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Early-life adversity, later-life mental health, and resilience resources: a longitudinal population-based birth cohort analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2018

Theodore D. Cosco Open the ORCID record for Theodore D. Cosco [Opens in a new window] ,
Rebecca Hardy ,
Laura D. Howe  and
Marcus Richards
Theodore D. Cosco*
Affiliation:
Gerontology Research Center, Department of Gerontology, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Rebecca Hardy
Affiliation:
MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, London, UK
Laura D. Howe
Affiliation:
MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, Bristol, UK
Marcus Richards
Affiliation:
MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, London, UK
*
Correspondence should be addresses to: Theodore D. Cosco, Department of Gerontology, and Gerontology Research Centre, Simon Fraser University, 2800-515 Hastings Street, Vancouver BC V6B 5K3, Canada. Phone: 7787825915. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Background:

Robust and persistent links between early-life adversities and later-life mental distress have previously been observed. Individual and social resources are associated with greater mental health and resilience. This study aimed to test these resources as moderators and mediators of the association between childhood psychosocial adversity and later-life mental distress.

Methods:

Participant data came from the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development, a nationally-representative birth cohort study. The General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) captured mental distress at ages 53, 60–64, and 68–69. An eight-item cumulative psychosocial adversity score was created (0, 1, 2, ≥3 adversities). Individual (i.e., education, occupational status, physical activity) and social (i.e., social support, neighborhood cohesion) resources were examined as mediators and moderators of CPA and GHQ-28 in longitudinal multilevel models.

Findings:

Greater adversity was associated with an average GHQ-28 score increase of 0.017, per unit adversity (β = 0·017, p < 0·001, 95% CI 0·011, 0·022). Lower mental distress was associated with higher levels of physical activity, occupational status, education, social support, and neighborhood cohesion. There was no evidence that resources moderated the relationship between GHQ-28 and adversity. All resources, save for physical activity and occupational status, partly mediated this relationship.

Conclusions:

Individual and social resources were associated with lower mental distress. They did not modify, but partly mediated the association between childhood adversity and adult mental distress. Social support was the most important mediator, suggesting that interventions to promote greater social support may offset psychosocial adversities experienced in childhood to foster better mental health in older adults.

Keywords

resilienceearly life adversitymental healthlongitudinalbirth cohort
Type
Original Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 31 , Issue 9: Issue Theme: Self-Esteem, Resilience, and Emotional Intelligence , September 2019 , pp. 1249 - 1258
Copyright
© International Psychogeriatric Association 2018 

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