Publications
All peer reviewed publications are listed below.
Displaying page 2 of 24.
Is repeated childhood fracture related to areal bone density or body composition in middle age? | 2022
Meredith‑Jones K., Haszard J., Taylor R., Waters D., Hogan S.,
... Show all »
Osteoporos International, 2022, .
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-022-06500-0
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO782
Childhood fracture is common, but whether it predicts adult fracture is not clear. Repeat childhood fracture was associated with adult (
INTRODUCTION: A quarter of boys and 15% of girls will suffer multiple fractures, but it is not clear whether multiple fractures during growth predict fracture risk and areal bone density in adulthood. This study evaluated whether children who repeatedly fracture were at increased risk of low areal bone density, abnormal body composition, and fractures by age 45. METHODS: A subsample of a large birth cohort study with childhood fracture cases had areal bone density assessed at age 45 years. Participants were questioned regularly across their lifetime about fractures during childhood (ages 0-18 years of age) and adulthood (any fracture between 18 and 45 years). The number of fractures was collapsed into three categories: no fractures; 1 fracture; and > 1 fracture, separately for child and adult groups.
RESULTS: At age 45 years, areal bone mineral density (g/cm(2)) and body composition were measured with dual X-ray absorptiometry in n = 555 participants. Compared to no fractures, twice as many girls (14% vs 7%, P = 0.156) and boys (31.4% vs 14.1%, P = 0.004) who repeatedly fractured in childhood sustained multiple fractures as adults. Both girls and boys who were fracture-free tended to remain fracture-free as adults (79.8% compared with 62.8%, P = 0.045, and 64.8% compared with 51.4%, P = 0.025, in males and females, respectively). Participants were more than twice as likely to fracture repeatedly as adults if they had sustained multiple fractures as a child (OR 2.5 95% CI: 1.4, 4.6). Women who repeatedly fractured during childhood had lower areal bone density, whereas repeated fracturing during childhood was not associated with areal bone density or body composition in men, even after adjustment for other factors known to influence fracture history.
CONCLUSION: Childhood fracture history is associated with persistent skeletal fragility in adulthood (
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The prevalence of glaucoma in 45-year-old New Zealanders | 2022
Singh, A., Gale, J., Cheyne,
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New Zealand Medical Journal , 2022, 135 .
Link to full publication »
Our ref: NZ102
aim: We aimed to estimate the prevalence of glaucoma in New Zealand using a population-based birth cohort of 45-year-olds.
methods: Study members of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health & Development Study participated (n=938 out of 1037 births (91%)). The data collected included visual acuity, visual field (VF), refraction, central corneal thickness, intraocular pressure (IOP), axial length, spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT), and non-mydriatic fundus photographs. Two phthalmologists reviewed data independently to generate a consensus glaucoma status: “Normal” if no suspicion of glaucoma; “Ocular hypertension” if IOP >21 mmHg; “Glaucoma suspect” if optic disc photograph was suspicious for glaucoma with no more than borderline or non-corresponding VF or OCT abnormalities; and “Glaucoma” if optic disc photograph was suspicious for glaucoma and there were corresponding abnormalities of the OCT or VF.
results: Of 891 participants with sufficient data to assign a glaucoma status, 804 were “Normal” (90.2% [CI 88.3–92.2]), 15 were “Ocular hypertension” (1.68% [95% confidence interval (CI) .84–2.5]), 65 were “Glaucoma suspect” (7.30% [95% CI 5.6–9.0]), and 7 were classified as “Glaucoma” (0.79% [95% CI 0.21–1.4]). An additional 73 participants (8.2%, [95% CI 6.3%–10%]) had abnormalities on the OCT scan but were not deemed to be glaucoma suspects.
conclusion: The prevalence of glaucoma in New Zealand is between 0.2% and 1.4%, consistent with other population-based studies in the same age group. The study highlights the sensitivity of OCT and the potential for misinterpretation and over-investigation.
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Using a loneliness measure to screen for risk of mental health problems: A replication in two nationally-representative cohorts | 2022
Matthews, T., Bryan, B. T., Danese,
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International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022, .
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031641
Our ref: RO779
Background: Loneliness co-occurs alongside many mental health problems and is associated with poorer treatment outcomes. It could therefore be a phenomenon of interest to clinicians, as an indicator of generalised risk for psychopathology. The present study tested whether a short measure of loneliness can accurately classify individuals who are at increased risk of common mental health problems. Methods: Data were drawn from two nationally-representative cohorts: the age-18 wave of the UK-based Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, and the age-38 wave of the New Zealand-based Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. In both cohorts, loneliness was assessed using the 3-item UCLA Loneliness Scale, plus two stand-alone items about feeling alone and feeling lonely. Outcome measures consisted of diag-noses of depression and anxiety, and self-reports of self-harm/suicide attempts, assessed via structured interview. Results: ROC curve analysis showed that the loneliness scale had fair accu-racy in classifying individuals meeting criteria for all three outcomes, with a cut-off score of 5 (on a scale from 3 to 9) having the strongest empirical support. Both of the stand-alone items showed modest sensitivity and specificity, but were more limited in their flexibility. The find-ings replicated across the two cohorts, indicating that they are applicable both to younger and older adults. In addition, the accuracy of the loneliness scale in detecting mental health problems was comparable to a measure of poor sleep quality, a phenomena which is often included in screening tools for depression and anxiety. Conclusions: These findings indicate that a loneliness measure could have utility in mental health screening contexts, as well as in research.
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Childhood caries experience in two Aotearoa New Zealand birth cohorts: implications for research, policy and practice | 2022
Ruiz, Begoña, Broadbent, Jonathan M., Thomson,
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Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 2022, 1-18.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03036758.2022.2061018
Our ref: NZ101
Oral health in Aotearoa New Zealand has improved in the last seven decades, but improvements among young children have stagnated in the last two. Four out of ten 5-year-olds are affected by caries and many pre-schoolers require dental treatment under general anaesthesia. We analysed data from two longitudinal studies, the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study and the Christchurch Health and Development Study. We compared their methods, cohort characteristics and childhood oral health findings and discuss their implications for policy, research, and practice. Age 5 dmft was obtained in the Dunedin Study from clinical examinations, and from School Dental Service records in the Christchurch Study. Findings were consistent with respect to childhood socioeconomic status, exposure to community water fluoridation, and maternal education. Despite overall improvements, caries rates remain relatively unchanged: dmft in these cohorts, measured in the 1970s–1980s, resemble New Zealand’s statistics for 5-year-olds in the 2000s. Notwithstanding the steep caries decline observed over the years, the caries distribution has shifted, hereby the greatest severity of disease is now concentrated among a smaller group of the most deprived children. Early childhood caries appears to be a useful indicator of deprivation that should inform interventions for
those in greatest need.
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Lifetime cannabis exposure and small airway function in a population-based cohort study | 2022
Tan, Hua Shin, McAnally, Helena, M. Dummer,
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ERJ Open Research, 2022, 8(2), .
10.1183/23120541.00688-2021
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO778
Background and objective: The long-term effects of cannabis on small airway function remain unclear. We investigated associations between cannabis use and small airway function in a general population sample.
Methods: Cannabis use was ascertained at multiple ages from age 18 to 45 years and quantified as joint-years among 895 participants in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Small airway function at ages 38 and 45 years was measured using impulse oscillometry before and after inhalation of salbutamol. Analyses used multiple linear regression adjusting for tobacco use, body mass index, and height. Longitudinal analyses of cannabis use between 38 and 45 years also adjusted for IOS at age 38.
Results: Lifetime cannabis joint-years with IOS differed between men and women: in women, cannabis use was associated with pre-bronchodilator R5, R20, X5, AX, and Fres and marginally associated with R5-R20. Cannabis use was not statistically significantly associated with any of the pre-bronchodilator IOS measures in men. Cannabis use between ages 38 and 45 was associated with a similar pattern of changes in IOS measures. After salbutamol, cannabis use was only statistically significantly associated with R5 and R20 among women and none of the IOS measures among men.
