Peritraumatic C-reactive protein levels predict pain outcomes following traumatic stress exposure in a sex-dependent manner.

Background: Chronic pain following traumatic stress exposure (TSE) is common. Increasing evidence suggests inflammatory/immune mechanisms are induced by TSE, play a key role in the recovery process versus development of post-TSE chronic pain, and are sex specific. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) is associated with chronic pain after TSE in a sex-specific manner.

The association between pre-pregnancy and first-trimester hair cortisol and preterm birth: a causal inference model.

Adverse life events and chronic psychological distress before and during pregnancy have frequently been associated with preterm birth but the biological underpinnings remain unclear. We investigated the association between corticosteroid levels in pre-pregnancy and first-trimester hair and the risk of preterm birth. We followed N = 1,807 pregnant women from a prospective pre-birth cohort study in Lima, Perú.

Childhood adversity and late-life cognitive and brain health in a diverse cohort.

Introduction: Childhood adversity harms neurodevelopment. Literature on late-life brain health is limited, and findings on late-life cognition are mixed.

Methods: Pooling data from Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences (KHANDLE) and Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans (STAR) cohorts, we assessed the impact of childhood adversity (factor score from seven self-reported items) on (a) executive function and verbal memory decline using linear mixed effects models (n = 2447), (b) structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using linear regression (n = 618), and (c) amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) using generalized linear models (n = 331), all adjusting for early-life demographic and socioeconomic confounders.

Perspectives on Integrating Biological Assessments to Address the Health Effects of Childhood Adversities.

A majority of adults in the United States (US) report a range of stressful and potentially traumatic childhood experiences (e.g., physical or sexual abuse, witnessing violence, neglect).

No association of posttraumatic stress disorder with epigenetic aging in women at mid-life: A longitudinal cohort study.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with mortality and increased risk of diseases of aging, but underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We examine associations of PTSD with one potential pathway, accelerated epigenetic aging. In a longitudinal cohort of trauma-exposed middle-aged women (n = 831, n observations = 1,516), we examined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between PTSD, with and without comorbid depression, and epigenetic aging measured by six clocks at two time points approximately 13.

Cross omics risk scores of inflammation markers are associated with all-cause mortality: The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

Inflammation is a critical component of chronic diseases, aging progression, and lifespan. Omics signatures may characterize inflammation status beyond blood biomarkers. We leveraged genetics (Polygenic-Risk-Score; PRS), metabolomics (Metabolomic-Risk-Score; MRS), and epigenetics (Epigenetic-Risk-Score; ERS) to build multi-omics-multi-marker risk scores for inflammation status represented by the level of circulating C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6 (IL6), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFa).

A blended genome and exome sequencing method captures genetic variation in an unbiased, high-quality, and cost-effective manner.

We deployed the Blended Genome Exome (BGE), a DNA library blending approach that generates low pass whole genome (1-4× mean depth) and deep whole exome (30-40× mean depth) data in a single sequencing run. This technology is cost-effective, empowers most genomic discoveries possible with deep whole genome sequencing, and provides an unbiased method to capture the diversity of common SNP variation across the globe. To evaluate this new technology at scale, we applied BGE to sequence >53,000 samples from the Populations Underrepresented in Mental Illness Associations Studies (PUMAS) Project, which included participants across African, African American, and Latin American populations.

An Examination of Sleep as a Protective Factor for Depression and Anxiety in the Perinatal Period: Novel Causal Analyses in a Prospective Pregnancy Cohort.

Sleep problems are common in the perinatal period. But the effects of sleep health on long-term postpartum depression and anxiety are underexamined. Using marginal structural models, we estimated the effect of sustained restful sleep quality, or adequate sleep quantity, or both, on clinically significant depression and anxiety at 23- and 32-weeks gestation, and 8-weeks, 8-, and 21-months postpartum.

The link Between traumatic experiences and health in late life: challenges and opportunities for US-based longitudinal aging cohorts.

Trauma, defined as exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violence, is a pervasive, major public health challenge that disproportionately burdens socially disadvantaged groups and has known consequences for health outcomes in early and midlife. Despite plausible mechanisms by which trauma may also be a critically important risk factor for health outcomes in late life, there is presently a lack of literature evaluating the consequences of trauma on aging related health outcomes and inequities, such as dementia. In this commentary, we (a) discuss drivers of the paucity of epidemiological evidence on trauma and health outcomes in late life, namely a lack of available data, supported by detailed review of trauma measures, including interpersonal violence-a particularly common form of trauma-in seven established longitudinal aging cohort studies in the United States (US); (b) address four common concerns about the inclusion of trauma measures in cohort studies; and (c) suggest ways forward, including specific assessment tools to measure interpersonal violence after a structured review of the PhenX Toolkit, to facilitate critical research to understand the impact of trauma on outcomes in late life.

Trajectories of posttraumatic stress symptoms following collective violence: A systematic review and meta-analyses.

Although collective violence represents a significant public health concern, a limited number of longitudinal studies have addressed this topic, with no systematic reviews focusing on posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) trajectories. The present systematic review and meta-analyses examined PTSS prevalence and trajectories after exposure to collective violence. A systematic literature search across six databases (APA PsycInfo, APA PsycArticles, PSYINDEX, MEDLINE, ERIC, and PubMed) identified 771 studies that were screened for the following eligibility criteria: exposure to collective violence, adult sample, longitudinal design, PTSS assessment using validated measures, PTSS trajectories estimated using latent growth modeling, and report sample prevalence rate for each trajectory.

Neighborhood Resources Associated With Psychological Trajectories and Neural Reactivity to Reward After Trauma.

Importance: Research on resilience after trauma has often focused on individual-level factors (eg, ability to cope with adversity) and overlooked influential neighborhood-level factors that may help mitigate the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Objective: To investigate whether an interaction between residential greenspace and self-reported individual resources was associated with a resilient PTSD trajectory (ie, low/no symptoms) and to test if the association between greenspace and PTSD trajectory was mediated by neural reactivity to reward.

Design, Setting, And Participants: As part of a longitudinal cohort study, trauma survivors were recruited from emergency departments across the US.

Comorbidity Profiles of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Across the Medical Phenome.

Background: Previous epidemiological research has linked posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with specific physical health problems, but the comprehensive landscape of medical conditions associated with PTSD remains uncharacterized. Electronic health records provide an opportunity to overcome clinical knowledge gaps and uncover associations with biological relevance that potentially vary by sex.

Methods: PTSD was defined among biobank participants ( = 145,959) in 3 major healthcare systems using 2 ICD code-based definitions: broad (≥1 PTSD or acute stress codes vs.

The cumulative impact of trauma, chronic illness, and COVID-19 stress on mental health in a case-control study of adults with psychotic disorders in Ethiopia.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted the economic, psychological, and social well-being of people in Ethiopia. Pandemic-related fears can exacerbate anxiety and depression symptoms among those with pre-existing physical and mental health conditions as well as those with prior exposure to traumatic events.

Methods: We used data from the Ethiopia NeuroGAP-Psychosis study (898 cases and 941 controls with and without a diagnosis of psychosis respectively, 66% male, mean age = 37 years).