Overview
- Each additional self‑reported hassler was associated with about a 1.5% faster pace of aging and roughly nine months of extra biological age.
- The peer‑reviewed PNAS analysis drew on saliva DNA methylation measures (GrimAge, DunedinPACE) from about 2,345 Indiana adults in the Person‑to‑Person health survey.
- Effects were especially pronounced when the difficult person was kin such as a parent or child, while spousal hassling was not linked to faster aging in this study.
- Negative ties were common, with nearly 30% reporting at least one hassler, and were more often reported by women, daily smokers, people in poorer health, and those with adverse childhood experiences.
- The authors stress the results are observational with possible reverse causality and self‑report limits, propose stress‑related biological pathways, and recommend boundary‑setting and bolstering supportive networks.