Community and domestic violence are associated with DNA methylation GrimAge acceleration and heart rate variability in adolescents

Background: Cumulative exposure to violence can change the regulation of epigenetic and physiological markers. Although violence has been associated with accelerated cellular aging, little is known about associations with cardiac autonomic activity. Objective: The current study aimed to investigate the relationship of exposure to community and domestic violence (CDV) with vagal activity and epigenetic aging acceleration. Methods: A total of 86 adolescents (57% female) were evaluated and interviewed at two time-points in São Gonçalo (2014–2019), a Brazilian city with high levels of violence. Exposure to CDV was assessed in both time-points. GrimAge acceleration was calculated from saliva DNA methylation using Infinium HumanMethylation450K (Illumina) collected in the first assessment. Heart rate variability (HRV) was collected during two stress tasks at the second assessment. Results: The exposure to violence witnessed or directly experienced at home and in the community increased significantly (t = 4.87, p < .01) across two-time points, and males had reported higher violence exposure (t = 2.06, p = .043). Violence at 1st assessment was significantly associated with GrimAge acceleration (B = .039, p value = .043). Violence at both assessments were associated with HRV measured during the narration of the worst trauma (traumaHRV) (B = .009, p value = .039, and B = .007, p value = .024, 1st and 2nd assessment respectively). GrimAge acceleration was significantly associated with traumaHRV (B = .043, p value = .049), and HRV measured during a 3D roller coaster video (B = .061, p value = .024). Conclusions: We found relevant evidence that experiencing violence during adolescence is associated with epigenetic aging and stress-related vagal activity. Understanding these factors during this period could contribute to the development of early interventions for health promotion. HIGHLIGHTS: Higher exposure to Community and domestic violence is associated with increased GrimAge acceleration. Higher GrimAge acceleration is associated with increased stress-related vagal activity. Exposure to community and domestic violence increased significantly over time.