Childhood adversity has been linked to adverse consequences on health, behavior, and interpersonal relationships among affected adults. Parental history of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) not only impacts their children's health and well-being but heightens the risk of perpetuating intergenerational patterns of trauma transmission (Schickedanz et al., 2021). However, an absence of studies examining the connection among parental history of ACEs, PTSD, and racial trauma, prompted the need for this study.

In this article we evaluate micro-history as a method for investigating the meaning of stigma, shame and family secrets through generations. We present micro-histories of two Australian soldiers who developed mental illness years after serving in World War 1 and were committed to a psychiatric hospital where they died. Data were drawn from publicly available records and interviews with family members.

Exposure to war is known to impact children’s physical and mental health. Recent research reveals that war exposure might even affect the developmental outcomes of children who are yet to be conceived. In this study, we sought to extend such prior work by investigating longitudinal associations between pre-conception war exposure and the accompanying maternal emotional distress on child sleep. Israeli mothers, who conceived within a year after the Lebanon war in 2006 (N = 68), were followed until their children reached 10 years of age.