ArticlePreventive medicine2016
Emotional and instrumental support during childhood and biological dysregulation in midlife.
Article in Preventive medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Dimensions of early life adversity and cardiometabolic health in adulthood: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2026Pooled it
- Disparities in Allostatic Load Among Different Races: A Comprehensive Scoping Review.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2025Review
- Identification of positive childhood experiences with the potential to mitigate childhood unhealthy weight status in children within the context of adverse childhood experiences: a prospective cohort study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The effect of adverse and positive experiences on inflammatory markers in Australian and UK children.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2022Article
- A life course approach to understanding stress exposures and cognitive function among middle-aged and older adults.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2022Article
- Social support and C-reactive protein in a Québec population cohort of children and adolescents.PloS one · 2022Article
- Childhood self-control forecasts the pace of midlife aging and preparedness for old age.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- Associations of adverse and positive childhood experiences with adult physical and mental health and risk behaviours in Slovenia.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2021Article
- The mediating effect of allostatic load on the relationship between neighborhood perceptions and depression.SSM - population health · 2020Article
- Pervasive Discrimination and Allostatic Load in African American and White Adults.Psychosomatic medicine · 2020Article
- Life course biopsychosocial effects of retrospective childhood social support and later-life cognition.Psychology and aging · 2019Article
- Positive Childhood Experiences and Adult Mental and Relational Health in a Statewide Sample: Associations Across Adverse Childhood Experiences Levels.JAMA pediatrics · 2019Article
- Speaking a Different Language: A Qualitative Analysis Comparing Language of Palliative Care and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Physicians.The American journal of hospice & palliative care · 2018Article
- Measuring lifetime stress exposure and protective factors in life course research on racial inequality and birth outcomes.Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2017Article
- Positive childhood experiences and ideal cardiovascular health in midlife: Associations and mediators.Preventive medicine · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo determine whether greater emotional and instrumental support during childhood is associated with less dysregulation across multiple physiological systems in midlife.
methodsData are from participants in the second wave of the Midlife in the United States study (2004-2005) who participated in a clinic-based assessment of health status. Emotional and instrumental support was measured using a seven-item scale (α=0.89) based on participant retrospective self-report. Biological dysregulation was assessed using an allostatic load (AL) score constructed from 24 measures across seven physiological systems (N=1236, aged 34-84 years).
resultsEmotional and instrumental support in childhood was associated with lower AL in a monotonic fashion: compared to individuals in the lowest quartile of support, respondents in the second, third, and fourth quartiles had -0.08 (standard deviation (SD)=0.08), -0.13 (SD=0.08) and -0.21 (SD=0.08) units lower AL, adjusting for age, sex, and race. This pattern was maintained after adjustment for reporting bias, childhood socioeconomic disadvantage, past-year depression, and physician-diagnosed cardiovascular disease or diabetes (p≤0.01). The inflammation and metabolic-lipid subscales showed the strongest associations.
conclusionsGreater emotional and instrumental support in childhood was associated with less biological dysregulation in midlife, even after accounting for socioeconomic disadvantage in childhood and other potential confounders.
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