Parental responsiveness moderates the association between early-life stress and reduced telomere length (original) (raw)
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The Relationship Between Childhood Psychosocial Stressor Level and Telomere Length: A Meta-Analysis
Health psychology research, 2017
This meta-analysis examined the association between the level of childhood psychosocial stressors and telomere length, an important health biomarker. The meta-analysis, including 27 samples and 16,238 participants, found a significant association of -0.08 between a higher level of childhood stressors and shorter telomere length at a mean age of 42 across studies. Moderator analyses showed a trend in the direction of effect sizes being significantly larger with shorter times between the stressors and telomere measurement. Moderator analyses showed significantly higher effect sizes for studies that used a categorical method for assessing child stressor level and for assays completed with qPCR rather than with the Southern blot method. There was no significant moderation of effect size by whether study assayed leukocytes or buccal cells, whether the study assessed child stressor level by memory-based recall versus archival records, and whether the study controlled for age, sex, or addi...
The Association of Telomere Length With Family Violence and Disruption
PEDIATRICS, 2014
To enhance the understanding of biological mechanisms connecting early adversity and negative health, we examine the association between family interpersonal violence and disruption and telomere length in youth. These specific exposures were selected because of their established links with negative health consequences across the life-course. Children, age 5 to 15, were recruited from the greater New Orleans area, and exposure to family disruption and violence was assessed through caregiver report. Telomere length, from buccal cell DNA (buccal telomere length [bTL]), was determined by using monochrome multiplex quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The association between bTL and adversity exposure was tested (n = 80). Cumulative exposure to interpersonal violence and family disruption was correlated with bTL. Controlling for other sociodemographic factors, bTL was significantly shorter in children with higher exposure to family violence and disruption. Witnessing family violence exerted a particularly potent impact. A significant gender interaction was found (β = -0.0086, SE = 0.0031, z test= -2.79, P = .0053) and analysis revealed the effect only in girls. bTL is a molecular biomarker of adversity and allostatic load that is detectable in childhood. The present results extend previous studies by demonstrating that telomeres are sensitive to adversity within the overarching family domain. These findings suggest that the family ecology may be an important target for interventions to reduce the biological impact of adversity in the lives of children.
Telomeres and Early-Life Stress: An Overview
Biological Psychiatry, 2013
The long-term sequelae of adverse early-life experiences have long been a focus in psychiatry, with a historic neurobiological emphasis on physiological systems that are demonstrably stressresponsive, such as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and neuroimmune function. However, there has been increasing recognition in the general medical literature that such sequelae might encompass more pervasive alterations in health status and physiology. Recent findings in telomere biology have suggested a new avenue for exploring the adverse health effects of childhood maltreatment. Telomere length in proliferative tissues declines with cell replication, and the effect can be accelerated by such factors as inflammation, oxidative stress, radiation, and toxins. Reduced telomere length, as a proxy for cellular aging, has been associated with numerous chronic somatic diseases that are generally considered to be diseases of aging, such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. More recently, shorter telomeres have been demonstrated in several psychiatric conditions, particularly depression. Sustained psychosocial stress of a variety of types in adulthood appears to be associated with shorter telomeres. Now, emerging work suggests a robust, and perhaps dose-dependent, relationship with early-life stress. These findings present new opportunities to re-conceptualize the complex relationships between experience, physical and psychiatric disease, and aging.
Stress-related telomere length in children: A systematic review
Journal of Psychiatric Research, 2017
Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences at the ends of chromatids that shorten following each cell replication. Once telomeres reach a critical length, DNA defense mechanisms can direct cells to either a state of arrest (senescence) or apoptosis. Stress induced by adversity is a probable cause of accelerated telomere shortening from an early age. However, few studies have examined the association between stress and telomere length in children, and it remains unclear whether young individuals may show signs of cellular aging early in life. Our aim was to examine whether adversity in childhood is associated with shortening of telomere length. We conducted a systematic review of studies that investigated the association between stress and telomere length in children from 3 to 15 years of age. Eleven studies met our selection criteria. We concluded that adversity in childhood (such as violence, low socioeconomic status, maternal depression, family disruption, and institutionalization) have an impact on telomere length. This suggests that exposed individuals show signs of accelerated erosion of telomeric ends from an early age. We discuss whether telomere shortening is related to negative health outcomes later in life or could be a biomarker predicting health outcomes. We believe that further large-scale longitudinal studies that repeatedly monitor telomere length are very important for providing a better assessment of telomere trajectory in psychologically stressed children. This will verify the extent to which adversity impacts upon the biological development of cell aging in childhood.
Telomere length and early severe social deprivation: linking early adversity and cellular aging
2011
Accelerated telomere length attrition has been associated with psychological stress and early adversity in adults; however, no studies have examined whether telomere length in childhood is associated with early experiences. The Bucharest Early Intervention Project is a unique randomized controlled trial of foster care placement compared with continued care in institutions. As a result of the study design, participants were exposed to a quantified range of time in institutional care, and represented an ideal population in which to examine the association between a specific early adversity, institutional care and telomere length. We examined the association between average relative telomere length, telomere repeat copy number to single gene copy number (T/S) ratio and exposure to institutional care quantified as the percent of time at baseline (mean age 22 months) and at 54 months of age that each child lived in the institution. A significant negative correlation between T/S ratio and percentage of time was observed. Children with greater exposure to institutional care had significantly shorter relative telomere length in middle childhood. Gender modified this main effect. The percentage of time in institutional care at baseline significantly predicted telomere length in females, whereas the percentage of institutional care at 54 months was strongly predictive of telomere length in males. This is the first study to demonstrate an association between telomere length and institutionalization, the first study to find an association between adversity and telomere length in children, and contributes to the growing literature linking telomere length and early adversity.
