Abstract
BackgroundResearch in recent decades increasingly indicates the importance of conditions in early life for health in adulthood. Only few studies have investigated socioeconomic conditions in both childhood and adulthood in relation to health testing the risk accumulation, critical period, and social mobility hypotheses within the same setting. This study investigates the associations between economic stress in childhood and adulthood, and self-rated health with reference to the accumulation, critical period and social mobility hypotheses in life course epidemiology, taking demographic, social support, trust and lifestyle factors into account.MethodsThe public health survey in Skåne (southern Sweden) in 2008 is a cross-sectional postal questionnaire study based on a random sample, in which 28,198 persons aged 18–80 years participated (55% participation). Logistic regression models were used to investigate associations between economic stress in childhood and adulthood, and self-rated health.ResultsThree life-course socioeconomic models concerning the association between economic stress and self-rated health (SRH) were investigated. The results showed a graded association between the combined effect of childhood and adulthood economic stress and poor SRH in accordance with the accumulation hypothesis. Furthermore, upward social mobility showed a protecting effect and downward mobility increased odds ratios of poor SRH in accordance with the social mobility hypothesis. High/severe economic stress exposures in both stages of life were independently associated with poor SRH in adulthood. Furthermore, stratifying the study population into six age groups showed similar odds ratios of poor SRH regarding economic stress exposure in childhood and adulthood in all age groups among both men and women.ConclusionsThe accumulation and social mobility hypotheses were confirmed. The critical period model was confirmed in the sense that both economic stress in childhood and adulthood had independent effects on poor SRH. However, it was not confirmed in the sense that a particular window in time (in childhood or adulthood) had a specifically high impact on self-rated health.
Highlights
Research in recent decades increasingly indicates the importance of conditions in early life for health in adulthood
While the odds ratios of poor selfrated health for economic stress in childhood were significant in the crude model compared to the no economic stress in childhood reference group, the odds ratios of poor self-rated health according to economic stress in adulthood were significant and even higher compared to the no economic stress in adulthood group
The odds ratios of poor self-rated health according to economic stress in childhood decreased successively compared to the no stress in childhood reference group as more variables were included in the multiple logistic regression model, while, on the other hand, the odds ratios according to economic stress in adulthood did not decrease compared to the no stress in adulthood reference group
Summary
Research in recent decades increasingly indicates the importance of conditions in early life for health in adulthood. Few studies have investigated socioeconomic conditions in both childhood and adulthood in relation to health testing the risk accumulation, critical period, and social mobility hypotheses within the same setting. This study investigates the associations between economic stress in childhood and adulthood, and self-rated health with reference to the accumulation, critical period and social mobility hypotheses in life course epidemiology, taking demographic, social support, trust and lifestyle factors into account. This research first concerned effects of conditions during life in utero on the development of the metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases during adulthood Empirical results from these studies generated the hypothesis that the last trimester constitutes a critical period of “programming” cells and organs to yield e.g. hypertension, obesity, high blood cholesterol, deranged composition of cholesterol fractions and higher blood triglycerides which lead to the metabolic syndrome [13]. The critical period concept more broadly refers to any stage in the individual’s development in which a heightened sensitivity to risk factors or protective factors may have effects on health in later life [14]
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