Conclusions: Cannabis use is associated with small airway dysfunction at age 45 years, indicating an increase in peripheral airway resistance and reactance. These associations were greater and only statistically significant among women. Associations were weaker and mostly non-significant after bronchodilator use suggesting that cannabis-induced changes in small airways may be at least partially reversible.
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Long-term Cannabis Users Show Lower Cognitive Reserves and Smaller Hippocampal Volume in Midlife | 2022
Madeline H. Meier, Ph.D., Avshalom Caspi, Ph.D., Annchen R. Knodt,
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American Journal of Psychiatry, 2022, 179(5), 362-374.
https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2021.21060664
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO777
Objective: Cannabis use is increasing among midlife and older adults. This study tested the hypotheses that long-term cannabis use is associated with cognitive deficits and smaller hippocampal volume in midlife, which is important because midlife cognitive deficits and smaller hippocampal volume are risk factors for dementia.
Methods: Participants are members of a representative cohort of 1,037 individuals born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1972–1973 and followed to age 45, with 94% retention. Cannabis use and dependence were assessed at ages 18, 21, 26, 32, 38, and 45. IQ was assessed at ages 7, 9, 11, and 45. Specific neuropsychological functions and hippocampal volume were assessed at age 45.
Results: Long-term cannabis users showed IQ decline from childhood to midlife (mean525.5 IQ points), poorer learning and processing speed relative to their childhood IQ, and informant-reported memory and attention problems. These deficits were specific to long-term cannabis users because they were either not present or were smaller among long-term tobacco users, long-term alcohol users, midlife recreational cannabis users, and cannabis quitters.Cognitive deficits among long-termcannabis users could not be explained by persistent tobacco, alcohol, or other illicit drug use, childhood socioeconomic status, low childhood self-control, or family history of substance dependence. Long-term cannabis users showed smaller hippocampal volume, but smaller hippocampal volume did not statistically mediate cannabis-related cognitive deficits.
Conclusions: Long-term cannabis users showed cognitive deficits and smaller hippocampal volume in midlife. Research is needed to ascertain whether long-term cannabis users show elevated rates of dementia in later life.
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DunedinPACE: a DNA methylation biomarker of the Pace of Aging | 2022
Belsky, D.W., Caspi, A., Corcoran,
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eLife, 2022, .
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.73420
Our ref: RO776
Background: Measures to quantify changes in the pace of biological aging in response to intervention are needed to evaluate geroprotective interventions for humans. Previously, we showed that quantification of the pace of biological aging from a DNA-methylation blood test was possible (Belsky et al., 2020). Here, we report a next-generation DNA-methylation biomarker of Pace of Aging, DunedinPACE (for Pace of Aging Calculated from the Epigenome).
Methods: We used data from the Dunedin Study 1972–1973 birth cohort tracking within-individual decline in 19 indicators of organ-system integrity across four time points spanning two decades to model Pace of Aging. We distilled this two-decade Pace of Aging into a single-time-point DNA-methylation blood-test using elastic-net regression and a DNA-methylation dataset restricted to exclude probes with low test-retest reliability. We evaluated the resulting measure, named Dunedin-PACE, in five additional datasets.
Results: DunedinPACE showed high test-retest reliability, was associated with morbidity, disability, and mortality, and indicated faster aging in young adults with childhood adversity. DunedinPACE effect-sizes were similar to GrimAge Clock effect-sizes. In analysis of incident morbidity, disability, and mortality, DunedinPACE and added incremental prediction beyond GrimAge.
Conclusions: DunedinPACE is a novel blood biomarker of the pace of aging for gerontology and geroscience.
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Deep-seated psychological histories of COVID-19 vaccine hesitance and resistance | 2022
Terrie E. Moffitt, Avshalom Caspi, Antony Ambler, Kyle Bourassa , HonaLee Harrington,
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PNAS Nexus, 2022, .
https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac034
Our ref: RO775
To design effective pro-vaccination messaging, it is important to know ―where people are coming from‖—the personal experiences and long-standing values, motives, lifestyles, preferences, emotional tendencies, and information-processing capacities of people who end up resistant or hesitant toward vaccination. We used prospective data from a 5-decade cohort study spanning childhood to midlife to construct comprehensive early-life psychological histories of groups who differed in their vaccine intentions in months just before COVID vaccines became available in their country. Vaccine-resistant and vaccine-hesitant participants had histories of adverse childhood experiences that foster mistrust, longstanding mental-health problems that foster misinterpretation of messaging, and early-emerging personality traits including tendencies toward extreme negative emotions, shutting down mentally under stress, nonconformism, and fatalism about health. Many vaccine-resistant and -hesitant participants had cognitive difficulties in comprehending health information. Findings held after control for socioeconomic origins. Vaccine intentions are not short-term isolated misunderstandings. They are part of a person's style of interpreting information and making decisions that is laid down before secondary school age. Findings suggest ways to tailor vaccine messaging for hesitant and resistant groups. To prepare for future pandemics, education about viruses and vaccines before or during secondary schooling could reduce citizens‘ level of uncertainty during a pandemic, and provide people with pre-existing knowledge frameworks that prevent extreme emotional distress reactions and enhance receptivity to health messages. Enhanced medical technology and economic resilience are important for pandemic preparedness, but a prepared public who understands the need to mask, social distance, and vaccinate will also be important.
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Associations between retinal nerve layer and ganglion cell layer in middle age and cognition from childhood to adulthood. | 2022
Barrett-Young. A., Ambler, A., Cheyne, K.,
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JAMA Opthalmology , 2022, .
http://jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2021.6082
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO774
Importance The retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell layer (GCL) have been proposed as potential biomarkers for Alzheimer disease (AD). Although a number of studies have shown that knowing the thickness of RNFL and GCL can help differentiate between patients with AD and healthy controls, it is unclear whether these associations are observable earlier in life.
Objective To examine whether RNFL and GCL thickness was associated with global cognitive performance in middle age and in childhood and with a decline in cognitive performance from childhood to adulthood and whether RNFL and GCL thickness was associated with decline in specific cognitive domains over the same period.
Design, Setting, and Participants This longitudinal cohort study involved members of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a longitudinal representative birth cohort from New Zealand (n = 1037). Participants were born in 1972 to 1973 and followed up until age 45 years, with 94% of the living cohort still participating.
Main Outcomes and Measures Cognitive performance (Full Scale IQ, processing speed, perceptual reasoning, and verbal comprehension) measured at ages 7, 9, and 11 years (mean value) and age 45 years, and RNFL and GCL thickness measured via optical coherence tomography (OCT) at age 45 years.
Results Data were analyzed between August 2020 and April 2021. Data from 865 participants were included in the present study (50.2% male, 49.8% female; 92.2% of the 938 study members seen at age 45 years). Of the 73 participants who were excluded, 63 were excluded because of issues with OCT scans and 10 were excluded because of diseases affecting the retina. Thinner RNFL and GCL were associated with lower Full Scale IQ in childhood and at age 45 years. Thinner RNFL was also associated with a greater decline in processing speed from childhood to adulthood.
Conclusions and Relevance RNFL and GCL thickness in middle age was associated with cognitive performance in childhood and adulthood, and thinner RNFL with a decline in processing speed between childhood and adulthood. These data emphasize the potential utility of OCT measures as biomarkers of cognitive function; however, further longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether retinal thinning precedes cognitive decline and whether other confounding factors may account for this association.
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Association of Treatable Health Conditions During Adolescence With Accelerated Aging at Midlife | 2022
Bourassa, K., Moffitt, T.E., Ambler,
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JAMA Pediatrics , 2022, .
https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.6417
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO773
Importance Biological aging is a distinct construct from health; however, people who age quickly are more likely to experience poor health. Identifying pediatric health conditions associated with accelerated aging could help develop treatment approaches to slow midlife aging and prevent poor health in later life.
