Geroscience: linking aging to chronic disease.

Mammalian aging can be delayed with genetic, dietary, and pharmacologic approaches. Given that the elderly population is dramatically increasing and that aging is the greatest risk factor for a majority of chronic diseases driving both morbidity and mortality, it is critical to expand geroscience research directed at extending human healthspan.

COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects and Long-Term Neutralizing Antibody Response : A Prospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Concern about side effects is a common reason for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether short-term side effects of SARS-CoV-2 messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccination are associated with subsequent neutralizing antibody (nAB) response. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: San Francisco Bay Area. PARTICIPANTS: Adults who had not been vaccinated against or exposed to SARS-CoV-2, who then received 2 doses of either BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273. MEASUREMENTS: Serum nAB titer at 1 month and 6 months after the second vaccine dose. Daily symptom surveys and objective biometric measurements at each dose. RESULTS: 363 participants were included in symptom-related analyses (65.6% female; mean age, 52.4 years [SD, 11.9]), and 147 were included in biometric-related analyses (66.0% female; mean age, 58.8 years [SD, 5.3]). Chills, tiredness, feeling unwell, and headache after the second dose were each associated with 1.4 to 1.6 fold higher nAB at 1 and 6 months after vaccination. Symptom count and vaccination-induced change in skin temperature and heart rate were all positively associated with nAB across both follow-up time points. Each 1 °C increase in skin temperature after dose 2 was associated with 1.8 fold higher nAB 1 month later and 3.1 fold higher nAB 6 months later. LIMITATIONS: The study was conducted in 2021 in people receiving the primary vaccine series, making generalizability to people with prior SARS-CoV-2 vaccination or exposure unclear. Whether the observed associations would also apply for neutralizing activity against non-ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strains is also unknown. CONCLUSION: Convergent self-report and objective biometric findings indicate that short-term systemic side effects of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination are associated with greater long-lasting nAB responses. This may be relevant in addressing negative attitudes toward vaccine side effects, which are a barrier to vaccine uptake. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: National Institute on Aging.

New Directions in Geroscience: Integrating Social and Behavioral Drivers of Biological Aging.

ABSTRACT: The "geroscience hypothesis" posits that slowing the physiological processes of aging would lead to delayed disease onset and longer healthspan and lifespan. This shift from a focus on solely treating existing disease to slowing the aging process is a shift toward prevention, including a focus on risk factors found in the social environment. Although geroscience traditionally has focused on the molecular and cellular drivers of biological aging, more fundamental causes of aging may be found in the social exposome-the complex array of human social environmental exposures that shape health and disease. The social exposome may interact with physiological processes to accelerate aging biology. In this commentary, we review the potential of these insights to shape the emerging field of translational geroscience. The articles in this special issue highlight how social stress and social determinants of health are associated with biomarkers of aging such as inflammation, epigenetic clocks, and telomeres, and spotlight promising interventions to mitigate stress-related inflammation. For geroscience to incorporate the social exposome into its translational agenda, studies are needed that elucidate and quantify the effects of social exposures on aging and that consider social exposures as intervention targets. The life course perspective allows us to measure both exposures and aging biology over time including sensitive periods of development and major social transitions. In addition, given rapid changes in the measurement of aging biology, which include machine learning techniques, multisystem phenotypes of aging are being developed to better reflect whole body aging, replacing reliance on single system biomarkers. In this expanded and more integrated field of translational geroscience, strategies targeting factors in the social exposome hold promise for achieving aging health equity and extending healthy longevity.

Real-time heart rate variability biofeedback amplitude during a large-scale digital mental health intervention differed by age, gender, and mental and physical health.

Heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) is an efficacious treatment for depression and anxiety. However, translation to digital mental health interventions (DMHI) requires computing and providing real-time HRVB metrics in a personalized and user-friendly fashion. To address these gaps, this study validates a real-time HRVB feedback algorithm and characterizes the association of the main algorithmic summary metric-HRVB amplitude-with demographic, psychological, and health factors. We analyzed HRVB data from 5158 participants in a therapist-supported DMHI incorporating slow-paced breathing to treat depression or anxiety symptoms. A real-time feedback metric of HRVB amplitude and a gold-standard research metric of low-frequency (LF) power were computed for each session and then averaged within-participants over 2 weeks. We provide HRVB amplitude values, stratified by age and gender, and we characterize the multivariate associations of HRVB amplitude with demographic, psychological, and health factors. Real-time HRVB amplitude correlated strongly (r = .93, p < .001) with the LF power around the respiratory frequency (~0.1 Hz). Age was associated with a significant decline in HRVB (ß = -0.46, p < .001), which was steeper among men than women, adjusting for demographic, psychological, and health factors. Resting high- and low-frequency power, body mass index, hypertension, Asian race, depression symptoms, and trauma history were significantly associated with HRVB amplitude in multivariate analyses (p's < .01). Real-time HRVB amplitude correlates highly with a research gold-standard spectral metric, enabling automated biofeedback delivery as a potential treatment component of DMHIs. Moreover, we identify demographic, psychological, and health factors relevant to building an equitable, accurate, and personalized biofeedback user experience.

Did a workplace sugar-sweetened beverage sales ban reduce anxiety-related sugar-sweetened beverage consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic?

OBJECTIVE: Workplace sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) sales bans can reduce SSB consumption. Because stress and anxiety can promote sugar consumption, we examined whether anxiety among hospital employees during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with changes in SSB consumption and explored whether this relationship varied by exposure to a workplace SSB sales ban. DESIGN: In a prospective, controlled trial of workplace SSB sales bans, we examined self-reported anxiety (generalised anxiety disorder-7) and self-reported SSB consumption (fluid ounces/d) before (July 2019) and during (May 2020) the COVID-19 pandemic. SETTING: Hospital sites in two conditions (four with SSB sales bans and three without sales bans) in Northern California. PARTICIPANTS: We sampled 580 participants (hospital employees) from a larger trial of sales bans; all were regular consumers of SSB (minimum 3/week at main trial enrollment). This subsample was chosen based on having appropriately timed data for our study questions. RESULTS: Across conditions, participants reduced SSB consumption over the study period. However, participants with higher pandemic-era anxiety scores experienced smaller reductions in SSB consumption after 9 months compared with those with lower anxiety scores (ß = 0·65, P < 0·05). When the sample was disaggregated by sales ban condition, this relationship held for participants in the control group (access to SSB at work, ß = 0·82, P < 0·05), but not for those exposed to an SSB sales ban (ß = 0·42, P = 0·25). CONCLUSIONS: SSB sales bans likely reduce SSB consumption through multiple pathways; buffering stress-related consumption may be one mechanism.

Food insecurity, poor diet, and metabolic measures: The roles of stress and cortisol.

Food insecurity is highly prevalent and linked to poorer diet and worse metabolic outcomes. Food insecurity can be stressful, and could elicit chronic psychological and physiological stress. In this study, we tested whether stress could be used to identify those at highest risk for worse diet and metabolic measures from food insecurity. Specifically, we hypothesized that cortisol (a physiological marker of stress) and perceived psychological stress would amplify the link between food insecurity and hyperpalatable food intake as well as metabolic measures. In a sample of 624 Black and White women aged 36-43 who participated in the NHLBI Growth and Health Study's midlife assessment, we assessed associations between food insecurity with hyperpalatable food intake (high fat + high sodium foods; high fat + high sugar foods; and high carbohydrate + high sodium foods), and metabolic measures (fasting glucose, insulin resistance, and waist circumference). We found that food insecurity was associated with higher levels of perceived stress (R2 = 0.09), and greater intake of high fat + high sugar (hyperpalatable) foods (R2 = 0.03). In those with higher cumulative cortisol (as indexed by hair cortisol), food insecurity was associated with higher levels of fasting glucose. Neither cortisol nor perceived stress moderated any other relationships, and neither variable functioned as a mediator in sensitivity analyses. Given these largely null findings, further research is needed to understand the role stress plays in the chronic health burdens of food insecurity.

Association between mindful and practical eating skills and eating behaviors among racially diverse pregnant women in four selected clinical sites in the United States.

