ArticleHealth psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association2025
Positive childhood experiences and adult cardiovascular health.
Article in Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Beyond Adversity: Definitions, Retrospective Assessment, and Experimental Manipulation of Positive Early-Life Experiences.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- The buffering effect of social support on the link between biologically embedded childhood maltreatment and adult cardiovascular disease.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
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Abstract
objectiveTo test whether positive childhood experiences (PCEs) assessed prospectively in adolescence predict ideal cardiovascular health in adulthood, even after controlling for experiences of childhood maltreatment. We also tested whether PCEs would moderate the association between childhood maltreatment and adult cardiovascular health and whether sex moderated the association between PCEs and cardiovascular health.
methodData originated from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a nationally representative longitudinal study in the United States (n = 2,916). Using data from the Wave 1 adolescent assessment (Mage = 15.70 years, 1994-1995), a 12-item index of cumulative self-reported PCEs (e.g., stable caregiver, adult mentor, one good friend, enjoyed school, good neighbors) was created. Childhood maltreatment experiences were self-reported at Wave 3 (Mage = 22.06 years, 2001-2002) and Wave 4 (Mage = 28.53 years, 2008). An ideal cardiovascular health score was calculated in Wave 5 (Mage = 37.47 years, 2016-2018) using the American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 cardiovascular health index.
resultsGreater PCEs predicted more ideal cardiovascular health (β = .13, p < .001), and greater childhood maltreatment predicted less ideal cardiovascular health in adulthood (β = -.12, p < .001). PCEs did not moderate the association between childhood maltreatment and adult cardiovascular health. Sex moderated the association between PCEs and adult cardiovascular health (β = .09, p = .042), such that the association was stronger for female (β = .20, p < .001) than male (β = .08, p = .073).
conclusionThe finding that PCEs prospectively predict more ideal cardiovascular health in adulthood beyond the effect of childhood maltreatment suggests that promoting PCEs should be tested as part of interventions to prevent adult cardiovascular disease. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
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