Social stressors associated with age-related T lymphocyte percentages in older US adults: Evidence from the US Health and Retirement Study.

Exposure to stress is a risk factor for poor health and accelerated aging. Immune aging, including declines in naïve and increases in terminally differentiated T cells, plays a role in immune health and tissue specific aging, and may contribute to elevated risk for poor health among those who experience high psychosocial stress. Past data have been limited in estimating the contribution of life stress to the development of accelerated immune aging and investigating mediators such as lifestyle and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. This study utilizes a national sample of 5,744 US adults over age 50 to assess the relationship of social stress (viz., everyday discrimination, stressful life events, lifetime discrimination, life trauma, and chronic stress) with flow cytometric estimates of immune aging, including naïve and terminally differentiated T cell percentages and the ratio of CD4+ to CD8+ cells. Experiencing life trauma and chronic stress was related to a lower percentage of CD4+ naïve cells. Discrimination and chronic stress were each associated with a greater percentage of terminally differentiated CD4+ cells. Stressful life events, high lifetime discrimination, and life trauma were related to a lower percentage of CD8+ naïve cells. Stressful life events, high lifetime discrimination, and chronic stress were associated with a higher percentage of terminally differentiated CD8+ cells. High lifetime discrimination and chronic stress were related to a lower CD4+:CD8+ ratio. Lifestyle factors and CMV seropositivity partially reduced these effects. Results identify psychosocial stress as a contributor to accelerating immune aging by decreasing naïve and increasing terminally differentiated T cells.

Short sleep and insomnia are associated with accelerated epigenetic age.

OBJECTIVE: Short sleep and insomnia are each associated with greater risk for age-related disease, which suggests that insufficient sleep may accelerate biological aging. We examine whether short sleep and insomnia alone or together relate to epigenetic age among older adults. METHODS: A total of 3,795 men (46.3%) and women aged 56-100 years from the Health and Retirement Study were included. Insomnia was defined as reporting at least one insomnia symptom (difficulty falling asleep, waking up at night, or waking up too early in the morning) and feeling unrested when waking up most of the time. Those reporting <6 hours of bedtime were categorized as short sleepers. Three second- or third-generation epigenetic age acceleration clocks were derived from the 2016 HRS Venous Blood Study. The linear regression analysis was adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, and obesity status. RESULTS: Insomnia and short sleep were associated with an 0.49 (95%CI:0.03-0.94; P:0.04) and 1.29 (95%CI:0.52-2.07; P:0.002) years acceleration of GrimAge, respectively, as well as a faster pace of aging (DunedinPACE; 0.018 (95%CI:0.004-0.033; P:0.02); 0.022(95%CI:-0.004-0.048; P:0.11)). Compared to healthy sleepers, individuals with the combination of short sleep and insomnia had an accelerated GrimAge (0.97 years; 95%CI:0.07-1.87; P:0.04) and a greater DunedinPACE (0.032; 95%CI:0.003-0.060; P:0.04). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate short sleep, insomnia, and the combination of the two, are linked to epigenetic age acceleration, suggesting that these individuals have an older biological age that may contribute to risk for comorbidity and mortality.

Social relationships and epigenetic aging in older adulthood: Results from the Health and Retirement Study.

Growing evidence suggests that social relationship quality can influence age-related health outcomes, although how the quality of one's relationships directly relates to the underlying aging process is less clear. We hypothesized that the absence of close relationships as well as lower support and higher strain within existing relationships would be associated with an accelerated epigenetic aging profile among older adults in the Health and Retirement Study. Adults (N = 3,647) aged 50-100 years completed ratings of support and strain in relationships with their spouse, children, other family members, and friends. They also provided a blood sample that was used for DNA methylation profiling to calculate a priori-specified epigenetic aging measures: Horvath, Hannum, PhenoAge, GrimAge, and Dunedin Pace of Aging methylation (DunedinPoAm38). Generalized linear models that adjusted for chronological age, sex, and race/ethnicity and applied a false discovery rate correction revealed that the absence of marital and friend relationships related to an older GrimAge and faster DunedinPoAm38. Among those with existing relationships, lower support from a spouse, child, other family, and friends and higher strain with friends related to an older PhenoAge and GrimAge and faster DunedinPoAm38. In secondary analyses that further adjusted for socioeconomic and lifestyle factors, lower support from other family members and friends was associated with greater epigenetic aging. Findings suggest that the absence of close relationships and lower support within existing relationships-particularly with family members and friends-relate to accelerated epigenetic aging in older adulthood, offering one mechanism through which social relationships might influence risk for age-related declines and disease.

Evaluation of T-cell aging-related immune phenotypes in the context of biological aging and multimorbidity in the Health and Retirement Study.

BACKGROUND: Cellular changes in adaptive immune system accompany the process of aging and contribute to an aging-related immune phenotype (ARIP) characterized by decrease in naïve T-cells (TN) and increase in memory T-cells (TM). A population-representative marker of ARIP and its associations with biological aging and age-related chronic conditions have not been studied previously. METHODS: We developed two ARIP indicators based on well understood age-related changes in T cell distribution: TN/(TCM (Central Memory) + TEM (Effector Memory) + TEFF (Effector)) (referred as TN/TM) in CD4 + and CD8 + T-cells. We compared them with existing ARIP measures including CD4/CD8 ratio and CD8 + TN cells by evaluating associations with chronological age and the Klemera Doubal measure of biological age (measured in years) using linear regression, multimorbidity using multinomial logistic regression and two-year mortality using logistic regression. RESULTS: CD8 + TN and CD8 + TN/TM had the strongest inverse association with chronological age (beta estimates: -3.41 and -3.61 respectively; p-value < 0.0001) after adjustment for sex, race/ethnicity and CMV status. CD4 + TN/TM and CD4 + TN had the strongest inverse association with biological age (ß = -0.23; p = 0.003 and ß = -0.24; p = 0.004 respectively) after adjustment for age, sex, race/ethnicity and CMV serostatus. CD4/CD8 ratio was not associated with chronological age or biological age. CD4 + TN/TM and CD4 + TN was inversely associated with multimorbidity. For CD4 + TN/TM, people with 2 chronic conditions had an odds ratio of for 0.74 (95%CI: 0.63-0.86 p = 0.0003) compared to those without any chronic conditions while those with 3 chronic conditions had an odds ratio of 0.75 (95% CI: 0.63-0.90; p = 0.003) after adjustment for age, sex, race/ethnicity, CMV serostatus, smoking, and BMI. The results for the CD4 + TN subset were very similar to the associations seen with the CD4 + TN/TM. CD4 + TN/TM and CD4 + TN were both associated with two-year mortality (OR = 0.80 (95% CI: 0.67-0.95; p = 0.01) and 0.81 (0.70-0.94; p = 0.01), respectively). CONCLUSION: CD4 + TN/TM and CD4 + TN had a stronger association with biological age, age-related morbidity and mortality compared to other ARIP measures. Future longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate the utility of the CD4 + subsets in predicting the risk of aging-related outcomes.

Higher-order trajectories of pain and depressive symptoms link midlife financial stress to women's well-being in later life.

Objectives: Consistent with biopsychosocial models, shared pathophysiological conditions underlying both physical pain and depressive symptoms can result in the clustering of pain and depressive symptoms. However, previous studies have not investigated a higher-order construct capturing both pain and depressive symptoms over time. Furthermore, research has not identified trajectory antecedents (e.g. perceived family financial stress) and their consequences for later-life health and well-being. The present study sought to address these gaps in the research.Method: Using prospective data over 23 years from 244 long-term married women, the present study estimated latent growth curves in a structural equation model (more specifically a parallel trajectory model was estimated).Results: Family financial strain in midlife was, on average, associated with a higher initial level (ß = .37, p < .001) and rate of change (ß = .20, p = .045) of pain-depressive symptoms trajectories, which, in turn, contributed to health and well-being challenges, including the level and rate of change in physical limitations (ß = .50, p < .001 and 0.43, p < .001, respectively), memory impairment (ß = .47 and .47, p < .001, respectively), and loneliness (ß = .63, p = < .001 and .28, p = .022, respectively) in later years. The adverse influence of family financial strain on pain-depressive symptoms trajectories weakened under high levels of marital closeness (ß = -.10, p = .032). Conclusion: These findings emphasize the necessity of policies and interventions that focus on reducing adults' stressful life circumstances and further developing protective factors that can aid in the redirection of adverse pain-depressive symptoms trajectories.Supplemental data for this article are available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2021.1993129.

