Dataset Information

Childhood Adversity and Adult Health: The Role of Developmental Timing and Associations With Accelerated Aging.

ABSTRACT: Childhood adversity has been associated with poor adult health. However, it is unclear whether timing of adversity matters in this association and whether adversity is related to poorer age-related physical health status. A representative sample of the adult Dutch population ( N = 3,586, age M = 54.94, age range = 18-92) completed surveys on health and diagnoses of age-related diseases. Information about weight and fat percentage was collected using weighing scales and childhood experiences were assessed retrospectively. Adversity was associated with higher body mass index and fat percentage, more physical problems, and high cholesterol, and this association was most pronounced in individuals with experiences of adversity during early adolescence. In addition, individuals with adversity more often reported physical problems or a medical diagnosis at a younger age. This study indicates that (1) timing of exposure to adversity matters in the relationship between experienced childhood adversity and health and (2) adversity is associated with a higher prevalence of age-related diseases at earlier ages.

SUBMITTER: Riem MME

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6343422 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Childhood Adversity and Adult Health: The Role of Developmental Timing and Associations With Accelerated Aging.

Riem Madelon M E MME Karreman Annemiek A

Child maltreatment 20180828 1

Childhood adversity has been associated with poor adult health. However, it is unclear whether timing of adversity matters in this association and whether adversity is related to poorer age-related physical health status. A representative sample of the adult Dutch population ( N = 3,586, age M = 54.94, age range = 18-92) completed surveys on health and diagnoses of age-related diseases. Information about weight and fat percentage was collected using weighing scales and childhood experiences were ...[more]

PMID: 30153738

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Project description:Childhood family adversity predicts adult interpersonal behavior and physiological responses to interpersonal stress. Additionally, negative marital behaviors (e.g., hostility and distress maintaining attributions) predict maladaptive stress responses and mental health problems, whereas positive marital behaviors (e.g., acceptance and relationship enhancing attributions) predict adaptive physiological and psychological outcomes. The present study examined potential marital behavior mediators and moderators of the link between childhood adversity and cortisol responses to conflict. In a sample of 218 different-sex newlywed couples, we examined (a) actors' marital conflict behaviors as candidate mediators of the link between childhood adversity and cortisol responses to marital conflict discussions, and (b) partners' marital conflict behaviors as candidate moderators of the relation between childhood adversity and cortisol responses to marital discussions. Path analysis using actor-partner interdependence modeling did not confirm mediation. Instead, wives' childhood family adversity directly predicted husbands' attenuated cortisol responses, and wives' negative behavior predicted wives' attenuated cortisol responses. As hypothesized, wives' negative behaviors moderated the association between husbands' childhood family adversity and husbands' cortisol in response to conflict; husbands showed higher cortisol if they had experienced greater family adversity and if their wives displayed more negative behavior. Results suggest that childhood family adversity may carry forward to shape adult cortisol responses to conflict and highlights the importance of wives' negative behavior for both husbands and wives. These findings add to the family psychology literature by further clarifying how the interaction of stressful childhood experiences and conflict behaviors in marriage are associated with adult physiological responses to conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record

Project description:BackgroundAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are prevalent and associated with negative health and social outcomes. However, our understanding of how patterns of ACEs exposure relate to positive outcomes in adulthood remains limited. This study aims to identify patterns of ACEs and examine associations with flourishing in a sample of Chinese young adults.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted from August to November 2020. Young adults, ages 18-35, enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs at universities in Mainland China were recruited through convenience and snowball sampling to participate in a survey. The exposure to ACEs was measured by the twelve-item Chinese version of the ACE-International Questionnaire. Additional measures included six domains of flourishing assessed using the Chinese version of the Flourishing Measure, and demographic covariates (i.e., gender, age, year in university, marital status). Descriptive statistical analysis and latent class analysis (LCA) were performed using SPSS 27 and Mplus 8.5.ResultsParticipants included 9468 young adults (mean age = 20.1 years). Majority of participants were female (75.3%), undergraduate students (96.4%), and single (79.8%). Approximately 56% of participants reported at least one ACE; 7.0% reported four or more ACEs. Emotional neglect (33.2%), household violence (20.6%), and parental separation/divorce (13.9%) were the most frequently reported ACEs. LCA identified three ACEs classes: multiple maltreatment and household violence (4.7%), emotional neglect and household violence (16.2%), and low ACEs (79.1%). Individuals in the low ACEs class had the highest level of flourishing whereas individuals in multiple maltreatment and household violence had the lowest level of flourishing in all six domains. There were no significant differences in flourishing between the multiple maltreatment and household violence and the emotional neglect and household violence classes except in the physical and mental health (means = 6.17 vs 6.51, p = 0.02) and the financial and material stability domains (means = 5.25 vs 5.66, p = 0.04).ConclusionsPatterns of multiple ACEs exposures were associated with lower levels of flourishing. Our findings have implications for efforts to prevent ACEs exposure through monitoring and promoting family well-being and routine screening to identify those with ACEs exposure to prevent negative social and health sequelae.

Dataset Information

Childhood Adversity and Adult Health: The Role of Developmental Timing and Associations With Accelerated Aging.

Publications

Childhood Adversity and Adult Health: The Role of Developmental Timing and Associations With Accelerated Aging.

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