¹University of Minnesota, Psychology, Minneapolis, United States

Background: The relative predictive utility for specific forms of internalizing psychopathology (anxiety and depression syndromes) vs. the overall internalizing spectrum has not received extensive attention in the study of epigenetic aging. Here, we took a Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) perspective on examining this issue, comparing specific syndromes with the overall internalizing spectrum.

Aims & Objectives: To compare the predictive utility of specific internalizing syndromes (i.e., major depression, generalized anxiety, and panic disorder) with the overall internalizing spectrum in understanding epigenetic age acceleration (EAA).

Method: In a national sample of American adults from the Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS; n=1,309), we compared the prediction of EAA by symptom counts for specific mood and anxiety syndromes (i.e., major depression, generalized anxiety, and panic disorder) with the overall internalizing spectrum (representing the variance in common among these syndromes).

Results: Later-generation EAA clocks (GrimAge and DunedinPACE) were more strongly associated with the internalizing spectrum than with specific syndromic symptom counts. EAA indices were not significantly associated with the symptom counts net of the internalizing spectrum.

Discussion & Conclusions: Much of the health-relevant variability within anxiety and depressive disorders is captured by the overarching internalizing spectrum.