Midlife financial strain and later-life health and wellbeing of husbands and wives: Linking and moderating roles of couple intimacy trajectories.

This study investigates (a) heterogeneous trajectories of couple intimacy over the mid-later years (average ages of 40-65) and (b) how these intimacy classes are differentially associated with spouses' midlife financial strain as well as their later-life health and wellbeing outcomes. The sample was comprised of white couples in long-term marriages from the rural Mid-west who experienced the economic downturn of the farm crisis in late 1980s. Couple-level measures of emotional intimacy and sexual intimacy were created by summing husbands' and wives' reports. Using growth mixture modeling with a sample of 304 couples, conjoint intimacy classes were identified from trajectories of couple emotional intimacy and sexual intimacy. Three qualitatively different latent intimacy classes of couples were identified: Consistently High, Moderate and Increasing, and Chronically Low. Intimacy classes were differentially associated with midlife financial strain and later-life health and wellbeing. Spouses with consistently high and moderate and increasing intimacy in their mid-later years averaged lower financial strain in early midlife and better health and wellbeing outcomes in later years (>67 years) compared to those with consistently low intimacy after controlling for lagged health measures. The identification of couple intimacy trajectory groups provides a potentially useful prognostic tool for counseling efforts that can promote and develop resiliency factors to aid in the redirection of adverse couple intimacy trajectories.

En el presente estudio se investigan las a) trayectorias heterogéneas de la intimidad de la pareja durante los años de la mediana edad y la vejez (edades promedio de 40 a 65 años) y b) cómo estas clases de intimidad se asocian diferencialmente con la presión económica de la mediana edad de los cónyuges, así como con los resultados en la salud y el bienestar en la vejez. La muestra estuvo compuesta de parejas blancas en matrimonios duraderos de zonas rurales del centro de los Estados Unidos que sufrieron la recesión económica de la crisis agrícola a fines de la década de los ochenta. Las medidas a nivel de la pareja de la intimidad emocional y la intimidad sexual se crearon sumando los informes de los esposos y las esposas. Utilizando un modelo de combinación de crecimiento con una muestra de 304 parejas, se identificaron clases de intimidad conjunta a partir de las trayectorias de la intimidad emocional y la intimidad sexual de la pareja. Se identificaron tres clases de parejas cualitativamente diferentes según su intimidad latente: constantemente alta, moderada y en aumento, y crónicamente baja. Las clases de intimidad estuvieron asociadas diferencialmente con la presión económica en la mediana edad y la salud y el bienestar en la vejez. Los cónyuges con intimidad constantemente alta, y moderada y en aumento entre la mediana edad y la vejez promediaron una menor presión económica a principios de la mediana edad y mejores resultados en la salud y el bienestar durante la vejez (más de 67 años) en comparación con aquellos que tenían una intimidad constantemente baja después de tener en cuenta las medidas de salud retardadas. La identificación de los grupos de trayectorias de la intimidad de la pareja ofrece una herramienta de pronóstico que puede ser útil para el trabajo de terapia orientado a personas y a parejas, ya que puede promover y desarrollar factores de resiliencia que ayuden a redirigir las trayectorias desfavorables de la intimidad de la pareja.

Childhood adversity is linked to adult health among African Americans via adolescent weight gain and effects are genetically moderated.

