ArticlePsychological medicine2019
Posttraumatic psychopathology and the pace of the epigenetic clock: a longitudinal investigation.
Article in Psychological medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 72 citations in OpenAlex.
- PTSD and epigenetic aging: a longitudinal meta-analysis.Psychological medicine · 2025Pooled it
- The Impact of Psychosocial Stress from Life Trauma and Racial Discrimination on Epigenetic Aging-A Systematic Review.Biological research for nursing · 2022Pooled it
- Epigenetic aging and DNA methylation biomarker changes following ketamine treatment in patients with MDD and PTSD: a pilot study.Translational psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Neighborhood disadvantage and accelerated epigenetic aging in the early aftermath of trauma: The moderating role of individual psychological resources.Journal of psychiatric research · 2026Article
- Methylome-wide association study in blood suggests cell type-specific relationships between DNA methylation and lifetime anxiety.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Psychological distress in older adults: associations with epigenetic markers of ageing, inflammation, and depression, and joint effects on mortality.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- Relationship enhancement protects against relationship-quality-associated weathering among Black adults in romantic partner relationships.Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43) · 2025Article
- Early-Life Adversity and Epigenetic Aging: Findings from a 17-Year Longitudinal Study.Biomolecules · 2025Article
- Post-traumatic stress disorder in older adults: a global collaboration on setting the future research agenda.The lancet. Healthy longevity · 2025Review
- Negative Life Events and Epigenetic Ageing: A Study in the Netherlands Twin Register.Behavior genetics · 2025Article
- No association of posttraumatic stress disorder with epigenetic aging in women at mid-life: A longitudinal cohort study.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2025Article
- Maximizing insights from longitudinal epigenetic age data: simulations, applications, and practical guidance.Clinical epigenetics · 2024Article
- Epigenetic Clocks: Beyond Biological Age, Using the Past to Predict the Present and Future.Aging and disease · 2024Review
- Epigenetic Aging Associations With Psychoneurological Symptoms and Social Functioning in Adults With Sickle Cell Disease.Biological research for nursing · 2024Article
- Association between epigenetic age and type 2 diabetes mellitus or glycemic traits: A longitudinal twin study.Aging cell · 2024Article
- Maximizing Insights from Longitudinal Epigenetic Age Data: Simulations, Applications, and Practical Guidance.Research square · 2024Article
- Associations of depression and anxiety symptoms in childhood and adolescence with epigenetic aging.Journal of affective disorders · 2024Article
- Intimate Partner Violence, Mental Health, and Aging-Related Health Among Men and Women Veterans Across the Lifespan.Journal of general internal medicine · 2024Article
- Psychosocial moderators of polygenic risk scores of inflammatory biomarkers in relation to GrimAge.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Characterizing epigenetic aging in an adult sickle cell disease cohort.Blood advances · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPosttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and stress/trauma exposure are cross-sectionally associated with advanced DNA methylation age relative to chronological age. However, longitudinal inquiry and examination of associations between advanced DNA methylation age and a broader range of psychiatric disorders is lacking. The aim of this study was to examine if PTSD, depression, generalized anxiety, and alcohol-use disorders predicted acceleration of DNA methylation age over time (i.e. an increasing pace, or rate of advancement, of the epigenetic clock).
methodsGenome-wide DNA methylation and a comprehensive set of psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses were assessed in 179 Iraq/Afghanistan war veterans who completed two assessments over the course of approximately 2 years. Two DNA methylation age indices (Horvath and Hannum), each a weighted index of an array of genome-wide DNA methylation probes, were quantified. The pace of the epigenetic clock was operationalized as change in DNA methylation age as a function of time between assessments.
resultsAnalyses revealed that alcohol-use disorders (p = 0.001) and PTSD avoidance and numbing symptoms (p = 0.02) at Time 1 were associated with an increasing pace of the epigenetic clock over time, per the Horvath (but not the Hannum) index of cellular aging.
conclusionsThis is the first study to suggest that posttraumatic psychopathology is longitudinally associated with a quickened pace of the epigenetic clock. Results raise the possibility that accelerated cellular aging is a common biological consequence of stress-related psychopathology, which carries implications for identifying mechanisms of stress-related cellular aging and developing interventions to slow its pace.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.