Background: Mindful eating is a promising strategy to address problematic eating behaviors; however, little is known about its applicability during pregnancy. No studies have examined the combined effects of mindful and practical eating skills on eating behaviors. Aim: We examined associations between mindful and practical eating skills and eating behaviors (nutritional intake and emotional eating) among pregnant women who received psychoeducation on healthy eating and pregnancies. Methods: Participants were racially-diverse pregnant women (14-42 years) from four clinical sites in Detroit, Michigan, and Nashville, Tennessee (N = 741). We conducted multiple linear regression to examine associations between mindful (hunger cues, satiety cues, mindful check-ins) and practical (food diary/journal, MyPlate method) eating skills and nutritional intake. We calculated residualized change scores to represent changes in the quality of nutritional intake from second to third trimester. We performed multiple logistic regression to examine associations between mindful and practical eating skills and emotional eating. Results: Women improved over time in eating behaviors (better nutrition, less emotional eating). Regular use of MyPlate was associated with better nutritional intake (unstandardized coefficient [B] = -0.61), but food diaries were not. We found a significant interaction in predicting emotional eating: For those regularly paying attention to hunger cues, some use of MyPlate (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 0.39) and especially regular use of MyPlate (AOR = 0.13) reduced the likelihood of emotional eating during pregnancy. Conclusion: Enhancing both mindful and practical eating skills, such as paying attention to hunger cues, and using the MyPlate method, may facilitate pregnant women's ability to improve their eating behaviors.

A Lens on Caregiver Stress in Cancer: Longitudinal Investigation of Cancer-Related Stress and Telomere Length Among Family Caregivers of Adult Patients With Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Family members are typically the primary caregivers of patients with chronic illnesses. Family caregivers of adult relatives with cancer are a fast-growing population, yet the physical consequences of their stress due to the cancer in the family have been poorly understood. This study examined the bidirectional relations of the perceived stress of family caregivers of individuals recently diagnosed with cancer and leukocyte cellular aging indexed by telomere length for 2 years. METHODS: Family caregivers ( N = 168; mean age = 51 years, 70% female, 46% Hispanic, 36% spouse to the patient) of patients with colorectal cancer provided psychological data and peripheral blood samples approximately 4 (T1), 12 (T2), and 21 months (T3) after diagnosis. Time-lagged cross-panel modeling was used to test the associations of perceived cancer-related stress and telomere length, controlling for age, sex, and body mass index. RESULTS: Cancer-related stress was highest at T1 and decreased by 1 year. Greater cancer-related stress predicted longer telomere length at subsequent assessments for 2 years ( ß ≥ 0.911, p ≤ .019). However, telomere length did not change significantly for 2 years overall and did not prospectively predict cancer-related stress over this period. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest the need to better understand how the perceived stress of colorectal cancer caregivers, which tends to be intense for a relatively short period compared with dementia caregiving, may impact immune cell distributions and telomere length. These findings emphasize the need for further knowledge about psychobiological mechanisms of how cancer caregiving may impact cellular aging.

Acute and Chronic Stress Associations With Blood Pressure: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study on an App-Based Platform.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the within- and between-person associations of acute and chronic stress with blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) using an app-based research platform. METHODS: We examined data from 31,964 adults (aged 18-90 years) in an app-based ecological momentary assessment study that used a research-validated optic sensor to measure BP. RESULTS: Within-person associations revealed that moments with (versus without) acute stress exposure were associated with higher systolic (SBP; b = 1.54) and diastolic BP (DBP; b = 0.79) and HR ( b = 1.53; p values < .001). During moments with acute stress exposure, higher acute stress severity than usual was associated with higher SBP ( b = 0.26), DBP ( b = 0.09), and HR ( b = 0.40; p values < .05). During moments without acute stress, higher background stress severity than usual was associated with higher BP and HR (SBP: b = 0.87, DBP: b = 0.51, HR: b = 0.69; p values < .001). Between-person associations showed that individuals with more frequent reports of acute stress exposure or higher chronic stress severity had higher SBP, DBP, and HR ( p values < .05). Between-person chronic stress severity moderated within-person physiological responses to stress such that individuals with higher chronic stress severity had higher average BP and HR levels but showed smaller responses to momentary stress. CONCLUSIONS: Technological advancements with optic sensors allow for large-scale physiological data collection, which provides a better understanding of how stressors of different timescales and severity contribute to momentary BP and HR in daily life.

Early life adversity predicts an accelerated cellular aging phenotype through early timing of puberty.

