Understanding Childhood Maltreatment and Its Effect on Biological Aging

09 July 2025

Understanding Childhood Maltreatment and Its Effect on Biological Aging

Children who experience abuse or neglect may struggle with emotions and relationships, signaling the need to offer support early on in life

Childhood maltreatment increases the risk of long-term health and psychological issues, but how it alters children¡¯s development at a biological level remains unclear. In a recent study, researchers from Japan investigated both biological aging and social attention in maltreated preschoolers. Using DNA methylation markers and eye-tracking data, researchers found that abuse accelerates cellular aging and disrupts a child¡¯s attention to people¡¯s eyes¡ªtwo independent pathways linked to emotional and behavioral difficulties.

Childhood maltreatment leaves a lasting impact that goes far beyond physical injuries or fading memories. Scientific evidence has long shown that children who experience abuse and neglect face increased risk of chronic diseases, mental health disorders, and premature death throughout their lives. Beneath these visible signs lies a deeper truth: childhood maltreatment can fundamentally alter a child¡¯s biology, triggering molecular changes that can last for decades.

Recent research is unravelling that childhood maltreatment doesn¡¯t just harm development¡ªit appears to speed up the aging process itself. Despite growing awareness of the lasting impact of childhood maltreatment, the research fraternity has struggled to understand precisely how these early experiences trigger such deep changes, particularly in very young children. A possible reason is that previous studies have relied heavily on inconsistent biological markers or subjective self-reports and also lacked the tools to simultaneously examine both the biological alterations and social behavioral changes that occur in maltreated children.

To address these knowledge gaps, a research team from Japan¡¯s United Graduate School of Child Development¡ªa collaboration between Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and the University of Fukui¡ªconducted a comprehensive study examining both biological aging and social behavior in young children. Their findings, published online in the PLOS One journal on May 30, 2025, provide unprecedented evidence and insights into how childhood maltreatment simultaneously accelerates biological aging and impairs social development. The research team included graduate student Keiko Ochiai, Assistant Professor Shota Nishitani, Associate Professor Takashi X. Fujisawa, and Professor Akemi Tomoda, among others.

The researchers studied 96 Japanese children aged between 4 and 5 years, comparing 36 children who had experienced severe maltreatment with 60 typically developing peers. They measured biological aging by looking at DNA methylation patterns using a novel method called the Pediatric-Buccal-Epigenetic clock, which the team has pioneered in their earlier works. These molecular signatures, captured from genetic material from simple cheek swabs, essentially indicate how fast a child¡¯s body is aging at the cellular level. Additionally, they used eye-tracking technology to monitor the children¡¯s social attention patterns, measuring how long children looked at different elements in carefully selected video footage.

A comprehensive analysis of the data painted a clear yet concerning picture. The team found that children who had experienced maltreatment exhibited significantly accelerated biological aging compared to their typically developing peers. Further°ÄÃŽðɳ_¾º²Ê×ãÇò±È·Ö-ÀºÇòÅ·ÖÞ±­Í¶×¢×¢²áÍƼö, these children spent notably less time looking at eyes when presented with videos of human faces. This reduced attention to eyes¡ªa crucial aspect of social interaction and understanding¡ªsuggests there are fundamental differences in how maltreated children process social information. Accelerated biological aging and reduced eye contact were both strongly linked to higher scores on measures of emotional and behavioral difficulties, determined using questionnaire-based tools.

Notably, the researchers found that while accelerated biological aging and reduced eye contact were associated, they appeared to contribute independently to the reported difficulties. This finding highlights that maltreatment may affect children through multiple, distinct biological and social pathways. ¡°Our research sends a powerful message: child maltreatment can leave invisible but measurable marks on a child¡¯s biology and social development. By identifying these early warning signs, we can step in earlier and provide targeted support,¡± emphasized Ms. Ochiai.

By providing objective measures of the impact of child maltreatment, these findings also underscore an urgent need for early identification and intervention strategies. ¡°Tools such as eye-tracking assessments and stress-related biological testing could help teachers, doctors, and caregivers expedite the identification of children at risk,¡± remarks Ms. Ochiai. Adding further, she says, ¡°Support programs can then be tailored to improve social skills, reduce emotional stress, and promote healthier development¡ªpotentially preventing °ÄÃŽðɳ_¾º²Ê×ãÇò±È·Ö-ÀºÇòÅ·ÖÞ±­Í¶×¢×¢²áÍƼö serious problems later in life.¡±

Overall, these findings not only deepen our understanding of how child maltreatment shapes development but also offer practical avenues for offering °ÄÃŽðɳ_¾º²Ê×ãÇò±È·Ö-ÀºÇòÅ·ÖÞ±­Í¶×¢×¢²áÍƼö proactive support. This, in turn, can hopefully assist in providing vulnerable children with the skills and resilience needed for a healthier future.

Reference
Title of original paper: Behavioral and emotional difficulties in maltreated children: Associations with epigenetic clock changes and visual attention to social cues
Journal PLOS One
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0321952

About University of Fukui, Japan
The University of Fukui is a preeminent research institution with robust undergraduate and graduate schools focusing on education, medical and science, engineering, and global and community studies. The university conducts cutting-edge research and strives to nurture human resources capable of contributing to society on the local, national, and global level.

Website: /eng/

About Graduate Student Keiko Ochiai from University of Fukui, Japan
Keiko Ochiai is a graduate student at the United Graduate School of Child Development in Japan, a joint program involving Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and the University of Fukui. She is currently based at the University of Fukui, where she studies how child maltreatment affects children’s behavior and emotional development.

Funding information
All phases of this study were supported by AMED (20gk0110052), JSPS KAKENHI Scientific Research (A) (19H00617 and 22H00492), Challenging Exploratory Research (Houga) (21K18499), Scientific Research (C) (20K02700), a grant-in-aid for ¡°Creating a Safe and Secure Living Environment in the Changing Public and Private Spheres¡± from the Japan Science and Technology Corporation (JST)/Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society (RISTEX), a research grant from the Strategic Budget to Realize University Missions, research grants from the University of Fukui (FY 2019 and 2020), a grant-in-aid for translational research from the Life Science Innovation Center, University of Fukui (LSI20305 and LSI22202), and a grant for life cycle medicine from the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui.

Media contact:
University of Fukui PR center
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