Identifying the mechanisms linking early experiences, genetic risk factors, and their interaction with later health consequences is central to the development of preventive interventions and identifying potential boundary conditions for their efficacy. In the current investigation of 412 African American adolescents followed across a 20-year period, we examined change in body mass index (BMI) across adolescence as one possible mechanism linking childhood adversity and adult health. We found associations of childhood adversity with objective indicators of young adult health, including a cardiometabolic risk index, a methylomic aging index, and a count of chronic health conditions. Childhood adversities were associated with objective indicators indirectly through their association with gains in BMI across adolescence and early adulthood. We also found evidence of an association of genetic risk with weight gain across adolescence and young adult health, as well as genetic moderation of childhood adversity's effect on gains in BMI, resulting in moderated mediation. These patterns indicated that genetic risk moderated the indirect pathways from childhood adversity to young adult health outcomes and childhood adversity moderated the indirect pathways from genetic risk to young adult health outcomes through effects on weight gain during adolescence and early adulthood.

Life Course Trajectories of Negative and Positive Marital Experiences and Loneliness in Later Years: Exploring Differential Associations.

Loneliness is relatively common among older adults in the United States, and there can be significant physical, psychological, and cognitive impairments associated with feelings of loneliness. Consequently, this study seeks to uncover determinants of loneliness, particularly the impact of couples' negative and positive marital experiences (i.e., marital strain and strength) over the life course on loneliness in later adulthood. To accomplish this goal, an integrated analytical framework is utilized, incorporating growth curves within an actor-partner interdependence model, to capture the initial level and the rate of change in marital strain and strength over a period of 25 years (from 1991 to 2015) with a sample of 257 couples in enduring, long-term marriages. Couples first participated in the Iowa Youth and Family Project in 1989 and most recently participated in the Later Adulthood Study in 2015. The confirmatory factor analyses showed that latent constructs of marital strain and marital strength are distinct constructs. The univariate growth curve analyses showed that there were significant interindividual variations in the initial level (1991) and rate of change (1991-2015) in marital strain and marital strength for both husbands and wives. While the initial level and rate of change in perceived marital strain from 1991 to 2015 was generally of consequence for both spouses' loneliness in 2015 (actor and partner effects), only actor effects were noted for marital strength. Findings are discussed as they relate to health policies and interventions focusing on the well-being of married couples in later life.

Disentangling the Effects of Boys' Pubertal Timing: The Importance of Social Context.

Some prior studies have found that, for boys, earlier puberty is linked to higher crime and delinquency, while other studies have found that earlier puberty is associated with greater social competence and beneficial psychosocial development. The current study suggests that these seemingly contradictory results actually represent two divergent pathways by which earlier pubertal timing can affect adjustment. Which pathway boys take is highly dependent on psychosocial context. Using a sample of 310 African American boys and their primary caregivers tracked across three waves of data collection from ages 10.55-18.84 from the Family and Community Health Study (FACHS), the current study utilizes Latent Moderated Structural Equation Modeling (LMS) to analyze effects of interactions between pubertal timing and social contextual factors on criminal behavior and social competence. Results suggest that criminogenic effects of early puberty are contingent on deviant peer group, poor school experience, harsh parenting, and neighborhood disorganization, whereas the association between earlier puberty and social competence is attenuated by harsh parenting. Results suggest that modeling both positive and negative development outcomes together may give a clearer picture of the developmental consequences of pubertal timing for boys. In addition, this study shows the importance of social context in shaping the meaning and consequences of biological variables like pubertal timing.

Patterning of midlife marital trajectories in enduring marriages in a dyadic context: Physical and mental health outcomes in later years.

The current study, using prospective data over 25 years (1991-2015; N = 245 couples), investigates life course dyadic patterns of positive and negative marital trajectories (i.e., marital strength and strain, respectively) in middle-aged husbands and wives and an array of physical and mental health outcomes associated with these patterns. Spousal warmth, spouse's constructive conflict resolution, and couple's joint participation were used as indicators of marital strength, whereas spousal hostility, spouse's destructive conflict resolution, and marital instability were used as indicators of marital strain. Four dyadic latent classes with heterogeneous trajectory patterns were identified using husbands' and wives' concurrent strength and strain marital trajectories (1991-2001), including a couple stable and moderately favorable group, a couple stable and highly favorable group, a couple stable and husband more favorable than wife group, and a husband improving with wife slightly worsening group. The best health outcomes in 2015 were generally reported by members of the couple stable and highly favorable group, whereas the worst health outcomes were found, on average, for members of the husband improving with wife slightly worsening group. Based on these findings, interventions should promote and develop resiliency factors, thereby aiding in the redirection or improvement of middle-aged spouses' marital trajectories, which can reduce detrimental positive-negative imbalances in marital strength and strain.