BACKGROUND: The current study examined if early adversity was associated with accelerated biological aging, and if effects were mediated by the timing of puberty. METHODS: In early mid-life, 187 Black and 198 White (Mage = 39.4, s.d.age = 1.2) women reported on early abuse and age at first menstruation (menarche). Women provided saliva and blood to assess epigenetic aging, telomere length, and C-reactive protein. Using structural equation modeling, we created a latent variable of biological aging using epigenetic aging, telomere length, and C-reactive protein as indicators, and a latent variable of early abuse using indicators of abuse/threat events before age 13, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. We estimated the indirect effects of early abuse and of race on accelerated aging through age at menarche. Race was used as a proxy for adversity in the form of systemic racism. RESULTS: There was an indirect effect of early adversity on accelerated aging through age at menarche (b = 0.19, 95% CI 0.03-0.44), in that women who experienced more adversity were younger at menarche, which was associated with greater accelerated aging. There was also an indirect effect of race on accelerated aging through age at menarche (b = 0.25, 95% CI 0.04-0.52), in that Black women were younger at menarche, which led to greater accelerated aging. CONCLUSIONS: Early abuse and being Black in the USA may both induce a phenotype of accelerated aging. Early adversity may begin to accelerate aging during childhood, in the form of early pubertal timing.

Intergenerational effects of maternal lifetime stressor exposure on offspring telomere length in Black and White women.

BACKGROUND: Although maternal stressor exposure has been associated with shorter telomere length (TL) in offspring, this literature is based largely on White samples. Furthermore, timing of maternal stressors has rarely been examined. Here, we examined how maternal stressors occurring during adolescence, pregnancy, and across the lifespan related to child TL in Black and White mothers. METHOD: Mothers (112 Black; 110 White; Mage = 39) and their youngest offspring (n = 222; Mage = 8) were part of a larger prospective cohort study, wherein mothers reported their stressors during adolescence (assessed twice during adolescence for the past year), pregnancy (assessed in midlife for most recent pregnancy), and across their lifespan (assessed in midlife). Mother and child provided saliva for TL measurement. Multiple linear regression models examined the interaction of maternal stressor exposure and race in relation to child TL, controlling for maternal TL and child gender and age. Race-stratified analyses were also conducted. RESULTS: Neither maternal adolescence nor lifespan stressors interacted with race in relation to child TL. In contrast, greater maternal pregnancy stressors were associated with shorter child TL, but this effect was present for children of White but not Black mothers. Moreover, this effect was significant for financial but not social pregnancy stressors. Race-stratified models revealed that greater financial pregnancy stressors predicted shorter telomeres in offspring of White, but not Black mothers. CONCLUSIONS: Race and maternal stressors interact and are related to biological aging across generations, but these effects are specific to certain races, stressors, and exposure time periods.

Psychological stress is associated with arterial inflammation in people living with treated HIV infection.

Stress and depression are increasingly recognized as cerebrovascular risk factors, including among high stress populations such as people living with HIV infection (PLWH). Stress may contribute to stroke risk through activation of neural inflammatory pathways. In this cross-sectional study, we examined the relationships between stress, systemic and arterial inflammation, and metabolic activity in stress-related brain regions on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET in PLWH. Participants were recruited from a parent trial evaluating the impact of alirocumab on radiologic markers of cardiovascular risk in people with treated HIV infection. We administered a stress battery to assess different forms of psychological stress, specifying the Perceived Stress Scale as the primary stress measure, and quantified plasma markers of inflammation and immune activation. Participants underwent FDG-PET of the brain, neck, and chest. Age- and sex-matched control participants without HIV infection were selected for brain FDG-PET comparisons. Among PLWH, we used nonparametric pairwise correlations, partial correlations, and linear regression to investigate the association between stress and 1) systemic inflammation; 2) atherosclerotic inflammation on FDG-PET; and metabolic activity in 3) brain regions in which glucose metabolism differed significantly by HIV serostatus; and 4) in a priori defined stress-responsive regions of interest (ROI) and stress-related neural network activity (i.e., ratio of amygdala to ventromedial prefrontal cortex or temporal lobe activity). We studied 37 PLWH (mean age 60 years, 97% men) and 29 control participants without HIV (mean age 62 years, 97% men). Among PLWH, stress was significantly correlated with systemic inflammation (r = 0.33, p = 0.041) and arterial inflammation in the carotid (r = 0.41, p = 0.023) independent of age, race/ethnicity, traditional vascular risk factors and health-related behaviors. In voxel-wise analyses, metabolic activity in a cluster corresponding to the anterior medial temporal lobes, including the bilateral amygdalae, was significantly lower in PLWH compared with controls. However, we did not find a significant positive relationship between stress and this cluster of decreased metabolic activity in PLWH, a priori defined stress-responsive ROI, or stress-related neural network activity. In conclusion, psychological stress was associated with systemic and carotid arterial inflammation in this group of PLWH with treated infection. These data provide preliminary evidence for a link between psychological stress, inflammation, and atherosclerosis as potential drivers of excess cerebrovascular risk among PLWH.

