Why do children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families suffer from poor health when they reach adulthood? A life course study.
Open accessAbstract
The authors investigated what risk factors contribute to an excess risk of poor adult health among children who experience socioeconomic disadvantage. Data came from 1,037 children born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1972-1973, who were followed from birth to age 32 years (2004-2005). Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) was measured at multiple points between birth and age 15 years. Risk factors evaluated included a familial liability to poor health, childhood/adolescent health characteristics, low childhood intelligence quotient (IQ), exposure to childhood maltreatment, and adult SES. Adult health outcomes evaluated at age 32 years were major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, tobacco dependence, alcohol or drug dependence, and clustering of cardiovascular disease risk factors. Results showed that low childhood SES was associated with an increased risk of substance dependence and poor physical health in adulthood (for tobacco dependence, sex-adjusted relative risk (RR) = 2.27, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.41, 3.65; for alcohol or drug dependence, RR = 2.11, 95% CI: 1.16, 3.84; for cardiovascular risk factor status, RR = 2.55, 95% CI: 1.46, 4.46). Together, the risk factors studied here accounted for 55-67% of poor health outcomes among adults exposed to low SES as children. No single risk factor emerged as the prime explanation, suggesting that the processes mediating the link between childhood low SES and adult poor health are multifactorial.
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The strong association between social class and health persists throughout the lifespan.
“The strong association between social class and health persists throughout the lifespan. 13,14,16,18-20”
From Healthier Students Are Better Learners: A Missing Link in School Reforms to Close the Achievement Gap (2011) · cites this paper as [13]
The Results and Discussion report that childhood socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with substance dependence and cardiovascular risk factors by age 32. The study does not establish that a strong social-class–health association persists throughout the entire lifespan, and it found no elevated risk of adult depression or anxiety in this cohort. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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- Authors
- Melchior, M., Moffitt, T. E., Milne, B. J., Poulton, R., & Caspi, A.
- Affiliations
- Inserm (FR)
- Duke University (US)
- King's College London (GB)
- University of Otago (NZ)
- Venue
- American Journal of Epidemiology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2007-08-28
- Volume
- 166
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 966-974
- ISSN
- 0002-9262 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-6256
- PMC
- PMC2491970
- OpenAlex
- W2137672900
- Cited by
- 285
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 29
- FWCI
- 19.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- American Journal of Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- William T. Grant Foundation
- Royal Society
- Socialdepartementet
- Medical Research Council
- Economic and Social Research Council
- Health Research Council of New Zealand
- National Institute of Mental Health
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › Health › Public Health and Social Inequalities
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Keywords
- socioeconomic deprivation, childhood socioeconomic status, adult health, life course epidemiology, child abuse, child intelligence, substance dependence, tobacco dependence, alcoholism, drug addiction, cardiovascular risk factors, depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, Dunedin Study
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Alcoholism, Mental Disorders, Cardiovascular Diseases, Child, Child Development, Child, Preschool, Female, Health Status, Humans, Infant, Intelligence Tests, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Mental Health, New Zealand, Poverty, Risk Factors, Socioeconomic Factors, Tobacco Use Disorder, Cohort Studies, Confidence Intervals, Risk Assessment, Substance-Related Disorders, Adolescent Development
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