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. 2024 Nov-Dec;95(6):2232-2240.
doi: 10.1111/cdev.14126. Epub 2024 Jun 29.

Material hardship and telomere length in children

Camille Moeckel  1   2 , Lauren Gaydosh  3 , Lisa Schneper  1 , Colter Mitchell  4 , Daniel A Notterman  1
Affiliations

Material hardship and telomere length in children

Camille Moeckel et al. Child Dev. 2024 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Telomere length (TL) serves as a biomarker of exposure to stressors, including material hardship. Data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (1998-2015) were utilized to determine whether prior material hardship was associated with shorter salivary TL at years 9 and 15. 49% of the year 9 study population were female, 49% were Black, and 25% were Hispanic. At year 9 (N = 1990), regression analyses found a significant association between prior material hardship and shorter TL (β = -.005, p < .01). Additionally, at year 15 (N = 1874), material hardship experienced during infancy and toddlerhood was associated with shorter TL (β = -.009, p < .01), pointing toward infancy and toddlerhood as a sensitive period.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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