Children who suffer violence or trauma age faster, study finds
Researchers discover links with earlier puberty and signs of more rapid cellular ageing
Nicola Davis
@NicolaKSDavis
Published on Mon 3 Aug 2020 15.30 EDT
Children who experience violence or trauma seem to age faster, going through puberty earlier and showing greater signs of ageing in their cells, researchers have found.
They say the findings add to a growing body of work that suggests early adversity can become biologically embedded with the potential for adverse health effects later in life.
There are also clear practical implications for these findings, said Dr Katie McLaughlin, co-author of the research at Harvard University. Screening for adversity may be warranted in children who have early puberty to help identify those who might be at risk of early onset of physical and mental health problems, she said.
Writing in the Psychological Bulletin, McLaughlin and her colleagues describe how they analysed 54 studies looking at the impact of two forms of adversity on the onset of puberty and ageing markers in cells.
In both cases, the result reveal children who had experienced violence or trauma, but not deprivation, showed accelerated ageing compared with those who had not.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/aug/03/children-who-suffer-violence-or-trauma-age-faster-study-finds