Puberty and Girls' Delinquency: A Test of Competing Models Explaining the Relationship between Pubertal Development and Delinquent Behavior.

A substantial amount of research indicates precocious pubertal development is associated with delinquent behavior in girls. However, no clear consensus on theoretical mechanisms underlying this association has been established. Using a prospective panel study of 480 African American girls, the current study uses latent growth curve analysis to compare two competing models-context of risk (CR) and life history (LH) theory-offering potential explanations of this phenomenon. The CR model suggests that early pubertal development substantially shapes girls' social worlds such that they are exposed to more risk factors for delinquency; whereas, LH theory argues environmental unpredictability and harshness in childhood cause accelerated physical development, which predicts risky behavior. Results indicate that girls with precocious pubertal timing have more deviant peers and are exposed to harsher parenting, and that risk factors do not predict pubertal timing, providing more support for the CR model. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.

Evaluating Observer Ratings: The Case of Measuring Neighborhood Disorder.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the quality of observer ratings of neighborhood disorder using a many-facet Rasch model (MFRM). Our goal is to investigate observer severity and observer consistency. Observers trained in the use of a systematic social observation visited and rated residential neighborhoods. Data for this study are drawn from the Family and Community Health Study (FACHS). The FACHS sample consisted of 673 neighborhoods. Two observers, out of a total of 67 observers used for this study, rated each residential neighborhood. The results of this study suggested that there were statistically significant differences in observer severity, even after observer training, and that the ratings of observers are not consistent. Therefore, more or better observer training is necessary. In addition, the interaction effect between observer and item was significant, indicating significant variance in observer severity across at least one item.

Invited address: "The times they are a-changin'" gene expression, neuroplasticity, and developmental research.

For good reason, social scientists have a long history of being suspicious of biological explanations of human behavior. Importantly, however, recent paradigmatic shifts in the life sciences have largely obviated these longstanding concerns. We highlight the changes that have occurred in genetics with its movement away from genetic determinism to an emphasis on epigenetics and in neuroscience with its switch from a fixed to a neuroplastic view of the brain. We describe these new developments noting the way they recognize, indeed place a premium upon, the role of the environment. The remainder of the paper focuses upon the challenges and opportunities for social scientists, especially those involved in developmental work, proffered by these paradigmatic shifts. The evidence clearly shows that nature and nurture are inextricably interlinked. Importantly, however, it also indicates that they are connected in a manner that honors the priority that the social sciences place upon the environment. We contend that incorporating biological processes into our developmental work will sharpen our theories and enhance their significance. We argue that such biologically integrated models will provide a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of how nurture influences behavior across the life course.

The embodiment of parental death in early life through accelerated epigenetic aging: Implications for understanding how parental death before 18 shapes age-related health risk among older adults.

Parental death in early life has been linked to various adverse health outcomes in older adulthood. This study extends prior research to evaluate how parental death in early life is tied to accelerated epigenetic aging, a potentially important biological mechanism from which social and environmental exposures impact age-related health. We used data from the 2016 Venous Blood Study (VBS), a component of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), to examine the association between parental death in early life and accelerated epigenetic aging as measured by three widely used epigenetic clocks (PCPhenoAge, PCGrimAge, and DunedinPACE). We also assessed whether some of the association is explained by differences in educational attainment, depressive symptoms, and smoking behavior. Methods included a series of linear regression models and formal mediation analysis. Findings indicated that parental death in early life is associated with accelerated epigenetic aging for PCPhenoAge and DunedinPACE. The inclusion of educational attainment, depressive symptoms, and smoking behavior attenuated this association, with formal mediation analysis providing additional support for these observations. Parental death in early life may be one of the most difficult experiences an individual may face. The elevated biological risk associated with parental death in early life may operate through immediate changes but also through more downstream risk factors. This study highlights how early life adversity can set in motion biological changes that have lifelong consequences.

