Attachment insecurity and the biological embedding of reproductive strategies: Investigating the role of cellular aging

Emma Bolhuis; Jay Belsky; Willem E Frankenhuis; Idan Shalev; Waylon J Hastings; Marieke S Tollenaar; Kieran J O'Donnell; Megan G McGill; Irina Pokhvisneva; David T S Lin; Julia L MacIsaac; Michael S Kobor; Carolina de Weerth; Roseriet Beijers

doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108446

Attachment insecurity and the biological embedding of reproductive strategies: Investigating the role of cellular aging

Biol Psychol. 2022 Nov:175:108446. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108446. Epub 2022 Oct 19.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Social Development, Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University, PO Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Electronic address: emma.bolhuis2@ru.nl.
² Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
³ Department of Social Development, Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University, PO Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, PO Box 80140, 3508 TC Utrecht, the Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Biobehavioral Health, Penn State University, 219 Biobehavioral Health Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
⁵ Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition and Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, PO Box 9555, 2300 RB Leiden, the Netherlands.
⁶ Yale Child Study Center & Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA; Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal H4H1R3, Canada.
⁷ Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal H4H1R3, Canada.
⁸ Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Department of Medical Genetics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4, Canada.
⁹ Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
¹⁰ Department of Social Development, Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University, PO Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

PMID: 36272562
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108446

Abstract

Evolutionary-developmental psychologists have posited that individuals who grow up in stressful rearing circumstances follow faster life history strategies, thereby increasing their chances of reproduction. This preregistered study tested this stress-acceleration hypothesis in a low-risk longitudinal sample of 193 Dutch mother-child dyads, by investigating whether infant-mother attachment insecurity at 12 months of age predicted earlier pubertal onset and more callous-unemotional traits, aggression and risk-taking about a decade later. Also evaluated were the possible mediating roles of two biomarkers of accelerated aging (i.e., telomere length, epigenetic aging) at age 6. Structural equation modelling revealed no effects of attachment insecurity on biomarkers, pubertal timing or behavior. These null findings suggest that the explanatory value of evolutionary-developmental thinking might be restricted to high-risk samples, though unexplored variation in susceptibility to environmental influences might also explain the null findings.

Keywords: Antisocial and risky behavior; Attachment; Cellular aging; Child development; Life history theory; Pubertal onset.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aggression
Cellular Senescence
Child
Conduct Disorder*
Female
Humans
Infant
Mothers
Reproduction