Cumulative Adversity Research Articles

Unpacking the Criminogenic Aspects of Stress Over the Life Course: The Joint Effects of Proximal Strain and Childhood Abuse on Violence and Substance Use in a High-Risk Sample of Women

Purpose: Drawing on concepts from strain, feminist, and life-course perspectives, we investigate the proximal effects of strain on violence and serious drug use along with the distal “carryover” effects of childhood abuse among women. Methods: Using 36 months of retrospective data collected from 778 incarcerated women, we estimate monthly within-person effects of four types of strain experienced in adulthood (i.e., negative life events and three forms of victimization) on respondent-initiated violence and serious drug use. Cross-level interactions assess the moderating “carryover” effects of childhood abuse and cumulative adversity. Results: Negative life events increased women's initiation of violence and serious drug use. Having a near violent experience was positively associated with violence, while violent conflict increased drug use. Experiencing both childhood physical and sexual abuse accentuated the effect of predatory victimization on violence, and physical victimization amplified the positive relationship between near violence and drug use. Unexpectedly, women who experienced childhood sexual abuse were less likely to use drugs after experiencing strain. The accumulation of adversity among abused women could not account for these moderating effects. Conclusion: Findings suggest women's recent life experiences can explain offending in the foreground, while childhood abuse can account for some within-sex heterogeneity in these relationships.

Cumulative and independent effects of experiences of social adversity on support for violent radicalization during the COVID-19 pandemic: the mediating role of depression.

PurposeSocial adversity experiences have increased during the pandemic and are potential risk factors for both depression and support for violent radicalization (VR). However, the cumulative and independent effects of various social adversity experiences on support for VR have yet to be explored. This paper examines the cumulative and independent effects of COVID- and non-COVID-related discrimination, exposure to violence, traditional and cyberbullying victimization on support for VR. In addition, we investigate whether depression mediates the relationship between these forms of social adversity and support for VR.MethodsA total of 6003 young adults (Mage = 27, SDage = 4.40, range 18–35) living in metropolitan areas in Canada responded to an online survey. We used multivariable regression models, controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, to infer covariate adjusted associations between social adversity measures and support for VR. Additionally, we conducted a formal mediation analysis to estimate the proportion mediated by depression.ResultsThere was a cumulative relationship between experiences of social adversity and support for VR (β = 1.52; 95% CI: 1.32, 1.72). COVID-related discrimination and cyberbullying victimization were independently associated with stronger support for VR. Depression partially mediated the effect of cumulative social adversity, COVID-related discrimination and cyberbullying on support for VR.ConclusionPrevention programs during the present pandemic should prioritize decreasing discrimination and providing psychosocial support to depressed young adults who experience social adversity. Practitioners should prioritize developing programs that foster digital literacy skills and critical thinking among young adults to address the concerning impact of cyberbullying on support for VR.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00127-022-02244-8.

The Long-Term Health and Human Capital Consequences of Adverse Childhood Experiences in the Birth to Thirty Cohort: Single, Cumulative, and Clustered Adversity.

Human capital—that is the cumulative abilities, education, social skills, and mental and physical health one possesses—is increasingly recognized as key to the reduction of inequality in societies. Adverse childhood experiences have been linked to a range of human capital indicators, with the majority of research in high-income, western settings. This study aims to examine the link between adverse childhood experiences and adult human capital in a South African birth cohort and to test whether associations differ by measurement of adversity. Secondary analysis of data from the Birth to Thirty study was undertaken. Exposure data on adversity was collected prospectively throughout childhood and retrospectively at age 22. Human capital outcomes were collected at age 28. Adversity was measured as single adverse experiences, cumulative adversity, and clustered adversity. All three measurements of adversity were linked to poor human capital outcomes, with risk for poor human capital increasing with the accumulation of adversity. Adversity was clustered by quantity (low versus high) and type (household dysfunction versus abuse). Adversity in childhood was linked to a broad range of negative outcomes in young adulthood regardless of how it was measured. Nevertheless, issues of measurement are important to understand the risk mechanisms that underlie the association between adversity and poor human capital.

Impact of dimensions of early adversity on adult health and functioning: A 2-decade, longitudinal study.

