Social
Cumulative neighborhood poverty and biological aging Alena Sorensen D’Alessio* Alena Sorensen D’Alessio Kathleen Mullan Harris Allison E. Aiello Brandt Levitt Lauren Gaydosh Chantel L. Martin
Background: Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage has been linked to proxies of accelerated biological aging using DNA methylation; however, limited knowledge exists of the relationship between cumulative exposure to neighborhood poverty and biological aging measured with epigenetic clocks.
Methods: Using data from 3,426 participants followed for 25 years in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we examined the association between number of time periods residing in neighborhood poverty from Waves I (1994-95) to V (2016-18), operationalized as census tracts below the federal poverty level, and biological aging, calculated from five epigenetic clocks (DunedinPACE, GrimAge, Horvath, PhenoAge, Zhang2017). Survey linear regression models were adjusted for gender, college degree attainment, employment, and self-rated health. Models were stratified by race and ethnicity (Non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islanders, Non-Hispanic Black, Non-Hispanic White, Hispanic).
Results: Most participants had at least one time period in neighborhood poverty (1 period: 26.5%, 2 periods: 12.8%, 3+ periods: 14.5%). Each additional period was associated with faster biological aging for all race and ethnicity groups using DunedinPACE (βAsian/Pacific Islanders=0.23 (0.001, 0.45); βBlack=0.15 (0.03, 0.26); βWhite=0.08 (0.03, 0.13); βHispanic=0.14 (0.03, 0.24)), Blacks and Whites using GrimAge (βBlack=0.77 (0.36, 1.18); βWhite=0.64 (0.38, 0.90)), Asian/Pacific Islanders and Whites using PhenoAge (βAsian/Pacific Islanders=1.38 (0.45, 2.32); βWhite=0.29 (0.01, 0.58)), and Whites using Zhang2017 (βWhite=0.06 (0.005, 0.12)). Associations were not observed for Horvath.
Conclusion: Our results suggest a relationship between cumulative exposure to neighborhood poverty and accelerated biological aging across key epigenetic clocks. Future analyses will investigate possible effect modification by social integration or support and explore timing of neighborhood poverty exposure.