Telomere erosion has been suggested as a potential mechanism linking stress to cellular aging, disease, and mortality in humans. This prospective longitudinal study was conducted to examine telomere erosion in relation to children’s exposure to violence. Repeated telomere measurements were conducted in children while they experienced stress and violence was assessed as exposure to maternal domestic violence, frequent bullying victimization, and physical maltreatment by an adult. Participants were 236 children with one or more violence exposures recruited from the Environmental-Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative 1994-1995 birth cohort. Each child’s mean relative telomere length was measured in baseline and follow-up DNA samples using the quantitative PCR method for T/S ratio (the ratio of telomere repeat copy numbers to single-copy gene numbers). Compared with their counterparts, the children who experienced two or more kinds of violence exposure showed significantly more telomere erosion between age-five baseline and age-ten follow-up measurements, even after adjusting for sex, socioeconomic status, and body mass index (P=0.015). The authors concluded that this finding supports a mechanism linking childhood stress with telomere maintenance, which is observed at a young age and has potential impact for life-long health. Mol Psychiatry. 2012 Apr 24. PMID: 22525489