Recent neurodevelopmental and evolutionary theories offer strong theoretical rationales and some empirical evidence to support the importance of specific dimensions of early adversity. However, studies have often been limited by omission of other adversity dimensions, singular outcomes, and short follow up durations. 1,420 participants in the community, Great Smoky Mountains Study, were assessed up to eight times between age 9 and 16 for four dimensions of early adversity: Threat, Material Deprivation, Unpredictability, and Loss (as well as a Cumulative Adversity measure). Participants were followed up to four times in adulthood (ages 19, 21, 25, and 30) to measure psychiatric disorders, substance disorder, and "real-world" functioning. Every childhood adversity dimension was associated with multiple adult psychiatric, substance, or functional outcomes when tested simultaneously in a multivariable analysis that accounted for other childhood adversities. There was evidence of differential impact of dimensions of adversity exposure on proximal outcomes (e.g., material deprivation and IQ) and even on distal outcomes (e.g., threat and emotional functioning). There were similar levels of prediction between the best set of individual adversity scales and a single cumulative adversity measure when considering distal outcomes. All dimensions of childhood adversity have lasting, pleiotropic effects, on adult health and functioning, but these dimensions may act via distinct proximal pathways.

Early life adversity, reproductive history and breast cancer risk.

Background and objectivesIndividuals who experience early life adversity are at an increased risk for chronic disease later in life. Less is known about how early life factors are associated with cancer susceptibility. Here, we use a life history framework to test whether early life adversity increases the risk of breast cancer. We predict that early life adversity can shift investment in somatic maintenance and accelerate the timing of reproduction, which may mediate or interact with the risk of breast cancer.MethodologyWe use population-wide data from the Utah Population Database (UPDB) and Utah Cancer Registry, leading to 24 957 cases of women diagnosed with breast cancer spanning 20 years (1990–2010) and 124 785 age-matched controls. We generated a cumulative early life adversity summation score to evaluate the interaction (moderation) and mediation between early life adversity, reproductive history and their association with breast cancer risk.ResultsOur analyses led to three key findings: (i) more early life adversity, when considered as a main effect, accelerates the time to first birth and death, (ii) early age at first birth and high parity decreases the risk of breast cancer and (iii) we find no association between early adversity and breast cancer risk either as a main effect or in its interaction with reproductive history.Conclusion and implicationsEarly adversity elevates the risk of overall mortality through mechanisms other than breast cancer risk. This suggests early life factors can generate different effects on health. Future work should incorporate more complex view of life history patterns, including multiple life stages, when making predictions about cancer susceptibility.

Cumulative interpersonal childhood adversity and post-traumatic stress symptoms across heterosexual, cisgender and gender and sexually diverse adolescents: The mediating role of emotion regulation

BackgroundEmotion regulation has been identified as an explanatory factor in the association between interpersonal childhood adversity and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). However, most studies focused on adults or older adolescents, neglecting youth from the community, especially gender and sexually diverse (GSD) adolescents, who have a higher risk for exposure to adverse events and psychological difficulties, compared to their heterosexual, cisgender (HC) peers. ObjectiveThe present cross-sectional study aimed to examine the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties in the association between cumulative interpersonal childhood adversity and PTSS across HC and GSD adolescents. MethodsA sample of 2904 ninth grade students (Mage = 14.53, SD = 0.61) completed a self-report survey. Multigroup path analyses were conducted to examine the proposed mediation model in all groups, and comparisons were made using chi-square difference tests. ResultsGreater difficulties in emotion regulation mediated the association between greater cumulative interpersonal childhood adversity (β = 0.36, p < .001) and greater PTSS (β = 0.35, p < .001) – regardless of HC or GSD status – although the direct association between cumulative interpersonal childhood adversity and PTSS was significantly stronger among GSD boys (β = 0.36, p < .001) and GSD girls (β = 0.35, p < .001) than among HC boys (β = 0.21, p < .001) and HC girls (β = 0.25, p < .001). ConclusionsFindings offer a modifiable target for prevention and/or intervention among middle adolescents, as emotion regulation difficulties may partially explain the presence of PTSS following cumulative interpersonal childhood adversity.

The lasting imprint of childhood disadvantage: cumulative histories of exposure to childhood adversity and trajectories of psychological distress in adulthood.

This study contributes to the literature on the long-term effects of childhood disadvantage on mental health by estimating the association between patterns of cumulative childhood adversity on trajectories of psychological distress in adulthood. There is little research that investigates how compositional variations in the accumulation of childhood adversity may initiate distinct processes of disadvantage and differentially shape trajectories of psychological distress across the adult life course. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics' Childhood Retrospective Circumstance Study and latent class analysis, we first identify distinct classes representing varied histories of exposure to childhood adversities using 25 indicators of adversity across multiple childhood domains. Next, the latent classes are included as predictors of trajectories of psychological distress in adulthood. The results demonstrate that patterns of experiences of childhood adversity are associated with higher levels of adult psychological distress that persists, and in some cases worsens, in adulthood, contributing to disparities in mental health across the life course.

Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their associations with intimate partner violence and child maltreatment: Results from a Brazilian birth cohort

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been found to predict many negative life outcomes. However, very little evidence exists on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Child Maltreatment (CM). We investigated the impact of maternal ACEs on IPV and CM in three different: cumulative risk, individual adversities and particular groupings of ACEs. The 2015 Pelotas Birth Cohort, Southern Brazil, has followed a population-based sample mothers and children repeatedly until children were aged 4 years, when mothers provided data on ACEs, and current IPV and CM. ACEs were examined in three different ways: (i) as a cumulative risk score; (ii) individual adversities; and (iii) patterns of ACEs (Latent Class Analysis: LCA). One quarter (25.4%) of mothers reported having 5+ ACEs in childhood. Compared to mothers with no ACEs, those who reported 5+ ACEs, had 4.9 (95%CI 3.5; 6.7) times the risk of experiencing IPV and 3.8 (95%CI 2.5; 5.6) times the risk of reporting child maltreatment. LCA results also highlighted the major influence of multiple ACEs on later IPV and CM. However, individual ACEs related to violence (exposure to abuse or domestic violence) showed some specificity for both later IPV and CM, over and above the influence of cumulative childhood adversity. This is the first large study to demonstrate a strong link between maternal ACEs and both IPV and CM. Cumulative ACE exposure and some specificity in effects of childhood violence are important for later IPV and CM. Integrated prevention is essential for reducing the intergenerational transmission of adversity and violence.

The Association Between Midlife Education and Depressive Symptoms in Late Life: The AGES-Reykjavik Study

BACKGROUND: Disability and depression are associated with cumulative health adversities such as socioeconomic status (SES), nutrition, medical care, and education among older adults. However, there is little evidence on the longitudinal association between mid-life education level with a disability and depressive symptoms in older adults in Iceland. The aim of the study was to examine the association between mid-life education and prevalence of activity of daily living (ADL) dependency and high depressive symptoms in late-life. METHODS: A large community-based population residing in Reykjavik, Iceland (n=4991, 57.3% women, 76.9±5.8 yrs) participated in a longitudinal study with an average of 25 years of follow-up. Mid-life education was categorized into 4 groups (primary, secondary, college, and university). ADL dependency and high depressive symptoms were assessed on average 25 (±4) years later. The 5-item ADL dependency score ranged between 0 (no difficulty) and 18. Depressive symptoms were assessed by the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). RESULTS: After controlling for demographic and health-related risk factors, those with higher education at mid-life were significantly less likely to have high depressive symptomatology (6 or higher GDS scores, Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.65, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.52 ~ 0.82, P < 0.0001). However, mid-life education was not associated with ADL dependency in later life. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that mid-life education is associated with depressive symptoms 25 years later, while no association found with ADL dependency among Icelandic older adults.

Relationships among adverse childhood experience patterns, psychological resilience, self-esteem and depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents: A serial multiple mediation model

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adolescent depression are both prevalent social problems that can increase the risk of several negative health consequences throughout life. The original definition of ACEs misdirects the focus of intervention efforts for ACEs to only family dysfunction and parenting practices. We used a broader definition of ACEs and a latent class analysis (LCA) model to examine ACE patterns, aiming to overcome the shortcomings of cumulative and single adversity approaches based on the special social context of China. The data were derived from a middle school in Huaibei City of Anhui Province in 2019 and 2020, which was a prospective study involving 1687 junior high school students. At the initial evaluation (T1), ACEs, psychological resilience, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms were assessed by the students. At Time 2 (T2), the depressive symptoms of students were assessed. LCA and mediation analyses were conducted with Mplus version 8.2. The LCA identified the following three heterogeneous ACE classes: “low adversity” (36.4%), “moderate adversity” (44.2%), and “high adversity” (19.4%). The mediation analysis showed that the ACE patterns affected depressive symptoms through the following two mediation paths only in the moderate but not in the high adversity class: self-esteem alone and a path combining psychological resilience and self-esteem. Psychological resilience separately did not mediate the association between ACE patterns and depressive symptoms. To reduce depressive symptoms, interventions for students with ACEs need to improve self-esteem through many channels.

Cumulative Childhood Adversity and Its Associations With Mental Health in Childhood, Adolescence, and Adulthood in Rural China.

