Father Loss and Child Telomere Length.

ABSTRACT:

Background and objectives

Father loss during childhood has negative health and behavioral consequences, but the biological consequences are unknown. Our goal was to examine how father loss (because of separation and/or divorce, death, or incarceration) is associated with cellular function as estimated by telomere length.

Methods

Data come from the 9-year follow-up of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a birth cohort study of children in 20 large American cities (N = 2420). Principal measures are as follows: salivary telomere length (sTL), mother reports of father loss, and polymorphisms in genes related to serotonergic and dopaminergic signaling.

Results

At 9 years of age, children with father loss have significantly shorter telomeres (14% reductio

SUBMITTER: Mitchell C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5527665 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature