The role of oxidative stress in the interplay of stressful childhood experiences and mental disorders in young people who were placed in youth welfare centres during adolescence (JAELred)

Prof Dr Vera Clemens, Ulm, Germany

Dr Marc Schmid, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland

Prof. Dr Paul Klauser, Centre for Psychiatric Neurosciences, Psychiatry, University Hospital Lausanne, Switzerland

01.12.2022 - 30.11.2025

In Switzerland, 1% of all children, young people and adolescents live in socio-educational residential groups. A large proportion of these adolescents require educational support in several areas of their lives and usually already have a history of outpatient and inpatient support measures.

Between 2007 and 2012, a research project entitled "MAZ - Modellversuch Abklärung und Zielerreichung" (www.jael-portal.ch/de/maz_de/) analysed almost 600 adolescents from over 60 socio-educational institutions in various regions of Switzerland. The results showed a clearly above-average level of psychosocial stress among the children and adolescents.

These young people were analysed again in the follow-up project JAEL. The aim of the study was to determine which factors have a positive influence on the course of inpatient socio-educational measures and the transition to independence and which factors have a negative impact.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are known risk factors for mental disorders, and there is growing evidence that dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and inflammatory processes mediate the pathway between ACEs and health problems. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms and how the interactions between the HPA stress axis and inflammation lead to such dire consequences. One missing key may be oxidative stress (OS), which has been shown to interact closely with both the HPA axis and inflammation in mental disorders. The brain is very sensitive to OS, especially during development. This project aims to evaluate the role of OS in the development of mental disorders after ACEs in a well-characterised longitudinal study cohort of young adults who have lived in youth care facilities during their adolescence(JAEL study). Children and adolescents in youth welfare centres have a high risk of both ACEs and mental disorders.

The aim of the project is to investigate changes in OS status in relation to ACEs and mental health problems and to analyse the interaction between OS and other neurobiological parameters such as inflammation, telomeres and activation of the HPA axis.

German Research Foundation (DFG)