Adverse Childhood Experiences and Telomere Length a Look Into the Heterogeneity of Findings—A Narrative Review

Bürgin, David; O’Donovan, Aoife; d’Huart, Delfine; Gallo, Alain Di; Fegert, Jörg M.; Schmeck, Klaus; Schmid, Marc; Boonmann, Cyril

doi:10.3389/fnins.2019.00490

Cited by 36 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 104 publications

(315 reference statements)

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“…However, there was no evidence that current psychological distress impacted telomere length. Recent studies and metaanalyses have continued to demonstrate the relationship between childhood adversity and telomere shortening (Tyrka et al, 2016;Ridout et al, 2018;Bürgin et al, 2019). Furthermore, this relationship between childhood adversity and telomere length existed among individuals with anxiety disorders and controls.…”

Section: Telomere Shorteningmentioning

confidence: 98%

Immune and Epigenetic Pathways Linking Childhood Adversity and Health Across the Lifespan

et al. 2021

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Childhood adversity is associated with a host of mental and physical health problems across the lifespan. Individuals who have experienced childhood adversity (e.g., child abuse and neglect, family conflict, poor parent/child relationships, low socioeconomic status or extreme poverty) are at a greater risk for morbidity and premature mortality than those not exposed to childhood adversity. Several mechanisms likely contribute to the relationship between childhood adversity and health across the lifespan (e.g., health behaviors, cardiovascular reactivity). In this paper, we review a large body of research within the field of psychoneuroimmunology, demonstrating the relationship between early life stress and alterations of the immune system. We first review the literature demonstrating that childhood adversity is associated with immune dysregulation across different indices, including proinflammatory cytokine production (and its impact on telomere length), illness and infection susceptibility, latent herpesvirus reactivation, and immune response to a tumor. We then summarize the growing literature on how childhood adversity may alter epigenetic processes. Finally, we propose future directions related to this work that have basic and applied implications.

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Section: Telomere Shorteningmentioning

confidence: 98%

Immune and Epigenetic Pathways Linking Childhood Adversity and Health Across the Lifespan

et al. 2021

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“…Attachment security might be an important moderator between stressors and health outcomes, as was shown between childhood adversity and cellular aging ( 89 ). Considering attachment security in future research might account for some of the heterogeneity found in the association between (early) stressors and cellular aging across studies ( 4 , 90 ). Thus, more research in particular on attachment security in high stress environments and high-risk samples is warranted.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Stress of Caring—Resilience and HPA-Axis Activity in Hair Samples of Youth Residential Caregivers

et al. 2020

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Background: Professional caregivers in youth residential care institutions experience frequent verbal and physical aggression as well as multiple stressors as part of their everyday work, leading to high levels of burnout and staff turnover. Resilience might buffer against psychophysiological stress response and therefore be crucial for well-being in professional caregivers.Objectives: We aimed to investigate if measures related to resilience [sense of coherence (SoC), self-efficacy and self-care] and attachment security of caregivers were cross-sectionally associated with stress markers in hair samples [cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)].Method: Participants (n = 134; 64.2% women) reported on individual resilience measures and provided hair samples for cortisol and DHEA assays. Attachment was assessed in a subsample using the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP, n = 69). Linear regression models were fitted to estimate the association between resilience measures and the Cortisol:DHEA ratio, cortisol and DHEA, controlling for gender and age.Results: SoC was associated with a lower Cortisol:DHEA ratio (β = −0.36, p < 0.001), driven by a positive association between SoC and DHEA levels (β = 0.28, p = 0.002). Self-care was also associated with lower Cortisol:DHEA ratios (β = −0.24, p = 0.005), due to self-care being associated with higher DHEA (β = 0.21, p = 0.016). HPA-axis measures were not associated with self-efficacy nor with attachment patterns in a subsample.Conclusions: Our findings imply that youth residential care institutions might benefit from programs focusing on enhancing SoC and self-care practices. Fostering a meaningful, comprehensible and manageable professional climate in caregiving environments and implementing self-care in routine practices might enhance not only well-being but also physical health of professional caregivers and in this way buffer adverse health effects of chronic stressors.

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“…Sexual abuse was more strongly and consistently associated with telomere length than physical abuse. Two recent meta-analyses and one narrative review also concluded that the type of adverse experiences have different impacts on telomere length, though they did not demonstrate differences between sexual and physical abuse [ 27 , 56 , 57 ]. Li et al (2017) found that experiences of childhood separation were associated with shorter telomeres, but physical and sexual abuse and loss of a parent were not [ 56 ], while in Ridout et al (2018), experiences of abuse and neglect were associated with shorter telomeres [ 27 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous findings of greater impact of abuse earlier in life may reflect a true impact of abuse experienced in a key developmental period [ 59 , 60 ], or longer duration of abuse exposure. Abuse duration is not captured well by current measures [ 57 ]. We attempted to address this by cross-classifying abuse in childhood and adolescence, which showed, that among individuals that experienced physical or sexual abuse in childhood, around half were also abused in adolescence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical and sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence and leukocyte telomere length: A pooled analysis of the study on psychosocial stress, spirituality, and health

Warner

Zhang

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

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Introduction We examined whether abuse in childhood and/or adolescence was associated with shorter telomere length in a pooled analysis of 3,232 participants from five diverse cohorts. We also assessed whether religion or spirituality (R/S) could buffer deleterious effects of abuse. Methods Physical and sexual abuse in childhood (age <12) and adolescence (age 12–18) was assessed using the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale and questions from a 1995 Gallup survey. We measured relative leukocyte telomere lengths (RTL) using quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction. We used generalized estimating equations to assess associations of physical and sexual abuse with log-transformed RTL z-scores. Analyses were conducted in each cohort, overall, and stratified by extent of religiosity or spirituality and religious coping in adulthood. We pooled study‐specific estimates using random‐effects models and assessed between-study heterogeneity. Results Compared to no abuse, severe sexual abuse was associated with lower RTL z-scores, in childhood: -15.6%, 95% CI: -25.9, -4.9; p-trend = 0.04; p-heterogeneity = 0.58 and in adolescence: -16.5%, 95% CI: -28.1, -3.0; p-trend = 0.08; p-heterogeneity = 0.68. Sexual abuse experienced in both childhood and adolescence was associated with 11.3% lower RTL z-scores after adjustment for childhood and demographic covariates (95% CI: -20.5%, -2.0%; p-trend = 0.03; p-heterogeneity = 0.62). There was no evidence of effect modification by R/S. Physical abuse was not associated with telomere length. Conclusions Sexual abuse in childhood or adolescence was associated with a marker of accelerated biological aging, decreased telomere length. The lack of moderation by R/S may be due to inability to capture the appropriate time period for those beliefs and practices.

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Adverse Childhood Experiences and Telomere Length a Look Into the Heterogeneity of Findings—A Narrative Review

Cited by 36 publications

References 104 publications

Immune and Epigenetic Pathways Linking Childhood Adversity and Health Across the Lifespan

Immune and Epigenetic Pathways Linking Childhood Adversity and Health Across the Lifespan

The Stress of Caring—Resilience and HPA-Axis Activity in Hair Samples of Youth Residential Caregivers

Physical and sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence and leukocyte telomere length: A pooled analysis of the study on psychosocial stress, spirituality, and health

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