Objective To examine the association between 4 treatable health conditions in adolescence and accelerated aging at midlife.
Design, Setting, and Participants This cohort study analyzed data from participants in the Dunedin Study, a longitudinal investigation of health and behavior among a birth cohort born between April 1, 1972, and March 31, 1973, in Dunedin, New Zealand, and followed up until age 45 years. Participants underwent an assessment at age 45 years and had data for at least 1 adolescent health condition (asthma, smoking, obesity, and psychological disorders) and outcome measure (pace of aging, gait speed, brain age, and facial age). Data analysis was performed from February 11 to September 27, 2021.
Exposures Asthma, cigarette smoking, obesity, and psychological disorders were assessed at age 11, 13, and 15 years.
Main Outcomes and Measures The outcome was a midlife aging factor composite score comprising 4 measures of biological aging: pace of aging, gait speed, brain age (specifically, BrainAGE score), and facial age.
Results A total of 910 participants (459 men [50.4%]) met the inclusion criteria, including an assessment at age 45 years. Participants who had smoked daily (0.61 [95% CI, 0.43-0.79] SD units), had obesity (0.82 [95% CI, 0.59-1.06] SD units), or had a psychological disorder diagnosis (0.43 [95% CI, 0.29-0.56] SD units) during adolescence were biologically older at midlife compared with participants without these conditions. Participants with asthma were not biologically older at midlife (0.02 [95% CI, −0.14 to 0.19] SD units) compared with those without asthma. These results remained unchanged after adjusting for childhood risk factors such as poor health, socioeconomic disadvantage, and adverse experiences.
Conclusions and Relevance This study found that adolescent smoking, obesity, and psychological disorder diagnoses were associated with older biological age at midlife. These health conditions could be treated during adolescence to reduce the risk of accelerated biological aging later in life.
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Differential Effects of Cannabis and Tobacco on Lung Function in Mid-Adult Life | 2022
Robert J Hancox, Andrew R Gray, Xian Zhang, Richie Poulton, Terrie E. Moffitt,
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American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2022, .
https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.202109-2058OC
Our ref: RO772
Rationale. Evidence suggests that the effects of smoking cannabis on lung function are different to tobacco. However, long-term follow-up data are scarce, and mostly based on young adults. Objective. To assess the effects of cannabis and tobacco on lung function in mid-adult life. Methods. Cannabis and tobacco use were reported at ages 18, 21, 26, 32, 38, and 45 years in a population-based cohort study of 1037 participants. Spirometry, plethysmography, and carbon monoxide transfer factor were measured at age 45. Associations between lung function and cannabis use were adjusted for tobacco use. Measurements and Main Results. Data were available from 881 (88%) of 997 surviving participants. Cumulative cannabis use was associated with lower Forced Expiratory Volume in one second to Forced Vital Capacity ratios, due to a tendency towards higher Forced Vital Capacities. Cannabis use was also associated with higher total lung capacity, functional residual capacity, residual volume, and alveolar volume along with lower mid-expiratory flows, airway conductance, and transfer factor. Quitting regular cannabis use between assessments was not associated with changes in spirometry. Conclusions. Cannabis use is associated with higher lung volumes suggesting hyperinflation. There is evidence of increased large-airways resistance and lower mid-expiratory airflow, but impairment of Forced Expiratory Volume in one second to Forced Vital Capacity ratio is due to higher Vital Capacities. This pattern of effects is different to those of tobacco. We provide the first evidence that lifetime cannabis use may be associated with impairment of gas transfer.
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Changes in incisor relationship over the life course - Findings from a cohort study | 2022
Olliver SJ., Broadbent JM., Prasad, S., Cai,
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Journal of Dentistry, 2022, 117 .
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdent.2021.103919
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO771
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this longitudinal cohort study was to investigate the changes in incisor relationship over three decades from adolescence to mid-adulthood. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample included 1,037 children (48.4% female) born between April 1972 and March 1973 from the longitudinal birth cohort Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Overjet and overbite values were assessed at age 15 and 45 years and entered in a regression model as outcome variables. Baseline occlusal variables, sex, history of orthodontic treatment, periodontal data recorded at age 38, and self-reported oral parafunction and orthodontic treatment history recorded at age 45 were entered as covariates in the regression analysis. RESULTS: Regression modelling showed that overjet/overbite category (high or low) at age 15 tends to predict overjet/overbite category at age 45, with overjet become slightly larger (around +0.5mm) and overbite slightly lower (-0.5mm) over time. Study members with self-reported tooth clenching had a slighter greater overbite (+0.3mm) at age 45 than those who did not. Additionally, those with signs of periodontal disease at age 38 had a slightly larger overjet (+0.5mm) at age 45 than those without disease. Sex differences were demonstrated with females having 0.6 mm larger overjet, and 0.4 mm overbite at age 45. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, overjet values tend to be higher during mid-adulthood than during adolescence, while the converse is true for overbite. There appears to be a degree of sexual dimorphism in overjet and overbite values later in life. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Incisor relationships change during the life course and are related to ageing, sex, periodontal health, and parafunctional habits. Clinicians and educators should be aware of these changes when making treatment decisions that alter incisor relationship.
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The Dunedin study after half a century: reflections on the past, and course for the future | 2022
Poulton, Richie. Guiney, Hayley. Ramrakha, Sandhya. Moffitt, Terrie E.
Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 2022, 1-20.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03036758.2022.2114508
Our ref: NZ98
Over the last 50 years Dunedin Study researchers have published more than 1400 peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and reports on many aspects of human health and development. In this 50th anniversary piece we reflect on (i) our historical roots and necessary re-invention through time; (ii) the underpinning principles that have contributed to our success; (iii) some selected examples of high-impact work from the behavioural, oral health, and respiratory domains; (iv) some of the challenges we have encountered over time and how to overcome these; and (vi) review where we see the Study going in the future. We aim to present some of the ‘back story’, which is typically undocumented and oft lost to memory, and thus focus on ‘know-how’. Our hope is to humanise our research, share insights, and to acknowledge the real heroes of the Study – the 1037 Study members, their families and their friends, who have collectively given so much, for so long, in the hope of helping others.
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Genomic and phenomic insights from an atlas of genetic effects on DNA methylation. | 2021
Min J.L., Hemani, G., Hannon, E.,
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Nature Genetics , 2021, 53 1311–1321.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-021-00923-x
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO781
Characterizing genetic influences on DNA methylation (DNAm) provides an opportunity to understand mechanisms underpinning gene regulation and disease. In the present study, we describe results of DNAm quantitative trait locus (mQTL) analyses on 32,851 participants, identifying genetic variants associated with DNAm at 420,509 DNAm sites in blood. We present a database of >270,000 independent mQTLs, of which 8.5% comprise long-range (trans) associations. Identified mQTL associations explain 15–17% of the additive genetic variance of DNAm. We show that the genetic architecture of DNAm levels is highly polygenic. Using shared genetic control between distal DNAm sites, we constructed networks, identifying 405 discrete genomic communities enriched for genomic annotations and complex traits. Shared genetic variants are associated with both DNAm levels and complex diseases, but only in a minority of cases do these associations reflect causal relationships from DNAm to trait or vice versa, indicating a more complex genotype–phenotype map than previously anticipated.
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A deep-learning system for the assessment of cardiovascular disease risk via the measurement of retinal vessel calibres. | 2021
Cheung, CL., Xu D., Cheng., C.,
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Nature Biomedical Engineering, 2021, 5 498-508.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-020-00626-4
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO780
Retinal blood vessels provide information on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Here, we report the development and validation of deep-learning models for the automated measurement of retinal-vessel calibre in retinal photographs, using diverse multiethnic multicountry datasets that comprise more than 70,000 images. Retinal-vessel calibre measured by the models and by expert human graders showed high agreement, with overall intraclass correlation coefficients of between 0.82 and 0.95. The models performed comparably to or better than expert graders in associations between measurements of retinal-vessel calibre and CVD risk factors, including blood pressure, body-mass index, total cholesterol and glycated-haemoglobin levels. In retrospectively measured prospective datasets from a population-based study, baseline measurements performed by the deep-learning system were associated with incident CVD. Our findings motivate the development of clinically applicable explainable end-to-end deep-learning systems for the prediction of CVD on the basis of the features of retinal vessels in retinal photographs.
