ArticlePsychoneuroendocrinology2013
Childhood adversity and inflammatory processes in youth: a prospective study.
Article in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 184 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
184 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 318 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sensitive periods to social adversity in immune and metabolic development: A systematic review.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- The Link Between Positive and Negative Parenting Behaviors and Child Inflammation: A Systematic Review.Child psychiatry and human development · 2023Pooled it
- Inflammation and depression in young people: a systematic review and proposed inflammatory pathways.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Adverse Childhood Events and Health Biomarkers: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in public health · 2021Pooled it
- The Mediating Effect of Self-Regulation in the Association Between Poverty and Child Weight: A Systematic Review.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2019Pooled it
- HMGB1 involved in stress-induced depression and its neuroinflammatory priming role: a systematic review.General psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- Cumulative childhood adversity and adult cardiometabolic disease: A meta-analysis.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2018Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Telomere trajectories from early adolescence to adulthood following early institutionalization: Protective effects of foster care in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Trial
- Parent-Child Interaction Therapy Supports Healthy Eating Behavior in Child Welfare-Involved Children.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- The effect of a mindfulness-based stress intervention on neurobiological and symptom measures in adolescents with early life stress: a randomized feasibility study.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2021Trial
- The Consequences of Foster Care Versus Institutional Care in Early Childhood on Adolescent Cardiometabolic and Immune Markers: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial.Psychosomatic medicine · 2019Trial
- Childhood Maltreatment and Cognitive Performance in Bipolar Disorder: The Potential Role of Inflammation.Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica · 2026Article
- Associations between women's childhood maltreatment and thyroid function before and during pregnancy.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Adverse childhood experiences are associated with disease and mental health outcomes in childhood-onset SLE.Lupus science & medicine · 2026Article
- Pervasive neurovascular dysfunction in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex of female depressed suicides with a history of childhood abuse.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Stressful life events in childhood and incident stroke: cross-national, longitudinal cohort analyses of HRS and CHARLS.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Psychobiological mechanisms underlying the association between early life stress and depression in adolescence.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Assessment of serum inflammatory cytokines in first-episode psychosis: Cross-sectional study.The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa · 2026Article
- Obesity, diet, and inflammation in Filipino schoolchildren: an opinion paper.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
124 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRetrospective studies show that childhood adversity is associated with systemic inflammation in adulthood. Few prospective studies have examined whether childhood adversity influences inflammation in an observable manner during childhood or adolescence and if these effects are sustained over time.
methodsUsing longitudinal data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, we examined associations between acute adverse events at seven time points prior to age 8 and inflammation at ages 10 and 15. Inflammatory markers at age 10 included interleukin-6 (IL-6; N=4655) and C-reactive protein (CRP; N=4647), and CRP was measured again at age 15 (N=3286). We further evaluated whether body mass index (BMI), depression, or cigarette smoking mediated associations between adverse events and inflammation.
resultsAdverse events in middle childhood (occurring between ages 6 to 8), as well as cumulative adversity from birth to 8 years, were associated with higher levels of IL-6 and CRP at age 10. Adverse events reported in early childhood (1.5years) or middle childhood, and cumulative adversity from birth through 8years predicted increased levels of CRP at age 15, and these associations persisted after adjustment for CRP at age 10. Some, but not all, of these associations were mediated by BMI.
conclusionsThis study documents that exposure to adverse events prior to age 8 is associated with elevated inflammation at age 10 and in mid-adolescence. These findings provide prospective evidence for a biological mechanism by which early experiences may shape long-term health. Future studies with earlier assessments of inflammation are necessary in order to elucidate potential sensitive periods and mechanisms that link childhood adversity to later disease vulnerability.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.