Our study suggests that a healthier lifestyle is associated with longer telomere length in people with severe mental disorders. Interestingly, our study highlights the influence of childhood sexual abuse on adult health behaviours. This points to the importance of health interventions which address trauma specific needs, as potential targets for clinicians to ensure people with severe mental disorders live longer healthier lives.
Vid Mlakar, PhD student, who led the study at King’s College London
08 September 2026
Healthy lifestyles linked to slower biological ageing in severe mental illness
People with severe mental illness could age faster than the general population if they have an unhealthy lifestyle, according to new research by King's College London published in Translational Psychiatry.
People with conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder typically die 10–20 years earlier than the general population. Scientists have long suspected that faster biological ageing may play a role, but the mechanisms behind this remain unclear.
The StressLab at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) investigated whether lifestyle factors including diet, physical activity, alcohol and drug use, and smoking might influence biological ageing in this group. To do this, they examined telomeres, protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that shorten naturally with age and can be affected by stress and lifestyle.
The study included 410 participants with severe mental disorders selected from the Norwegian Thematically Organised Psychosis (TOP) study. The health behaviours analysed in the study comprised diet, exercise, alcohol consumption, smoking, substance use, and coffee consumption. Participants also self-reported illicit substance use and data was collected on childhood trauma exposure, as well as daily intake of anti-psychotic medication.
Healthier lifestyles linked to younger biological age
The researchers found that people with severe mental disorders who reported healthier lifestyles had significantly longer telomeres than those with less healthy behaviours. The difference in telomere length was equivalent to being around six years younger in biological age. They also observed a clear gradient; the unhealthier lifestyle behaviours a person had, the shorter their telomeres tended to be.
Childhood trauma may shape long-term health
The study uncovered a potential link between childhood experiences, lifestyle and biological ageing. In particular, a history of childhood sexual abuse was associated with less healthy lifestyle patterns in adulthood. This suggests that early trauma may have lasting effects on health behaviours, which could in turn influence how quickly the body ages at a cellular level.
These findings build on StressLab’s previous work showing that people with severe mental disorders report higher levels of childhood trauma than people in general.
Understanding ageing beyond genetics
Our findings point to lifestyle and lived experience, and not genetics alone as potentially important contributors to accelerated biological ageing among people with severe mental disorders. These findings could help shape future interventions aimed at improving long-term health outcomes in this population
Monica Aas, last author of the study and Head of the StressLab
The study was funded by the British Medical Association (BMA), the Medical Research Council and the Research Council of Norway.
About the study
'Health behaviours and telomere biology in severe mental disorders' was published in Translational Psychiatry' Mlakar et al. was published in Translational Psychiatry
In this story
PhD Student
MRC Research Fellow