Interview/ Eamon McCrory, CEO of Anna Freud (a mental health charity), and professor of developmental neuroscience and psychopathology, University College London
For generations, trauma has often been understood as a single event, an incident that begins and ends in one lifetime. But as per neuroscientist Eamon McCrory, research in neuroscience, psychology and perinatal mental health shows that early adversity can recalibrate the body’s stress systems, shape attachment patterns and influence how safety, trust and intimacy are experienced well into adulthood.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Mpowering Minds Summit, held in Bengaluru, he threw light on how closely personal histories and caregiving are intertwined. In a conversation with THE WEEK, he explores how trauma echoes across generations, how resilience is built and what it truly takes to support new mothers, not just for their wellbeing, but for the generations that follow. Excerpts:
Q/ How does childhood trauma shape women’s mental health later in life? In what ways can these effects quietly pass from one generation to the next?
Childhood trauma can shape how a woman experiences safety, trust and connection across her entire life. Early adversity can recalibrate stress systems in the brain, making someone more sensitive to threat, more vigilant in relationships or more prone to withdrawal. These adaptations often make sense in the original environment, but later they can increase vulnerability to anxiety, depression or relational conflict.
The transmission across generations is often quiet. It happens through patterns, through how distress is responded to, through whether emotions are spoken about or silenced, and through hypervigilance that becomes the emotional climate of a home. Children do not only inherit stories. They inherit nervous systems shaped inside relationships. That is how trauma can echo forward without being consciously passed on.
Q/ What do we now understand about the biological and emotional pathways through which trauma is transmitted across generations, especially from mothers to daughters?
We now understand that there are overlapping pathways. Biologically, chronic stress can shape how the brain processes threat and reward. During pregnancy, maternal stress physiology can influence foetal development. There is emerging research into epigenetic mechanisms, but the evidence in humans remains complex and not deterministic.
Emotionally and relationally, attachment is central. A mother who carries unresolved trauma may find certain moments in caregiving more overwhelming, not because she does not love her child, but because her own stress system is activated. That can shape patterns of responsiveness. The good news is that these pathways are not fixed. When mothers are supported to reflect on their own histories and feel safe themselves, transmission patterns can change.
Q/ How early should we intervene to break intergenerational cycles of trauma? What forms of early support are most effective for mothers and babies?
The earlier the better. Pregnancy and the first years of life are periods of enormous brain plasticity. They are also moments when old wounds can resurface.
The most effective early supports are relational—perinatal mental health services, home visiting programmes, parent-infant psychotherapy and peer support groups, practical support that reduces isolation. What matters most is not a single technique, but whether a mother feels safe, seen and supported. When caregivers are regulated, babies benefit. Breaking cycles is not about perfect parenting; it is about consistent repair and support at the right time.
Q/ How does a mother’s mental health during pregnancy and postpartum period influence her child’s emotional development, even when the child hasn’t experienced adversity directly?
During pregnancy, maternal stress hormones cross the placenta and can influence foetal stress regulation systems. After birth, infants depend entirely on caregivers to help regulate their emotions.
If a mother is experiencing depression, anxiety or unresolved trauma, it can make responsiveness more difficult. Babies are exquisitely sensitive to emotional tone. Over time, repeated patterns of interaction shape how a child comes to experience the world: as safe or unpredictable, soothing or overwhelming.
Importantly, this is not about blame. Maternal distress is often the result of structural pressures and lack of support. When mothers receive help, children’s outcomes improve.
Q/ Culturally, mothers are often expected to be endlessly strong. How do these expectations shape women’s vulnerability to stress and trauma across generations?
The expectation of endless strength can become a burden. When vulnerability is equated with weakness, women may hide distress, delay seeking help and carry chronic stress silently.
That silence has consequences. Chronic stress affects sleep, mood, immune function and emotional availability. When a mother feels she must be invulnerable, she may have fewer opportunities for repair and reflection. Over time, daughters may internalise the same message: endure, do not disclose. That is one way cultural narratives can quietly reinforce intergenerational patterns.
Q/ What role does chronic stress—the daily, invisible kind many women carry—play in heightening trauma sensitivity in both mothers and their children?
Chronic stress is often underestimated because it lacks a dramatic event. But daily overload, caregiving strain, financial pressure and emotional labour can keep the stress system activated.
When stress is persistent, the brain can become more threat-sensitive and less reward-responsive. That affects patience, sleep, mood and relationships. Children living in that environment absorb the tone. Chronic stress does not need to be extreme to shape development. It is the accumulation that matters.
Q/ You have spoken about how love and mental illness can coexist. How can unresolved trauma affect bonding? What long-term patterns might we see in daughters when this isn’t addressed?
Love and trauma can absolutely coexist. A mother can love deeply and still struggle to regulate her own emotional responses.
Unresolved trauma may make certain infant cues feel overwhelming. It can reduce a parent’s capacity to mentalise under stress, to interpret a child’s distress accurately and respond calmly. When this happens repeatedly without repair, daughters may grow up feeling uncertain about safety in relationships.
In adulthood, that can show up as fear of abandonment, mistrust or difficulty sustaining intimacy. Again, these are patterns, not destinies. When addressed, they can shift.
Q/ In societies where maternal distress is often hidden or stigmatised, how does silence itself become a carrier of trauma from one generation to another?
Silence teaches. When distress cannot be named, children still sense it. They notice tension, mood shifts, unspoken grief. Without explanation, children often assume responsibility or develop their own narratives.
Silence can also prevent help seeking. If trauma is hidden, support is delayed. Over time, the absence of language becomes part of the inheritance. Breaking silence in safe ways can interrupt that transmission.
Q/ From your research on brain development, how might emotional inheritance shape a daughter’s ability to form secure relationships or build resilience in adulthood?
Early relational environments shape neural systems involved in threat detection, reward processing and social understanding.
If a child grows up in an environment marked by unpredictability or emotional volatility, the brain may adapt toward vigilance. That can make adult relationships feel risky.
But resilience is also relational. One stable, supportive relationship can recalibrate expectations. Protective experiences accumulate. Emotional inheritance shapes vulnerability, but relational experiences shape recovery.
Q/ If we want to truly disrupt intergenerational trauma, what structural changes—in health care, community support, and public awareness—are most urgently needed to support maternal mental health?
We need to move beyond crisis response toward prevention and relational investment. That includes universal perinatal mental health screening, accessible trauma-informed care, community-based peer support and workplace policies that recognise caregiving demands.
We also need public narratives that reduce stigma and normalise help seeking. Maternal mental health is not a private issue. It is a public health and societal issue. When we support mothers, we support generations.