Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41194994›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in public health2025

Infant buccal telomere length: associations with maternal distress in pregnancy and offspring temperament.

Anna E Soerensen, Bea R H Van den Bergh, Marijke A K A Braeken, Marion I van den Heuvel, Dries S Martens, Stijn Vos, Tim S Nawrot

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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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

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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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

7 authors.

Anna E SoerensenCentre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
Bea R H Van den BerghHealth Psychology Research Group, and Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven (University of Leuven), Leuven, Belgium.
Marijke A K A BraekenRehabilitation Research Center, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Biomedical Research Institute, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
Marion I van den HeuvelTranzo Scientific Centre for Care and Wellbeing, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands.
Dries S MartensCentre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
Stijn VosCentre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
Tim S NawrotCentre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Telomere length is considered a marker of biological aging, and is shown to be susceptible to exposures during gestational and early life, including maternal psychological distress, and to be connected with temperament. Here, we examine the influence of maternal psychosocial and work-related factors on infant telomere length, and how infant telomere length is associated with infant and preschooler temperament. Methods: 147 mothers and their offspring from the Dutch Prenatal Early Life Stress (PELS) cohort participated in this study. Psychological distress and work-related factors were assessed with the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Edinburgh Depression Scale (EDS), Effort-Reward Imbalance, Questionnaire on the Experience and Evaluation of Work (QEEW), and Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) questionnaires at 16-23 gestational weeks. Offspring temperament was evaluated twice: first at median 4 (IQR: 3-5) months using the Infant's Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ-R, very short form) and again at 4 years of age using the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ-R, very short form). Multivariable adjusted linear regression models were used to test associations between maternal psychosocial and work-related factors in pregnancy, infant buccal telomere length at 3-5 months after birth and infant and preschooler temperament, adjusting for maternal age, BMI, and education, and offspring age and sex. Results: The PELS participants generally presented with low mental distress levels, with 9.5% of the participants having severe state anxiety scores and 5.4% of the participants having severe depression symptoms. Maternal STAI and EDS scores showed a positive correlation with preschooler negative affectivity. Maternal psychosocial and work-related factors exhibited no discernible associations with infant buccal telomere length ( Conclusion: Higher satisfaction with social life may have a positive impact on infant telomere length. Mild maternal stress during pregnancy does not seem to affect infant telomere length, nor is telomere length predictive of infancy and early childhood temperament.

Indexed as

MothersStress, PsychologicalTelomereTemperamentAdultChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantMaleNetherlandsPregnancyPrenatal Exposure Delayed EffectsSurveys and Questionnairesbehaviorinfantpreschoolersocialstresstelomere lengthtemperamentwork

Identifiers

PMID41194994
PMCPMC12584428

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.