Marital Status, Epigenetic Aging, and Health in an East Asian Context: Evidence from Taiwan Biobank

• In Event: Advances in Social Science Genomics (Co-sponsored by Sociology of Population Section)

Abstract

Marital status and transitions are associated with the accumulation of health advantages and disadvantages over the life course. While recent work highlights epigenetic clocks as indicators of cumulative physiological wear, evidence relies heavily on Western populations. Building on biological embedding perspectives that emphasize how lived conditions shape physiological profiles, this study extends beyond Western contexts to examine how marital status, epigenetic aging, and health intersect in an East Asian setting. Using data from the Taiwan Biobank with repeated questionnaire measures and a DNA methylation subsample, we analyze N = 1,406 adults and evaluate main associations and moderation patterns by recorded sex. Results indicate three key findings. First, baseline marital status and socioeconomic position show modest associations with epigenetic aging, with baseline widowhood linked to lower values on selected clocks relative to married respondents. Second, social gradients strongly predict subsequent health, with widowhood and socioeconomic disadvantage consistently associated with higher depressive symptoms at follow up, while women have higher odds of reporting pain symptoms. Third, epigenetic aging moderates the association between marital status change and later health in gendered ways. Among women, the mental health benefit associated with union formation is more pronounced at higher levels of epigenetic aging. Among men, higher epigenetic age is linked to less favorable correlates of marital change, with the depressive symptom advantage associated with union formation becoming smaller at higher levels of epigenetic aging, and higher odds of pain following union dissolution. This study contributes to the field by extending epigenetic aging research to an East Asian cohort and showing how gendered marriage dynamics help clarify when biological aging shapes vulnerability to, or protection from, the health consequences of life course transitions.

Author

• Meng-Jung Lin, National Taiwan University