Are pregnancy and parity associated with telomere length? A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Women's reproduction requires increased energy demands, which consequently may lead to cellular damage and aging. Hence, Telomere Length (TL), a biomarker of biological aging and health status may possibly serve as a biomarker of reproductive effort. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate telomere dynamics throughout pregnancy and the association between parity and TL. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted across seven databases including CINAHL, Cochrane, PsycINFO, Proquest, PubMed; Scopus; and Web of Science, using keywords and MeSH descriptors of parity and TL. Predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to screen abstracts and titles. After the removal of duplicates, 3431 articles were included in the primary screening, narrowed to 194 articles included in the full-text screening. Consensus was reached for the 14 studies that were included in the final review, and the Newcastle-Ottawa scale (NOS) was utilized to assess the quality of the selected studies. A mini meta-analysis utilized JASP 0.17.3 software and included 4 applicable studies, comprising a total of 2564 participants to quantitatively assess the estimated effect size of parity on TL. RESULTS: Of the 11 studies reviewed on parity and TL, four demonstrated a negative correlation; one - a positive correlation and six -found no correlation. Studies demonstrating a negative correlation encompassed rigorous methodological practices possibly suggesting having more children is associated with enhanced telomere attrition. Of the four longitudinal studies assessing telomere dynamics throughout pregnancy, most found no change in TL from early pregnancy to postpartum suggesting pregnancy does not affect TL from early pregnancy to early postpartum. The meta-analysis revealed a negative, yet, non-significant effect, of the estimated effect size of parity on TL(ES = -0.009, p = 0.126, CI -0.021, 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Studies assessing pregnancy, parity and TL yielded mixed results, most likely due to the different research methods utilized in each study. Improvements in study design to better understand the short-term effects of pregnancy on TL and the effect of parity on TL over time, include precise definitions of parity, comparisons of different age groups, inclusion of reproductive lifespan and statistically adjusting for potential confounders in the parity and TL relationship.

Association between maternal eating and young child feeding in a community sample.

BACKGROUND: Early childhood is a pivotal period for the development of healthy eating practices. One way to promote child health is to identify early modifiable factors that affect child eating and weight. Given the intergenerational transmission of eating behaviors, this study examined how mothers' eating behaviors were associated with child feeding practices, and whether child weight-for-length (z-WFL) moderated this relation, in a community sample. METHODS: Participants were 72 mother-child dyads. Maternal eating behaviors-emotional, external and restrained-were assessed 9-months postpartum, using the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire. Child feeding-restrictive, pressure, and concern about overeating/overweight or undereating/underweight-was measured using the Infant Feeding Questionnaire, and child z-WFL were assessed 18-months postpartum. Linear regressions were used to test the main effect of maternal eating and the interaction effect of maternal eating and child z-WFL, on child feeding practices. RESULTS: Maternal restrained eating was associated with child pressure feeding, and contrarily with concerns about overeating/overweight. However, a significant interaction between child z-WFL and both maternal emotional and external eating were found with regard to concern about child undereating/underweight. Paradoxically, among children who weighed more, greater maternal emotional and greater external eating were associated with greater concern about child undereating/underweight. CONCLUSIONS: In this community sample, mothers were more likely to report contradictory feeding practices and concerns, suggesting complicated relations among a mother's own eating behavior, her child's weight, and her perceptions of child eating and weight. This may indicate a need for better communication and support of infant feeding practices. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Data was collected as part of two grants (MAMAS Grant ID: HL097973-01; SEED Grant ID: HL116511-02) conducted at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). All subjects gave their informed consent for inclusion before they participated in the study. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol was approved by institutional review board at UCSF.

