Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and offspring imprinted gene DMR methylation at birth

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of study participants.

	Full Sample (n = 232)	SHIP (n = 214)	PREDICT (n = 18)
Race/Ethnicity, N, (%)
Black, non-Hispanic	114 (49)	113 (53)	1 (6)
White, non-Hispanic	42 (18)	27 (13)	15 (83)
Hispanic	76 (33)	74 (35)	2 (11)
Education, N (%)
At Least Some College	101 (44)	86 (40)	15 (83)
High School Graduate	82 (35)	79 (37)	3 (17)
No High School Diploma	41 (18)	41 (19)	-
Missing	8 (3)	8 (4)	-
Smoking During Pregnancy, N (%)
No	193 (83)	175 (82)	18 (100)
Yes	24 (10)	24 (11)	-
Missing	15 (6)	15 (7)	-
Infant Sex, N (%)
Male	129 (56)	120 (56)	9 (50)
Female	102 (44)	93 (43)	9 (50)
Missing	1 (1)	1 (1)	-
Maternal Age at Delivery, Median (IQR)	29.2 (8.9)	29.1 (9.1)	32.2 (6.0)
Maternal BMI, Median (IQR)	29.0 (12.6)	29.5 (12.2)	24.0 (6.6)
Financial Stress, Median (IQR)	7 (10)	7 (9)	3 (6)
Perceived Discrimination, Median (IQR)	1 (3)	1 (3)	0.5 (1)
Maternal ACEs, Median (IQR)	0 (2)	0 (2)	0.5 (2)

Note. Percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding. NH = non-Hispanic; BMI = body mass index; IQR = interquartile range; ACE = adverse childhood experience.

Table 2. DMR methylation at birth.

Gene (n)	Mean (% Methylation)	Standard Deviation
H19 (n = 223)	49.97	3.77
IGF2 (n = 209)	46.54	4.26
MEG3 (n = 226)	72.46	5.51
MEG3-IG (n = 213)	51.82	3.51
NNAT (n = 216)	54.22	4.62
PLAGL1 (n = 217)	57.10	3.29
PEG3 (n = 221)	37.89	2.01
PEG10/SGCE (n = 220)	50.05	3.79

Figure 1. Interaction between ACE score and financial stress predicting MEG3-IG methylation.

Table 3. Results from linear regression models of ACEs × financial stress predicting DMRs at birth.

	Black, non-Hispanic		Hispanic		White, non-Hispanic
DMR	b	95% CI	b	95% CI	b	95% CI
H19	n = 87		n = 58		n = 38
ACE Score	−0.08	−1.06, 0.89	−0.26	−0.91, 0.39	0.15	−0.81, 1.12
Financial Stress	0.06	−0.10, 0.23	−0.10	−0.30, 0.10	0.17	−0.06, 0.39
ACE × Financial Stress	−0.02	−0.11, 0.08	0.04	−0.04, 0.11	−0.03	−0.13, 0.08
IGF2	n = 80		n = 56		n = 37
ACE Score	−0.89	−2.21, 0.44	0.38	−0.33, 1.09	0.80	−0.31, 1.91
Financial Stress	−0.01	−0.25, 0.23	0.13	−0.09, 0.35	0.21	−0.06, 0.47
ACE × Financial Stress	0.09	−0.03, 0.22	−0.04	−0.13, 0.04	−0.11	−0.23, 0.01
MEG3 CBS1	n = 90		n = 58		n = 37
ACE Score	−0.26	−1.97, 1.46	0.10	−0.85, 1.06	0.36	−1.55, 2.26
Financial Stress	−0.10	−0.39, 0.19	−0.26	−0.55, 0.04	−0.02	−0.45, −0.41
ACE × Financial Stress	0.05	−0.11, 0.21	0.01	−0.10, 0.12	−0.06	−0.26, 0.14
MEG3 IG	n = 79		n = 57		n = 38
ACE Score	−1.08	-2.14, −0.01	0.10	−0.29, 0.13	0.18	−0.38, 0.73
Financial Stress	−0.16	−0.36, 0.03	−0.08	−0.59, 0.79	0.15	0.02, 0.27
ACE × Financial Stress	0.11	0.01, 0.21	−0.01	−0.09, 0.08	−0.03	−0.08, 0.03
NNAT	n = 86		n = 56		n = 36
ACE Score	0.08	−1.31, 1.46	−0.21	−1.14, 0.72	−0.68	−2.14, 0.78
Financial Stress	−0.12	−0.36, 0.13	0.03	−0.25, 0.31	−0.08	−0.42, 0.27
ACE × Financial Stress	0.01	−0.12, 0.15	0.05	−0.07, 0.17	0.08	−0.08, 0.24
PEG3	n = 88		n = 58		n = 36
ACE Score	0.11	−0.45, 0.66	0.01	−0.34, 0.36	−0.12	−0.74, 0.45
Financial Stress	0.01	−0.08, 0.11	−0.05	−0.15, 0.06	−0.05	−0.20, 0.11
ACE × Financial Stress	0.01	−0.04, 0.07	−0.01	−0.05, 0.04	0.00	−0.07, 0.07
PLAGL1	n = 84		n = 58		n = 36
ACE Score	0.04	−0.81, 0.89	−0.04	−0.66, 0.58	0.13	−0.89, 1.15
Financial Stress	−0.07	−0.21, 0.07	−0.01	−0.20, 0.18	0.03	−0.25, 0.30
ACE × Financial Stress	0.01	−0.07, 0.09	0.01	−0.06, 0.08	−0.02	−0.14, 0.09
SGCE	n = 87		n = 57		n = 37
ACE Score	−0.01	−0.95, 0.92	−0.12	−0.61, 0.37	−0.13	−0.92, 0.66
Financial Stress	−0.06	−0.23, 0.10	0.03	−0.12, 0.18	0.11	−0.09, 0.31
ACE × Financial Stress	0.06	−0.03, 0.15	0.01	−0.04, 0.07	−0.01	−0.10, 0.08

