Abstract
DNA methylation clocks are used as molecular estimators of epigenetic age, but with little evidence in mothers and none in neglectful mothering. We investigated differences in epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) and the role of empathy using the PhenoAge clock. We collected saliva samples from mothers with extreme disregard for their child’s needs (50 in the neglect group, NG) and mothers with non-neglectful caregiving (87 in the control group, CG). Mothers completed an empathy scale, along with questionnaires of their own childhood maltreatment, adverse life events and psychiatric disorders. Sociodemographic variables potentially affecting EAA were also measured. The ANCOVA solution showed a significant increase in EAA in the NG compared to the CG, after adjustment for maternal age, number of pregnancies, financial assistance, adverse events, childhood maltreatment and psychiatric disorder. The group interaction effects showed a reduction in EAA for greater empathic concern and for a higher education level both as positive factors, and an increment in EAA for mothers living in a two-parent family as a risk factor, all in the NG. Our findings open the search for protective factors of EAA associated with caregiver behavior to reduce health vulnerabilities and poor social functioning, especially for mothers at risk of maladaptive caregiving.
Highlights
Neglect is the most common and severe form of child maltreatment, which consists of the caregivers’ failure to provide the child with food, clothing, shelter, medical care, supervision or emotional support [1,2,3]
To test the age acceleration hypothesis in the neglect group (NG) we used the PhenoAge epigenetic clock as a biomarker that significantly outperforms the first generation of DNA methylation (DNAm) multitissue age estimators for various aging outcomes
The present study provides new evidence on epigenetic age acceleration in those mothers who neglect their children, applying the PhenoAge biomarker to the study of DNA methylation
Summary
Neglect is the most common and severe form of child maltreatment, which consists of the caregivers’ failure to provide the child with food, clothing, shelter, medical care, supervision or emotional support [1,2,3]. Mothers with neglectful caregiving have frequently been maltreated in their infancy, often followed by a long-term risk for psychopathology, teenaged pregnancies, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, cognitive delays and educational failures [6,7]. These conditions usually coexist with other stressors such as poverty, social isolation, domestic violence or substance abuse [8], which have demonstrated a negative cumulative effect on health and wellbeing in adulthood [9,10]. The epigenetic features associated with maternal neglect remains a “neglected” topic
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