Childhood abuse linked to negative cardiometabolic outcomes in early adulthood
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Childhood abuse was associated with certain negative cardiometabolic outcomes at different ages in young adults, according to study data published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
“A recent review found that childhood abuse was associated with CVD, diabetes and higher blood pressure/hypertension in the majority of studies,” Ana Goncalves Soares, PhD, senior research associate in the Bristol Population Health Science Institute at the University of Bristol Medical School, U.K., and colleagues wrote. “However, the age at which associations between childhood abuse and poor cardiometabolic health emerge is unclear.”
Abuse and cardiometabolic outcomes
The researchers enrolled 3,223 participants with data on at least one type of abuse and one cardiometabolic outcome from the prospective, population-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, which followed pregnant women due to give birth from April 1991 to December 1992 and their children and partners.
Participants retrospectively reported physical, sexual and psychological abuse experienced before adulthood through a questionnaire administered at age 22 years. Soares and colleagues assessed abuse based on whether it occurred before age 11 years or during adolescence (aged 11 to 17 years). They also assessed the combination of all abuse before age 18 years on a summary scale of 0 (no experience) to 3 (experiencing all abuse types).
Cardiometabolic outcomes were measured at age 18 and 25 years.
Almost 20% of participants reported at least one type of abuse. Physical abuse was reported by 5% of respondents, with most cases occurring before age 11 years. Sexual abuse was reported by 12% of women and 3% of men; women reported sexual abuse mostly during adolescence. More women reported psychological abuse compared with men (14% vs. 10%), which occurred more often in adolescence.
Negative consequences of abuse
At age 18 years, all three types of abuse were associated with higher BMI (physical beta = 1.35 kg/m2; 95% CI, 0.66-2.05; sexual beta = 0.57 kg/m2; 95% CI, 0.04-1.11; psychological beta = 0.47 kg/m2; 95% CI, 0.01-0.92). Physical abuse was associated with lower HDL (beta = 0.07 mmol/L; 95% CI, 0.13 to 0.01) and higher C-reactive protein (31%; 95% CI, 1-69). Sexual abuse was associated with a higher heart rate (beta = 1.92 bpm; 95% CI, 0.26-3.58).
When assessed at age 25 years, participants who reported any type of abuse had higher insulin. Sexual abuse was associated with lower total cholesterol at age 25 years (0.14 mmol/L; 95% CI, 0.26 to 0.01).
Outcomes were not different between men and women at age 18 years; at age 25 years, men had stronger associations between the summary score of abuse and both triglycerides and CRP. Additionally, there were no differences in associations based on when abuse occurred.
The age at which abuse occurred (11 to 17 years or younger than 11 years) did not have much impact on the associations, according to the researchers.
“Our findings suggest downstream effects of childhood abuse on cardiometabolic risk factors in early adulthood, suggesting that young people who have experienced abuse may benefit from early screening for cardiometabolic health,” Soares and colleagues wrote.
They suggested future studies analyze biomarkers and examine the mechanisms of the observed associations.
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