Chronic Stress and Latent Virus Reactivation: Effects on Immune Aging, Chronic Disease Morbidity, and Mortality.

OBJECTIVES: Social stress has been shown to affect immune functioning. Past research has found that chronic social stress and latent viral infections accelerate immune aging, leading to chronic disease morbidity and mortality. Chronic stress may also reactivate latent viral infections, like cytomegalovirus (CMV), accelerating the aging of the immune system. METHOD: Utilizing panel survey data from 8,995 U.S. adults aged 56 or older from the Health and Retirement Study, this study investigates whether chronic stress interacts with CMV positivity to drive aging of the immune system, multimorbidity, and mortality. RESULTS: Results of moderated mediation analysis indicate that the effect of CMV positivity on morbidity and mortality as mediated by immune aging indicators is amplified by chronic stress. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that immune aging is a biological pathway underlying the stress process and help explain past findings in the literature on stress and health.

ADHD genetic burden associates with older epigenetic age: mediating roles of education, behavioral and sociodemographic factors among older adults.

BACKGROUND: Shortened lifespans are associated with having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which is likely mediated by related behavioral and sociodemographic factors that are also associated with accelerated physiological aging. Such factors include exhibiting more depressive symptoms, more cigarette smoking, higher body mass index, lower educational attainment, lower income in adulthood, and more challenges with cognitive processes compared to the general population. A higher polygenic score for ADHD (ADHD-PGS) is associated with having more characteristic features of ADHD. The degree to which (1) the ADHD-PGS associates with an epigenetic biomarker developed to predict accelerated aging and earlier mortality is unknown, as are whether (2) an association would be mediated by behavioral and sociodemographic correlates of ADHD, or (3) an association would be mediated first by educational attainment, then by behavioral and sociodemographic correlates. We evaluated these relationships in a population-based sample from the US Health and Retirement Study, among N = 2311 adults age 50 and older, of European-ancestry, with blood-based epigenetic and genetic data. The ADHD-PGS was calculated from a prior genomewide meta-analysis. Epigenome-wide DNA methylation levels that index biological aging and earlier age of mortality were quantified by a blood-based biomarker called GrimAge. We used a structural equation modeling approach to test associations with single and multi-mediation effects of behavioral and contextual indicators on GrimAge, adjusted for covariates. RESULTS: The ADHD-PGS was significantly and directly associated with GrimAge when adjusting for covariates. In single mediation models, the effect of the ADHD-PGS on GrimAge was partially mediated via smoking, depressive symptoms, and education. In multi-mediation models, the effect of the ADHD-PGS on GrimAge was mediated first through education, then smoking, depressive symptoms, BMI, and income. CONCLUSIONS: Findings have implications for geroscience research in elucidating lifecourse pathways through which ADHD genetic burden and symptoms can alter risks for accelerated aging and shortened lifespans, when indexed by an epigenetic biomarker. More education appears to play a central role in attenuating negative effects on epigenetic aging from behavioral and sociodemographic risk factors related to ADHD. We discuss implications for the potential behavioral and sociodemographic mediators that may attenuate negative biological system effects.

Immune cells are associated with mortality: the Health and Retirement Study.