Controlled trial of a workplace sales ban on sugar-sweetened beverages.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effectiveness of a workplace sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) sales ban on reducing SSB consumption in employees, including those with cardiometabolic disease risk factors. DESIGN: A controlled trial of ethnically diverse, full-time employees who consumed SSB heavily (sales ban n 315; control n 342). Outcomes included standardised measures of change in SSB consumption in the workplace (primary) and at home between baseline and 6 months post-sales ban. SETTING: Sutter Health, a large non-profit healthcare delivery system in Northern California. PARTICIPANTS: Full-time employees at Sutter Health screened for heavy SSB consumption. RESULTS: Participants were 66·1 % non-White. On average, participants consumed 34·7 ounces (about 1 litre) of SSB per d, and the majority had an elevated baseline BMI (mean = 29·5). In adjusted regression analyses, those exposed to a workplace SSB sales ban for 6 months consumed 2·7 (95 % CI -4·9, -0·5) fewer ounces of SSB per d while at work, and 4·3 (95 % CI -8·4, -0·2) fewer total ounces per d, compared to controls. Sales ban participants with an elevated BMI or waist circumference had greater post-intervention reductions in workplace SSB consumption. CONCLUSIONS: Workplace sales bans can reduce SSB consumption in ethnically diverse employee populations, including those at higher risk for cardiometabolic disease.

Parental sensitivity modifies the associations between maternal prenatal stress exposure, autonomic nervous system functioning and infant temperament in a diverse, low-income sample.

Evidence suggests that adversity experienced during fetal development may shape infant physiologic functioning and temperament. Parental sensitivity is associated with child stress regulation and may act as a buffer against risk for intergenerational health effects of pre- or postnatal adversity. Building upon prior evidence in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of infants (M infant age = 6.5 months) and women of low socioeconomic status, this study examined whether coded parenting sensitivity moderated the association between an objective measure of prenatal stress exposures (Stressful Life Events (SLE)) and infant parasympathetic (respiratory sinus arrhythmia; RSA) or sympathetic (pre-ejection period; PEP) nervous system functioning assessed during administration of the Still-Face-Paradigm (SFP) (n = 66), as well as maternal report of temperament (n = 154). Results showed that parental sensitivity moderated the associations between prenatal stress exposures and infant RSA reactivity, RSA recovery, PEP recovery, and temperamental negativity. Findings indicate that greater parental sensitivity is associated with lower infant autonomic nervous system reactivity and greater recovery from challenge. Results support the hypothesis that parental sensitivity buffers infants from the risk of prenatal stress exposure associations with offspring cross-system physiologic reactivity and regulation, potentially shaping trajectories of health and development and promoting resilience.

Is it me or my child? The association between maternal depression and children's behavior problems in mothers and their children with or without autism.

Bidirectional associations between maternal depression and child behavior problems have been reported in prior research, however, few studies examine these relations across varied family contexts. This study examined parenting stress and child diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as moderators of bidirectional associations between maternal depression and child behavior problems over time. Our sample included 86 mother-child dyads who reported maternal depressive symptoms, child behavior problems, and parenting stress at three time points over more than 1 year. Approximately half were mothers of children with ASD (n = 41) and half were mothers of neurotypical children (n = 45). We tested the bidirectional associations between maternal depressive symptoms and children's behavior problems and the potential moderating role of parental stress or child ASD diagnosis on these bidirectional associations using aggregated, lagged, and linear mixed models. Even after controlling for lagged maternal depressive symptoms, child behavior problems were associated with greater subsequent maternal depression at the between-person level, but not at the within-person level. The converse relation of prior maternal depressive symptoms on subsequent child behavior problems was not significant. Neither parenting stress nor child ASD diagnosis moderated bidirectional associations between maternal depressive symptoms and children's behavior problems. Child behavior predicted maternal depression, but the converse was not true, regardless of parenting stress levels or child's ASD diagnosis. For mothers experiencing elevated parenting stress and those with children with ASD, this may help alleviate elevated feelings of guilt related to their children's behavior problems.

The Effects of a Prenatal Mindfulness Intervention on Infant Autonomic and Behavioral Reactivity and Regulation.

