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Intergenerational transmission of paternal trauma among US Civil War ex-POWs

Author

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  • Dora L. Costa

    (Department of Economics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, Program on the Economics of Aging, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA 02138)

  • Noelle Yetter

    (Program on the Economics of Aging, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA 021382)

  • Heather DeSomer

    (Program on the Economics of Aging, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA 02138)

Abstract

We study whether paternal trauma is transmitted to the children of survivors of Confederate prisoner of war (POW) camps during the US Civil War (1861–1865) to affect their longevity at older ages, the mechanisms behind this transmission, and the reversibility of this transmission. We examine children born after the war who survived to age 45, comparing children whose fathers were non-POW veterans and ex-POWs imprisoned in very different camp conditions. We also compare children born before and after the war within the same family by paternal ex-POW status. The sons of ex-POWs imprisoned when camp conditions were at their worst were 1.11 times more likely to die than the sons of non-POWs and 1.09 times more likely to die than the sons of ex-POWs when camp conditions were better. Paternal ex-POW status had no impact on daughters. Among sons born in the fourth quarter, when maternal in utero nutrition was adequate, there was no impact of paternal ex-POW status. In contrast, among sons born in the second quarter, when maternal nutrition was inadequate, the sons of ex-POWs who experienced severe hardship were 1.2 times more likely to die than the sons of non-POWs and ex-POWs who fared better in captivity. Socioeconomic effects, family structure, father-specific survival traits, and maternal effects, including quality of paternal marriages, cannot explain our findings. While we cannot rule out fully psychological or cultural effects, our findings are most consistent with an epigenetic explanation.

Suggested Citation

  • Dora L. Costa & Noelle Yetter & Heather DeSomer, 2018. "Intergenerational transmission of paternal trauma among US Civil War ex-POWs," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 115(44), pages 11215-11220, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:nas:journl:v:115:y:2018:p:11215-11220
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    Cited by:

    1. Arthi, Vellore & Parman, John, 2021. "Disease, downturns, and wellbeing: Economic history and the long-run impacts of COVID-19," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Elena Esposito & Tiziano Rotesi & Alessandro Saia & Mathias Thoenig, 2023. "Reconciliation Narratives: The Birth of a Nation after the US Civil War," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(6), pages 1461-1504, June.
    3. Dora Costa, 2021. "Health Shocks of the Father and Longevity of the Children's Children," NBER Working Papers 29553, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Dora Costa, 2022. "Overweight Grandsons and Grandfathers' Starvation Exposure," NBER Working Papers 30599, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Denny Vågerö & Agneta Cederström & Gerard J. Berg, 2022. "Food abundance in men before puberty predicts a range of cancers in grandsons," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    6. Dupraz, Yannick & Ferrara, Andreas, 2021. "Fatherless: The Long-Term Effects of Losing a Father in the U.S. Civil War," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 538, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    7. Yanwen Zhang & Li Ren & Xiaoxiao Sun & Zhilong Zhang & Jie Liu & Yining Xin & Jianmin Yu & Yimin Jia & Jinghao Sheng & Guo-fu Hu & Ruqian Zhao & Bin He, 2021. "Angiogenin mediates paternal inflammation-induced metabolic disorders in offspring through sperm tsRNAs," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-11, December.
    8. Dora Costa & Noelle Yetter & Heather DeSomer, 2019. "Wartime Health Shocks and the Postwar Socioeconomic Status and Mortality of Union Army Veterans and their Children," NBER Working Papers 25480, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Andiappan, Meena & Dufour, Lucas, 2021. "The evolution of unethical behavior engagement amongst longshoremen in France: A 70-year perspective," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 49-67.
    10. Costa, Dora L. & Yetter, Noelle & DeSomer, Heather, 2020. "Wartime health shocks and the postwar socioeconomic status and mortality of union army veterans and their children," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).

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