Introduction: Age-related immunosenescence is characterized by changes in immune cell subsets and is associated with mortality. However, since immunosenescence is associated with other concurrent age-related changes such as inflammation and multi-organ dysfunction, it is unclear whether the association between age-related immunosenescence and mortality is independent of other concurrent age-related changes. To address these limitations, we evaluated the independent association between immune cell subsets and mortality after adjustment for age-related inflammation and biologic age. Methods: Data for this study was obtained from the 2016 interview of the Health and Retirement Study (N=6802). Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the association between 25 immune cell subsets (11 T-cell subsets, 4 B-cell subsets, 3 monocyte subsets, 3 natural killer cell subsets, 3 dendritic cell subsets, and neutrophils) and 4-year mortality adjusting for covariates such as the Klemera-Doubal algorithm biological age, chronological age, gender, race/ethnicity, BMI, smoking status, comorbidity index, CMV seropositivity, and inflammatory latent variable comprising C-reactive protein, and 4 cytokines (interleukin-10, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, interleukin-6, and soluble tumor necrosis factor). Results: Four hundred and seventy-six participants died during the study period with an overall median follow up time of 2.5 years. After controlling for covariates and adjustment for sample-weights, total T cells [HR: 0.86, p=0.004], NK CD56LO cells [HR: 0.88, p=0.005], and neutrophils [HR: 1.22, p=0.004] were significantly associated with mortality. Conclusions: These findings support the idea that an aging immune system is associated with short-term mortality independent of age-related inflammation or other age-related measures of physiological dysfunction. If replicated in other external cohorts, these findings could identify novel targets for both monitoring and intervention to reduce the age-related mortality.

Trajectories of adolescent stressful life events and young adults' socioeconomic and relational outcomes: Weight and depressive symptoms as mediators.

Little is known about how biological and psychological consequences of adolescent stressful life events (SLEs) are jointly associated with socioeconomic and relational outcomes in adulthood. To address this gap, the present study involved testing a model based on the life course perspective that posits adolescent SLE trajectories produce parallel trajectories of depressive symptoms and weight status, which are jointly associated with socioeconomic status and intimate relationship quality in adulthood. Prospective data over 13 years from a nationally representative sample of 11,677 US adolescents was utilized. The results demonstrated that trajectories of BMI and depressive symptoms, which showed contemporaneous and longitudinal comorbidities over the early life course, were influenced by adolescent SLEs. Both BMI and depressive symptoms trajectories are additively and jointly associated with socioeconomic status and intimate relationship quality in adulthood. Additionally, adolescent SLE trajectories are directly associated with these adult outcomes. These observed associations persisted even after controlling for early family socioeconomic adversity and race/ethnicity. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Life course trajectories of chronic financial strain and acute stress reactivity: Steeling in response to recovery from strain.

The steeling hypothesis suggests experiencing moderate strain may improve an individual's ability to cope with future strain, whereas crisis theory suggests that experiencing temporary strain will reduce the effect of future strain. The current study improves on past research by utilizing data from two independent prospective panel studies (one of 553 white rural Midwesterner women and 451 men and one of 624 African American women) spanning 26 and 22 years, respectively. We utilize growth mixture modeling to identify latent groups based on trajectories of financial strain and test interactions between class membership and later acute stressful events on chronic illness and physical health using three subscales from the RAND SF-12. We find being a group that experienced a period of temporary strain weakened the effect of later acute stressors on physical health for both samples and chronic illness for the African American sample. Results support crisis theory and highlight the importance of considering chronic strain as a life course process.

Lifetime exposure to smoking, epigenetic aging, and morbidity and mortality in older adults.

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoke is a major public health concern. Epigenetic aging may be an important pathway by which exposure to cigarette smoke affects health. However, little is known about how exposure to smoke at different life stages affects epigenetic aging, especially in older adults. This study examines how three epigenetic aging measures (GrimAge, PhenoAge, and DunedinPoAm38) are associated with parental smoking, smoking in youth, and smoking in adulthood, and whether these epigenetic aging measures mediate the link between smoke exposure and morbidity and mortality. This study utilizes data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) Venous Blood Study (VBS), a nationally representative sample of US adults over 50 years old collected in 2016. 2978 participants with data on exposure to smoking, morbidity, and mortality were included. RESULTS: GrimAge is significantly increased by having two smoking parents, smoking in youth, and cigarette pack years in adulthood. PhenoAge and DunedinPoAm38 are associated with pack years. All three mediate some of the effect of pack years on cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease, and mortality and GrimAge and DunedinPoAm38 mediate this association on lung disease. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest epigenetic aging is one biological mechanism linking lifetime exposure to smoking with development of disease and earlier death in later life. Interventions aimed at reducing smoking in adulthood may be effective at weakening this association.