IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v130y2015icp16-22.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Childhood and later life stressors and increased inflammatory gene expression at older ages

Author

Listed:
  • Levine, M.E.
  • Cole, S.W.
  • Weir, D.R.
  • Crimmins, E.M.

Abstract

Adverse experiences in early life have the ability to “get under the skin” and affect future health. This study examined the relative influence of adversities during childhood and adulthood in accounting for individual differences in pro-inflammatory gene expression in late life. Using a pilot-sample from the Health and Retirement Study (N = 114) aged from 51 to 95, OLS regression models were run to determine the association between a composite score from three proinflammatory gene expression levels (PTGS2, ILIB, and IL8) and 1) childhood trauma, 2) childhood SES, 3) childhood health, 4) adult traumas, and 5) low SES in adulthood. Our results showed that only childhood trauma was found to be associated with increased inflammatory transcription in late life. Furthermore, examination of interaction effects showed that childhood trauma exacerbated the influence of low SES in adulthood on elevated levels of inflammatory gene expression—signifying that having low SES in adulthood was most damaging for persons who had experienced traumatic events during their childhood. Overall our study suggests that traumas experienced during childhood may alter the stress response, leading to more sensitive reactivity throughout the lifespan. As a result, individuals who experienced greater adversity in early life may be at higher risk of late life health outcomes, particularly if adulthood adversity related to SES persists.

