Newborns´ Telomere Length Is Related To Their Mothers´ Stress During Pregnancy And To Their Fathers´ Life-Time Psychiatric Disorder

Telomere length (TL) is a marker of biological aging and numerous studies have shown associations between shorter TL and somatic as well as psychiatric disorders with robust effect sizes across all psychiatric disorders (Darrow et al., 2016). While it is still unclear whether telomere shortening is just a marker or a cause for such disorders, a recent study showed that never-depressed children of depressed mothers display shorter TL. Studies furthermore indicate an association between maternal stress during pregnancy and shorter TL in newborns as well as adult offspring.