Associations Between Loneliness, Epigenetic Aging, and Multimorbidity Through Older Adulthood.

Objectives: Loneliness is a pressing public health concern, but the mechanisms by which it leads to declining physical health are uncertain. Prior work has begun to explore epigenetic pathways, with some evidence suggesting a link between loneliness and DNA methylation, though it is unclear whether epigenetic variation can help explain loneliness-health associations.

Methods: Associations between loneliness and epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) were estimated, as well as the degree to which EAA mediated and moderated the association between loneliness and the development of chronic physical health conditions (multimorbidity) in older adulthood.

Associations between epigenetic age acceleration and longitudinal measures of psychosocioeconomic stress and status.

Relationships between epigenetic aging markers and psychosocial variables such as socioeconomic status and stress have been well-documented, but are often examined cross-sectionally or retrospectively, and have tended to focus on objective markers of SES or major life events. Here, we examined associations between psychosocial variables, including measures of socioeconomic status and social stress, and epigenetic aging markers in adulthood, using longitudinal data spanning three decades from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study. The largest effects were observed for epigenetic markers of change in health, such as DunedinPACE and GrimAge, and for associations involving education, income, net assets, general social stress, inequality-related stress, and financial stress.

A panel network analysis of posttraumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms across the perinatal period.

The perinatal period is marked by a higher risk of experiencing depressive, anxiety, and/or trauma-related symptoms, a phenomenon that affects millions of individuals each year. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms commonly co-occur but have rarely been examined together beyond prevalence estimates in the perinatal period. Our study aimed to explore patterns of associations among OCD and PTSD symptoms to elucidate within- and between-person effects and how these effects may change over time.

Loneliness, epigenetic age acceleration, and chronic health conditions.

Having associations with a range of adverse physical health outcomes including mortality, loneliness is increasingly recognized as a pressing public health concern, but the mechanisms studied to date do not yet explain all loneliness-related health risk. We sought to evaluate whether epigenetic influences on DNA methylation could help explain the relationship between loneliness and health. To do so, we first estimated associations between loneliness and epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) in a subsample of participants in the study of midlife in the United States ( = 1,310), before testing whether EAA mediated and/or moderated the association between loneliness and the onset of chronic health conditions in older adulthood ( = 445 completing longitudinal follow-ups).