An international team of researchers has found that the children of Holocaust survivors face increased risks for depression and other mental health conditions, in part because of genetics.

The findings, published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, are based on an analysis of the genes of 32 Jewish Holocaust survivors and their children, Medical Xpress reports.

The survivors had all been held in concentration camps, experienced torture, or were forced into hiding during the Second World War.

Compared with Jewish families living outside Europe during the Holocaust, the survivors’ children had an increased likelihood of stress disorders, depression, and other psychological conditions, said the researchers, led by Rachel Yehuda, professor at Mount Sinai hospital in New York, and Elisabeth Binder, director at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich.

They also found “epigenetic” changes in a particular gene — the FKBP5 gene — in the survivors’ children, linked to mental-health conditions. The results suggest that “epigenetic inheritance” — where a person's life experiences can affect the genes of their offspring —plays a role in a child's development.

"With 'epigenetic' we mean all processes that do not change the actual genetic code but alter its accessibility," explained Binder. "FKPB5 determines how effectively the organism can react to stress hormones, and so regulates the entire stress hormone system. FKBP5 is altered in several diseases such as post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression and has now been associated with intergenerational effects."

Yehuda added: "The gene changes in the children did not appear to be mediated by adversity experienced during their own childhood but could only be attributed to Holocaust exposure in the parents. Environmental influences such as stress, smoking or diet can affect the genes of our children. Early detection of such epigenetic marks may advance the development of preventive strategies to address the intergenerational effects of exposure to trauma."