Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Am J Hum Biol. 2024 Sep;36(9):e24091. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.24091. Epub 2024 May 15.
Telomere length (TL) shortening is associated with increased cellular senescence and functional decline with age. Regular physical activity is posited to safeguard against TL shortening, but there is disagreement on how concurrent psychosocial stress may influence this relationship. The current analysis explored whether psychosocial stress is associated with TL differences in highly physically active individuals.
TL was measured from capillary dried blood spots collected from Division-I (D-1) and Division-III (D-3) National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) swimmers (N = 28) and non-athlete students from the same schools (N = 15). All participants completed Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and student-athletes completed an additional questionnaire to assess psychosocial factors associated with their lifestyle; The Student Athletes' Motivation towards Sports and Academics Questionnaire (SAMSAQ). Semi-structured interviews further contextualized how student-athletes internalize their stress.
There was no significant difference in TL or PSS scores between swimmers and controls. D-1 swimmers reported significantly higher career and student-athlete motivation scores compared to D-3, but non-significantly higher PSS and similar academic motivation scores. Themes from interviews with collegiate swimmers included COVID-19 stress, fear of injury, pressure from academics, expectations to perform, and financial pressures.
These themes may have contributed to higher PSS scores in D-1 swimmers compared to D-3 but did not appear to impact their TL. Given differences in perceived stress, sources of stress, and SAMSAQ scores, further analyses with larger sample sizes are needed to better understand how these factors influence human biology and health while engaged in intense physical activity.
端粒长度（TL）缩短与细胞衰老和年龄相关的功能下降有关。经常进行体育锻炼被认为可以防止 TL 缩短，但对于并发心理社会压力如何影响这种关系存在分歧。目前的分析探讨了心理社会压力是否与高度活跃的个体的 TL 差异有关。
从参加 Division-I（D-1）和 Division-III（D-3）美国大学生体育协会（NCAA）游泳比赛的运动员（N=28）和来自同一学校的非运动员学生（N=15）的毛细血管干血斑中测量 TL。所有参与者都完成了科恩的感知压力量表（PSS），运动员还完成了一份额外的问卷，以评估与他们的生活方式相关的心理社会因素；学生运动员对运动和学术的动机问卷（SAMSAQ）。半结构化访谈进一步了解了运动员如何内化他们的压力。
游泳运动员和对照组之间的 TL 或 PSS 评分没有显著差异。与 D-3 相比，D-1 游泳运动员的职业和学生运动员的动机得分显著更高，但 PSS 和相似的学术动机得分没有显著更高。与大学生游泳运动员的访谈主题包括 COVID-19 压力、受伤恐惧、学业压力、表现期望和经济压力。
这些主题可能导致 D-1 游泳运动员的 PSS 评分高于 D-3，但似乎没有影响他们的 TL。鉴于感知压力、压力源和 SAMSAQ 评分的差异，需要进一步进行更大样本量的分析，以更好地了解这些因素如何在进行剧烈体育活动时影响人类生物学和健康。
