INDIVIDUALS who endure traumatic or stressful events during childhood are significantly more likely to develop multiple long-term health conditions in adulthood.
This is according to new research carried out by the University of Dundee, as part of a programme involving experts from several UK universities.
The study highlights that each additional adverse childhood experience (ACE) raises the odds of suffering from chronic conditions later in life by nearly 13%.
An ACE refers to a potentially traumatic or stressful event occurring before the age of 18, including abuse, neglect, household dysfunction and bullying.
Other severe stressors like famine or war are also included.
ACEs have long been associated with various poor health and social outcomes in adulthood.
However, their cumulative impact on the development of multiple chronic conditions, known as multimorbidity, has been less understood.
The study was carried out by a team led by clinical PhD fellow Dr Dhan Senaratne at the university’s School of Medicine.
It conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 25 studies involving over 370,000 participants, with the findings published in medical journal BMC Medicine.
The findings indicated that the likelihood of developing multimorbidity in later life increases by 12.9% for each additional childhood adversity experienced.
Dr Senaratne explained: “As global populations continue to age, we are seeing an increase of people with multiple long-term health conditions.
“The natural implication is to think that is a problem that affects adults in mid or later life, but our research suggests that the origins may occur decades earlier in childhood.
“Data reveals that the more types of adversity you experience during your childhood, the more likely you are to have multiple long-term health conditions, or multimorbidity, when you are an adult.”
Although the research supports the lasting influence of childhood conditions on adult health, it does not definitively establish ACEs as a direct cause of multimorbidity.
Dr Senaratne stressed the importance of further research into prevention and identification methods for ACEs to reduce the risk of long-term health conditions.
He said: “The increase of long-term health conditions within populations increases the complexity and cost of healthcare provision.
“If we want to address this, it may be necessary to include some strategies that also address childhood circumstances.
“There is an increased focus on developing trauma-informed models of healthcare, in which the impact of negative life experiences is incorporated into the assessment and management of long-term health conditions.
“However, identifying factors early in the cause of multimorbidity may help to mitigate the consequences of this developing healthcare crisis.”
This study is part of the Consortium Against Pain Inequality (CAPE).
CAPE is a multicentre research programme involving experts from the Universities of Dundee, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Stirling, and University College London.
It aims to understand how ACEs influence chronic pain through a variety of research methods.
