Low childhood subjective social status and telomere length in adulthood: The role of attachment orientations

We examined if attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance altered the association between childhood subjective social status (SSS) and length of telomeres in white blood cells in adulthood. Shorter telomere length is associated with increased risk of age‐related diseases including cancer, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Participants (N = 128) completed self‐report measures of childhood SSS and attachment orientations, as well as a blood draw. We found that among those with low childhood SSS, low attachment anxiety was associated with longer telomere length in white blood cells in comparison to high attachment anxiety controlling for participant age, sex, race, body mass index, and adult SSS. Among those with high childhood SSS, low attachment anxiety was associated with a slight decrease in telomere length. Attachment avoidance was unrelated to length of telomeres. Such findings provide further evidence for the role that close relationships may have on buffering SSS related health disparities.
Source: Developmental Psychobiology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: BRIEF REPORT Source Type: research