be because ongoing stress changes how the immune system develops, making it harder to fight off illnesses.
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​Studies have shown that stressful situations in a person's life can lead to changes in the way their immune genes are expressed. People who experience severe or prolonged stress tend to have too much activity in genes that cause inflammation and not enough activity in genes that fight viruses. This can increase the risk of conditions like heart disease, stroke, depression, and other health issues. Additionally, decreased activity in anti-viral genes can make a person more susceptible to viral diseases such as COVID-19.
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​We are investigating how childhood adversity can impact a person's ability to fight COVID-19. Our hypothesis is that individuals who had a lot of challenges during their childhood will have weaker immunity against COVID-19 than those who had less adversity. We think this might be due to lower activity levels in the genes that fight viruses.
We will also explore whether positive experiences during childhood can protect against the negative effects of adversity, and help people have better immunity against COVID-19.
This project is significant because it can help us understand how adversity during childhood affects a person's health. We may uncover new risk factors for COVID-19, as well as find ways to strengthen the immune system to prevent illness.
