 |
|
Socially Isolated Children 20 Years Later
Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Avshalom Caspi, PhD;
HonaLee Harrington, BS;
Terrie E. Moffitt, PhD;
Barry J. Milne, MSc;
Richie Poulton, PhD
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2006;160:805-811.
Objective To test the hypothesis that children who occupy peripheral or isolated roles in their peer groups (isolated children) are at risk of poor adult health.
Design Longitudinal study of an entire birth cohort.
Setting Dunedin, New Zealand.
Participants A total of 1037 children who were followed up from birth to age 26 years.
Interventions Measurement of social isolation in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
Main Outcome Measures When study members were 26 years old, we measured adult cardiovascular multifactorial risk status (overweight, elevated blood pressure, elevated total cholesterol level, low high-density lipoprotein level, elevated glycated hemoglobin concentration, and low maximum oxygen consumption).
Results Socially isolated children were at significant risk of poor adult health compared with nonisolated children (risk ratio, 1.37; 95% confidence interval, 1.17-1.61). This association was independent of other well-established childhood risk factors for poor adult health (low childhood socioeconomic status, low childhood IQ, childhood overweight), was not accounted for by health-damaging behaviors (lack of exercise, smoking, alcohol misuse), and was not attributable to greater exposure to stressful life events. In addition, longitudinal findings showed that chronic social isolation across multiple developmental periods had a cumulative, dose-response relationship to poor adult health (risk ratio, 2.58; 95% confidence interval, 1.46-4.56).
Conclusions Longitudinal findings about children followed up to adulthood suggest that social isolation has persistent and cumulative detrimental effects on adult health. The findings underscore the usefulness of a life-course approach to health research, by focusing attention on the effect of the timing of psychosocial risk factors in relation to adult health.
Author Affiliations: Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison (Drs Caspi and Moffitt and Ms Harrington); Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London, England (Drs Caspi and Moffitt and Mr Milne); and Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand (Dr Poulton).
 CiteULike  Connotea  Del.icio.us  Digg  Reddit  Technorati  Twitter
What's this?
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES
|
The Neurobiological Toll of Child Abuse and Neglect
Neigh et al.
Trauma Violence Abuse 2009;10:389-410.
ABSTRACT
Social Stress Desensitizes Lymphocytes to Regulation by Endogenous Glucocorticoids: Insights from In Vivo Cell Trafficking Dynamics in Rhesus Macaques
Cole et al.
Psychosom. Med. 2009;71:591-597.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Neuroscience, Molecular Biology, and the Childhood Roots of Health Disparities: Building a New Framework for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Shonkoff et al.
JAMA 2009;301:2252-2259.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
From Social Structural Factors to Perceptions of Relationship Quality and Loneliness: The Chicago Health, Aging, and Social Relations Study
Hawkley et al.
Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Science 2008;63:S375-S384.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Why Do Children from Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Families Suffer from Poor Health When They Reach Adulthood? A Life-Course Study
Melchior et al.
Am J Epidemiol 2007;166:966-974.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Prediction of Differential Adult Health Burden by Conduct Problem Subtypes in Males
Odgers et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2007;64:476-484.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Childhood maltreatment predicts adult inflammation in a life-course study
Danese et al.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2007;104:1319-1324.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
|
