Evidence mapPaperPMID 37101297Full record

SynthesisClinical epigenetics2023

ADHD genetic burden associates with older epigenetic age: mediating roles of education, behavioral and sociodemographic factors among older adults.

Thalida E Arpawong, Eric T Klopack, Jung Ki Kim, Eileen M Crimmins

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Clinical epigenetics, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Association of neurodevelopmental conditions with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and Parkinson's disease.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Thalida E ArpawongLeonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. arpawong@usc.edu.
Eric T KlopackLeonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Jung Ki KimLeonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Eileen M CrimminsLeonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
University of Southern California · US

Funding

Health and Retirement Study: Yrs 35-40U01AG009740 · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 1990 to 2025
$96.8M
RESEARCH TRAINING IN GERONTOLOGYT32AG000037 · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 1985 to 2025
$3.0M
USC/UCLA Center on Biodemography &Population HealthP30AG017265 · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 1999 to 2025
$2.5M
Social Circumstances and Epigenomics Promoting Health in Three CountriesR01AG068937 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 2023 to 2025
$1.1M
NIA NIH HHS P30 AG017265NIA NIH HHS R01 AG060110NIA NIH HHS R01 AG068937NIA NIH HHS T32 AG000037NIA NIH HHS U01 AG009740
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundShortened lifespans are associated with having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which is likely mediated by related behavioral and sociodemographic factors that are also associated with accelerated physiological aging. Such factors include exhibiting more depressive symptoms, more cigarette smoking, higher body mass index, lower educational attainment, lower income in adulthood, and more challenges with cognitive processes compared to the general population. A higher polygenic score for ADHD (ADHD-PGS) is associated with having more characteristic features of ADHD. The degree to which (1) the ADHD-PGS associates with an epigenetic biomarker developed to predict accelerated aging and earlier mortality is unknown, as are whether (2) an association would be mediated by behavioral and sociodemographic correlates of ADHD, or (3) an association would be mediated first by educational attainment, then by behavioral and sociodemographic correlates. We evaluated these relationships in a population-based sample from the US Health and Retirement Study, among N = 2311 adults age 50 and older, of European-ancestry, with blood-based epigenetic and genetic data. The ADHD-PGS was calculated from a prior genomewide meta-analysis. Epigenome-wide DNA methylation levels that index biological aging and earlier age of mortality were quantified by a blood-based biomarker called GrimAge. We used a structural equation modeling approach to test associations with single and multi-mediation effects of behavioral and contextual indicators on GrimAge, adjusted for covariates.

resultsThe ADHD-PGS was significantly and directly associated with GrimAge when adjusting for covariates. In single mediation models, the effect of the ADHD-PGS on GrimAge was partially mediated via smoking, depressive symptoms, and education. In multi-mediation models, the effect of the ADHD-PGS on GrimAge was mediated first through education, then smoking, depressive symptoms, BMI, and income.

conclusionsFindings have implications for geroscience research in elucidating lifecourse pathways through which ADHD genetic burden and symptoms can alter risks for accelerated aging and shortened lifespans, when indexed by an epigenetic biomarker. More education appears to play a central role in attenuating negative effects on epigenetic aging from behavioral and sociodemographic risk factors related to ADHD. We discuss implications for the potential behavioral and sociodemographic mediators that may attenuate negative biological system effects.

Indexed as

Attention Deficit Disorder with HyperactivityAgedAgingBiomarkersDNA MethylationEducational StatusEpigenesis, GeneticHumansMiddle AgedSociodemographic FactorsBiomarkersAgingAttention deficit hyperactivity disorderDNA methylationEpigenetic ageEpigeneticsLifespan healthNeurodevelopment

Identifiers

PMID37101297
PMCPMC10131361
OpenAlexW4367053855

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.