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Are macular drusen in midlife a marker of accelerated biological ageing? | 2021
Graham A Wilson, Kirsten Cheyne, Sandhya Ramrakha, Antony Ambler, Gavin SW Tan,
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Clinical and Experimental Optometry, 2021, 1-6.
https://doi.org/10.1080/08164622.2021.2012428
Our ref: RO770
Clinical relevance: Macular drusen are associated with age-related maculopathy but are not an ocular manifestation or biomarker of systemic ageing.
Background: Macular drusen are the first sign of age-related maculopathy, an eye disease for which age is the strongest risk factor. The aim of this cohort study was to investigate whether macular drusen in midlife – a sign of the earliest stages of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) – are
associated with accelerated biological ageing more generally.
Methods: Members of the long-running Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (hereafter the Dunedin Study, n = 1037) underwent retinal photography at their most recent assessment at the age of 45 years. Images were graded for the presence of AMD using a simplified
scale from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS). Accelerated ageing was assessed by (i) a measure of Pace of Ageing defined from a combination of clinical and serum biomarkers obtained at ages 26, 32, 38, and 45 years and (ii) Facial Ageing, defined from photographs obtained at age 38 and 45 years.
Results: Of the 938 participants who participated at the age 45 assessments, 834 had gradable retinal photographs, and of these 165 (19.8%) had macular drusen. There was no significant difference in Pace of Ageing (p = .743) or Facial Ageing (p = .945) among participants with and without macular drusen.
Conclusions: In this representative general population sample, macular drusen in midlife were not associated with accelerated ageing. Future studies tracking longitudinal changes in drusen number and severity at older ages may reveal whether drusen are a biomarker of accelerated ageing.
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Does having children affect women's oral health? A longitudinal study | 2021
Morelli, E. L., Broadbent, J. M., Knight,
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J Public Health Dentistry, 2021, .
https://doi.org/10.1111/jphd.12466
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO769
BACKGROUND: Many believe women's oral health deteriorates as a result of having children. If so, such associations should exist among women but not among men. The aims of this study were to investigate whether number of children is associated with experience of dental disease and tooth loss among both men and women and to examine whether this association is affected by other variables of interest. METHODS: This study used data from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development study, a longitudinal study of 1037 individuals (48.4% female) born from April 1972 to March 1973 in Dunedin, New Zealand, who have been examined repeatedly from birth to age 45 years. RESULTS: Data were available for 437 women and 431 men. Those with low educational attainment were more likely to have more children and began having children earlier in life. Having more children was associated with experiencing more dental caries and tooth loss by age 45, but this association was dependent on the age at which the children were had. Those entering parenthood earlier in life (by age 26) had poorer dental health than those entering parenthood later in life, or those without children. There was no association between number of children and periodontal attachment loss (PAL). Low educational attainment, poor plaque control, never routine dental attendance, and smoking (for PAL) were associated with PAL, caries experience, and tooth loss. CONCLUSIONS: Social factors associated with both the timing of reproductive patterns and health behaviors influence the risk of dental disease and its management.
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Midlife Cardiovascular Fitness Is Reflected in the Brain's White Matter | 2021
d'Arbeloff, T., Elliott, M. L., Knodt,
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Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2021, 13 .
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2021.652575
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO768
Disappointing results from clinical trials designed to delay structural brain decline and the accompanying increase in risk for dementia in older adults have precipitated a shift in testing promising interventions from late in life toward midlife before irreversible damage has accumulated. This shift, however, requires targeting midlife biomarkers that are associated with clinical changes manifesting only in late life. Here we explored possible links between one putative biomarker, distributed integrity of brain white matter, and two intervention targets, cardiovascular fitness and healthy lifestyle behaviors, in midlife. At age 45, fractional anisotropy (FA) derived from diffusion weighted MRI was used to estimate the microstructural integrity of distributed white matter tracts in a population-representative birth cohort. Age-45 cardiovascular fitness (VO2Max; N = 801) was estimated from heart rates obtained during submaximal exercise tests; age-45 healthy lifestyle behaviors were estimated using the Nyberg Health Index (N = 854). Ten-fold cross-validated elastic net predictive modeling revealed that estimated VO2Max was modestly associated with distributed FA. In contrast, there was no significant association between Nyberg Health Index scores and FA. Our findings suggest that cardiovascular fitness levels, but not healthy lifestyle behaviors, are associated with the distributed integrity of white matter in the brain in midlife. These patterns could help inform future clinical intervention research targeting ADRDs.
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Association of subcortical gray-matter volumes with life-course-persistent antisocial behavior in a population- representative longitudinal birth cohort | 2021
Carlisi, Christina O., Moffitt, Terrie E., Knodt,
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Development and Psychopathology, 2021, 1-11.
10.1017/s0954579421000377
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO767
Neuropsychological evidence supports the developmental taxonomy theory of antisocial behavior, suggesting that abnormal brain development distinguishes life-course-persistent from adolescence-limited antisocial behavior. Recent neuroimaging work confirmed that prospectively- measured life-course-persistent antisocial behavior is associated with differences in cortical brain structure. Whether this extends to subcortical brain structures remains uninvestigated. This study compared subcortical gray-matter volumes between 672 members of the Dunedin Study previously defined as exhibiting life-course-persistent, adolescence-limited or low-level antisocial behavior based on repeated assessments at ages 7–26 years. Gray-matter volumes of 10 subcortical structures were compared across groups. The lifecourse- persistent group had lower volumes of amygdala, brain stem, cerebellum, hippocampus, pallidum, thalamus, and ventral diencephalon compared to the low-antisocial group. Differences between life-course-persistent and adolescence-limited individuals were comparable in effect size to differences between life-course-persistent and low-antisocial individuals, but were not statistically significant due to less statistical power. Gray-matter volumes in adolescence-limited individuals were near the norm in this population-representative cohort and similar to volumes in low-antisocial individuals. Although this study could not establish causal links between brain volume and antisocial behavior, it constitutes new biological evidence that all people with antisocial behavior are not the same, supporting a need for greater developmental and diagnostic precision in clinical, forensic, and policy-based interventions.
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Vital personality scores and healthy aging: Life-course associations and familial transmission | 2021
J. Wertz, S. Israel, L. Arseneault, D. W. Belsky, K. J. Bourassa,
... Show all »
Social Science & Medicine, 2021, 285 .
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114283
Our ref: RO766
Objectives Personality traits are linked with healthy aging, but it is not clear how these associations come to manifest across the life-course and across generations. To study this question, we tested a series of hypotheses about (a) personality-trait prediction of markers of healthy aging across the life-course, (b) developmental origins, stability and change of links between personality and healthy aging across time, and (c) intergenerational transmission of links between personality and healthy aging. For our analyses we used a measure that aggregates the contributions of Big 5 personality traits to healthy aging: a “vital personality” score. Methods Data came from two population-based longitudinal cohort studies, one based in New Zealand and the other in the UK, comprising over 6000 study members across two generations, and spanning an age range from birth to late life. Results Our analyses revealed three main findings: first, individuals with higher vital personality scores engaged in fewer health-risk behaviors, aged slower, and lived longer. Second, individuals’ vital personality scores were preceded by differences in early-life temperament and were relatively stable across adulthood, but also increased from young adulthood to midlife. Third, individuals with higher vital personality scores had children with similarly vital partners, promoted healthier behaviors in their children, and had children who grew up to have more vital personality scores themselves, for genetic and environmental reasons. Conclusion Our study shows how the health benefits associated with personality accrue throughout the life-course and across generations.
