Social disadvantage, genetic sensitivity, and children's telomere length.
Disadvantaged social environments are associated with adverse health outcomes. This has been attributed, in part, to chronic stress. Telomere length (TL) has been used as a biomarker of chronic stress: TL is shorter in adults in a variety of contexts, including disadvantaged social standing and depression. We use data from 40, 9-y-old boys participating in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to extend this observation to African American children. We report that exposure to disadvantaged environments is associated with reduced TL by age 9 y. We document significant associations between low income, low maternal education, unstable family structure, and harsh parenting and TL. These effects were moderated by genetic variants in serotonergic and dopaminergic pathways. Consistent with the differential susceptibility hypothesis, subjects with the highest genetic sensitivity scores had the shortest TL when exposed to disadvantaged social environments and the longest TL when exposed to advantaged environments.
Survey Research Center and Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.
Colter
C
Mitchell
John
J
Hobcraft
Sara S
SS
McLanahan
Susan Rutherford
SR
Siegel
Arthur
A
Berg
Jeanne
J
Brooks-Gunn
Irwin
I
Garfinkel
Daniel
D
Notterman
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D012931:Social Environment; D059505:Telomere Homeostasis / Q000235:genetics*; D035862:Vulnerable Populations
D012701:Serotonin; D004298:Dopamine
adversity; gene–environment; senescence