Stressful life events, social support, and epigenetic aging in the Women's Health Initiative

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...

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Published in:Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) 2024-02, Vol.72 (2), p.349-360
Main Authors: Skinner, Harlyn G., Palma‐Gudiel, Helena, Stewart, James D., Love, Shelly‐Ann, Bhatti, Parveen, Shadyab, Aladdin H., Wallace, Robert B., Salmoirago‐Blotcher, Elena, Manson, JoAnn E., Kroenke, Candyce H., Belsky, Daniel W., Li, Yun, Whitsel, Eric A., Zannas, Anthony S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aging
Aging - genetics
DNA methylation
Epigenesis, Genetic
Epigenetics
Epigenomics
Ethnicity
Female
health disparities
Health promotion
Health risks
Humans
Life span
Minority & ethnic groups
Older people
Post-menopause
psychosocial stress
Social interactions
Social Support
Telomeres
Women's Health
Womens health
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0002-8614
1532-5415
1532-5415
DOI:10.1111/jgs.18726