Does neuroticism make you old? Prospective associations between neuroticism and leukocyte telomere length

Ockenburg, Sonja L. van; Jonge, Peter de; Harst, Pim van der; Ormel, Johan; Rosmalen, Judith

doi:10.1017/s0033291713001657

Cited by 20 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…This view is supported by mounting evidence from epidemiological studies showing that people that have had various types of negative experiences have shorter telomeres than age-matched controls, and that the effects might be dose dependent [38,39]. For example, anxiety [40], depression [41], neuroticism [42], pessimism [43], childhood exposure to violence [44], family disruption [25], chronic pain [45,46] are all associated with shorter telomeres. In the first study of this type, Epel and coworkers [47] showed that TL in female caregivers was negatively correlated both with the number of years spent as a caregiver and the subjective perceived level of stress.…”

Section: Measurement Of Telomeresmentioning

confidence: 97%

Cumulative stress in research animals: Telomere attrition as a biomarker in a welfare context?

2015

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Progress in improving animal welfare is currently limited by the lack of objective methods for assessing lifetime experience. I propose that telomere attrition, a cellular biomarker of biological age, provides a molecular measure of cumulative experience that could be used to assess the welfare impact of husbandry regimes and/or experimental procedures on non‐human animals. I review evidence from humans that telomere attrition is accelerated by negative experiences in a cumulative and dose‐dependent manner, but that this attrition can be mitigated or even reversed by positive life‐style interventions. Evidence from non‐human animals suggests that despite some specific differences in telomere biology, stress‐induced telomere attrition is a robust phenomenon, occurring in a range of species including mice and chickens. I conclude that telomere attrition apparently integrates positive and negative experience in an accessible common currency that translates readily to novel species – the Holy Grail of a cumulative welfare indicator.

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Section: Measurement Of Telomeresmentioning

confidence: 97%

Cumulative stress in research animals: Telomere attrition as a biomarker in a welfare context?

2015

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“…It is well known that physical activity is associated with healthy aging and reduced risk for a number of chronic conditions [ 32 ], though the relationship between physical activity and telomere length remains unclear. Evidence supports an inverse relationship between telomere length and chronic pain [ 33 , 34 ] and various psychological stresses [ 35 – 39 ]. Interestingly, in a study that measured stress levels in both sedentary and physically active individuals, perceived stress among sedentary individuals was negatively associated with telomere length, whereas among physically active individuals, perceived stress was not related to telomere length [ 40 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical activity and telomere length: Impact of aging and potential mechanisms of action

et al. 2017

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Telomeres protect the integrity of information-carrying DNA by serving as caps on the terminal portions of chromosomes. Telomere length decreases with aging, and this contributes to cell senescence. Recent evidence supports that telomere length of leukocytes and skeletal muscle cells may be positively associated with healthy living and inversely correlated with the risk of several age-related diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, chronic pain, and stress. In observational studies, higher levels of physical activity or exercise are related to longer telomere lengths in various populations, and athletes tend to have longer telomere lengths than non-athletes. This relationship is particularly evident in older individuals, suggesting a role of physical activity in combating the typical age-induced decrements in telomere length. To date, a small number of exercise interventions have been executed to examine the potential influence of chronic exercise on telomere length, but these studies have not fully established such relationship. Several potential mechanisms through which physical activity or exercise could affect telomere length are discussed, including changes in telomerase activity, oxidative stress, inflammation, and decreased skeletal muscle satellite cell content. Future research is needed to mechanistically examine the effects of various modalities of exercise on telomere length in middle-aged and older adults, as well as in specific clinical populations.

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“…Telomere length is negatively correlated with age (Müezzinler et al, 2013) and positively correlated with educational attainment (Steptoe et al, 2011) and, on average, longer telomeres are found in females relative to males (Gardner et al, 2014), and in African Americans relative to Whites (Hunt et al, 2008; Needham et al, 2013). Furthermore, telomere length is associated with personality factors such as neuroticism (van Ockenburg et al, 2014), and health behaviors and lifestyle factors such as cigarette smoking (Valdes et al, 2005) and body mass index (BMI) (Müezzinler et al, 2014). Because many of the variables that covary with telomere length are also associated with the probability of marital disruption (Kendler et al, 2002; Kurdek, 1993; Roberts et al, 2007; Tucker et al, 1998), we were interested in evaluating the incremental association between marital disruption and salivary telomere length, holding constant demographic and socioeconomic variables, neuroticism, cigarette smoking, BMI, and stressors that were unlikely to result from marital disruption but that could potentially contribute to the increased probability of both marital disruption and telomere shortening (i.e., childhood traumatic life events, traumatic life events, other stressful life events).…”

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confidence: 99%

Marital disruption is associated with shorter salivary telomere length in a probability sample of older adults

Whisman

Robustelli

Sbarra

2016

Social Science & Medicine

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Rationale Marital disruption (i.e., marital separation, divorce) is associated with a wide range of poor mental and physical health outcomes, including increased risk for all-cause mortality. One biological intermediary that may help explain the association between marital disruption and poor health is accelerated cellular aging. Objective This study examines the association between marital disruption and salivary telomere length in a United States probability sample of adults ≥ 50 years of age. Method Participants were 3,526 individuals who participated in the 2008 wave of the Health and Retirement Study. Telomere length assays were performed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) on DNA extracted from saliva samples. Health and lifestyle factors, traumatic and stressful life events, and neuroticism were assessed via self-report. Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations between predictor variables and salivary telomere length. Results Based on their marital status data in the 2006 wave, people who were separated or divorced had shorter salivary telomeres than people who were continuously married or had never been married, and the association between marital disruption and salivary telomere length was not moderated by gender or neuroticism. Furthermore, the association between marital disruption and salivary telomere length remained statistically significant after adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic variables, neuroticism, cigarette use, body mass, traumatic life events, and other stressful life events. Additionally, results revealed that currently married adults with a history of divorce evidenced shorter salivary telomeres than people who were continuously married or never married. Conclusion Accelerated cellular aging, as indexed by telomere shortening, may be one pathway through which marital disruption is associated with morbidity and mortality.

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Does neuroticism make you old? Prospective associations between neuroticism and leukocyte telomere length

Abstract: High neuroticism is significantly and prospectively associated with telomere attrition independent of lifestyle and other risk factors.

Cited by 20 publications

References 50 publications

Cumulative stress in research animals: Telomere attrition as a biomarker in a welfare context?

Cumulative stress in research animals: Telomere attrition as a biomarker in a welfare context?

Physical activity and telomere length: Impact of aging and potential mechanisms of action

Marital disruption is associated with shorter salivary telomere length in a probability sample of older adults

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