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Eleven genomic loci affect plasma levels of chronic inflammation marker soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor | 2021
J. Dowsett, E. Ferkingstad, L. J. H. Rasmussen, L. W. Thørner, M. K. Magnússon,
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Communications Biology, 2021, 4(1), 655.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-02144-8
Our ref: RO765
Soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) is a chronic inflammation marker associated with the development of a range of diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. The genetics of suPAR remain unexplored but may shed light on the biology of the marker and its connection to outcomes. We report a heritability estimate of 60% for the variation in suPAR and performed a genome-wide association meta-analysis on suPAR levels measured in Iceland (N = 35,559) and in Denmark (N = 12,177). We identified 13 independently genome-wide significant sequence variants associated with suPAR across 11 distinct loci. Associated variants were found in and around genes encoding uPAR (PLAUR), its ligand uPA (PLAU), the kidney-disease-associated gene PLA2R1 as well as genes with relations to glycosylation, glycoprotein biosynthesis, and the immune response. These findings provide new insight into the causes of variation in suPAR plasma levels, which may clarify suPAR’s potential role in associated diseases, as well as the underlying mechanisms that give suPAR its prognostic value as a unique marker of chronic inflammation.
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Changes to family structure, household composition and address among young New Zealanders: an update | 2021
McAnally, Helena M. Sligo, Judith L. Baxter, Joanne Tansley, Janine E. Bolton,
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Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, 2021, .
10.1080/1177083x.2021.1957946
Link to full publication »
Our ref: NZ100
In this article, we describe the life-time family structures, living arrangements, and residential mobility of 612 15-year-old New Zealanders and consider the differences in experiences of children born to younger and older mothers. All participants had a parent who is a member of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Maternal age at the participant’s birth ranged from 16.3 to 41.0 years. Data on young people’s lifetime care arrangements, household composition and shifts were collected from their primary caregiver via a life history calendar. Fewer than half lived in a household consisting of two biological parents and only a fifth had lived in a household consisting of only nuclear family members for all 15 years. Most also experienced multiple changes of address (median 6, range 1–27). Those born to older parents tended to have fewer changes to care arrangements and family structures but most young people experienced a substantial degree of change across their lives. These data indicate that complexity and change are normal in young New Zealanders’ living arrangements. We argue that conventional ideas about family structure should be re-examined.
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Linking stressful life events and chronic inflammation using suPAR (soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor) | 2021
Bourassa, K. J. Rasmussen, L. J. H. Danese, A. Eugen-Olsen, J. Harrington,
... Show all »
Brain Behavior and Immunity, 2021, .
10.1016/j.bbi.2021.06.018
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO764
Stressful life events have been linked to declining health, and inflammation has been proposed as a physiological mechanism that might explain this association. Using 828 participants from the Dunedin Longitudinal Study, we tested whether people who experienced more stressful life events during adulthood would show elevated systemic inflammation when followed up in midlife, at age 45. We studied three inflammatory biomarkers: C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and a newer biomarker, soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR), which is thought to index systemic chronic inflammation. Stressful life events were not associated with CRP or IL-6. However, people who experienced more stressful life events from age 38 to 44 had elevated suPAR at age 45, and had significantly greater increases in suPAR from baseline to follow-up across the same period. When examining stressful life events across the lifespan, both adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adult stressful life events were independently associated with suPAR at age 45. ACEs moderated the association of adult stressful life events and suPAR at age 45-children with more ACEs showed higher suPAR levels after experiencing stressful life events as adults. The results suggest systemic chronic inflammation is one physiological mechanism that could link stressful life events and health, and support the use of suPAR as a useful biomarker for such research.
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Do socially isolated children become socially isolated adults? | 2021
Lay-Yee, Roy; Matthews, Timothy; Moffitt, Terrie; Poulton, Richie; Caspi,
... Show all »
Advances in Life Course Research, 2021, .
10.1016/j.alcr.2021.100419
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO763
Social isolation - the lack of social contacts in number and frequency – has been shown to have a negative impact on health and well-being. Using group-based trajectory analysis of longitudinal data from a New Zealand birth cohort, we created a typology of social isolation based on onset during the life course and persistence into adulthood. We then characterized each type according to risk factors related to family environment and child behavior that have been shown previously to be associated with social isolation. Based on fit statistics and distinctness of trajectories we considered the four-class model to be the most appropriate: (1) ‘never isolated’ (71.6 % of the cohort), (2) ‘adult only’ (10.1 %), (3) ‘child only’ (14.3 %), and (4) ‘persistent isolation’ (4.0 %). Family-environmental factors – i.e. having a teen-aged mother, having a single parent, frequent changes in residence, or maltreatment – tended to be associated with both child and adult onset and persistence of social isolation, whereas child-behavioral factors – i.e. self-control or internalizing symptoms – applied more to the child onset of social isolation. Sensitivity analyses using empirically defined groups – based on 15 % ‘cut-offs’ for isolation in childhood and adulthood - produced similar life-course groupings and similar associations. Our findings provide insights into the development of social isolation and demonstrate the changeability of social isolation across almost four decades of the life span. They also suggest family-based and child-based interventions could address child onset and the persistence of social isolation into adulthood.
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Resource profile and user guide of the Polygenic Index Repository | 2021
Becker, J. Burik, C. A. P. Goldman, G. Wang, N. Jayashankar,
... Show all »
Nature Human Behaviour, 2021, .
10.1038/s41562-021-01119-3
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO762
Polygenic indexes (PGIs) are DNA-based predictors. Their value for research in many scientific disciplines is growing rapidly. As a resource for researchers, we used a consistent methodology to construct PGIs for 47 phenotypes in 11 datasets. To maximize the PGIs' prediction accuracies, we constructed them using genome-wide association studies-some not previously published-from multiple data sources, including 23andMe and UK Biobank. We present a theoretical framework to help interpret analyses involving PGIs. A key insight is that a PGI can be understood as an unbiased but noisy measure of a latent variable we call the 'additive SNP factor'. Regressions in which the true regressor is this factor but the PGI is used as its proxy therefore suffer from errors-in-variables bias. We derive an estimator that corrects for the bias, illustrate the correction, and make a Python tool for implementing it publicly available.
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Long-term Neural Embedding of Childhood Adversity in a Population-Representative Birth Cohort Followed for 5 Decades | 2021
Gehred, M. Z. Knodt, A. R. Ambler, A. Bourassa, K. J. Danese,
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Biological Psychiatry, 2021, 90(3), 182-193.
10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.02.971
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO761
BACKGROUND: Childhood adversity has been previously associated with alterations in brain structure, but heterogeneous designs, methods, and measures have contributed to mixed results and have impeded progress in mapping the biological embedding of childhood adversity. We sought to identify long-term differences in structural brain integrity associated with childhood adversity. METHODS: Multiple regression was used to test associations between prospectively ascertained adversity during childhood and adversity retrospectively reported in adulthood with structural magnetic resonance imaging measures of midlife global and regional cortical thickness, cortical surface area, and subcortical gray matter volume in 861 (425 female) members of the Dunedin Study, a longitudinal investigation of a population-representative birth cohort. RESULTS: Both prospectively ascertained childhood adversity and retrospectively reported adversity were associated with alterations in midlife structural brain integrity, but associations with prospectively ascertained childhood adversity were consistently stronger and more widely distributed than associations with retrospectively reported childhood adversity. Sensitivity analyses revealed that these associations were not driven by any particular adversity or category of adversity (i.e., threat or deprivation) or by childhood socioeconomic disadvantage. Network enrichment analyses revealed that these associations were not localized but were broadly distributed along a hierarchical cortical gradient of information processing. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to childhood adversity broadly is associated with widespread differences in midlife gray matter across cortical and subcortical structures, suggesting that biological embedding of childhood adversity in the brain is long lasting, but not localized. Research using retrospectively reported adversity likely underestimates the magnitude of these associations. These findings may inform future research investigating mechanisms through which adversity becomes embedded in the brain and influences mental health and cognition.
