Association of Psychosocial Factors with Leukocyte Telomere Length among African Americans in the Jackson Heart Study.

Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a biomarker of cellular aging. African Americans report more stress than other groups; however, the association of psychosocial stressors with biological aging among African Americans remains unclear. The current study evaluated the association of psychosocial factors (negative affect and stressors) with LTL in a large sample of African American men and women (n=2,516) from the Jackson Heart Study (JHS). Using multivariable linear regression, we examined the sex-specific associations of psychosocial factors (cynical distrust, anger-in and -out, depressive symptoms, negative affect summary scores, global stress, weekly stress, and major life events-MLEs, and stress summary scores) with LTL. Model 1 adjusted for demographics and education. Model 2 adjusted for model 1, smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, diabetes, hypertension, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP). Among women, high (vs. low) cynical distrust was associated with shorter mean LTL in model 1 (b = -0.12; p=0.039). Additionally, high (vs. low) anger-out and expressed negative affect summary scores were associated with shorter LTL among women after full adjustment (b = -0.13; p=0.011; b = -0.12, p=0.031, respectively). High levels of cynical distrust, anger out and negative affect summary scores may be risk factors for shorter LTL, particularly among African American women.

KEYWORDS: African Americans; Jackson Heart Study; leukocyte telomere length; negative affect; psychosocial factors; stress

PMID: 30407711 DOI: 10.1002/smi.2848