Understanding how biological age measures perform across development lays the groundwork for investigations into lifespan trajectories of healthy aging. We provide the most comprehensive assessment of epigenetic and brain age models across development (birth to 24 years; ≤20,917 observations across 15 cohorts), evaluating how these models associate with chronological age and with each other, and how these associations change across development. Chronological age-prediction accuracy of epigenetic and brain age models was modest and varied substantially. Accuracy improved with age and stabilized by middle childhood. Few brain and fewer epigenetic clocks performed stably and well across all developmental stages. Performance was better when age range and tissue corresponded between training and testing data. Associations between epigenetic-brain age residuals were small, and changed little across development, tissues or clock generation. Given this developmentally dynamic system of epigenetic-brain age performances and associations, we give key recommendations to improve developmental research in this field.
Marlene Staginnus, Vilte Baltramonaityte, I. Schuurmans et al.· bioRxiv· 0 citations
Maternal childhood maltreatment (CM) has been linked to adverse outcomes in the next generation, including infant sleep, which is crucial for healthy development. This study examined whether maternal sensitivity buffered these effects in 101 German and 117 U.S. mother-infant dyads. Mothers reported on their CM history. Infant night sleep duration was assessed at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months. Maternal sensitivity was observed at 6 months. In the German cohort, higher maternal CM predicted shorter infant night sleep (p = .009). Maternal sensitivity moderated this association (p = .038), emphasizing its protective role. While the replication of this interaction was inconclusive in the U.S. sample, the pooled effect across cohorts was significant (p = .03). In the U.S. cohort, maternal sensitivity predicted longer infant sleep (p = .029). Findings highlight that maternal sensitivity supports infant sleep and underscores the need to support parenting, especially in mothers with early adversity.
K. Pittner, Kristina Meyer, N. Moog et al.· European Child and Adolescen...· 0 citations
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