Psychosomatic Medicine, 2011
To address the question of whether childhood abuse and other adversities have lasting, detectable consequences for inflammation and cell aging late in life, and whether the effects are large enough to be discernible beyond that of a major chronic stressor, dementia family caregiving. Previous research on the physical health consequences of childhood abuse and other adversities has been based on data from young or middle-aged adults. Method: In this community sample of 132 healthy older adults (mean age ϭ 69.70 years; standard deviation ϭ 10.14), including 58 dementia family caregivers and 74 noncaregivers, blood samples were analyzed for interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-␣, and telomere length, a measure of cell aging. Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Results: After controlling for age, caregiving status, gender, body mass index, exercise, and sleep, the presence of multiple childhood adversities was related to both heightened IL-6 (0.37 Ϯ 0.03 log10 pg/mL versus 0.44 Ϯ 0.03 log10 pg/mL) and shorter telomeres (6.51 Ϯ 0.17 Kb versus 5.87 Ϯ 0.20 Kb), compared with the absence of adversity; the telomere difference could translate into a 7-to 15-year difference in life span. Abuse was associated with heightened IL-6 and TNF-␣ levels; for TNF-␣, this relationship was magnified in caregivers compared with controls. Moreover, abuse and caregiving status were associated significantly and independently with higher levels of depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Adverse childhood events are related to continued vulnerability among older adults, enhancing the impact of chronic stressors. Childhood adversities cast a very long shadow.
Family Financial Pressure in Childhood and Telomere Length in Early Adolescence: A Prospective Study
Genes
Much research on children in high-risk environments has focused on the biological consequences of maltreatment, adversity, and trauma. Whether other early-life stress sources such as family financial hardship are implicated in the cellular mechanism of disease development remains unclear. This study investigated the long-term effect of childhood exposure to family financial pressure on telomere length. It involved two waves of data collection occurring when participants reached Grade 3 (W1) and 7 (W2), respectively. In W1, parents reported family demographics and perceived financial stressors and pressure. In W2, participants provided buccal swab samples for measurement of their telomere length. Data from 92 participants (Mage in W2 = 13.2 years; 56.5% male) were analyzed. The main type of stressors reported by parents who perceived high family financial pressure in W1 were child-level stressors including affordability of their medical and educational expenses. Participants exposed ...
PLoS ONE, 2010
Accelerated leukocyte telomere shortening has been previously associated to self-perceived stress and psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and mood disorders. We set out to investigate whether telomere length is affected in patients with anxiety disorders in which stress is a known risk factor. We also studied the effects of childhood and recent psychological distress on telomere length. We utilized samples from the nationally representative population-based Health 2000 Survey that was carried out between 2000-2001 in Finland to assess major public health problems and their determinants. We measured the relative telomere length of the peripheral blood cells by quantitative real-time PCR from 321 individuals with DSM-IV anxiety disorder or subthreshold diagnosis and 653 matched controls aged 30-87 years, who all had undergone the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. While telomere length did not differ significantly between cases and controls in the entire cohort, the older half of the anxiety disorder patients (48-87 years) exhibited significantly shorter telomeres than healthy controls of the same age (P = 0.013). Interestingly, shorter telomere length was also associated with a greater number of reported childhood adverse life events, among both the anxiety disorder cases and controls (P = 0.005). Childhood chronic or serious illness was the most significantly associated single event affecting telomere length at the adult age (P = 0.004). Self-reported current psychological distress did not affect telomere length. Our results suggest that childhood stress might lead to accelerated telomere shortening seen at the adult age. This finding has potentially important implications supporting the view that childhood adversities might have a considerable impact on well being later in life.
Infant-caregiver experiences alter telomere length in the brain
PloS one, 2014
Following adverse childhood experiences, high quality maternal care can protect against accelerated telomere shortening in peripheral cells. It is less clear, however, how telomere length in the brain is influenced by early caregiving experiences. Using rats, we investigated if quality of care (i.e., aversive or nurturing care outside of the homecage) during the first seven days of postnatal (PN) life affected telomere length in the adult brain (PN90) of male and female rats. At PN90, we found that nurturing care outside of the homecage was associated with longer telomeres in the medial prefrontal cortex relative to nurturing care inside the homecage (i.e., normal maternal care) and aversive care outside of the homecage. Further, pups exposed to aversive care outside of the homecage demonstrated longer telomeres in the amygdala relative to pups exposed to nurturing care inside the homecage. These effects were specific to females. No differences in telomere length between caregiving ...
Stress exposure in intrauterine life is associated with shorter telomere length in young adulthood
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2011
Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a predictor of age-related disease onset and mortality. The association in adults of psychosocial stress or stress biomarkers with LTL suggests telomere biology may represent a possible underlying mechanism linking stress and health outcomes. It is, however, unknown whether stress exposure in intrauterine life can produce variations in LTL, thereby potentially setting up a long-term trajectory for disease susceptibility. We, therefore, as a first step, tested the hypothesis that stress exposure during intrauterine life is associated with shorter telomeres in adult life after accounting for the effects of other factors on LTL. LTL was assessed in 94 healthy young adults. Forty-five subjects were offspring of mothers who had experienced a severe stressor in the index pregnancy (prenatal stress group; PSG), and 49 subjects were offspring of mothers who had a healthy, uneventful index pregnancy (comparison group; CG). Prenatal stress exposure was a sig...