Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41350668›Full record

ArticleBMC women's health2025

Reduced social support perpetuates disadvantage across the lifespan for Australian women.

Alysia M Robertson, Emma Knight, Jason Proulx, Tegan Cruwys, Paul Campbell, Veronica Sheanoda, Olivia Evans, Katherine J Reynolds

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Article in BMC women's health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Alysia M RobertsonSchool of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Alysia.Robertson@anu.edu.au.ORCID 0000-0002-3803-2492
Emma KnightSchool of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
Jason ProulxSchool of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
Tegan CruwysSchool of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
Paul CampbellSchool of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
Veronica SheanodaSchool of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
Olivia EvansSchool of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
Katherine J ReynoldsSchool of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPeople who experience disadvantage in childhood—broadly defined as hardship across various social, economic, and health domains—tend to continue experiencing disadvantage in adulthood. This is especially the case for women, who experience greater disadvantage than men across the lifespan and face unique structural barriers to overcoming it. This study examined whether social support in early adulthood acts as a modifiable pathway out of childhood disadvantage for Australian women.

methodsData from a subsample of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health 1989-95 cohort (N = 8,755) were analysed. Latent Class Analysis identified childhood disadvantage profiles from retrospectively recalled adverse childhood experiences. Path analysis examined the longitudinal effect of childhood disadvantage on multidimensional adult disadvantage outcomes (financial hardship, educational attainment, psychological distress) via social support.

resultsThree profiles of childhood disadvantage emerged: disadvantaged (33% of sample), moderate (43%), and advantaged (24%). Women from disadvantaged backgrounds had poorer adult outcomes across finances, education, and distress, while women from advantaged backgrounds reported the opposite. This relationship was partially explained by the fact that women from less advantaged backgrounds had lower social support in early adulthood.

conclusionsOur findings suggest that reduced social support represents a currently under-recognised pathway through which childhood disadvantage perpetuates adult disadvantage for Australian women. Interventions to enhance social connectedness and support, particularly for women and girls from disadvantaged backgrounds, may therefore be a promising area for future public health research and policy development.

Indexed as

Adverse Childhood ExperiencesSocial SupportAdultAgedAustraliaEducational StatusFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesLow Socioeconomic StatusMiddle AgedSocioeconomic Disparities in HealthWomen's HealthAdverse childhood experiencesMental healthPovertySocial determinantsSocioeconomic disadvantage

Identifiers

PMID41350668
PMCPMC12681137

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.