Childhood Personality, Betrayal Trauma, and Leukocyte Telomere Length in Adulthood: A Lifespan Perspective on Conscientiousness and Betrayal Traumas as Predictors of a Biomarker of Cellular Ageing

Abstract

Conscientiousness is associated with longevity. As such, identifying the biological pathways linking personality to mortality is important. This study employs longitudinal data spanning >40 years to test prospective associations with Leukocyte Telomere Length (LTL), a potential marker of cellular aging. Because telomeres shorten over time, and are sensitive to oxidative stress, shorter LTL may reflect cumulative damage associated with negative health behaviors and past stressful events. We investigated childhood conscientiousness as a protective factor, expecting an association with longer LTL in adulthood, possibly reflecting slower LTL shortening. Potential lifespan pathways involving childhood trauma, smoking behaviors, and Body Mass Index (BMI) were explored. Childhood conscientiousness showed a small raw association with LTL (r = .08, p = .04), although this effect did not persist when controlling for age and sex. Despite this lack of a direct effect on LTL, we detected an indirect effect operating jointly through BMI and smoking. Higher rates of childhood betrayal trauma were associated with shorter LTL. Contrary to our hypothesis that conscientiousness would buffer this effect, we found evidence for an interaction with childhood betrayal traumas where the association between childhood betrayal traumas and LTL was larger for those higher on conscientiousness in childhood.

The future of telomere length in personalized medicine

“…Many psychiatric disorders, such as major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BD), post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia have shown correlation to shorter leukocyte TL (40,(55)(56)(57)(58)(166)(167)(168). A recent meta-analysis confirmed these findings in patients with MDD (169), a syndrome of "premature aging".…”

“…Environmental factors, such as smoking and physical activity, have been shown to be significantly correlated to shortening of TL (52)(53)(54), as well as traumatic events or certain psychiatric illnesses (55)(56)(57)(58). In addition, studies on diseases' risk factors, such as obesity, lipid profiles and hypertension have shown some inconsistent results.…”

Lifetime trauma, personality traits, and health: A pathway to midlife health status.

“…Previously, Klest, Freyd, Hampson, and Dubanoski, (2013) demonstrated an association between trauma and self-rated physical health for participants in the Hawaii cohort. Edmonds, Hampson, Côté, Hill, and Klest (2015) reported on the relations among childhood trauma, childhood conscientiousness, and leukocyte telomere length (a potential marker of cellular aging), in the Hawaii cohort. The current study differs from these previous investigations by examining hypotheses concerning associations between child and adult personality and trauma experience, and between trauma and objective physical-health outcomes.…”

Associations between trauma during adolescence and sense of purpose in middle-to-late adulthood

“…Betrayal trauma theory suggests that negative experiences that impact trust in relationships, such as abusive behavior from parents, should be more problematic than adverse experiences that do not involve betrayal (Freyd, 1996). Research has shown that these events, referred to as high betrayal traumas (HBTs; Goldberg & Freyd, 2006), can hold negative impacts on health and well-being decades later (Edmonds et al, 2016; Klest et al, 2013). These studies follow a broad literature establishing that adverse childhood events typically hold negative consequences for later well-being (e.g., Chapman et al, 2004; Felitti et al, 1998).…”