OBJECTIVE: Maternal health and wellness during pregnancy are associated with long-term health outcomes in children. The current study examined whether infants of women who participated in a mindfulness-based intervention during pregnancy that reduced levels of stress and depression, increased physical activity, and improved glucose tolerance differed on biobehavioral markers of psychopathological and physical health risk compared with infants of women who did not. METHODS: Participants were 135 mother-infant dyads drawn from a racially and ethnically diverse, low-income sample experiencing high stress. The women participated in an intervention trial during pregnancy that involved assignment to either mindfulness-based intervention or treatment-as-usual (TAU). Infants of women from both groups were assessed at 6 months of age on sympathetic (preejection period), parasympathetic (respiratory sinus arrhythmia), and observed behavioral (negativity and object engagement) reactivity and regulation during the still face paradigm. Linear mixed-effects and generalized linear mixed-effects models were used to examine treatment group differences in infant outcomes. RESULTS: Relative to those in the intervention group, infants in the TAU group showed a delay in sympathetic activation and subsequent recovery across the still face paradigm. In addition, infants in the intervention group engaged in higher proportions of self-regulatory behavior during the paradigm, compared with the TAU group. No significant effect of intervention was found for parasympathetic response or for behavioral negativity during the still face paradigm. CONCLUSIONS: Findings provide evidence that maternal participation in a short-term, group mindfulness-based intervention during pregnancy is associated with the early development of salutary profiles of biobehavioral reactivity and regulation in their infants. Because these systems are relevant for psychopathology and physical health, prenatal behavioral interventions may benefit two generations.

Effects of Early Life Adversity on Pubertal Timing and Tempo in Black and White Girls: The National Growth and Health Study.

OBJECTIVE: Although exposure to abuse in early life predicts earlier pubertal timing, especially for girls, it is unclear if this association generalizes to nonabuse stressors. In addition, the impact of race on the stress-maturation association remains unknown. To address these issues, we examined whether race moderates the effects of early adversity on pubertal timing and tempo using a longitudinal study design. METHODS: In a cohort of 9- and 10-year-old Black and White girls, pubertal (areolar and pubic hair) maturation was assessed annually for 7 years. In adulthood, 368 participants (186 Black, 182 White) reported on abuse and nonabuse stressors they experienced from ages 0 to 12 years. RESULTS: Early life abuse was associated with earlier pubertal timing, as indexed by younger age at menarche (b = -0.22, p = .005, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.39 to -0.06) and greater pubic hair development (b = 0.11, p = .003, 95% CI = 0.04 to 0.18), in addition to slower pubertal tempo, as indexed by slower rate of pubic hair (b = -0.03, p < .001, 95% CI = -0.05 to -0.01) and areolar (b = -0.02, p = .02, 95% CI = -0.03 to -0.003) development. These associations were not found for nonabuse adversity. Black girls with early life abuse had greater pubic hair development (b = 0.23, p < .001, 95% CI = 0.12 to 0.35) and were slower in pubic hair tempo (b = -0.07, p < .001, 95% CI = -0.09 to -0.04) than their White counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: Screening for early life abuse may help address health disparities related to earlier pubertal timing.

Omega-3 supplementation and stress reactivity of cellular aging biomarkers: an ancillary substudy of a randomized, controlled trial in midlife adults.

Higher levels of omega-3 track with longer telomeres, lower inflammation, and blunted sympathetic and cardiovascular stress reactivity. Whether omega-3 supplementation alters the stress responsivity of telomerase, cortisol, and inflammation is unknown. This randomized, controlled trial examined the impact of omega-3 supplementation on cellular aging-related biomarkers following a laboratory speech stressor. In total, 138 sedentary, overweight, middle-aged participants (n = 93 women, n = 45 men) received either 2.5 g/d of omega-3, 1.25 g/d of omega-3, or a placebo for 4 months. Before and after the trial, participants underwent the Trier Social Stress Test. Saliva and blood samples were collected once before and repeatedly after the stressor to measure salivary cortisol, telomerase in peripheral blood lymphocytes, and serum anti-inflammatory (interleukin-10; IL-10) and pro-inflammatory (interleukin-6; IL-6, interleukin-12, tumor necrosis factor-alpha) cytokines. Adjusting for pre-supplementation reactivity, age, sagittal abdominal diameter, and sex, omega-3 supplementation altered telomerase (p = 0.05) and IL-10 (p = 0.05) stress reactivity; both supplementation groups were protected from the placebo group's 24% and 26% post-stress declines in the geometric means of telomerase and IL-10, respectively. Omega-3 also reduced overall cortisol (p = 0.03) and IL-6 (p = 0.03) throughout the stressor; the 2.5 g/d group had 19% and 33% lower overall cortisol levels and IL-6 geometric mean levels, respectively, compared to the placebo group. By lowering overall inflammation and cortisol levels during stress and boosting repair mechanisms during recovery, omega-3 may slow accelerated aging and reduce depression risk. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00385723.