Publications

Aikins, M., Willems, Y., Fraemke, D., Mitchell, C., Goosby, B., & Raffington, L. (2025). Linked emergence of racial disparities in mental health and epigenetic biological aging across childhood and adolescence. Molecular Psychiatry. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-025-03010-3

deSteiguer, A. J., Raffington, L., Sabhlok, A., Tanksley, P., Tucker-Drob, E. M., & Harden, K. P. (2025). Stability of aging- and cognition-related methylation profile scores across two waves in children and adolescents. Child Development, 96(3), 1189–1206. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14239

Fraemke, D., Willems, Y. E., Okbay, A., Lindenberger, U., Zinn, S., Wagner, G. G., Richter, D., Harden, K. P., Tucker-Drob, E. M., Hertwig, R., Koellinger, P., & Raffington, L. (in press). Polygenic associations with educational attainment in East versus West Germany: Differences emerge after reunification. Psychological Science.

Tanksley, P. T., Brislin, S. J., Wertz, J., de Vlaming, R., Courchesne-Krak, N. S., Mallard, T. T., Raffington, L. L., Karlsson Linnér, R., Koellinger, P., Palmer, A. A., Sanchez-Roige, S., Waldman, I. D., Dick, D., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., & Harden, K. P. (2025). Do polygenic indices capture "direct" effects on child externalizing behavior problems? Within-family analyses in two longitudinal birth cohorts. Clinical Psychological Science, 13(2), 316–331. https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026241260260

Zarandooz, S., & Raffington, L. (2025). Applying blood-derived epigenetic algorithms to saliva: Cross-tissue similarity of DNA-methylation indices of aging, physiology, and cognition. Clinical Epigenetics, 17, Article 61. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13148-025-01868-2

Aikins, M. A. N., Willems, Y. E., Fraemke, D., & Raffington, L. (2024). Beyond a shared history: A biosocial perspective on sociogenomics and racism in Germany. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, 76, 573–602. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11577-024-00934-6

Falck, J., Zhang, L., Raffington, L., Mohn, J. J., Triesch, J., Heim, C., & Shing, Y. L. (2024). Hippocampus and striatum show distinct contributions to longitudinal changes in value-based learning in middle childhood. eLife, 12, Article RP89483. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.89483.3

Malanchini, M., Allegrini, A. G., Nivard, M. G., Biroli, P., Rimfeld, K., Cheesman, R., von Stumm, S., Demange, P. A., van Bergen, E., Grotzinger, A. D., Raffington, L., de la Fuente, J., Pingault, J.-B., Tucker-Drob, E. M., Harden, K. P., & Plomin, R. (2024). Genetic associations between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement over development. Nature Human Behaviour, 8, 2034–2046. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01967-9

Pavlíčková, K., Gärtner, J., Voulgaropoulou, S. D., Fraemke, D., Adams, E., Quaedflieg, C. W. E. M., Viechtbauer, W., & Hernaus, D. (2024). Acute stress promotes effort mobilization for safety-related goals. Communications Psychology, 2, Article 50. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-024-00103-7

Raffington, L. (2024). Utilizing epigenetics to study the shared nature of development and biological aging across the lifespan. npj Science of Learning, 9, Article 24. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-024-00239-5

Raffington, L., Tanksley, P. T., Vinnik, L., Sabhlok, A., Patterson, M. W., Mallard, T., Malanchini, M., Ayorech, Z., Tucker-Drob, E. M., & Harden, K. P. (2024). Associations of DNA-methylation measures of biological aging with social disparities in child and adolescent mental health. Clinical Psychological Science, 12(4), 551–562. https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026231186802

Willems, Y. E., deSteiguer, A., Tanksley, P. T., Vinnik, L., Fraemke, D., Okbay, A., Richter, D., Wagner, G. G., Hertwig, R., Koellinger, P., Tucker-Drob, E. M., Harden, K. P., & Raffington, L. (2024). Self-control is associated with health-relevant disparities in buccal DNA-methylation measures of biological aging in older adults. Clinical Epigenetics, 16, Article 22. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13148-024-01637-7

Willems, Y. E., Li, J.-B., Bartels, M., & Finkenauer, C. (2024). Individual differences in adolescent self-control: The role of gene-environment interplay. Current Opinion in Psychology, 60, Article 101897. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2024.101897

Willems, Y. E., Raffington, L., Ligthart, L., Pool, R., Hottenga, J. J., Finkenauer, C., & Bartels, M. (2024). No gene by stressful life events interaction on individual differences in adults’ self-control. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, Article 1388264. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1388264

Raffington, L., Schneper, L., Mallard, T., Fisher, J., Vinnik, L., Hollis-Hansen, K., Notterman, D. A., Tucker-Drob, E. M., Mitchell, C., & Harden, K. P. (2023). Salivary epigenetic measures of body mass index and social determinants of health across childhood and adolescence. JAMA Pediatrics, 177(10), 1047–1054. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.3017

Raffington, L., Schwaba, T., Aikins, M., Richter, D., Wagner, G. G., Harden, K. P., Belsky, D. W., & Tucker-Drob, E. M. (2023). Associations of socioeconomic disparities with buccal DNA-methylation measures of biological aging. Clinical Epigenetics, 15, Article 70. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13148-023-01489-7

Raffington, L., Tanksley, P. T., Sabhlok, A., Vinnik, L., Mallard, T., King, L. S., Goosby, B., Harden, K. P., & Tucker-Drob, E. M. (2023). Socially stratified epigenetic profiles are associated with cognitive functioning in children and adolescents. Psychological Science, 34(2), 170–185. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976221122760

Willems, Y. E., & Raffington, L. (2023). Trait correlations in human couples. Nature Human Behaviour, 7, 1420–1421. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01673-y

Aikins, M. A. N. (2025). Definition eines Rassismusbegriffs: Expertise zum Neunten Altersbericht der Bundesregierung. (S. Migala, C. Hagen, & F. Berner, Eds.). Deutsches Zentrum für Altersfragen [Retrieved February 04, 2025, from https://www.neunter-altersbericht.de/expertisen].

Willems, Y. E., Rezaki, A. D., Aikins, M., Bahl, A., Wu, Q., Belsky, D. W., & Raffington, L. (2025). Social determinants of health and epigenetic clocks: Meta-analysis of 140 studies. MedRxiv, May 08, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.05.08.25327207