Stressful life events, social support, and epigenetic aging in the Women's Health Initiative
Harlyn G. Skinner PhD
Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Search for more papers by this authorHelena Palma-Gudiel PhD
Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Search for more papers by this authorJames D. Stewart MA
Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Search for more papers by this authorShelly-Ann Love PhD
Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Social and Scientific Systems Inc, A DLH Holdings Company, Durham, North Carolina, USA
Search for more papers by this authorParveen Bhatti PhD
Cancer Control Research, British Columbia Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Program in Epidemiology, Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA
Search for more papers by this authorAladdin H. Shadyab PhD
Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, San Diego, California, USA
Search for more papers by this authorRobert B. Wallace MD
Department of Epidemiology and Internal Medicine, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Search for more papers by this authorElena Salmoirago-Blotcher MD
Department of Medicine, Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Search for more papers by this authorJoAnn E. Manson MD
Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Search for more papers by this authorCandyce H. Kroenke ScD
Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, California, USA
Search for more papers by this authorDaniel W. Belsky PhD
Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
Search for more papers by this authorYun Li PhD
Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Search for more papers by this authorEric A. Whitsel MD
Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Anthony S. Zannas PhD
Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Carolina Stress Initiative, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Correspondence
Anthony S. Zannas, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 438 Taylor Hall, 109 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorHarlyn G. Skinner PhD
Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Search for more papers by this authorHelena Palma-Gudiel PhD
Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Search for more papers by this authorJames D. Stewart MA
Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Search for more papers by this authorShelly-Ann Love PhD
Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Social and Scientific Systems Inc, A DLH Holdings Company, Durham, North Carolina, USA
Search for more papers by this authorParveen Bhatti PhD
Cancer Control Research, British Columbia Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Program in Epidemiology, Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA
Search for more papers by this authorAladdin H. Shadyab PhD
Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, San Diego, California, USA
Search for more papers by this authorRobert B. Wallace MD
Department of Epidemiology and Internal Medicine, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Search for more papers by this authorElena Salmoirago-Blotcher MD
Department of Medicine, Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Search for more papers by this authorJoAnn E. Manson MD
Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Search for more papers by this authorCandyce H. Kroenke ScD
Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, California, USA
Search for more papers by this authorDaniel W. Belsky PhD
Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
Search for more papers by this authorYun Li PhD
Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Search for more papers by this authorEric A. Whitsel MD
Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Anthony S. Zannas PhD
Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Carolina Stress Initiative, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Correspondence
Anthony S. Zannas, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 438 Taylor Hall, 109 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Background
Elevated psychosocial stress has been linked with accelerated biological aging, including composite DNA methylation (DNAm) markers that predict aging-related outcomes (“epigenetic age”). However, no study has examined whether stressful life events (SLEs) are associated with epigenetic age acceleration in postmenopausal women, an aging population characterized by increased stress burden and disease risk.
Methods
We leveraged the Women's Health Initiative, a large muti-ancestry cohort of postmenopausal women with available psychosocial stress measures over the past year and epigenomic data. SLEs and social support were ascertained via self-report questionnaires. Whole blood DNAm array (450 K) data were used to calculate five DNAm-based predictors of chronological age, health span and life span, and telomere length (HorvathAge, HannumAge, PhenoAge, GrimAge, DNAmTL).
Results
After controlling for potential confounders, higher SLE burden was significantly associated with accelerated epigenetic aging, as measured by GrimAge (β: 0.34, 95% CI: 0.08, 0.59) and DNAmTL (β: −0.016, 95% CI: −0.028, −0.004). Exploratory analyses showed that SLEs-GrimAge associations were stronger in Black women as compared to other races/ethnicities and in those with lower social support levels. In women with lower social support, SLEs-DNAmTL associations showed opposite association in Hispanic women as compared to other race/ethnicity groups.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that elevated stress burden is associated with accelerated epigenetic aging in postmenopausal women. Lower social support and/or self-reported race/ethnicity may modify the association of stress with epigenetic age acceleration. These findings advance understanding of how stress may contribute to aging-related outcomes and have important implications for disease prevention and treatment in aging women.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT
The authors have no relevant conflicts to declare.
Supporting Information
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Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.
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