ArticleBiological psychiatry2019
Sensitive Periods for the Effect of Childhood Adversity on DNA Methylation: Results From a Prospective, Longitudinal Study.
Article in Biological psychiatry, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 155 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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
155 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 312 citations in OpenAlex.
- Childhood internalising symptoms at ages 3 and 6: a meta-analysis of epigenome-wide associations from cord and peripheral blood.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Pooled it
- The microbiota-gut-brain-epigenome axis as a novel therapeutic target for decoding postpartum depression.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Sensitive periods to social adversity in immune and metabolic development: A systematic review.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- Epigenome-wide meta-analysis of prenatal maternal stressful life events and newborn DNA methylation.Molecular psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- A systematic review of neuroimaging epigenetic research: calling for an increased focus on development.Molecular psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- A systematic review of childhood maltreatment and DNA methylation: candidate gene and epigenome-wide approaches.Translational psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Genetic and Environmental Risk Factors for Intermittent Explosive Disorder, ADHD and Conduct Disorder: Shared and Unique Influences.Clinical psychology & psychotherapyPooled it
- Longitudinal DNA methylation in parent-infant pairs impacted by intergenerational social adversity: An RCT of the Michigan Model of Infant Mental Health Home Visiting.Brain and behavior · 2024Trial
- Telehealth Parenting Program and Salivary Epigenetic Biomarkers in Preschool Children With Developmental Delay: NIMHD Social Epigenomics Program.JAMA network open · 2024Trial
- Childhood Adversities and the ATTACHInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Trial
- Longitudinal patterns of adversity from childhood to adolescence: Examining associations with mental health through emerging adulthood using a random-intercept latent transition analysis.Developmental psychology · 2024Trial
- Type and developmental timing of childhood adversity predicts psychopathology symptoms in a South African birth cohort.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Article
- Epigenetic dysregulation in depression: molecular mechanisms, clinical biomarkers, and therapeutic opportunities.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- Short-Term Consequences of Parents' Criminal Legal System Involvement for Children's Academic Performance.Children and youth services review · 2026Article
- Long-term molecular embedding of early life adversity: leukocyte DNA methylation and gene expression associations from childhood to young adulthood.Epigenomics · 2026Article
- Timing of adverse childhood experiences shapes epigenetic ageing and life-history outcomes.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Early Life Stress and Adversity in Children: Neuroendocrine Mechanisms, Epigenetic Regulation, and Lifespan Developmental Outcomes-A Narrative Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Accumulation and sensitive period effects for childhood abuse and financial hardship on depressive symptoms in late adolescence.Journal of mood and anxiety disorders · 2026Article
- The joint effects of exposure to prenatal pesticides and psychosocial factors on epigenetic age acceleration in the first 5 years of life in a South African birth cohort.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- The longitudinal effects of neglect on aggression and delinquency: Testing competing hypotheses.Children and youth services review · 2026Article
95 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Erratum issuedErratum.2019
Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundExposure to early-life adversity is known to predict DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns that may be related to psychiatric risk. However, few studies have investigated whether adversity has time-dependent effects based on the age at exposure.
methodsUsing a two-stage structured life course modeling approach, we tested the hypothesis that there are sensitive periods when adversity induces greater DNAm changes. We tested this hypothesis in relation to two alternatives: an accumulation hypothesis, in which the effect of adversity increases with the number of occasions exposed, regardless of timing; and a recency model, in which the effect of adversity is stronger for more proximal events. Data came from the Accessible Resource for Integrated Epigenomic Studies, a subsample of mother-child pairs from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (n = 691-774).
resultsAfter covariate adjustment and multiple testing correction, we identified 38 CpG sites that were differentially methylated at 7 years of age following exposure to adversity. Most loci (n = 35) were predicted by the timing of adversity, namely exposures before 3 years of age. Neither the accumulation nor recency of the adversity explained considerable variability in DNAm. A standard epigenome-wide association study of lifetime exposure (vs. no exposure) failed to detect these associations.
conclusionsThe developmental timing of adversity explains more variability in DNAm than the accumulation or recency of exposure. Very early childhood appears to be a sensitive period when exposure to adversity predicts differential DNAm patterns. Classification of individuals as exposed versus unexposed to early-life adversity may dilute observed effects.
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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.