New research found signs of accelerated biological aging from pre-pandemic baselines, with a link between perceived stress and accelerated aging found only in adolescents. Researchers analysed epigenetic data from over 1,000 people in Germany, measuring age-related changes in DNA methylation before and after the country’s lockdowns.
The researchers, writing in the journal PNAS, used four different epigenetic clocks to assess aging rates across three age groups: children aged around 8 to 10, adolescents aged 14 to 16, and adults aged 20 to 29. Three of the four clocks showed a significant increase in age acceleration or pace of aging across the full sample compared to pre-pandemic baselines.
The study builds on a growing body of research suggesting pandemic stress was linked to faster biological aging, but the researchers describe theirs as a first to find signs of the phenomenon in epigenetic data across this age range.
The key finding was a link between participants’ self-reported experiences of the pandemic and accelerated biological aging. Only adolescents showed this connection. Schowe said adolescence may be a time period that is especially sensitive to the effects of stress. She suggested this could be due to changes happening in the body during puberty, or because lockdown measures, such as restrictions on seeing peers, had a particularly strong impact on this age group.
Among adolescents, those who felt more burdened by restrictions on their freedoms and separation from important people in their lives showed stronger signs of accelerated biological aging, although the associations varied depending on which epigenetic clock was used.
The strongest overall links to accelerated epigenetic aging across all age groups were factors related to physical health: higher body mass index and smoking exposure. The researchers noted that observed increases in sedentary lifestyle and weight gain during the pandemic may also partly account for increases in GrimAge2 and DunedinPACE in the overall sample, alongside psychosocial burden in adolescents. They wrote that long-term follow-up will be needed to confirm whether these changes persist and predict adverse health outcomes later in life.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- Provides biological evidence that the stress of the pandemic had a measurable physiological effect, moving beyond self-reported impacts.
- Identifies adolescence as a distinct window of vulnerability, suggesting lockdown measures and social disruption may have had unique consequences for teenagers.
- Raises questions about the long-term health trajectory for this cohort and whether epigenetic changes are reversible or predict later disease.
Background
The study, published in PNAS, drew on data from the TwinLife Epigenetic Change Satellite project. Epigenetic clocks track biological age by measuring chemical modifications to DNA known as methylation. The pandemic served as a natural experiment, allowing researchers to test whether a major shared stressor was associated with detectable epigenetic changes across different developmental stages.
What to Watch
- Whether longitudinal follow-up studies confirm that the accelerated aging persists or is reversible.
- Broader research into why adolescence is particularly sensitive, specifically the interaction between puberty and social stressors.
- Public-health implications for supporting physical health, BMI and smoking were the strongest predictors, and mental health in post-pandemic youth populations.
Checked
11 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 11 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedPandemic stress was linked to faster epigenetic aging, but a perceived-stress link was found only in adolescents.ScienceAlert: “only one age group showed a link between perceived stress and accelerated biological aging: the adolescents.”
- SupportedA German study found increases in age acceleration or pace of aging on three clocks, with a perceived-stress link only in adolescents.ScienceAlert: “measurements from three of the four epigenetic clocks found a significant increase in age acceleration or pace of aging from the pre-pandemic baseline in the full sample”
- SupportedThe study found signs of accelerated biological aging from pre-pandemic baselines, and only adolescents showed a link between self-reported pandemic experiences and accelerated aging.ScienceAlert: “three of the four epigenetic clocks found a significant increase in age acceleration or pace of aging from the pre-pandemic baseline in the full sample”
- SupportedResearchers analysed epigenetic data from over 1,000 people in Germany, measuring DNA methylation before and after the country’s lockdowns.ScienceAlert: “based on saliva samples from over 1,000 people in Germany, measuring age-related changes in DNA methylation”
- SupportedThe researchers used four epigenetic clocks and studied children aged around 8 to 10, adolescents aged 14 to 16, and adults aged 20 to 29.ScienceAlert: “children (aged approximately 8–10), adolescents (14–16), and adults (20–29)”
- SupportedThe researchers describe the study as a first to find signs of the stress phenomenon in epigenetic data across this age range.ScienceAlert: “in what they claim is a first, researchers have found signs of the stress phenomenon in epigenetic data”
- SupportedSchowe said adolescence may be especially sensitive to stress, possibly because of bodily changes during puberty or lockdown restrictions on seeing peers.ScienceAlert: ““This suggests that adolescence may be a time period that is especially sensitive to the effects of stress,” Schowe says. “This could be due to the changes happening in the body during puberty, or because lockdown measures, like restrictions on seeing peers, had a particularly strong impact on this age group.””
- SupportedAdolescents who felt more burdened by restrictions on freedom and separation from important people showed stronger signs of accelerated aging, though associations varied by clock.ScienceAlert: “Among adolescents, those who felt more burdened by restrictions on their freedoms and separation from important people in their lives showed stronger signs of accelerated biological aging, although the associations varied depending on which epigenetic clock was used.”
- SupportedHigher body mass index and smoking exposure had the strongest overall links to accelerated epigenetic aging across age groups.ScienceAlert: “the strongest overall links to accelerated epigenetic aging across all age groups were factors related to physical health: higher body mass index (BMI) and smoking exposure.”
- SupportedResearchers said sedentary lifestyle and weight gain during the pandemic may partly account for increases in GrimAge2 and DunedinPACE in the overall sample, alongside psychosocial burden in adolescents.ScienceAlert: “observed increases in sedentary lifestyle and weight gain during the pandemic may also partly account for the observed increases in GrimAge2 and DunedinPACE in the overall sample, alongside psychosocial burden in adolescents”
- SupportedResearchers said long-term follow-up will be needed to confirm whether the changes persist and predict later adverse health outcomes.ScienceAlert: ““Long-term follow-up will be needed to confirm whether these changes persist and predict adverse health outcomes later in life.””
