Research conducted in Japan found that child abuse accelerates cellular ageing and disrupts a child’s attention to people’s eyes. In the study, researchers investigated both biological ageing and social attention in maltreated preschoolers.
Image credit: Mark Farías on Unsplash
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.
Nadia Lubowski 21 Jan 2025 Speeds up ageing process
Childhood maltreatment doesn’t just harm development – it appears to speed up the ageing 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 behavioural changes that occur in maltreated children.
To address these knowledge gaps, a research team from Japan’s United Graduate School of Child Development — a collaboration between Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and the University of Fukui — conducted a comprehensive study examining both biological ageing and social behaviour in young children.
Their findings provide unprecedented evidence and insights into how childhood maltreatment simultaneously accelerates biological ageing and impairs social development.
The pediatric-buccal-epigenetic clock
The researchers studied 96 Japanese children aged between four and five, comparing 36 children who had experienced severe maltreatment with 60 typically developing peers. They measured biological ageing by examining DNA methylation patterns using a novel method called the pediatric-buccal epigenetic clock, which the team had pioneered in their earlier work.
These molecular signatures, captured from genetic material from simple cheek swabs, essentially indicate how fast a child’s body is ageing 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 ageing compared to their typically developing peers.
Furthermore, these children spent notably less time looking at eyes when presented with videos of human faces. This reduced attention to eyes — a crucial aspect of social interaction and understanding — suggests there are fundamental differences in how maltreated children process social information.
Invisible but measurable marks
Accelerated biological ageing and reduced eye contact were both strongly linked to higher scores on measures of emotional and behavioural difficulties, determined using questionnaire-based tools.
Notably, the researchers found that while accelerated biological ageing 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,” emphasised graduate student Keiko 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 Ochiai.
Ohene Yaw Ampofo-Anti 9 Jun 2025 Adding further, she says: “Support programs can then be tailored to improve social skills, reduce emotional stress, and promote healthier development — potentially preventing more 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 more proactive support. This, in turn, can hopefully assist in providing vulnerable children with the skills and resilience needed for a healthier future.
