The effects of childhood adversity on twenty-five disease biomarkers and twenty health conditions in adulthood: Differences by sex and stressor type.

backgroundAlthough early adversity is now recognized as a major public health concern, it remains unclear if the effects of early-life stressors on disease biology and health differ by sex or stressor type. Because childhood stressors often covary, examining whether such stressors typically occur together (e.g., cumulative adversity) or in distinct multivariate patterns is needed to determine if and how different life stressors uniquely affect disease biology and health.

methodTo investigate, we conducted latent class analyses (LCA) to identify clusters of adults experiencing multiple childhood stressors (N = 2,111, M

resultsOptimal LCA models yielded three female (Low-, Moderate-, and High-Stress) and two male (Low- and High-Stress) stressor exposure classes. The High-Stress classes had greater inflammation (male: D = 0.43; female: D = 0.59) and poorer metabolic health (male: D = 0.32-0.33; female: D = 0.32-0.47). They also had more cardiovascular (male: HR = 1.56 [1.17, 2.07]; female: HR = 1.97 [1.50, 2.58]), cancer (male: HR = 2.41 [1.52, 3.84]; female: HR = 2.51 [1.45, 4.35]), metabolic (male: HR = 1.54 [1.16, 2.03]; female: HR = 2.01 [1.43, 2.83]), thyroid (male: HR = 3.65 [1.87, 7.12]; female: HR = 2.25 [1.36, 3.74]), arthritis (male: HR = 1.81 [1.30, 2.54]; female: HR = 1.97 [1.41, 2.74]), and mental/behavioral health problems (male: HR = 2.62 [1.90, 3.62]; female; HR = 3.67 [2.72, 4.94]). Moreover, stressors were related to these outcomes in a sex- and stressor-specific manner.

conclusionsChildhood adversity portends worse biological health and elevated risk for many major health problems in a sex- and stressor-specific manner. These findings advance stress theory, and may help inform precision interventions for managing stress and enhancing resilience.