Research suggests that incarceration exposure increases the prevalence of morbidity and premature mortality. This work is only beginning to examine whether the stressors of the incarceration experience become biologically embedded in ways that affect physiological deterioration. Using data from a longitudinal sample of 410 African American adults in the Family and Community Health Study and an epigenetic index of aging, this study tests the extent to which incarceration accelerates epigenetic aging and whether experiences with violence moderate this association. Results from models that adjust for selection effects suggest that incarceration exposure predicted accelerated aging, leaving formerly incarcerated African American individuals biologically older than their calendar age. Direct experiences with violence also exacerbated the effects of incarceration. These findings suggest that incarceration possibly triggers a stress response that affects a biological signature of physiological deterioration.

研究表明，监禁暴露会增加发病率和过早死亡的发生率。这项工作才刚刚开始检查监禁经历的压力源是否以影响生理恶化的方式在生物学上嵌入。本研究使用来自家庭和社区健康研究中 410 名非裔美国成年人的纵向样本数据和衰老的表观遗传指数，测试监禁加速表观遗传衰老的程度以及暴力经历是否会缓和这种关联。调整选择效应的模型结果表明，监禁暴露预测加速老化，使以前被监禁的非裔美国人在生物学上比他们的日历年龄大。直接的暴力经历也加剧了监禁的影响。这些发现表明，监禁可能会引发压力反应，从而影响生理恶化的生物学特征。