• Posted March 6, 2026

Angry Teens May Age Faster, Study Finds

Your confrontational, angry teenager could wind up growing old before their time, a new study says.

Aggressive behavior as a teenager is linked to faster biological aging by age 30, researchers reported March 5 in the journal Health Psychology.

These angry teens also are more likely to pack on excess weight by that age, researchers added.

“Adolescents are often mocked for treating their relationships as matters of life and death,” lead researcher Joseph Allen, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, said in a news release.

“These findings suggest that, in some ways, they are really on to something, which is that relationships beginning in adolescence, and especially patterns of conflict and aggression that begin in adolescence, do seem to have long-term fundamental physical health implications,” Allen said.

Researchers theorized that the stress of constant conflict extending into adulthood likely contributes to this accelerated aging, which can increase a person’s lifelong risk of health problems like heart disease or diabetes.

For the new study, researchers followed 121 middle school students from suburban and urban communities in the Southeastern United States.

The team tracked the students from age 13 into adulthood, collecting reports of aggression, family conflict, and relationship problems with friends and peers.

When the students reached 30, the team then assess their biological age using blood testing. Biological age reflects the wear-and-tear aging of a person’s tissues and cells, which can be older than a person’s calendar age.

The team used two validated methods that combined factors like blood pressure, inflammation, blood sugar, cholesterol and immune function to estimate how old each person’s body was compared to their actual age.

“Both methods showed that higher levels of aggression in early adolescence predicted more advanced biological age by 30, even after accounting for gender, family income, serious childhood illness and adolescent body shape,” Allen said.

In particular, boys and children from lower-income families showed signs of faster aging, a pattern likely tied to their relationship difficulties, researchers report.

Boys tended to experience more conflict with their fathers, while teens from lower-income families were more likely to act out against their peers, researchers said.

However, early aggression didn’t predict faster aging unless it contributed to ongoing relationship problems later in life, Allen said.

If these teens continued to argue with parents and mistreat friends as they grew older, their continued relationship struggles were what ultimately predicted accelerated aging, researchers said.

“This study does not prove that teenage aggression directly causes faster aging,” Allen said. “Other factors we didn’t measure may also be playing a role, and it’s likely that what really matters is how those early behaviors turn into later relationship problems. We also can’t yet say whether it’s aggressive actions, hostile attitudes or a mix of both that makes the difference.”

The findings highlight the importance of helping teenagers develop healthier relationships and learn better ways of resolving conflicts, researchers said.

“This study highlights the potential lasting health consequences stemming from social challenges that emerge in early adolescence,” Allen said. “Accelerated aging has been linked to an increased risk for future coronary artery disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, inflammation and even early death.”

More information

The University of Southern California has more on accelerated biological aging.

SOURCE: American Psychological Association, news release, March 5, 2026