Author ORCID Identifier

Anitha Saravanan: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4585-5577

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Stress Health

Abstract

Ageing and chronic stress have been linked to reduced telomere length (TL) inmixed‐age groups. Whether stress response components are linked to TL during the midlife‐to‐late adulthood transition remains unclear. Our study aimed to synthesize evidence on the relationship between psychological and biological components of stress response on TL in middle‐aged and older adults. We conducted a systematic review of studies obtained from six databases (PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, Psy-cINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus) and evaluated by two independent reviewers. Original research measuring psychological and biological components of stress response and TL in human individuals were included. From an initial pool of 614studies, 15 were included (n = 9446 participants). Synthesis of evidence showed that higher psychological components of the stress response (i.e., global perceived stress or within a specific life domain and cognitive appraisal to social‐evaluative stressors) were linked to shorter TL, specifically in women or under major life stressors. For the biological stress response, cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate and IGF‐1/cortisol imbalance, IL‐6, MCP‐1, blood pressure, and heart rate presented a significant association with TL, but this relationship depended on major life stressors and the stress context (manipulated vs. non‐manipulated conditions).This comprehensive review showed that psychological and biological components of the stress response are linked to shorter TL, but mainly in women or those under a major life stressor and stress‐induced conditions. The interaction between stressor attributes and psychological and biological reactions in the transition from middle to late adulthood still needs to be fully understood, and examining it is a critical step to expanding our understanding of stress's impact on ageing trajectories.

DOI

10.1002/smi.3389

Publication Date

8-2024

Comments

This is an archived version of a published article. The version of record can be found at: https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.3389

Original Citation

Souza-Talarico JN, Chesak S, Elizalde N, Liu W, Moon C, Oberfrank NDCF, Rauer AJ, Takao CL, Shaw C, Saravanan A, Longhi Palacio FG, Buck H. Exploring the interplay of psychological and biological components of stress response and telomere length in the transition from middle age to late adulthood: A systematic review. Stress Health. 2024 Aug;40(4):e3389. doi: 10.1002/smi.3389

Department

School of Nursing

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