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Autistic traits are associated with faster pace of aging: Evidence from the Dunedin study at age 45 | 2021
Mason, D. Ronald, A. Ambler, A. Caspi, A. Houts,
... Show all »
Autism Research, 2021, .
10.1002/aur.2534
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO760
Growing evidence indicates that the defining characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are distributed throughout the general population; hence, understanding the correlates of aging in people with high autistic traits could shed light on ASD and aging. 915 members of the Dunedin longitudinal birth cohort completed a measure of autistic traits at age 45. A composite measure of the "pace of aging" was derived by tracking the decline in 19 biomarkers across ages 26, 32, 38, and 45 years. Facial age was also assessed. Reports of perceived health were collected from participants themselves, informants, and interviewers. Higher self-reported autistic traits significantly correlated with a faster pace of aging, older facial age, and poorer self-, informant-, and interviewer-rated health. After control for sex, SES and IQ, autistic traits were significantly associated with each variable: pace of aging (beta = 0.09), facial age (beta = 0.08), self- (beta = -0.15), informant (beta = -0.12), and interviewer-rated (beta = -0.17) health. Autistic traits measured at age 45 are associated with faster aging. Participants with high autistic traits appear to be more vulnerable to poor health outcomes, as previously reported for those clinically diagnosed with ASD. Therefore, autistic traits may have important health implications. Replicating these findings in samples of autistic people is needed to identify the mechanism of their effect on aging and physical health to improve outcomes for those with ASD diagnoses or high autistic traits. LAY SUMMARY: The role that autistic traits have in relation to health outcomes has not been investigated. We looked at how physical health and aging (measured with self-reported questions and decline in multiple biological measures) were related to autistic traits (measured with a questionnaire, at age 45). We found that higher autistic traits were associated with poorer reports of physical health, and a faster pace of aging. This suggests that both those with autism and those with higher autistic traits may be more likely to experience poorer health outcomes.
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Understanding the data-sharing debate in the context of Aotearoa/New Zealand: a narrative review on the perspectives of funders, publishers/journals, researchers, participants and Māori collectives | 2021
Reeves, Jane; Treharne, Gareth J.; Theodore, Reremoana; Edwards, Will; Ratima,
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Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, 2021, 1-23.
10.1080/1177083x.2021.1922465
Link to full publication »
Our ref: NZ99
This review outlines current debates about the sharing of research data, with a focus on relevance for Aotearoa/New Zealand. Recent years have seen increasingly frequent calls for public sharing of data from funders and publishers/journals in particular. Past research has suggested that researchers tend to agree that any detriments of data-sharing are outweighed by benefits for transparency and progress. We summarise trends across past research into perspectives of funders, publishers/journals, and researchers on data-sharing before raising three considerations. Firstly, past research on data-sharing has tended to overlook the potential implications of data-sharing for participants. We review the small body of research on participant perspectives. This research has conceptualised participants as a homogenous group without theorising how participants make sense of data-sharing. Secondly, perspectives on data-sharing vary depending on the methodology being applied, and we raise some specific considerations when datasharing is proposed in long-term longitudinal research such as the Dunedin Study. Thirdly, Indigenous perspectives on data-sharing must be central to all research into data-sharing with any of the stakeholder groups, and we review existing research on data sovereignty in relation to data-sharing in Aotearoa/New Zealand and globally. We conclude by summarising a series of tensions between stakeholders in the data-sharing debate.
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Genetic Association Study of Childhood Aggression across raters, instruments and age | 2021
Ip, Hill F. Van Der Laan, Camiel M. Krapohl, Eva M. L. Brikell, Isabell Cristina,
... Show all »
Translational Psychiatry, 2021, .
https://doi.org/10.1101/854927
Our ref: RO759
Childhood aggressive behavior (AGG) has a substantial heritability of around 50%. Here we present a genome-wide association meta-analysis (GWAMA) of childhood AGG, in which all phenotype measures across childhood ages from multiple assessors were included. We analyzed phenotype assessments for a total of 328 935 observations from 87 485 children aged between 1.5 and 18 years, while accounting for sample overlap. We also meta-analyzed within subsets of the data – i.e. within rater, instrument and age. SNP-heritability for the overall meta-analysis (AGGoverall) was 3.31% (SE=0.0038). We found no genome-wide significant SNPs for AGGoverall. The gene-based analysis returned three significant genes: ST3GAL3 (P=1.6E-06), PCDH7 (P=2.0E-06) and IPO13 (P=2.5E-06). All three genes have previously been associated with educational traits. Polygenic scores based on our GWAMA significantly predicted aggression in a holdout sample of children (variance explained = 0.44%) and in retrospectively assessed childhood aggression (variance explained = 0.20%). Genetic correlations (rg) among rater-specific assessment of AGG ranged from rg =0.46 between self- and teacher-assessment to rg =0.81 between mother- and teacher-assessment. We obtained moderate to strong rg’s with selected phenotypes from multiple domains, but hardly with any of the classical biomarkers thought to be associated with AGG. Significant genetic correlations were observed with most psychiatric and psychological traits (range |rg| : 0.19 – 1.00), except for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Aggression had a negative genetic correlation (rg =~ −0.5) with cognitive traits and age at first birth. Aggression was strongly genetically correlated with smoking phenotypes (range |rg| : 0.46 – 0.60). The genetic correlations between aggression and psychiatric disorders were weaker for teacher-reported AGG than for mother- and self-reported AGG. The current GWAMA of childhood aggression provides a powerful tool to interrogate the rater-specific genetic etiology of AGG.
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Lower Cardiovascular Reactivity Is Associated With More Childhood Adversity and Poorer Midlife Health: Replicated Findings From the Dunedin and MIDUS Cohorts | 2021
Bourassa KJ, Moffitt TE, Harrington HL, Houts RM, Poulton R,
... Show all »
Clinical Psychological Science, 2021, 1-18.
https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2167702621993900
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO758
Cardiovascular reactivity has been proposed as a biomarker linking childhood adversity and poorer health. In the current study, we examined the association of childhood adversity, cardiovascular reactivity, and health in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (n = 922) and Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) studies (n = 1,015). In both studies, participants who experienced more childhood adversity had lower cardiovascular reactivity. In addition, people with lower cardiovascular reactivity had poorer self-reported health and greater inflammation. Dunedin participants with lower cardiovascular reactivity were aging biologically faster, and MIDUS participants with lower heart rate reactivity had increased risk of early mortality. Cardiovascular reactivity was not associated with hypertension in either study. Results were partially accounted for by greater reactivity among more conscientious, less depressed, and higher functioning participants. These results suggest that people who experienced childhood adversity have a blunted physiological response, which is associated with poorer health. The findings highlight the importance of accounting for individual differences when assessing cardiovascular reactivity using cognitive stressor tasks.
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Association of History of Psychopathology With Accelerated Aging at Midlife | 2021
Wertz, Jasmin, Avshalom Caspi, Antony Ambler, Jonathan Broadbent,
... Show all »
JAMA Psychiatry, 2021, .
10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.4626
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO757
Importance Individuals with mental disorders are at an elevated risk of developing chronic age-related physical diseases. However, it is not clear whether psychopathology is also associated with processes of accelerated aging that precede the onset of age-related disease.
Objective To test the hypothesis that a history of psychopathology is associated with indicators of accelerated aging at midlife.
Design, Setting, and Participants This prospective cohort study was based on the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a population-representative birth cohort of 1037 individuals born between April 1, 1972, and March 31, 1973, in Dunedin, New Zealand. Members were followed up to age 45 years (until April 2019). Data were analyzed from January 6 to December 7, 2020.
Exposures Mental disorders were assessed in 6 diagnostic assessments from ages 18 to 45 years and transformed through confirmatory factor analysis into continuous measures of general psychopathology (p-factor) and dimensions of internalizing, externalizing, and thought disorders (all standardized to a mean [SD] of 100 [15]).
Main Outcomes and Measures Signs of aging (biological pace of aging; declines in sensory, motor, and cognitive functioning; and facial age) were assessed up to age 45 years using previously validated measures including biomarkers, clinical tests, and self-reports.
