Early life adversity, pubertal timing, and epigenetic age acceleration in adulthood.

TitleEarly life adversity, pubertal timing, and epigenetic age acceleration in adulthood.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2021
AuthorsHamlat, EJ, Prather, AA, Horvath, S, Belsky, J, Epel, ES
JournalDev Psychobiol
Volume63
Issue5
Pagination890-902
Date Published2021 Jul
ISSN1098-2302
KeywordsAcceleration, Adult, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Aging, DNA Methylation, Epigenesis, Genetic, Epigenomics, Female, Humans
Abstract

BACKGROUND: Given associations linking early life adversity, pubertal timing, and biological aging, we examined the direct and indirect effects of early life trauma on adult biological aging (via age of menarche).

METHODS: Participants were premenopausal women (N = 183). Path models evaluated whether early life trauma predicted early pubertal timing and thereby, adult epigenetic age acceleration (indexed via four epigenetic clocks: Horvath DNAm Age, Hannum DNAm Age, DNAm PhenoAge, and DNAm GrimAge). Secondary analyses explored the effects of type of trauma (abuse and neglect) and adult chronic stress status (caregiver of child with autism and non-caregiver).

RESULTS: Early life trauma and earlier age at menarche independently predicted accelerated aging based on one of the four epigenetic clocks, DNAm GrimAge, though early life trauma was not associated with age of menarche. Childhood abuse, but not neglect, predicted faster epigenetic aging; results did not differ by chronic stress status.

CONCLUSIONS: Early trauma and early menarche appear to exert independent effects on DNAm GrimAge, which has been shown to be the strongest epigenetic predictor of mortality risk. This study identifies a potential correlate or determinant of accelerated epigenetic aging-menarcheal age. Future research should address the limitations of this study by using racially diverse samples.

DOI10.1002/dev.22085
Alternate JournalDev Psychobiol
PubMed ID33423276
PubMed Central IDPMC8271092
Grant ListT32 MH019391 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States
U01 AG060908 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
L30 HL154404 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
R01 AG059677 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States