Attachment insecurity and the biological embedding of reproductive strategies: Investigating the role of cellular aging
Bolhuis, E.; Belsky, J.; Frankenhuis, W.E.; Shalev, I.; Hastings, W. J.; Tollenaar, M. S.; O'Donnell, K. J.; McGill, M. G.; Pokhvisneva, I.; Meaney, M. J.; Lin, D. T. S.; MacIsaac, J. L.; Kobor, M. S.; de Weerth, C.; Beijers, R.
(2022) Biological Psychology, volume 175, pp. 1 - 13
(Article)
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
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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.
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Keywords: Life history theory, Attachment, Antisocial and risky behavior, Pubertal onset, Child development, Cellular aging
ISSN: 0301-0511
Publisher: Elsevier
Note: Funding Information: We thank all families who participated in the BIBO project, all students who assisted with data collection, and Sarah Merrill for her insightful comments. This research was supported by a Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research VENI grant (016.195.197-to Beijers), VIDI grant (575-25-009-to de Weerth) and VICI grant (016.Vici.185.038-to de Weerth), a Jacobs Foundation Advanced Research Fellowship (to de Weerth), and an Early Career Award and Sara van Dam Project Grant of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (to Beijers). The funding sources had no further role in study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of the data, in the writing of the report, nor in the decision to submit the paper for publication. Funding Information: This research was supported by a Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research VENI grant ( 016.195.197 -to Beijers), VIDI grant ( 575-25-009 -to de Weerth) and VICI grant (016.Vici. 185.038 -to de Weerth), a Jacobs Foundation Advanced Research Fellowship (to de Weerth), and an Early Career Award and Sara van Dam Project Grant of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (to Beijers). The funding sources had no further role in study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of the data, in the writing of the report, nor in the decision to submit the paper for publication. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors
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