Association between early parental deprivation and cellular immune function among adults in rural Fujian, China

Abstract

This study investigated the role of childhood parental deprivation in the association between quality of life (QOL) and the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) antibody titer, a marker of cellular immune functioning, using data from 734 adults living in seven communities in rural Fujian, China. Parental deprivation was defined if either of their parents had died, divorced, or left them for migratory work for more than 1 year before they turned (a) 16 years of age (childhood and adolescence), or (b) 3 years of age (early childhood). A mixed‐effects regression analysis with a random effects model revealed that parental deprivation during early childhood was positively associated with the EBV antibody titer (coefficient = 0.33, p = 0.007), whereas parental deprivation during the first 16 years was not. Further analysis incorporating an interaction term between QOL and parental deprivation revealed a significant interaction between QOL and parental deprivation during early childhood; a significant association between QOL and the EBV antibody titer was found only among those who reported parental deprivation during early childhood. This study suggests that parental deprivation during the period of immune system development may be linked with physiological responses to stressors later in life.

Parental absence during childhood and weight status in adulthood among middle‐aged community dwellers in rural Vietnam

“…To be conservative, those who answered "cannot recall" were categorized as having no parental absence. Since the previous findings suggest parental absence that occurred earlier in life might have a more severe effect and posit long-lasting effect on physical traits (Yazawa et al, 2019), we categorized participants into those who experienced parental absence before the age of 3; between the ages of 3 to 15 (i.e., the timing of finishing middle school); and those without such experiences, based on the information on the timing of parental absence.…”

Chronic stress and age‐related pattern of blood pressure: A cross‐sectional study in rural China

“…Since the virus can be occasionally reactivated when cellular immunity is suppressed, EBV antibody titer is used as a marker of cellular immunity (Hislop, Taylor, Sauce, & Rickinson, 2007). In turn, this marker has been shown to be associated with various stressors, for example, social adversities (discrimination [Christian, Iams, Porter, & Glaser, 2012]; low community‐level social capital [ie, the quantity of neighborhood interactions; Yazawa et al, 2018]); early life physical and social adversity (eg, experience of traumatic life events [Esterling, Antoni, Kumar, & Schneiderman, 1993; Yazawa et al, 2019a]), family stressors (e.g., caregiving to family members [Kiecolt‐Glaser et al, 1987; Kiecolt‐Glaser, Dura, Speicher, Trask, & Glaser, 1991], spousal disagreement in decision making [Panter‐Brick, Eggerman, Mojadidi, & McDade, 2008], low‐quality marriage [Kiecolt‐Glaser et al, 1987], separation from family members due to outmigration [Yazawa et al, 2019b]). EBV antibody titers are also correlated with validated questionnaire measures of psychological health (Brook, Christian, Hade, & Ruffin, 2017; Inoue et al, 2014; Lutgendorf et al, 2001), so that it is recently used as a marker of chronic stress status (Lippert & Damaske, 2018; Yazawa et al, 2018).…”

Adoption, Fostering, and Parental Absence in Vanuatu

“…In many settings, fostered children are at risk of abuse, domestic servitude, malnutrition, and bad educational outcomes (Bledsoe, 1990 ; Bledsoe et al, 1988 ; Hampshire et al, 2015 ; Madhavan & Townsend, 2007 ; Nelson, 2020 ; Rawson & Berggren, 1973 ; Scelza & Silk, 2014 ). Negative effects on mental and physical health may be long-term and persist into adulthood (Inoue et al, 2022 ; Yazawa et al, 2019 , 2022 ). In Oceania, adoptees can also be disadvantaged in decisions about land inheritance (Silk, 1980 ).…”