AU Study Recruitment

Clinical Trial

Psychosocial Stress in Early Life, Chronodisruption and Accelerated Aging in Mid Life: A Life-course Approach

Many people experience ongoing stress and daily routines that disrupt the body?s natural rhythms such as eating meals late at night, sleeping poorly, or having irregular activity schedules. These patterns are increasingly common in modern life and have been linked to health problems that appear as we age. While unhealthy habits like smoking, poor diet, and lack of exercise have long been used to explain how stress harms health, much less is known about how disrupted daily rhythms may also play a role. The body?s stress system and internal ?biological clock? (circadian system) are closely connected and influence one another. However, very few studies have examined whether circadian disruptions help explain how stress leads to faster aging. We also know that many age-related diseases can be traced back to experiences that occur early in life. Stress during childhood, in particular, may have lasting effects on health and the pace of aging. In this study, we aim to understand whether disrupted daily routines and circadian dysfunction are part of the pathway linking early-life stress to faster aging in midlife. To do this, we will conduct one additional follow-up visit with participants from two long-standing, diverse community studies that began in childhood. These studies have collected detailed information on stress across many stages of life, as well as data on sleep, daily routines, and aging-related health outcomes. Participants also provided saliva and overnight urine samples at their most recent visit, allowing us to study biological signs of stress and aging over time.

• Circulatory System
• Endocrine System
• Aging
• Circadian
• Sleep
• Stress
• Twins