Browsing by Author "Murdock, Kyle W."

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    Attachment and telomere length: more evidence for psychobiological connections between close relationships, health, and aging
    (Springer, 2018) Murdock, Kyle W.; Zilioli, Samuele; Ziauddin, Khadija; Heijnen, Cobi J.; Fagundes, Christopher P.
    Individuals with a history of poor interpersonal relationships are more likely to demonstrate negative health outcomes than those who have had high quality relationships. We sought to evaluate how attachment orientations, stress-induced respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and self-reported stress were associated with length of telomeres measured from peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Participants (N = 213) completed self-report measures of attachment and stress. Measurement of RSA was conducted before and after a stressful task and a blood draw was completed for analysis of telomere length. Attachment orientations were not directly associated with telomere length; however, we found that high attachment anxiety was associated with shorter length of telomeres via high self-reported stress. Attachment avoidance was also associated with telomere length via self-reported stress, but only among those with high stress-induced RSA. Exploratory analyses of T cell subsets indicated that stress was most strongly associated with telomeres from CD8CD28+ cells in comparison to CD8CD28− and CD4 cells. Study findings indicate that attachment orientations are associated with telomere length via stress, providing novel insights into the mechanisms through which close relationships can impact health and aging.
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    Low childhood subjective social status and telomere length in adulthood: The role of attachment orientations
    (Wiley, 2018) Murdock, Kyle W.; Seiler, Annina; Chirinos, Diana A.; Garcini, Luz M.; Acebo, Sally L.; Cohen, Sheldon; Fagundes, Christopher P.
    Low subjective social status (SSS) in childhood places one at greater risk of a number of health problems in adulthood. Theoretical and empirical evidence indicates that exposure to supportive parenting may buffer the negative effects of low childhood SSS on adult health. Given the importance of supportive caregivers and close others for the development of attachment orientations throughout the lifespan, attachment theory may be important for understanding why some individuals are resilient to the negative effects of low childhood SSS on adult health while others are not. We examined if attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance altered the association between childhood subjective social status (SSS) and length of telomeres in white blood cells in adulthood. Shorter telomere length is associated with increased risk of age‐related diseases including cancer, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Participants (N = 128) completed self‐report measures of childhood SSS and attachment orientations, as well as a blood draw. We found that among those with low childhood SSS, low attachment anxiety was associated with longer telomere length in white blood cells in comparison to high attachment anxiety controlling for participant age, sex, race, body mass index, and adult SSS. Among those with high childhood SSS, low attachment anxiety was associated with a slight decrease in telomere length. Attachment avoidance was unrelated to length of telomeres. Such findings provide further evidence for the role that close relationships may have on buffering SSS related health disparities.
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    Pathways linking racial/ethnic discrimination and sleep among U.S.-born and foreign-born Latinxs
    (Springer, 2018) Garcini, Luz M.; Chirinos, Diana A.; Murdock, Kyle W.; Seiler, Annina; LeRoy, Angie S.; Peek, Kristen; Cutchin, Malcom P.; Fagundes, Christopher
    This study examined the association between racial/ethnic discrimination and sleep through psychological distress and body mass index (BMI), and determined whether the aforementioned associations vary between U.S. and foreign-born Latinxs. Participants were 1332 Latinx adults enrolled in the Texas City Stress and Health Study. Multistage sampling methods were used to select participants. A model linking racial/ethnic discrimination with sleep disturbances through direct and indirect (i.e., psychological distress and BMI) paths demonstrated good fit. Greater racial/ethnic discrimination was associated with greater psychological distress and higher BMI. Psychological distress and BMI were also significant predictors of sleep disturbances. The indirect path from racial/ethnic discrimination to sleep disturbances via psychological distress was significant. A model with parameters constrained to be equal between U.S.-born and foreign-born Latinxs suggested associations were comparable between these groups. Our study demonstrated the relevance of racial/ethnic discrimination to sleep disturbances, particularly its association via psychological distress among Latinxs.