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Children who witness domestic violence often bear emotional scars, but now a study has found that seeing family members being hurt can also scar a child's DNA.

Young people in homes affected by domestic violence or suicide have significantly shorter telomeres - or 'caps' on their genes - than those in stable households.

Such genetic damage could also increase the child's risk of heart disease, obesity and other problems as they grow up.

Scientists from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans discovered that children affected by domestic violence (stock image picutred) have significantly shorter telomeres, which are the caps at the end of chromosomes that keep them from shrinking when cells replicate

Scientists from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana, found that the more fractured families are by domestic violence or trauma, the more likely that children will bear the scars down to their DNA.

Telomeres are the caps at the end of chromosomes that keep them from shrinking when cells replicate.

Shorter telomeres are linked to higher risks for heart disease, obesity, cognitive decline, diabetes and mental illness.

For the study, researchers took genetic samples from 80 children aged between five and 15 in New Orleans and interviewed parents about their home environments as well as their childrens' exposure to traumatic situations.

Shorter telomeres (pictured in orange) are linked to higher risks for heart disease, obesity, cognitive decline, diabetes and mental illness. The changes were seen in children from homes affected by domestic violence, suicide or the incarceration of a family member

'Family-level stressors, such as witnessing a family member get hurt, created an environment that affected the DNA within the cells of the children,' said lead author Dr Stacy Drury, director of the Behavioural and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Laboratory at the university.

'The greater the number of exposures these kids had in life, the shorter their telomeres were - and this was after controlling for many other factors, including socioeconomic status, maternal education, parental age and the child's age.'

The study, which is published in the journal Pediatrics, found that traumatic family events had a more damaging effect on young girls – who were more likely to have shortened telomeres – than boys.

The research suggests that intervening in a child's poor home life is important in reducing the biological impacts of adversity.