Association between adverse childhood experiences, biological age acceleration, and adverse health outcomes: an analysis of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), including childhood exposure to abuse, neglect, intimate partner violence, and parental separation can have significant and lasting effects on social, psychological, and health outcomes in later life. However, how childhood adversity ‘gets under our skin’ to lead to poor health outcomes is not well understood. It is proposed that exposure to severe or long-term stress during childhood may alter epigenetic processes such as DNA methylation (how our genes work), leading to accelerated biological aging and increased risk for developing diseases. In this study, we will investigate the association between ACEs, biological age acceleration, and adverse health outcomes.