Editorial: Accelerated epigenetic ageing as a consequence of early environmental adversity

In this editorial, I discuss findings and implications of a hypothesis-generating study by Copeland and colleagues showing that early adverse events related to unpredictability as well as a cumulative score summarising environmental adversity in childhood and adolescence are linked to accelerated epigenetic ageing. The setting of this study is the longitudinal Great Smoky Mountains Study, a richly phenotyped longitudinal cohort with biological information. In my discussion, I focus on potential mechanisms behind the reported findings and opportunities for next steps, for example provided by the richness of data in the cohort used in this study.