Results Of the original 1037 cohort participants, 997 were still alive at age 45 years, of whom 938 (94%) were assessed (474 men [50.5%]). Participants who had experienced more psychopathology exhibited a faster pace of biological aging (β, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.21-0.33; P < .01); experienced more difficulties with hearing (β, 0.18; 95% CI, 0.12-0.24; P < .01), vision (β, 0.08; 95% CI, 0.01-0.14; P < .05), balance (β, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.14-0.26; P < .01), and motor functioning (β, 0.19; 95% CI, 0.12-0.25; P < .01); experienced more cognitive difficulties (β, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.18-0.31; P < .01); and were rated as looking older (β, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.14-0.26; P < .01). Associations persisted after controlling for sex, childhood health indicators, maltreatment, and socioeconomic status and after taking into account being overweight, smoking, use of antipsychotic medication, and the presence of physical disease. Tests of diagnostic specificity revealed that associations were generalizable across externalizing, internalizing, and thought disorders.
Conclusions and Relevance In this cohort study, a history of psychopathology was associated with accelerated aging at midlife, years before the typical onset of age-related diseases. This link is not specific to any particular disorder family but generalizes across disorders. Prevention of psychopathology and monitoring of individuals with mental disorders for signs of accelerated aging may have the potential to reduce health inequalities and extend healthy lives.
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Age- and sex-specific visceral fat reference cutoffs and their association with cardio-metabolic risk | 2021
Kim Meredith-Jones, Rachael Taylor, Rachel Brown, Rebecca McLay-Cooke, Lara Vlietstra,
... Show all »
International Journal of Obesity, 2021, 45 808-817.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-021-00743-3
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO753
Background
Although excess visceral fat (VAT) is associated with numerous cardio-metabolic risk factors, measurement of this fat depot has historically been difficult. Recent dual X-ray absorptiometry approaches have provided an accessible estimate of VAT that has shown acceptable validity against gold standard methods. The aims of this study were to (i) evaluate DXA measured VAT as a predictor of elevated blood lipids and blood pressure and (ii) calculate thresholds associated with these cardio-metabolic risk factors.
Subjects/methods
The sample comprised 1482 adults (56.4% women) aged 18–66 years. Total body scans were performed using a GE Lunar Prodigy, and VAT analyses were enabled through Corescan software (v 16.0). Blood pressure and blood lipids were measured by standard procedures. Regression models assessed how VAT mass was associated with each cardio-metabolic risk factor compared to other body composition measures. Measures of sensitivity and specificity were used to determine age- and sex-specific cut points for VAT mass associated with high cardio-metabolic risk.
Results
Similar to waist circumference, VAT mass was a strong predictor of cardio-metabolic risk especially in men over age 40. Four cut-offs for VAT mass were proposed, above which the cardio-metabolic risk increased: 700 g in women <40 yrs; 800 g in women 40+ yrs; 1000g in men <40 yrs; and 1200 g in men 40+ yrs. In general, these cut-offs discriminated well between those with high and low cardio-metabolic risk.
Conclusions
In both sexes, DXA measured VAT was associated with traditional cardio-metabolic risk factors, particularly high blood pressure in those 40+ yrs and low HDL < 40 yrs. These reference values provide a simple, accessible method to assess cardio-metabolic risk in adults.
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Population versus individual prediction of poor health from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) screening | 2021
Baldwin, J. R., Caspi, A., Meehan,
... Show all »
JAMA Pediatrics, 2021, .
https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.5602
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO752
Importance: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are well-established risk factors for health problems in the population. However, it is not known whether screening for ACEs can accurately identify individuals who develop later health problems.
Objective: To test the predictive accuracy of ACE screening for later health problems.
Design: Two birth cohorts: The Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study followed participants born in 1994-1995 until age 18 (2012-2014), and the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study followed participants born in 1972-1973 until age 45 (2017-2019).
Setting: Population-based cohorts from the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
Participants: 2,232 participants in E-Risk and 1,037 participants in Dunedin.
Exposure: ACEs were measured prospectively in childhood through repeated interviews and observations in both cohorts. ACEs were also measured retrospectively in the Dunedin cohort through interviews at age 38.
Main outcomes and measures: Health outcomes were assessed at age 18 in E-Risk and age 45 in Dunedin. Mental health problems were assessed through clinical interviews using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Physical health problems were assessed through interviews, anthropometric measurements, and blood collection.
Results: Of 2,232 E-Risk participants and 1,037 Dunedin participants, 2,009 and 928 were included in the analysis, respectively. In E-Risk, children with higher ACE scores had greater risk of later health problems (Relative Risks=1.14 [95% CI=1.10-1.18] for any mental health problem and 1.09 [95% CI=1.07-1.12] for any physical health problem per each additional ACE). ACE scores were associated with health problems independently of other information typically available to clinicians (i.e., sex, socioeconomic disadvantage, and history of health problems). However, ACE scores had poor accuracy in predicting an individual’s risk of later health problems (Area Under the ROC Curve for any mental health problem=0.58 [95% CI=0.56-0.61] and 0.60 [95% CI=0.58-0.63] for any physical health problem vs 0.50 for chance prediction). Findings were consistent in the Dunedin cohort using both prospective and retrospective ACE measures.
Conclusions and Relevance: While ACE scores can forecast average group differences in health, they have poor accuracy in predicting an individual’s risk of later health problems. Therefore, targeting interventions based on ACE screening is likely to be ineffective in preventing poor health.
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Disparities in the pace of biological aging among midlife adults of the same chronological age have implications for future frailty risk and policy | 2021
Maxwell L. Elliott, Avshalom Caspi, Renate M. Houts, Antony Ambler, Jonathan M. Broadbent,
... Show all »
Nature Aging, 2021, 1 295–308.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-021-00044-4
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO751
Some humans age faster than others. Variation in biological aging can be measured in midlife, but the implications of this variation are poorly understood. We tested associations between midlife biological aging and indicators of future frailty risk in the Dunedin cohort of 1,037 infants born the same year and followed to age 45. Participants’ ‘Pace of Aging’ was quantified by tracking declining function in 19 biomarkers indexing the cardiovascular, metabolic, renal, immune, dental and pulmonary systems across ages 26, 32, 38 and 45 years. At age 45 in 2019, participants with faster Pace of Aging had more cognitive difficulties, signs of advanced brain aging, diminished sensory–motor functions, older appearances and more pessimistic perceptions of aging. People who are aging more rapidly than same-age peers in midlife may prematurely need supports to sustain independence that are usually reserved for older adults. Chronological age does not adequately identify need for such supports.
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DNA methylation signatures of aggression and closely related constructs: A meta-analysis of epigenome-wide studies across the lifespan | 2021
van Dongen, J. Hagenbeek, F. A. Suderman, M. Roetman, P. J. Sugden,
... Show all »
Molecular Psychiatry, 2021, .
10.1038/s41380-020-00987-x
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO750
DNA methylation profiles of aggressive behavior may capture lifetime cumulative effects of genetic, stochastic, and environmental influences associated with aggression. Here, we report the first large meta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) of aggressive behavior (N = 15,324 participants). In peripheral blood samples of 14,434 participants from 18 cohorts with mean ages ranging from 7 to 68 years, 13 methylation sites were significantly associated with aggression (alpha = 1.2 x 10(-7); Bonferroni correction). In cord blood samples of 2425 children from five cohorts with aggression assessed at mean ages ranging from 4 to 7 years, 83% of these sites showed the same direction of association with childhood aggression (r = 0.74, p = 0.006) but no epigenome-wide significant sites were found. Top-sites (48 at a false discovery rate of 5% in the peripheral blood meta-analysis or in a combined meta-analysis of peripheral blood and cord blood) have been associated with chemical exposures, smoking, cognition, metabolic traits, and genetic variation (mQTLs). Three genes whose expression levels were associated with top-sites were previously linked to schizophrenia and general risk tolerance. At six CpGs, DNA methylation variation in blood mirrors variation in the brain. On average 44% (range = 3-82%) of the aggression-methylation association was explained by current and former smoking and BMI. These findings point at loci that are sensitive to chemical exposures with potential implications for neuronal functions. We hope these results to be a starting point for studies leading to applications as peripheral biomarkers and to reveal causal relationships with aggression and related traits.
