Associations between maternal adversity and health and children's telomere length.

ABSTRACT: Maternal adversity (e.g., adverse childhood experiences, ACEs) and health (e.g., depressive symptoms and chronic illness) negatively impact offspring's health. One possible mechanism is via premature/accelerated biological aging, as indicated in telomere length. In this 3-year longitudinal study, we examined the association between maternal adversity and health and children's buccal telomere length (bTL) at age 3. Data from 122 mother-child dyads were analyzed. Maternal history of ACEs and chronic illness were collected at baseline (during 20-24 weeks of gestation). Their depressive symptoms across three periods (during pregnancy, 4 weeks after childbirth, and 3 years after childbirth) were also collected. Children's TL were extracted from their buccal swab samples at age 3. The children's

SUBMITTER: Chen XY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11953353 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature