Research Interests

Key Research Areas:

Translational Stress and Resilience Studies
Public Mental Health and Social Participation
Developmental Psychopathology and Psychotraumatology
Stress Conceptualization and Measurement
Child Welfare and Refugee Populations

In previous research I focused on the biopsychosocial consequences of childhood adversities from an interdisciplinary, developmental, and life-course perspective. Mainly, I was involved in a longitudinal cohort study reassessing young adults previously placed out-of-home within the JAEL-study. During my early doctoral studies, I was able to acquire funding for the biomarker add-on study LOCO in which we measured several stress biomarkers (Hair Cortisol, Telomere Length, Inflammatory Markers).

In recent work, I am involved in two spin-off studies LOC-o-met and JAELred, focusing on DNA-methylation and oxidative stress processes within our care leaver sample, building up on the LOCO study. Currently, I expanded on previous work investigating data from epidemiological studies using data from German and the US population-based surveys by gathering population-based data on childhood neglect in Germany and by conducting secondary data analyses on population-based adversity and mental health data as part of the CT-Quest study.

In future research, I anticipate shifting my perspective from adversity- and pathology-oriented research towards investigating the multisystemic developmental origins of health and resilience across various developmental periods along the life-course. To do so, I moved my research base to the Jacob Center for Productive Youth Development at the University of Zurich to conduct research within large-scale prospective cohort studies. As such I will investigate data from the z-proso study, the Zurich Youth Survey, the Great Smoky Mountain Study, and potential other longitudinal cohort studies.

Current Projects

CT-Quest LOC-o-met JAELred LOCO JAEL

Childhood Trauma – Questioning, understanding, exploring, seeing and testing

PI Dr. David Bürgin, Co-PI Dr. Eva Unternährer

Different forms of adverse and stressful exposures are highly prevalent in childhood across different societies and populations. These early life adversities are linked to diverse health-related risks later-on. Despite the need to better understand nature and consequences of early life adversity, conceptualization and valid measurement of stressors and adversities are still being debated by experts in the field. To address these discussions, we need to challenge common paradigms, and to raise the bar towards more methodologically rigorous research. The debate includes two important and related issues: Is one of our most broadly used assessments, the “Childhood Trauma Questionnaire” (CTQ), still a valid and reliable measure? And, how can we better measure neglect, the most frequent but also mis-measured form of early life adversity?

Research Database

Long-term Outcomes of Childhood Adversities on DNA- Methylation (LOC-o-met)

PI Dr. Eva Unternährer & Dr. David Bürgin

Stressful childhood experiences, including maltreatment and interpersonal traumatic experiences, are common and are associated with various types of adverse bio-psycho-social outcomes. Children and adolescents placed outside the home are at particularly high risk for adverse trajectories. However, this vulnerable group remains underrepresented in research. Despite decades of research, the relationship between stressful childhood experiences and their long-term consequences remains poorly understood. Currently, we hypothesize that the combined effects of genotype and environmental exposure determine health phenotype, possibly through epigenetic processes that begin in early development. The main objective of this project is to investigate epigenetic signatures and genetic aspects of stressful childhood experiences in a high-risk sample of young adults previously institutionalized in Switzerland.

more Information

Oxidative stress as mediator between adverse childhood experiences and mental health problems in the JAEL high risk cohort of young care leavers

PI Prof. Vera Clemens, Prof. Paul Klauser, PD Dr. Marc Schmid, Personal Role: Project Partner

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are well-known risk factors for mental disorders. There is growing evidence supporting that dysregulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) stress axis and inflammatory processes mediate the pathway between ACEs and health problems. However, little is known about underlying mechanisms and how interactions between HPA stress axis and inflammation culminate in such dire consequences. One missing key may be oxidative stress (OS), which has been shown to closely interact with both HPA and inflammation in mental disorders. The brain is very sensitive to OS, particularly during development. This project aims to evaluate the role of OS in the development of mental disorders following ACEs in a well-characterized study cohort of young adults, who have been living in institutional care during their adolescence (JAEL study). Children and adolescents in residential care institutions are at high risk for both – ACEs and mental disorders. The Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Hospitals of the Universities of Basel and Ulm examined a sample of 592 youths (t0, mean age 16.1) from Swiss residential care institutions. At t2, 132 representative care leavers (mean age= 26.1 years) were followed up and biosamples were taken. Recruitment at t2 has finished in July 2020. Using the unique advantages of this high-risk, extensively assessed cohort, objectives of this project are 1) to test whether OS status alterations mediate the effects of ACEs on mental health, and 2) to analyze the interplay between OS and other neurobiological parameters including inflammation, telomeres and HPA axis activation. This project will benefit from the joint expertise of our 3 centers: Ulm (trauma), Basel (JAEL cohort) and Lausanne (OS status alterations). This 3-year research project will provide more insights into biological mechanisms involved in mental disorders following ACEs, paving the way to mechanism-based biomarkers, which is a crucial step to improve early detection as well as the development of specific interventions for the prevention of mental health disorders in youth.

