Associations of childhood exposure to interparental physical violence and verbal conflict with the risk of adult-onset diabetes.

Background: Adverse childhood experiences have been associated with health across the life course. However, the associations of childhood exposure to interparental physical violence and verbal conflict with the risk of adult-onset diabetes remain unclear. Methods: A total of 6769 participants without diabetes were enrolled. We assessed childhood exposure to interparental physical violence and verbal conflict through the standard questionnaire. The outcome was adult-onset diabetes, defined as the new occurrence of diabetes during follow-up. Diabetes was ascertained if any of the following criteria were met: self-reported physician diagnosis, current use of glucose-lowering medication, glycated haemoglobin A1c ≥6.5%, fasting plasma glucose ≥126 mg/dL, or two-hour postprandial plasma glucose ≥200 mg/dL. The associations between childhood exposure to interparental violence and adult-onset diabetes were assessed using Cox proportional hazards models. Results: The mean age was 58.6 years, and 3146 participants (46.5%) were male. Among all participants, 565 (8.3%) reported childhood exposure to interparental physical violence, and 1523 (22.5%) reported exposure to interparental verbal conflict. During a follow-up of seven years, 854 participants (12.6%) developed diabetes. The multivariable Cox model showed that childhood exposure to interparental physical violence and verbal conflict was associated with a 67.0% and 20.0% increased risk of adult-onset diabetes, respectively (for physical violence adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 1.67; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.36-2.05; for verbal conflict aHR = 1.20; 95% CI = 1.02-1.40). Conclusions: Childhood exposure to interparental physical violence and verbal conflict was associated with a higher risk of adult-onset diabetes. These findings underscore the long-term health implications of early adverse family environments on offspring.