Note. Results reflect values not adjusted for multiple testing. Numbers in parentheses reflect sample sizes for each analysis based on listwise deletion. Bolded values reflect significant results at p < 0.05. All models were adjusted for year of data collection (ref = 2019), cohort (ref = SHIP), maternal education (ref = no high school degree), and smoking during pregnancy (ref = no smoking).

Figure 2. Interaction between ACE score and Perceived discrimination predicting PLAGL1 methylation.

Figure 3. Interaction between ACE score and Perceived discrimination predicting H19 methylation.

Table 4. Results from linear regression models of ACEs × Perceived discrimination predicting DMRs at birth.

	Black, non-Hispanic		Hispanic		White, non-Hispanic
DMR	b	95% CI	b	95% CI	b	95% CI
H19	n = 86		n = 58		n = 38
ACE Score	0.06	−0.59, 0.70	−0.25	−0.81, 0.30	0.49	−0.10, 1.09
Perceived Discrimination	0.29	−0.08, 0.65	−0.28	−0.77, 0.20	0.16	−0.10, 0.41
ACE × Perceived Discrimination	−0.13	−0.30, 0.04	0.08	−0.03, 0.19	−0.13	-0.23, −0.02
IGF2	n = 79		n = 57		n = 37
ACE Score	−0.37	−1.16, 0.43	0.27	−0.33, 0.87	−0.11	−0.90, 0.69
Perceived Discrimination	−0.34	−0.78, 0.11	0.57	0.07, 1.08	−0.08	−0.43, 0.28
ACE × Perceived Discrimination	0.07	−0.14, 0.27	−0.10	−0.21, 0.02	−0.01	−0.15, 0.14
MEG3 CBS1	n = 88		n = 59		n = 37
ACE Score	0.13	−0.99, 1.26	0.13	−0.73, 0.99	0.66	−0.72, 2.05
Perceived Discrimination	−0.05	−0.68, 0.59	−0.31	−1.03, 0.41	0.01	−0.48, 0.49
ACE × Perceived Discrimination	−0.01	−0.30, 0.29	0.03	−0.14, 0.19	−0.17	−0.39, 0.06
MEG3 IG	n = 77		n = 58		n = 38
ACE Score	−0.72	−1.49, 0.05	0.12	−0.46, 0.69	−0.04	−0.42, 0.35
Perceived Discrimination	−0.04	−0.54, 0.46	0.14	−0.34, 0.62	−0.01	−0.18, 0.15
ACE × Perceived Discrimination	0.15	−0.06, 0.36	−0.03	−0.16, 0.09	0.01	−0.06, 0.08
NNAT	n = 85		n = 57		n = 36
ACE Score	0.25	−0.62, 1.12	0.05	−0.69, 0.78	−0.02	−0.94, 0.89
Perceived Discrimination	−0.19	−0.68, 0.31	0.83	0.20, 1.46	0.10	−0.31, 0.50
ACE × Perceived Discrimination	−0.14	−0.37, 0.08	−0.09	−0.25, 0.08	0.05	−0.11, 0.21
PEG3	n = 87		n = 59		n = 37
ACE Score	0.06	−0.29, 0.40	−0.00	−0.30, 0.29	0.02	−0.37, 0.40
Perceived Discrimination	−0.25	-0.44, −0.05	−0.14	−0.38, 0.11	0.08	−0.08, 0.24
ACE × Perceived Discrimination	0.06	−0.03, 0.15	0.01	−0.05, 0.06	−0.04	−0.11, 0.03
PLAGL1	n = 84		n = 59		n = 37
ACE Score	−0.01	−0.57, 0.55	0.06	−0.55, 0.66	−0.60	-1.19, −0.01
Perceived Discrimination	0.04	−0.27, 0.35	0.35	−0.16, 0.86	−0.07	−0.34, 0.19
ACE × Perceived Discrimination	0.04	−0.14, 0.22	−0.04	−0.16, 0.08	0.16	0.06, 0.27
SGCE	n = 85		n = 57		n = 38
ACE Score	0.43	−0.19, 1.06	−0.11	−0.44, 0.27	0.02	−0.09, 0.36
Perceived Discrimination	−0.13	−0.49, 0.22	−0.08	−0.52, 0.30	0.13	−0.50, 0.55
ACE × Perceived Discrimination	−0.03	−0.20, 0.13	0.03	−0.05, 0.11	−0.05	−0.15, 0.04

Note. Results reflect values not adjusted for multiple testing. Numbers in parentheses reflect sample sizes for each analysis based on listwise deletion. Bolded values reflect significant results at p < 0.05. All models were adjusted for year of data collection (ref = 2019), cohort (ref = SHIP), maternal education (ref = no high school degree), and smoking during pregnancy (ref = no smoking).

Data availability statement

Data available on request from the authors. The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors, AV CH, upon reasonable request.