Life-Course Persistent Antisocial Behavior and Accelerated Biological Aging in a Longitudinal Birth Cohort | 2022
Langevin, S., Caspi, A., Barnes, ... Show all » J. C., Brennan, G., Poulton, R., Purdy, S. C., Ramrakha, S., Tanksley, P. T., Thorne, P. R., Wilson, G., Moffitt, T. E. « Hide
Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2022, 19(21), .
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114402
Our ref: RO792
Show abstract » Prior research shows that individuals who have exhibited antisocial behavior are in poorer health than their same-aged peers. A major driver of poor health is aging itself, yet research has not investigated relationships between offending trajectories and biological aging. We tested the hypothesis that individuals following a life-course persistent (LCP) antisocial trajectory show accelerated aging in midlife. Trajectories of antisocial behavior from age 7 to 26 years were studied in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a population-representative birth cohort (N = 1037). Signs of aging were assessed at age 45 years using previously validated measures including biomarkers, clinical tests, and self-reports. First, we tested whether the association between antisocial behavior trajectories and midlife signs of faster aging represented a decline from initial childhood health. We then tested whether decline was attributable to tobacco smoking, antipsychotic medication use, debilitating illnesses in adulthood, adverse exposures in childhood (maltreatment, socioeconomic disadvantage) and adulthood (incarceration), and to childhood self-control difficulties. Study members with a history of antisocial behavior had a significantly faster pace of biological aging by midlife, and this was most evident among individuals following the LCP trajectory (beta, 0.22, 95%CI, 0.14, 0.28, p
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