Early-life mental health linked to increased health risks in middle-age

Effective intervention in early-life mental health may reduce health risks and improve population health later in life, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry.

“Mental health problems in childhood and adolescence are known to be associated with an array of unfavorable outcomes in later life, including psychological distress, low educational attainment, unemployment, unstable family formation and criminal offending,” George B. Ploubidis, PhD, of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies at the University College of London, and colleagues wrote. “There are also emerging links with premature all-cause mortality but a paucity of evidence concerning the prospective association with physical health in adulthood.”

In a birth cohort study, researchers analyzed data of 17,415 individuals from birth for early-life mental health and its association with elevated biomarker levels and risk for premature mortality. They identified a longitudinal grouping of four typologies to aid in classification of early-life behaviors. There included stable-low, teacher-identified, moderate and stable-high. The investigators collected fibrinogen, C-reactive protein (CRP), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and other biomarkers once individuals reached ages 44 to 45 years.

Study results showed the stable-high and teacher-identified adolescent groups had less favorable levels of fibrinogen in middle age, as well as an elevated risk for all-cause mortality when compared with the stable-low adolescent group. Further, persistent high levels of conduct problems and affective symptoms were also associated with higher CRP levels, lower HDL levels, increased risk for abdominal obesity and an elevated risk for premature all-cause mortality.

“Our findings, if causal and generalizable to younger cohorts, may have implications for public health policy, especially if mental health is worse in more recently born cohorts,” Ploubidis and colleagues wrote. “Effective interventions on early-life mental health have the potential to shift the distribution of risk and may have additional benefits, reducing future risk [for] premature mortality and improving multiple physical health outcomes.”