Suggested Citation

  • Levine, M.E. & Cole, S.W. & Weir, D.R. & Crimmins, E.M., 2015. "Childhood and later life stressors and increased inflammatory gene expression at older ages," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 16-22.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:130:y:2015:i:c:p:16-22
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.01.030
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953615000568
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.01.030?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mark Hayward & Bridget Gorman, 2004. "The long arm of childhood: The influence of early-life social conditions on men’s mortality," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 41(1), pages 87-107, February.
    2. Cole, S.W., 2013. "Social regulation of human gene expression: Mechanisms and implications for public health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(SUPPL.1), pages 84-92.
    3. Steven Haas, 2007. "The long-term effects of poor childhood health: An assessment and application of retrospective reports," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(1), pages 113-135, February.
    4. James Smith, 2009. "Reconstructing childhood health histories," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 46(2), pages 387-403, May.
    5. James Banks & Zoë Oldfield & James P. Smith, 2011. "Childhood Health and Differences in Late-Life Health Outcomes between England and the United States," NBER Chapters, in: Investigations in the Economics of Aging, pages 321-339, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. James Banks & Zoë Oldfield & James P. Smith, 2011. "Childhood Health and Differences in Late-Life Health Outcomes between England and the United States," NBER Chapters,in: Investigations in the Economics of Aging, pages 321-339 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Blackwell, Debra L. & Hayward, Mark D. & Crimmins, Eileen M., 2001. "Does childhood health affect chronic morbidity in later life?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(8), pages 1269-1284, April.
    8. Cole, Steven W. & Conti, Gabriella & Arevalo, Jesusa M. & Ruggiero, Angela M. & Heckman, James J. & Suomi, Stephen J., 2012. "Transcriptional Modulation of the Developing Immune System by Early Life Social Adversity," IZA Discussion Papers 6915, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Liang, Yu & Dong, Jing, 2022. "The impact of the send-down experience on the health of elderly Chinese women: Evidence from the China family panel studies," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 377-389.
    2. Carmen R Isasi & Molly Jung & Christina M Parrinello & Robert C Kaplan & Ryung Kim & Noe C Crespo & Patricia Gonzalez & Natalia A Gouskova & Frank J Penedo & Krista M Perreira & Tatiana Perrino & Dani, 2016. "Association of Childhood Economic Hardship with Adult Height and Adult Adiposity among Hispanics/Latinos. The HCHS/SOL Socio-Cultural Ancillary Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(2), pages 1-9, February.
    3. Nicole Probst-Hensch, 2017. "Happiness and its molecular fingerprints," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 64(2), pages 197-211, June.
    4. Zhao, Chunkai & Li, Xing, 2022. "Living under the shadow: Adverse childhood experiences and entrepreneurial behaviors in Chinese adults," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 239-255.
    5. Olimpia Pino & Rosalinda Trevino Cadena & Diana Poli, 2022. "A Comprehensive Review on Multifaceted Mechanisms Involved in the Development of Breast Cancer Following Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-19, October.
    6. MacConnachie, Lauren & Zhang, Yuan S. & Farina, Mateo & Gutierrez, Carmen & Hoover, Andrew & He, Yuelin & Aiello, Allison E. & Noppert, Grace A., 2024. "The association between incarceration and housing insecurity and advanced immune age during late life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 347(C).
    7. Berg, Mark T. & Simons, Ronald L. & Barr, Ashley & Beach, Steven R.H. & Philibert, Robert A., 2017. "Childhood/Adolescent stressors and allostatic load in adulthood: Support for a calibration model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 130-139.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brandt, Martina & Deindl, Christian & Hank, Karsten, 2012. "Tracing the origins of successful aging: The role of childhood conditions and social inequality in explaining later life health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(9), pages 1418-1425.
    2. Qing Wang & Jay J. Shen, 2016. "Childhood Health Status and Adulthood Cardiovascular Disease Morbidity in Rural China: Are They Related?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-10, June.
    3. Angelini, Viola & Mierau, Jochen O., 2014. "Born at the right time? Childhood health and the business cycle," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 35-43.
    4. repec:dgr:rugsom:12002-eef is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Jennifer Montez & Mark Hayward, 2014. "Cumulative Childhood Adversity, Educational Attainment, and Active Life Expectancy Among U.S. Adults," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(2), pages 413-435, April.
    6. Qing Wang & Huyang Zhang & John A. Rizzo & Hai Fang, 2018. "The Effect of Childhood Health Status on Adult Health in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-16, January.
    7. James Smith, 2009. "Reconstructing childhood health histories," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 46(2), pages 387-403, May.
    8. McGovern, Mark E., 2014. "Comparing the relationship between stature and later life health in six low and middle income countries," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 4(C), pages 128-148.
    9. Mike Vuolo & Kenneth Ferraro & Patricia Morton & Ting-Ying Yang, 2014. "Why Do Older People Change Their Ratings of Childhood Health?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(6), pages 1999-2023, December.
    10. James Smith, 2009. "Reconstructing childhood health histories," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), pages 387-403.
    11. Schaan, Barbara, 2014. "The interaction of family background and personal education on depressive symptoms in later life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 94-102.
    12. Huang, Cheng & Soldo, Beth J. & Elo, Irma T., 2011. "Do early-life conditions predict functional health status in adulthood? The case of Mexico," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 100-107, January.
    13. Haas, Steven, 2008. "Trajectories of functional health: The 'long arm' of childhood health and socioeconomic factors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(4), pages 849-861, February.
    14. Gregory Pavela, 2017. "Is Childhood Socioeconomic Status Independently Associated with Adult BMI after Accounting for Adult and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, January.
    15. Haas, Steven A. & Oi, Katsuya, 2018. "The developmental origins of health and disease in international perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 123-133.
    16. Hayward, Mark D. & Hummer, Robert A. & Sasson, Isaac, 2015. "Trends and group differences in the association between educational attainment and U.S. adult mortality: Implications for understanding education's causal influence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 8-18.
    17. Anna Zajacova & Katrina Walsemann & Jennifer Dowd, 2015. "The Long Arm of Adolescent Health Among Men and Women: Does Attained Status Explain Its Association with Mid-Adulthood Health?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 34(1), pages 19-48, February.
    18. Robert G. Wood & Brian Goesling & Sarah Avellar, "undated". "The Effects of Marriage on Health: A Synthesis of Recent Research Evidence," Mathematica Policy Research Reports d69bf47785bc4154a4e184aa5, Mathematica Policy Research.
    19. Jayanta Sarkar & Dipanwita Sarkar, 2016. "Why Does Child Labor Persist With Declining Poverty?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(1), pages 139-158, January.
    20. Hui Zheng & Jonathan Dirlam & Paola Echave, 2021. "Divergent Trends in the Effects of Early Life Factors on Adult Health," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(5), pages 1119-1148, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:130:y:2015:i:c:p:16-22. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.