OBJECTIVE Telomere length (TL) has been linked to several psychiatric conditions in children and adults. Telomere shortening is accelerated by early adversity, including maltreatment and psychosocial deprivation. These experiences also increase the risk of psychopathology in many domains. Two fundamental issues remain unresolved. The first concerns the specificity of the relations between TL and different dimensions of psychopathology; and the second relates to the direction of association between TL and psychopathology. METHOD This study addressed these shortcomings in a 2-fold manner. First, the association between TL and statistically independent general, internalizing, and externalizing psychopathology factors was examined to determine the specificity of this relation. Second, a 2-wave longitudinal cross-lagged model was used to explicitly examine the direction of the relation between TL and each psychopathology factor. Data were drawn from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a longitudinal study exploring the impact of severe psychosocial deprivation on child health and development (N = 195). At 8 to 10 and 12 to 14 years of age, buccal DNA was collected and teachers and/or caregivers reported on different domains of psychopathology. RESULTS Longitudinal path analyses showed that shorter TL was specifically associated with higher internalizing psychopathology at 8 to 10 years of age. In contrast, at 12 to 14 years, shorter TL was associated with higher general psychopathology. Most telling, internalizing psychopathology at 8 to 10 years predicted shorter TL at 12 to 14 years, with no reciprocal effects. CONCLUSION Results suggest that telomere erosion could be a consequence of distress-related psychopathology rather than a selection mechanism for later psychiatric problems. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION INFORMATION The Bucharest Early Intervention Project; https://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT00747396.

中文翻译：

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端粒长度和精神病理学：布加勒斯特早期干预项目中影响的特异性和方向。

目的 端粒长度 (TL) 与儿童和成人的多种精神疾病有关。早期的逆境（包括虐待和社会心理剥夺）会加速端粒缩短。这些经历也增加了许多领域的精神病理学风险。有两个基本问题仍未解决。第一个涉及 TL 与精神病理学不同维度之间关系的特殊性；第二个涉及TL与精神病理学之间的关联方向。方法 本研究从两个方面解决了这些缺点。首先，检查 TL 与统计上独立的一般、内化和外化精神病理学因素之间的关联，以确定这种关系的特异性。其次，使用 2 波纵向交叉滞后模型来明确检查 TL 与每个精神病理学因素之间关系的方向。数据来自布加勒斯特早期干预项目，这是一项探索严重社会心理剥夺对儿童健康和发展影响的纵向研究（N = 195）。在 8 至 10 岁和 12 至 14 岁时，收集了口腔 DNA，并向教师和/或护理人员报告了精神病理学的不同领域。结果 纵向路径分析表明，较短的 TL 与 8 至 10 岁时较高的内化精神病理学相关。相比之下，在 12 至 14 岁时，较短的 TL 与较高的一般精神病理学相关。最有说服力的是，8 到 10 岁时内化的精神病理学预测 12 到 14 岁时的 TL 会更短，并且没有相互影响。结论 结果表明，端粒侵蚀可能是与痛苦相关的精神病理学的结果，而不是后来精神问题的选择机制。临床试验注册信息布加勒斯特早期干预项目；https://clinicaltrials.gov/；NCT00747396。