Discover! >> The Fear Of Aging Actually Makes You Age Faster

“Our research suggests that subjective experiences may be driving objective measures of aging,” said Mariana Rodrigues, a PhD student at NYU School of Global Public Health and the first author of the study, published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology. “Aging-related anxiety is not merely a psychological concern, but may leave a mark on the body with real health consequences.

Many adults experience concern about aging, including fears of illness, physical decline, and losing independence. Previous research has shown that ongoing psychological distress can influence biological aging through epigenetic changes, which are shifts in how genes are turned on or off.

“We know from previous research that anxiety, depression, and mental health in general are associated with a number of physical health outcomes, but until now researchers haven’t focused on whether there is a correlation between worrying about aging and the process of aging itself,” said Rodrigues.

To explore the connection between aging anxiety and biological aging, researchers examined data from participants of the research in the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study. Participants reported how much they worried about becoming less attractive, developing health problems, or being too old to have children.

Blood samples were also analyzed using two established epigenetic clocks. One measured the speed of biological aging (DunedinPACE), while the other estimated accumulated biological damage over time (GrimAge2).

People who reported higher levels of anxiety about growing older showed signs of faster epigenetic aging based on the DunedinPACE clock. Accelerated epigenetic aging has been linked in prior research to physical decline and greater risk of age related diseases.

The findings underscore how closely mental and physical health are connected across the lifespan, even though they are often treated separately.