Experiencing childhood trauma makes body and brain age faster
Findings could help explain why children who suffer trauma often face
poor health later in life

Date:
August 3, 2020
Source:
American Psychological Association
Summary:
Children who suffer trauma from abuse or violence early in life
show biological signs of aging faster than children who have
never experienced adversity, according to new research. The study
examined three different signs of biological aging -- early puberty,
cellular aging and changes in brain structure -- and found that
trauma exposure was associated with all three.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Children who suffer trauma from abuse or violence early in life show
biological signs of aging faster than children who have never experienced adversity, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. The study examined three different signs of biological
aging -- early puberty, cellular aging and changes in brain structure --
and found that trauma exposure was associated with all three.


========================================================================== "Exposure to adversity in childhood is a powerful predictor of health
outcomes later in life -- not only mental health outcomes like depression
and anxiety, but also physical health outcomes like cardiovascular
disease, diabetes and cancer," said Katie McLaughlin, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at Harvard University and senior author of
the study published in the journal Psychological Bulletin. "Our study
suggests that experiencing violence can make the body age more quickly
at a biological level, which may help to explain that connection."
Previous research found mixed evidence on whether childhood adversity
is always linked to accelerated aging. However, those studies looked at
many different types of adversity -- abuse, neglect, poverty and more --
and at several different measures of biological aging. To disentangle
the results, McLaughlin and her colleagues decided to look separately
at two categories of adversity: threat-related adversity, such as abuse
and violence, and deprivation-related adversity, such as physical or
emotional neglect or poverty.

The researchers performed a meta-analysis of almost 80 studies, with more
than 116,000 total participants. They found that children who suffered
threat- related trauma such as violence or abuse were more likely to
enter puberty early and also showed signs of accelerated aging on a
cellular level-including shortened telomeres, the protective caps at the
ends of our strands of DNA that wear down as we age. However, children
who experienced poverty or neglect did not show either of those signs
of early aging.

In a second analysis, McLaughlin and her colleagues systematically
reviewed 25 studies with more than 3,253 participants that examined
how early-life adversity affects brain development. They found that
adversity was associated with reduced cortical thickness -- a sign of
aging because the cortex thins as people age. However, different types
of adversity were associated with cortical thinning in different parts
of the brain. Trauma and violence were associated with thinning in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which is involved in social and emotional processing, while deprivation was more often associated with thinning in
the frontoparietal, default mode and visual networks, which are involved
in sensory and cognitive processing.

These types of accelerated aging might originally have descended
from useful evolutionary adaptations, according to McLaughlin. In a
violent and threat- filled environment, for example, reaching puberty
earlier could make people more likely to be able to reproduce before
they die. And faster development of brain regions that play a role in
emotion processing could help children identify and respond to threats,
keeping them safer in dangerous environments.

But these once-useful adaptations may have grave health and mental health consequences in adulthood.

The new research underscores the need for early interventions to help
avoid those consequences. All of the studies looked at accelerated aging
in children and adolescents under age 18. "The fact that we see such
consistent evidence for faster aging at such a young age suggests that
the biological mechanisms that contribute to health disparities are set
in motion very early in life.

This means that efforts to prevent these health disparities must also
begin during childhood," McLaughlin said.

There are numerous evidence-based treatments that can improve mental
health in children who have experienced trauma, McLaughlin said. "A
critical next step is determining whether these psychosocial interventions might also be able to slow down this pattern of accelerated biological
aging. If this is possible, we may be able to prevent many of the
long-term health consequences of early-life adversity," she says.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
American_Psychological_Association. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Natalie Colich, Eileen S. Williams, Maya Rosen and Katie McLaughlin.

Biological Aging in Childhood and Adolescence Following Experiences
of Threat and Deprivation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Psychological Bulletin, 2020 DOI: 10.1037/bul0000270 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200803092120.htm

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