TY - JOUR
T1 - Relationship between current depressive symptoms and telomere length in a large, multiethnic sample
AU - Wignall, Nicholas D.
AU - Deschner, Martin
AU - Evans, Harry M.
AU - Sherwood Brown, E.
N1 - Funding Information:
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda MD, USA, under award Number UL1TR001105 (Dr Brown).
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright 2017 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.
PY - 2017/11/1
Y1 - 2017/11/1
N2 - Objective: Previous research has suggested that depressive symptoms may be associated with telomere length; however, findings have been mixed, and few studies have sought to generalize the results beyond samples of white individuals. The present study, conducted from August 2013 through August 2015, sought to examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and leukocyte telomere length in a large (N = 2,710), multiethnic sample (African American, white, Hispanic) and to determine if this relationship differed across ethnic/racial groups. Analyses were based on data taken from the Dallas Heart Study, a recent epidemiologic-style, population-based study of adults from Dallas County, Texas. Methods: Depressive symptoms were measured using the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, and leukocyte telomere length was measured using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction technique. Analyses of the relationship between depressive symptoms and telomere length were conducted using multiple linear regression models. Results: Among the whole sample, there was no significant relationship between depressive symptoms and telomere length in either a basic (β = −0.025, P= .190) or an adjusted (β = −0.015, P= .443) model. However, among non-Hispanic white participants, depressive symptoms were significantly associated with telomere length in both basic (β = −0.083, P= .014) and adjusted (β = −0.066, P= .049) models. Conclusions: These findings suggest that ethnic/racial identification may be a factor in the relationship between depressive symptoms and telomere length and could impact the generalizability of previous research.
AB - Objective: Previous research has suggested that depressive symptoms may be associated with telomere length; however, findings have been mixed, and few studies have sought to generalize the results beyond samples of white individuals. The present study, conducted from August 2013 through August 2015, sought to examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and leukocyte telomere length in a large (N = 2,710), multiethnic sample (African American, white, Hispanic) and to determine if this relationship differed across ethnic/racial groups. Analyses were based on data taken from the Dallas Heart Study, a recent epidemiologic-style, population-based study of adults from Dallas County, Texas. Methods: Depressive symptoms were measured using the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, and leukocyte telomere length was measured using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction technique. Analyses of the relationship between depressive symptoms and telomere length were conducted using multiple linear regression models. Results: Among the whole sample, there was no significant relationship between depressive symptoms and telomere length in either a basic (β = −0.025, P= .190) or an adjusted (β = −0.015, P= .443) model. However, among non-Hispanic white participants, depressive symptoms were significantly associated with telomere length in both basic (β = −0.083, P= .014) and adjusted (β = −0.066, P= .049) models. Conclusions: These findings suggest that ethnic/racial identification may be a factor in the relationship between depressive symptoms and telomere length and could impact the generalizability of previous research.
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U2 - 10.4088/JCP.15m10570
DO - 10.4088/JCP.15m10570
M3 - Article
C2 - 28297596
AN - SCOPUS:85040037716
SN - 0160-6689
VL - 78
SP - 1331
EP - 1336
JO - Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
JF - Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
IS - 9
ER -