Negative parenting, epigenetic age, and psychological problems: prospective associations from adolescence to young adulthood

Stefanos Mastrotheodoros; Marco P. Boks; Céline Rousseau; Wim Meeus; Susan Branje

doi:10.1111/jcpp.13821

Negative parenting, epigenetic age, and psychological problems: prospective associations from adolescence to young adulthood

Stefanos Mastrotheodoros, Marco P. Boks, Céline Rousseau, Wim Meeus, Susan Branje

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Background: Epigenetic clocks are based on DNA methylation levels of several genomic loci and have been developed as indices of biological aging. Studies examining the effects of stressful environmental exposures have shown that stress is associated with differences between epigenetic age and chronological age (i.e., Epigenetic Age acceleration, EA). This pre-registered longitudinal study examined the long-term effects of negative parenting and psychological problems throughout adolescence (ages 13–17 years) on EA in late adolescence (age 17 years) and EA changes from late adolescence to young adulthood (age 25 years). Further, it examined how (change in) EA is related to changes in psychological problems from adolescence to young adulthood. Methods: We used data from a sample of 434 participants followed from age 13 to age 25, with saliva collected at ages 17 and 25. We estimated EA using four commonly used epigenetic clocks and analyzed the data using Structural Equation Modeling. Results: While negative parenting was not related to EA nor change in EA, (change in) EA was related to developmental indices such as externalizing problems and self-concept clarity. Conclusions: Declining psychological well-being during young adulthood was preceded by EA.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1446-1461
Number of pages	16
Journal	Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines
Volume	64
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13821
Publication status	Published - Oct 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Funding

Data of the RADAR (Research on Adolescent Development And Relationships) study were used ( https://doi.org/10.17026/dans‐zrb‐v5wp ). RADAR has been financially supported by main grants from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (GB‐MAGW 480‐03‐005, GB‐MAGW 480‐08‐006), Stichting Achmea Slachtoffer en Samenleving (SASS), the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research to the Consortium Individual Development (CID; 024.001.003), a grant of the European Research Council (ERC‐2017‐CoG ‐ 773023 INTRANSITION), and various other grants from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, VU University Amsterdam, and Utrecht University. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The authors have declared that they have no competing or potential conflicts of interest. Key points

Funders	Funder number
Stichting Achmea Slachtoffer en Samenleving	024.001.003
European Research Council	ERC‐2017‐CoG ‐ 773023 INTRANSITION
Universiteit Utrecht
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek	GB‐MAGW 480‐08‐006, GB‐MAGW 480‐03‐005

Keywords

Adolescence
epigenetic age
epigenetics
longitudinal studies
mental health
parenting

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1111/jcpp.13821Licence: CC BY-NC

Child Psychology Psychiatry - 2023 - Mastrotheodoros - Negative parenting epigenetic age and psychological problems Final published version, 499 KBLicence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

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title = "Negative parenting, epigenetic age, and psychological problems: prospective associations from adolescence to young adulthood",

abstract = "Background: Epigenetic clocks are based on DNA methylation levels of several genomic loci and have been developed as indices of biological aging. Studies examining the effects of stressful environmental exposures have shown that stress is associated with differences between epigenetic age and chronological age (i.e., Epigenetic Age acceleration, EA). This pre-registered longitudinal study examined the long-term effects of negative parenting and psychological problems throughout adolescence (ages 13–17 years) on EA in late adolescence (age 17 years) and EA changes from late adolescence to young adulthood (age 25 years). Further, it examined how (change in) EA is related to changes in psychological problems from adolescence to young adulthood. Methods: We used data from a sample of 434 participants followed from age 13 to age 25, with saliva collected at ages 17 and 25. We estimated EA using four commonly used epigenetic clocks and analyzed the data using Structural Equation Modeling. Results: While negative parenting was not related to EA nor change in EA, (change in) EA was related to developmental indices such as externalizing problems and self-concept clarity. Conclusions: Declining psychological well-being during young adulthood was preceded by EA.",

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Negative parenting, epigenetic age, and psychological problems: prospective associations from adolescence to young adulthood. / Mastrotheodoros, Stefanos; Boks, Marco P.; Rousseau, Céline et al.
In: Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, Vol. 64, No. 10, 10.2023, p. 1446-1461.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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Negative parenting, epigenetic age, and psychological problems: prospective associations from adolescence to young adulthood

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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