ArticleAmerican journal of preventive medicine2012
Inflammation and early-life abuse in women.
Article in American journal of preventive medicine, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 78 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
78 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 137 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sensitive periods to social adversity in immune and metabolic development: A systematic review.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- The association of child maltreatment and systemic inflammation in adulthood: A systematic review.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of interventions designed to decrease child abuse in high-risk families.Child abuse & neglect · 2017Pooled it
- Childhood trauma and adulthood inflammation: a meta-analysis of peripheral C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 and tumour necrosis factor-α.Molecular psychiatry · 2016Pooled it
- Association of trauma exposure with proinflammatory activity: a transdiagnostic meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2014Pooled it
- Associations between intimate partner violence and health among men who have sex with men: a systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS medicine · 2014Pooled it
- 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
- Associations between women's childhood maltreatment and thyroid function before and during pregnancy.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Unraveling the link between early sexual initiation and endometriosis: evidence from population-based analyses and genetic causal inference.Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E · 2026Article
- Associations between adverse childhood experiences and physical activity domains among middle-aged and older adults: a national analysis.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Review
- Lifetime Exposure to Violence and Early Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in a Healthy Swedish Cohort.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025Article
- Estimating the associations between women's maltreatment in childhood and inflammatory biomarker levels prior to and during pregnancy.PloS one · 2025Article
- Social determinants of inflammatory markers linking depression and type 2 diabetes among women: A scoping review.Journal of psychosomatic research · 2024Article
- The association between adverse childhood experiences and adult cardiac function in the UK Biobank.European heart journal. Imaging methods and practice · 2024Article
- Relationships between childhood adversity and inflammatory biomarkers in adulthood: A cross-sectional analysis of a middle-to older-aged population.SSM - population health · 2024Article
- Longitudinal links between early adolescent temperament and inflammation among young black adults.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Article
- Association of early life physical and sexual abuse with premature mortality among female nurses: prospective cohort study.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2023Article
- PTSD, Immune System, and Inflammation.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2023Article
- Stress- and drug-induced neuroimmune signaling as a therapeutic target for comorbid anxiety and substance use disorders.Pharmacology & therapeutics · 2022Review
18 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAbuse in childhood and adolescence may affect risks of diabetes and cardiovascular disease later in life. Although mechanisms underlying these relationships are unclear, chronic stress may lead to dysregulation of immune function and chronic inflammation. PURPOSE: To evaluate associations between early-life physical and sexual abuse and blood levels of inflammatory markers in adulthood among 702 members of the Nurses' Health Study II.
methodsAbuse in childhood (before age 11 years) and adolescence (ages 11-17 years) was self-reported in 2001. Plasma samples collected in 1996-1999 were assayed for C-reactive protein (CRP); interleukin (IL)-6; and the soluble fraction of tumor necrosis factor alpha receptor 2 in 2001, 2009, and 2010.
resultsMean age at blood collection was 43.9 years. Moderate or severe physical abuse was reported by 35.3% of participants; 22.7% reported unwanted sexual touching and 9.8% reported forced sex. Plasma levels of CRP and IL-6 were higher in women reporting sexual abuse in adolescence compared to those reporting no abuse (p=0.04 and 0.03, respectively) in analyses adjusted for confounders including age and childhood adiposity. Inflammatory marker levels similarly were elevated in women reporting sexual abuse during childhood, but results were not significant. Relationships largely persisted after further adjustment for potential mediators such as adult BMI and smoking. Physical abuse during childhood and/or adolescence was not consistently associated with inflammatory marker levels.
conclusionsChronic inflammation may be one mechanism through which sexual abuse may affect future risk of physical and psychological disorders.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.