Family Instability and Biological Aging

Hantao Jiang, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Audrey Kelly, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chantel Martin, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Allison Aiello, Columbia University
Kathleen Mullan Harris, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Lauren Gaydosh, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Family instability refers to children’s experience of changes in their coresidential parents. This family instability is prevalent in the lives of American children and has significant consequences. This study aims to investigate the relationship between childhood exposure to family instability and biological aging in established adulthood. We used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. We used DNA methylation assayed in blood at Wave V (ages 33-43) and measured biological aging using three epigenetic clocks: PhenoAge, GrimAge, and DunedinPACE. We measured childhood parental family instability from three perspectives experienced from birth to adolescence: any family structure changes, the number of changes, and the timing of these changes. Ordinary least squares regressions were performed to test the associations between any experience of family instability and the number of family structure changes with the three epigenetic clocks, net of various covariates. We then used the structured life course modeling approach to explore whether the associations vary depending on the timing of the exposure. Results suggest that both any experience and the number of family structure changes are associated with accelerated biological aging in established adulthood. These results remain robust after controlling for various covariates.

Keywords: Health and Morbidity, Families, Unions and Households, Children, Adolescents, and Youth, Longitudinal studies

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