SNF

DFG

Long-term Outcome of Childhood Adversities and Offending Behaviour

PI PD Dr. Marc Schmid, Co-PI Dr. David Bürgin

Childhood Adversities (CAs) and childhood trauma are strongly associated with all types of mental disorders throughout all stages of life. They also relate to somatic diseases – especially age-related diseases – and are therefore among the most important risk factors for a reduced quality of life and negative adult functional outcomes. However, the link between CAs and their long-term consequences is still not fully understood. A rather new and promising approach to explain the connection between early adversity and later health consequences are accelerated aging processes, which can be found, for example, in early puberty and later on in life in the shortening of telomere length and increasing expression of peripheral inflammation. It is discussed that the association between CAs, telomere length and inflammation is partly mediated by psychopathology – with the strongest current evidence for depression. In the LOCO study (“Long-term Outcome of Childhood Adversities and Offending Behaviour”) we investigate these processes within the JAEL sample. In addition to the extensive coverage of childhood trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) assessed in JAEL, blood samples were collected within in the LOCO study in order to investigate telomere length, telomerase activity and peripheral inflammatory markers. This gives us the opportunity to examine the association of CAs and the developmental course of affective disorder with telomere maintenance and peripheral inflammation in a high-risk sample of highly burdened young adults.

Based on the LOCO study we were able to start to new studies which I originally led/coordinated and now actively collaborate on: Link to LOC-o-met and JAELred

Scientific reports

ScienceDirect

Youth welfare trajectories: Learning from Experience

PI PD Dr. Marc Schmid, Prof. Dr. Jörg Fegert, Prof. Dr. em. Klaus Schmeck; Personal Role: Research Assistant, PhD student, Postdoc

The main goal of the project “Youth welfare trajectories: learning form experience (German translation: Jugendhilfeverläufe: Aus Erfahrung lernen [JAEL])” (2016-2024) is to examine the various developmental pathways of children, adolescents and emerging adults in residential (youth) care. Between 2007 and 2012, 592 children, adolescents and young adults from 64 social-educational institutions from the German-speaking, French-speaking, and Italian speaking part of Switzerland were assessed within the “Swiss study for clarification and goal-attainment in youth welfare and juvenile justice institutions (German translation: Modellversuch Abklärung und Zielerreichung in stationären Massnahmen [MAZ.])”. Results showed high levels of psychosocial problems, including psychopathology, adverse childhood experiences and offending behaviour in this sample of juveniles in residential care.

Selected Publications

Adverse childhood experiences increase the risk for low social participation and health-related quality of life in a large-scale population-based study in Germany.

Bürgin, D., Clemems, V., Witt, A., Sachser, C., Jud, A., Brähler, E., Strauß, B., Petrowski, K., S., M. & Fegert, J. M. (2023). Child Abuse and Neglect. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106382

Impact of war and forced displacement on children’s mental health—multilevel, needs-oriented, and trauma-informed approaches.

Bürgin D., Anagnostopoulos D., the Board and Policy Division of ESCAP, Vitiello B., Sukale T., Schmid M., Fegert JM (2022). European Chid and Adolescent Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-022-01974-z

Addressing the mental health needs and burdens of children fleeing war: a field update from ongoing mental health and psychosocial support efforts at the Ukrainian border.

Schwartz, L., Nakonechna, M., Campbell, G., Brunner, D., Stadler, C., Schmid, M., Fegert, J. M., & Bürgin, D. (2022). European Journal of Psychotraumatology. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2022.2101759

Misshandlungs- und Vernachlässigungserfahrungen in der Kindheit: Ein Risikofaktor für die soziale Teilhabe ehemals außerfamiliär platzierter junger Erwachsener – Ergebnisse der schweizweiten Kohortenstudie „Jugendhilfeverläufe: Aus Erfahrung Lernen (JAEL)“.

Schmid M., Fegert J., Clemens V. Seker S., d’Huart D., Binder M., Schröder M., Friden L., Boonmann C., Jenkel N., Schmeck K. & Bürgin D. Kindheit und Entwicklung. https://doi.org/10.1026/0942-5403/a000366

Higher hair cortisol concentrations associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length in high-risk young adults.

Bürgin, D., Varghese, N., Eckert, A., Clemens, V., Unternährer, E., Boonmann, C., O’Donovan, A., & Schmid, M. (2022). Scientific reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14905-4

Adverse and traumatic exposures, posttraumatic stress disorder, telomere length, and hair cortisol – Exploring associations in a high-risk sample of young adult residential care leavers.

Bürgin, D., Clemens, V., Varghese, N., Eckert, A., Huber, M., Bruttin, E., Boonmann, C., Unternährer, E., O’Donovan, A., & Schmid, M. (2022). Brain, Behavior, & Immunity – Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbih.2022.100524

Compounding Stress: Childhood adversity as a risk factor for adulthood trauma in the population-based Health and Retirement Study.

Bürgin D., Boonmann C., Schmid M., Schmeck K., Tripp P., & O’Donovan A. (2021). Journal of Traumatic Stress. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22617

The Stress of Caring – Resilience and HPA-axis activity in hair samples of youth residential caregivers.

Bürgin D., Kind N., Clemens V., Fegert J.M., Eckert A., Buchheim A., O’Donovan A., Boonmann C.* & Schmid M.* (2020). Frontiers in Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.556486

Fact or artefact? Childhood adversity and adulthood trauma in the U.S. population-based Health and Retirement Study.

Bürgin, D., Boonmann, C., Schmid, M., Tripp, P., & O’Donovan, A. (2020). European Journal of Psychotraumatology. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1721146