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Childhood self-control forecasts the pace of midlife aging and preparedness for old age | 2021
Richmond-Rakerd, L. S. Caspi, A. Ambler, A. d'Arbeloff, T. de Bruine,
... Show all »
PNAS, 2021, 118(3), .
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2010211118
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO748
The ability to control one's own emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in early life predicts a range of positive outcomes in later life, including longevity. Does it also predict how well people age? We studied the association between self-control and midlife aging in a population-representative cohort of children followed from birth to age 45 y, the Dunedin Study. We measured children's self-control across their first decade of life using a multi-occasion/multi-informant strategy. We measured their pace of aging and aging preparedness in midlife using measures derived from biological and physiological assessments, structural brain-imaging scans, observer ratings, self-reports, informant reports, and administrative records. As adults, children with better self-control aged more slowly in their bodies and showed fewer signs of aging in their brains. By midlife, these children were also better equipped to manage a range of later-life health, financial, and social demands. Associations with children's self-control could be separated from their social class origins and intelligence, indicating that self-control might be an active ingredient in healthy aging. Children also shifted naturally in their level of self-control across adult life, suggesting the possibility that self-control may be a malleable target for intervention. Furthermore, individuals' self-control in adulthood was associated with their aging outcomes after accounting for their self-control in childhood, indicating that midlife might offer another window of opportunity to promote healthy aging.
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Early-onset and recurrent depression in parents increases risk of intergenerational transmission to adolescent offspring | 2021
Jaffee, S. R. Sligo, J. L. McAnally, H. M. Bolton, A. E. Baxter,
... Show all »
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2021, .
10.1111/jcpp.13356
Link to full publication »
Our ref: RO746
BACKGROUND: To assess whether the age-of-onset or the recurrence of parents' major depressive disorder (MDD), measured prospectively in a longitudinal birth cohort study, predicted offspring depression at age 15. METHODS: A two-generation study of New Zealanders, with prospective, longitudinal data in the parents' generation (n = 375) and cross-sectional data from their adolescent offspring (n = 612). Parent and offspring depression was measured with structured clinical interviews. Parent depression was measured at six time points from age 11 to 38 years. Adolescent offspring depression was measured at age 15. RESULTS: Compared to adolescents whose parents were never depressed, those whose parents met criteria for MDD more than once and those whose parents first met criteria before adulthood had more symptoms of depression. The combination of early-onset and recurrent depression in parents made adolescents particularly vulnerable; their odds of meeting criteria for MDD were 4.21 times greater (95% CI = 1.57-11.26) than adolescents whose parents were never depressed. The strength of the intergenerational effect did not vary as a function of parent or offspring sex. The prevalence of adolescent depression was 2.5 times higher in the offspring than at age 15 in the parents' generation. CONCLUSIONS: Recurrent depression in both fathers and mothers increases offspring risk for depression, particularly when it starts in childhood or adolescence, but a single lifetime episode does not. Health practitioners should be aware of age-of-onset and course of depression in both parents when assessing their children's risk for depression.
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Investigating the Genetic Architecture of Non-Cognitive Skills Using GWAS-by-Subtraction | 2021
Perline A. Demange, Margherita Malanchini, Travis T. Mallard, Pietro Biroli, Simon R. Cox,
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Nature Genetics, 2021, 53 35-44.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-020-00754-2
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Our ref: RO745
Little is known about the genetic architecture of traits affecting educational attainment other than cognitive ability. We used genomic structural equation modeling and prior genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of educational attainment (n = 1,131,881) and cognitive test performance (n = 257,841) to estimate SNP associations with educational attainment variation that is independent of cognitive ability. We identified 157 genome-wide-significant loci and a polygenic architecture accounting for 57% of genetic variance in educational attainment. Noncognitive genetics were enriched in the same brain tissues and cell types as cognitive performance, but showed different associations with gray-matter brain volumes. Noncognitive genetics were further distinguished by associations with personality traits, less risky behavior and increased risk for certain psychiatric disorders. For socioeconomic success and longevity, noncognitive and cognitive-performance genetics demonstrated associations of similar magnitude. By conducting a GWAS of a phenotype that was not directly measured, we offer a view of genetic architecture of noncognitive skills influencing educational success. Genomic structural equation modeling of genome-wide association data for educational attainment and cognitive test performance is used to estimate the genetic component of variation in educational attainment that is independent of cognitive ability. The study finds that noncognitive skills account for 57% of genetic variation in educational attainment.
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Long-Term Survival of Enamel-Defect-Affected Teeth | 2020
Hong C.L., Broadbent J.M. and Thomson W.M.
Caries Research, 2020, 54 350-357.
https://doi.org/10.1159/000510304
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Our ref: RO754
There has been considerable research focussed on the occurrence and aetiology of developmental defects of enamel, but less is known about the extent to which enamel-defect-affected teeth may be at greater risk for dental caries. The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study is a prospective cohort study of 1,037 children born in Dunedin, New Zealand, between April 1, 1972, and March 31, 1973. Participants were examined for the presence of developmental defects of enamel at the age of 9 years and then repeatedly for the occurrence of dental caries through to the age of 45 years. After controlling for confounding variables, incisor teeth affected by demarcated opacities at the age of 9 were 3.4 times more likely to be restored than teeth unaffected by defects. Incisors with diffuse opacities and hypoplasia or combinations of defects were 2.8 times more likely to be restored. Molars with enamel defects of any type did not have any significantly different risk for being subsequently restored or lost due to caries than unaffected molars, except those affected by diffuse opacities, which were at 0.4 times the risk of being lost due to caries. Dental clinicians should be aware that enamel-defect-affected teeth are not necessarily at greater risk for tooth loss due to caries in the long term, but permanent incisors affected by enamel defects are at higher risk of receiving restorative intervention.
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Psychotic experiences and schizotypy in early adolescence predict subsequent suicidal ideation trajectories and suicide attempt outcomes from 18- to 38-years | 2020
Kirstie J. M. O’Hare, Richie Poulton, Richard J. Linscott
Schizophrenia Bulletin, 2020, .
https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbaa151
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Our ref: RO741
Subclinical risk markers for schizophrenia predict suicidality, but little is known about the nature of the relationship. Suicidal ideation is often considered homogenous, but distinguishing passive from active ideation (i.e. thoughts of death vs thoughts of killing oneself) and different temporal patterns may further understanding of risk factors. We tested whether schizotypy and psychotic experiences (PE) in early adolescence predict subsequent growth trajectories of suicidal ideation and suicide attempt outcomes. Participants were 1037 members of the population-representative Dunedin Study cohort. PE was measured at 11 years; schizotypy at 13 and 15 years. Outcomes were passive and active suicidal ideation, and suicide attempt, measured at 18, 21, 26, 32, and 38 years. Passive ideation was best represented by two trajectories, including persistent and transient ideation classes. Schizotypy predicted membership in the smaller persistent class (OR = 1.21, p = .041), whereas PE was not associated with class membership. Probability of suicide attempt was 13.8% in the persistent ideation class, compared to 1.8% in the transient class. Active ideation was best represented by a one-class model, the intercept of which was predicted by schizotypy (OR = 1.23, p = .015). Suicide attempts were predicted by schizotypy (OR = 1.53, p = .040) and PE (OR = 3.42, p = .046), and this was partially mediated by indirect effects via the active ideation trajectory. Findings indicate adolescent schizotypy and PE are related to subsequent suicidal ideation and attempts. Suicidal ideation is heterogenous, and schizotypy is specifically related to a persistent passive ideation subgroup.
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