Child maltreatment and telomere length in middle and older age: retrospective cohort study of 141 748 UK Biobank participants.

Background: There is evidence that child maltreatment is associated with shorter telomere length in early life.

Aims: This study aims to examine if child maltreatment is associated with telomere length in middle- and older-age adults.

Method: This was a retrospective cohort study of 141 748 UK Biobank participants aged 37-73 years at recruitment. Leukocyte telomere length was measured with quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and log-transformed and scaled to have unit standard deviation. Child maltreatment was recalled by participants. Linear regression was used to analyse the association.

Results: After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, participants with three or more types of maltreatment presented with the shortest telomere lengths ( β = -0.05, 95% CI -0.07 to -0.03; P < 0.0001), followed by those with two types of maltreatment ( β = -0.02, 95% CI -0.04 to 0.00; P = 0.02), referent to those who had none. When adjusted for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, the telomere lengths of participants with three or more types of maltreatment were still shorter ( β = -0.04, 95% CI -0.07 to -0.02; P = 0.0008). The telomere lengths of those with one type of maltreatment were not significantly different from those who had none. When mutually adjusted, physical abuse ( β = -0.05, 95% CI -0.07 to -0.03; P < 0.0001) and sexual abuse ( β = -0.02, 95% CI -0.04 to 0.00; P = 0.02) were independently associated with shorter telomere length.

Conclusions: Our findings showed that child maltreatment is associated with shorter telomere length in middle- and older-aged adults, independent of sociodemographic and mental health factors.