Early-Life Adversity and Epigenetic Aging: Findings from a 17-Year Longitudinal Study.

Area of Science:

• Developmental psychology
• Epigenetics
• Public health

Background:

• Early-life adversity (ELA) increases risks for poor physical and mental health later in life.
• DNA methylation (DNAm) and epigenetic age are potential biological pathways linking ELA to health outcomes.
• The stress sensitization hypothesis suggests prenatal adversity amplifies later stress responses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine associations between ELA and six epigenetic aging measures.
• To investigate the impact of timing of adversity (perinatal vs. childhood/adolescence).
• To explore sex-specific differences in ELA's effect on epigenetic aging.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development.
• Derived cumulative ELA indices: Perinatal Adversity and Child and Adolescent Adversity.
• Assessed associations between ELA indices and six epigenetic aging measures, including DunedinPACE.

Main Results:

• Higher Perinatal Adversity scores correlated with accelerated DunedinPACE epigenetic age.
• No significant associations were found between ELA and other epigenetic clocks.
• The stress sensitization hypothesis was not supported, though a trend emerged for girls.

Conclusions:

• DunedinPACE may be a sensitive biomarker for ELA's impact on epigenetic aging.
• Perinatal adversity is specifically associated with accelerated epigenetic aging.
• Further research on sex-dimorphic effects of ELA on epigenetic aging is warranted.