Woofenden Tom, Fairchild Graeme, Lancaster Thomas Matthew
Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, Somerset, BA2 7AY, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2025 Jul 7;25(1):2403. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-23505-6.
Whilst childhood adversities have been shown to be risk factors for mental, physical, and comorbid health problems in childhood and middle-to-late adulthood, there is less evidence for these associations in early adulthood. It is also unclear if lifestyle factors can modify the risk of these health outcomes following childhood adversities. This study aims to examine childhood adversities as risk factors for psychological distress, obesity, and their comorbidity, and further quantify the moderating impact of lifestyle factors. This could provide insight into potential protective influences against the detrimental health consequences of childhood adversities, particularly mental-physical comorbidity.
Analyses were conducted on data from the 1970 British Cohort Study (n = 16,407). The cumulative impact of parent- and self-reported adversities (range: 0-33) were consolidated across childhood (0-16 years) and examined as a predictor of psychological distress (Malaise Inventory ≥ 8), obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m) and their comorbidity in early adulthood (30 years) using multinomial logistic regression. Self-reported lifestyle factors in adolescence (16 years), including physical activity, diet, sleep duration, smoking, and alcohol consumption were assessed as moderators of the association between childhood adversities and the specified outcome categories.
A one-item increase on the childhood adversities scale elevated the risk of psychological distress (OR [95% CI]; 1.11 [1.09, 1.13]), obesity (OR [95% CI]; 1.05 [1.03, 1.06]) and mental-physical comorbidity (OR [95% CI]; 1.16 [1.12, 1.20]). Compared to comorbidity, childhood adversity was a weaker risk factor for psychological distress (OR [95% CI]; 0.96 [0.92, 0.99]) or obesity alone (OR [95% CI]; 0.90 [0.87, 0.94]). No lifestyle factors were significant moderators of the association between childhood adversities and these health outcomes.
Consistent with evidence from middle- to late-adulthood, childhood adversities showed a stronger association with comorbidity in early adulthood than mental or physical health problems alone. There was no evidence that lifestyle factors influenced the association between childhood adversities and comorbidity or individual health problems. Our findings highlight the importance of considering comorbidities when investigating the negative health consequences of childhood adversities, and therefore, the continuing need to identify factors which mitigate the increased risk of comorbidity.
虽然童年逆境已被证明是儿童期以及中青年期心理、身体和共病健康问题的风险因素，但在成年早期，这些关联的证据较少。此外，尚不清楚生活方式因素是否能改变童年逆境后这些健康结果的风险。本研究旨在探讨童年逆境作为心理困扰、肥胖及其共病的风险因素，并进一步量化生活方式因素的调节作用。这可以为了解针对童年逆境有害健康后果，特别是心理 - 身体共病的潜在保护影响提供见解。
对1970年英国队列研究的数据（n = 16407）进行分析。整合了父母报告和自我报告的童年（0 - 16岁）逆境的累积影响（范围：0 - 33），并使用多项逻辑回归分析将其作为成年早期（30岁）心理困扰（不适量表≥8）、肥胖（BMI≥30kg/m²）及其共病的预测因素。评估了青少年期（16岁）自我报告的生活方式因素，包括身体活动、饮食、睡眠时间、吸烟和饮酒，作为童年逆境与特定结果类别之间关联的调节因素。
童年逆境量表上增加一项会增加心理困扰风险（OR [95% CI]；1.11 [1.09, 1.13]）、肥胖风险（OR [95% CI]；1.05 [1.03, 1.06]）和心理 - 身体共病风险（OR [95% CI]；1.16 [1.12, 1.20]）。与共病相比，童年逆境是心理困扰（OR [95% CI]；0.96 [0.92, 0.99]）或单独肥胖（OR [95% CI]；0.90 [0.87, 0.94]）的较弱风险因素。没有生活方式因素是童年逆境与这些健康结果之间关联的显著调节因素。
与成年中后期的证据一致，童年逆境在成年早期与共病的关联比单独的心理或身体健康问题更强。没有证据表明生活方式因素会影响童年逆境与共病或个体健康问题之间的关联。我们的研究结果强调了在调查童年逆境的负面健康后果时考虑共病的重要性，因此，持续需要确定减轻共病风险增加的因素。
