The long shadow cast by childhood physical and mental problems on adult life

Abstract

In this article we assess and compare long-term adult socioeconomic status impacts from having experienced psychological and physical health problems in childhood. To do so, we use unique prospective data from the British National Child Development Study, a continuing panel study of a cohort of 17,634 children born in Great Britain during a single week in March 1958. To date there have been nine waves for this birth cohort to monitor their physical, educational, and social development, during childhood (at birth and 7, 11, and 16 y) and adulthood (age 23, 33, 42, 46, and 50 y). Excellent contemporaneous information exists throughout childhood on physical and psychological health, captured by doctor and nurse-led medical examinations and detailed parental and teacher questionnaires. This information is combined with a wealth of contemporaneous information on adult health and economic experiences collected from cohort members. Information includes their economic circumstances (earnings, labor supply, and other sources of family income), physical and psychological health, and relationship status. Large effects are found due to childhood psychological problems on the ability of affected children to work and earn as adults and on intergenerational and withingeneration social mobility. Adult family incomes are reduced by 28% by age 50 y, with sustained impacts on labor supply, marriage stability, and the conscientiousness and agreeableness components of the "Big Five" personality traits. Effects of psychological health disorders during childhood are far more important over a lifetime than physical health problems.U sing prospectively collected data beginning during the week of birth, repeated at three additional ages in childhood and adolescence, and extended into adulthood to age 50 y, this study investigates long-term adult impacts of having experienced psychological and physical health problems during childhood. Stimulated by the work of Barker (1), recent research has established evidence of a strong link between various aspects of poor physical health during childhood (and even in utero) and adult health (2-7) and economic outcomes later during adulthood (8, 9). Much less studied have been long-term health and socioeconomic (SES) consequences of psychological conditions experienced during childhood (10, 11). This is even more surprising given the substantial rise in psychological disorders affecting young people in the United Kingdom in the past 25 y (12, 13).Recently, Smith and Smith (14) used retrospective questions in the American Panel Study of Income Dynamics to find that impacts of childhood psychological problems on adult SES are large-a lifetime cost in lost family income of approximately $300,000 and total lifetime economic cost for all those affected of $2.1 trillion. An advantage of that study is that it compared siblings, so it was able to control for unobserved family and neighborhood effects, which were found not to be critical for this question. A disadvantage of that research is that it relied on...

Childhood sexual abuse and later-life economic consequences

“…6 Goodman et al (2011) find that family incomes are reduced by 28 percent by age 50 for people who had psychological problems in childhood.…”

“…Recent work by Smith and Smith (Smith & Smith, 2010) and by Goodman et al (Goodman, Joyce, & Smith, 2011) has shown that mental and psychological problems experienced during childhood can have negative long-term economic consequences for the individuals in question. In the case of Goodman et al (2011), mental health problems in childhood are shown to have a much greater impact on long-run economic outcomes when compared to physical health problems.…”

“…In the case of Goodman et al (2011), mental health problems in childhood are shown to have a much greater impact on long-run economic outcomes when compared to physical health problems. According to this research, psychological problems which occur in childhood are associated with reduced family incomes at age fifty and with reduced labour force participation throughout adulthood.…”

The Developmental Approach to Child and Adult Health

“…22,23 This evidence suggests that inequalities in endowments and environments present at birth can affect the biology of the body, propagate throughout childhood, and persist into adulthood. It also reveals promising avenues for interventions by enriching the nurturing environments of children born in disadvantaged families and allowing them to develop their full potential.…”

Early intervention for depression and anxiety in 16–18-year-olds: Protocol for a feasibility cluster randomised controlled trial of open-access psychological workshops in schools (DISCOVER)

“…Emotional disorders of anxiety and depression are especially common in the adolescent years, causing marked distress and daily interference for 5% of teenagers at any given time [3,4]. Anxious and depressed young people are more likely to suffer from poor social, educational and occupational outcomes [5][6][7]. They are also vulnerable to substance abuse, early sexual activity and self-harm [8,9].…”