Childhood adversity linked to higher risk of death in young adulthood
The University of Plymouth has published the findings of an international study
A major international study, involving the University of Plymouth, has found that children exposed to several forms of adversity face a substantially higher risk of dying in young adulthood.
The research, led by the University of Copenhagen and published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, is based on a national register of more than 1.2 million people born in Denmark between 1981 and 2001.
It found 7,320 of those on the register died before the age of 42 and that individual health-related factors, family adversity and living in a deprived neighbourhood all increased the possibility of people dying young.
The researchers say the findings demonstrate how different forms of childhood adversity can create particularly vulnerable groups and potentially deepen health inequalities, across the course of people’s lives.
The study’s authors include Professor Clive Sabel, Professor of Big Data and Spatial Science at the University of Plymouth and Co-Director of its Centre for Place, who has previously led research showing people who experience a significant number of moves before the age of 15 are more likely to be diagnosed with depression in later life.
For the current study, he contributed information about neighbourhood-level deprivation which added to the individual and family experiences of adversity.
Professor Sabel said: “The data gives us an unusually detailed picture of how individual, family and neighbourhood circumstances can come together. Our findings reinforce that we cannot separate children’s experiences from the places in which they grow up and shows how layers of adversity are associated with health later in life. Denmark and the UK are different societies, with the UK having greater extremes of deprivation and much more diversity. But this research shows the value of being able to understand people’s experiences and highlights a potential need for better UK data linking childhood experiences, health and place.”
Professor Sabel also says the findings raise important questions for communities in the South West, such as how place-based policy can improve opportunities for children and young people while also addressing the wider circumstances that shape their lives.
In that sense, he believes the study comes at a pertinent time with considerable investment being planned for Plymouth, including money from the UK Government for programmes around defence, health and community regeneration, which will foster better education, skills and long-term opportunities for young people.
Professor Sabel added: “For people who are simply surviving, the choices that others may take for granted – having good food, a warm and safe home, a secure environment for their children or access to opportunities – can be incredibly difficult. If we want to reduce health inequalities in our communities, we need to consider the environments in which children grow up. So we need to make the most of opportunities to think about how investment in education, skills, communities and social value can translate into better opportunities for young people across our region.”