Association between adverse childhood experiences and later-life allostatic load in UK Biobank female participants

BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences during key developmental periods have been shown to impact long-term health outcomes. Adverse childhood experiences may include psychological, physical, or sexual abuse; neglect; or socioeconomic factors. Adverse childhood experiences are linked with an increase in poor health behavior such as smoking and alcohol consumption, and may also influence epigenetic changes, inflammatory response, metabolic changes, and allostatic load. OBJECTIVE: We sought to explore associations between adverse childhood experiences and allostatic load in adult female participants in the UK Biobank. DESIGN: The UK Biobank is a multisite cohort study established to capture lifestyle, environment, exposure, health history, and genotype data on individuals in the United Kingdom. METHODS: Adverse childhood experiences were assessed from the Childhood Trauma Screener, which measures abuse and neglect across five items. Biological measures at enrollment were used to construct allostatic load, including measures of metabolic, inflammatory, and cardiovascular function. Females with a cancer diagnosis prior to enrollment were removed as it may influence allostatic load. Poisson regression models were used to assess the association between adverse childhood experiences and allostatic load, accounting for a priori confounders. RESULTS: A total of 33,466 females with complete data were analyzed, with a median age at enrollment of 54 (range = 40–70) years. Among the study sample, the mean allostatic load ranged from 1.85 in those who reported no adverse childhood experiences to 2.45 in those with all adverse childhood experiences reported. In multivariable analysis, there was a 4% increase in average allostatic load among females for every additional adverse childhood experience reported (incidence rate ratio = 1.04, 95% confidence interval = 1.03–1.05). Similar results were observed when assessing individual adverse childhood experience components. CONCLUSION: This analysis supports a growing body of evidence suggesting that increased exposure to early life abuse or neglect is associated with increased allostatic load in females.