Understanding associations of early-life adversities with mid-life inflammatory profiles: Evidence from the UK and USA

Pereira, Snehal M Pinto; Merkin, Sharon Stein; Seeman, Teresa E.; Power, Chris

doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2019.01.016

Cited by 37 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…This is consistent with theoretical work by McLaughlin et al (2014) which suggests that threat-based adversities are more likely to activate the HPA axis and consequently result in chronic inflammation. Previous work on the 1958 cohort also showed higher inflammation for those reporting physical abuse (Pinto Pereira et al, 2019). In contrast, a recent study showed that official reports, but not retrospective self-reports, of physical abuse were associated with higher CRP (Osborn and Widom, 2019).…”

Section: Interpretation Of Study Findingsmentioning

confidence: 79%

Adverse childhood experiences and adult inflammation: Single adversity, cumulative risk and latent class approaches

Lacey

Pereira

et al. 2019

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have long been known to be related to poorer health across the life course. Previous studies typically relied on cumulative risk scores or individual adversities measured through retrospective self-reports. However, these approaches have important limitations. Cumulative risk scores assume equal weighting of adversities and the single adversity approach ignores the high probability that adversities co-occur. In contrast, latent class analysis (LCA) offers an alternative approach to operationalise ACEs that respects the clustering of adversities and may identify specific patterns of ACEs important for health outcomes. Furthermore, prospective and retrospective reports of ACEs show poor agreement. Therefore, it is important to compare findings based on prospective and retrospective measures in the same individuals. Despite an increasing number of studies applying LCA to ACEs data, no studies have yet simultaneously investigated LCA to cumulative risk and single adversity approaches in their relationships with adult inflammation. Identifying the specific ACEs or combinations of ACEs which are strongly related to inflammation is important for investigating the mechanisms involved and the planning of effective interventions. Methods: Using data on 8810 members of the 1958 British birth cohort we investigated 12 ACEs-physical, psychological and sexual abuse, physical and emotional neglect, parental mental health problems, witnessing abuse, parental conflict, parental divorce, parental offending, parental substance misuse and parental death. LCA was applied to explore the clustering of prospectively and retrospectively reported ACEs separately. Associations between latent classes, cumulative risk scores and individual adversities with three inflammatory markers (C-Reactive Protein, fibrinogen and von Willebrand Factor) were tested using linear regression. Results: There was co-occurrence between adversities, and particularly for retrospectively reported adversities. Three latent classes were identified in the prospective data-'Low ACEs' (95.7%), 'Household dysfunction' (2.8%) and 'Parental loss' (1.5%) which were related to increased inflammation in mid-life, as were high ACE scores and individual measures of offending, death, divorce, physical neglect and family conflict. Four latent classes were identified in the retrospective data-'Low ACEs', 'Parental mental health and substance misuse', 'Maltreatment and conflict' and 'Polyadversity.' The latter two (5.2%) were related to raised inflammation in mid-life, as was a retrospective ACE score of 4+ (8.3%) and individual measures of family conflict, psychological and physical abuse, emotional neglect and witnessing abuse. Conclusions: Specific ACEs or ACE combinations might be important for chronic inflammation. LCA is an alternative approach to operationalising ACEs data but further research is needed.

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Section: Interpretation Of Study Findingsmentioning

confidence: 79%

Adverse childhood experiences and adult inflammation: Single adversity, cumulative risk and latent class approaches

Lacey

Pereira

et al. 2019

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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“…However, there is burgeoning evidence of an association between neglect in particular and elevated IL‐6 levels (Chase et al, 2019; Nikulina and Widom, 2014). Evidence for elevated CRP is mixed, with some studies reporting an association between neglect and greater CRP levels (Pinto Pereira et al, 2019), an association limited to certain racial groups (Nikulina and Widom, 2014), or no association (see Ports et al, 2019 for a review). It is notable that neglect (i.e., institutional deprivation) limited to infancy and early childhood is not associated with increased cytokines or CRP in circulation by adolescence or young adulthood (Elwenspoek et al, 2017; Slopen et al, 2019).…”

Section: Models Of Neglectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neglect, HPA axis reactivity, and development

Reilly

Gunnar

2019

Intl J of Devlp Neuroscience

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Neglect is a common and frequently chronic form of child maltreatment that can compromise child development and increase the risk of physical and psychological problems. In this review, we discuss one of the potential ways neglect becomes biologically embedded by shaping the development of a key stress responsive system: namely, the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis. Several potential mediators and moderators of this process are examined, including inflammation, attachment and social buffering, self‐regulation, child sex and age, and genetics.

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“…Both early life experiences and social environments during adulthood can have profound effects on individual health and survival. Children who experience socioenvironmental traumas—from famine to parental loss to abuse—fare worse on a wide range of health outcomes in adulthood ( 1 – 9 ). They are also disproportionately likely to find themselves in negative social environments as adults, including having dysfunctional or unsupportive relationships, or being socially isolated ( 10 – 12 ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Social bonds do not mediate the relationship between early adversity and adult glucocorticoids in wild baboons

Rosenbaum

Zeng

Campos

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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In humans and other animals, harsh conditions in early life can have profound effects on adult physiology, including the stress response. This relationship may be mediated by a lack of supportive relationships in adulthood. That is, early life adversity may inhibit the formation of supportive social ties, and weak social support is itself often linked to dysregulated stress responses. Here, we use prospective, longitudinal data from wild baboons in Kenya to test the links between early adversity, adult social bonds, and adult fecal glucocorticoid hormone concentrations (a measure of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal [HPA] axis activation and the stress response). Using a causal inference framework, we found that experiencing one or more sources of early adversity led to a 9 to 14% increase in females’ glucocorticoid concentrations across adulthood. However, these effects were not mediated by weak social bonds: The direct effects of early adversity on adult glucocorticoid concentrations were 11 times stronger than the effects mediated by social bonds. This pattern occurred, in part, because the effect of social bonds on glucocorticoids was weak compared to the powerful effects of early adversity on glucocorticoid levels in adulthood. Hence, in female baboons, weak social bonds in adulthood are not enough to explain the effects of early adversity on glucocorticoid concentrations. Together, our results support the well-established notions that early adversity and weak social bonds both predict poor adult health. However, the magnitudes of these two effects differ considerably, and they may act independently of one another.

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Understanding associations of early-life adversities with mid-life inflammatory profiles: Evidence from the UK and USA

Cited by 37 publications

References 48 publications

Adverse childhood experiences and adult inflammation: Single adversity, cumulative risk and latent class approaches

Adverse childhood experiences and adult inflammation: Single adversity, cumulative risk and latent class approaches

Neglect, HPA axis reactivity, and development

Social bonds do not mediate the relationship between early adversity and adult glucocorticoids in wild baboons

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