Telomere Erosion and Depressive Symptoms Across Development Following Institutional Care

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Genetics
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Early caregiving adversities are linked to affective psychopathology, especially depression, which rises through childhood and adolescence.
• Telomere erosion, a marker of biological aging, may mediate the link between early adversity and later depressive behavior, but this is poorly understood during development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the concurrent association between telomere length and depressive symptoms from preschool through adolescence.
• To investigate the impact of early previous institutional (PI) care on telomere length and depressive symptom development over time.

Main Methods:

• An accelerated longitudinal study tracked telomere length and depressive symptoms in children exposed (n=116) and not exposed (n=242) to PI care.
• Measurements were taken concurrently and at 2- and 4-year follow-ups, spanning from preschool to adolescence.

Main Results:

• Previous institutional care was associated with shorter telomeres and quadratic age-related growth in depressive symptoms.
• The association between PI care and depressive symptoms was stronger in younger children and diminished in adolescence.
• Telomere length was not associated with depressive symptoms concurrently or predictively in this developmental sample, contrasting with adult findings.

Conclusions:

• Early caregiving disruptions elevate the risk for both accelerated biological aging and depressive symptoms.
• Telomere length and depressive symptoms did not show a significant correlation during the studied developmental period.
• The findings highlight distinct developmental trajectories for biological aging and depressive symptoms following early adversity.