Parental socioeconomic position and chronic inflammation during adolescence

Abstract

Abstract Background Early life adversity has been associated with increased risk of inflammation and inflammation-related diseases in adulthood. This study aimed to examine the association of parental socioeconomic position with chronic inflammation over adolescence. Methods We used information on 2942 members (1507 girls and 1435 boys) of the EPITeen cohort that was established in 2003 in Porto, Portugal, and included 13 years old adolescents that were further evaluated at 17 and 21 years. Mother’ and father’s education and occupation were used as indicators of parental socioeconomic position. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) was measured at three points in time (13, 17 and 21 years). CRP levels were categorized in tertiles separately for each wave; chronic inflammation in adolescence was defined as having CRP levels in the highest tertile in at least 2 waves and never in the lowest tertile. Results Over adolescence, the prevalence of chronic inflammation was significantly higher among participants with low parental socioeconomic position. Low parental socioeconomic position was associated with chronic inflammation in adolescence, after adjustment for sex, perinatal and physical environment factors, health-related behaviours and health status in adolescence OR = 1.63; 95%CI: 1.11, 2.40 for lowest vs. highest mother’s education and OR = 1.61; 95%CI: 1.12, 2.30 for lowest vs. highest father’s education. Conclusions Low parental socioeconomic position is associated with chronic inflammation during adolescence. Our results suggest that the early life socioeconomic environment has an impact on inflammatory processes over adolescence.