Capitalizing on a 15-year longitudinal dataset of 9–12 years old children in rural China, this study adopts a life course perspective and analyzes cumulative childhood adversity and its associations with mental health problems from childhood to adulthood. Four domains of childhood life are selected to construct cumulative childhood adversity: socioeconomic hardship, family disruption, physical issue, and academic setback. Overall, cumulative childhood adversity significantly associates with children’s internalizing and externalizing problems as well as adults’ depression and self-esteem. However, cumulative childhood adversity has no significant relationship with internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescence. Furthermore, different domains of childhood adversity matter differently for mental health problems in different life stages. Physical issue and academic setback have the strongest association with internalizing and externalizing problems in childhood, while only socioeconomic hardship has a significant relationship with depression and self-esteem in adulthood. The relationship between cumulative childhood adversity and adult mental health problems is fully mediated by educational attainment. Finally, there is no gender difference in either the occurrence of cumulative childhood adversity or the association between cumulative childhood adversity and mental health problems.

Risk and Resilience of Somali Children in the Context of Climate Change, Famine, and Conflict

Climate change is an existential threat to all of humanity. Its impact on the children of Somalia provides insights into the severity of risks posed by climate change to current and future generations. Globally, there has been a continuous increase in mean annual temperatures since 1991 and scientists anticipate an increase of up to 4.3 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Concomitantly, Somalia has experienced a decrease in annual rainfall, resulting in recurrent droughts. According to the UN’s emergency aid coordination office, these droughts have grown in frequency and intensity over the past three decades, fueling increased frequency of famine and contributing to internal conflict and civil war. In this article, the impact of climate change on children, exemplified by the plight of Somali children, is viewed through the lens of cumulative adversity and related consequences of poverty on malnutrition, illness, disruptions of family systems, and displacement, with a diaspora around the globe. The paper promotes a multi-systems resilience framework that guides strategies for addressing the complex, cascading crises that accompany climate change, exploring the construct of resilience from the individual/interpersonal level through family systems and communities, including a reframing of the Somali diaspora. The paper concludes with a series of global transnational policy recommendations based on children’s rights, the promotion of resilience, and approaching climate change from a child sensitive perspective, encouraging youth engagement and leadership, along with peace-building.

Paradoxes in Borderline Emotional Dysregulation in Adolescence: Influence of Parenting, Stressful Life Events, and Attachment.

Introduction: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) in adolescents is characterized by emotional dysregulation, insecure attachment, a history of stressful life events (SLEs) as well as dysfunctional parent–child interactions. The respective contribution of each of these factors on BPD affective symptoms is not yet clear. The purpose of this study is to assess the distinct impact of parental adversity and SLEs on BPD affective symptoms and the role of attachment and alexithymia in such emotional processes.Method: This study explored parental dysfunction and SLEs as predictors of affective symptoms of BPD and of attachment insecurity in BPD adolescents (n = 85) and healthy controls (n = 84) aged 13–19 years from the European Research Network on BPD. The links between adversity and BPD symptoms were also investigated by emotional dysregulation assessment, as measured by alexithymia and hopelessness.Results: Dysfunctional parental interactions were linked to affective symptoms, hopelessness, and anxious attachment in healthy controls but not in BPD. Cumulative SLEs were positively correlated with affective symptoms and avoidant attachment in the control group but negatively correlated with both these variables in BPD. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that, in BPD, affective symptoms were independent of dysfunctional parenting but depended on attachment, whereas in controls, a maternal affectionless control style directly predicted affective symptoms. Moreover, increasing numbers of SLEs reduced affective symptoms in BPD, independently of parental interactions or attachment, and were associated with growing use of operative thinking.Discussion: BPD patients showed paradoxical emotional reactions: there was no increase of hopelessness and affective symptoms with an increased parental dysfunction, but a decrease in affective symptoms and hopelessness with cumulative SLE. Two pathways arose, one involving attachment as an emotional dysregulation process for parent–child interactions and a second one for SLE, with a more direct pathway to affective symptoms, independent of attachment but dependent on early interactions, and involving alexithymia. In summary, adversity factors have distinct effects in BPD, and attachment is partly accountable for affective symptoms independently of adversity. Our results suggest that in highly insecure conditions, cumulative adversity may produce paradoxical effects, including a lesser expression of affective symptoms and hopelessness.

Impacts of COVID-19 on Refugee Service Provision and Community Support: A Rapid Assessment during the Pandemic

ABSTRACT The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has significant impacts on refugee populations and created social, economic as well as public health crises that led to multipronged challenges and barriers to resettlement services and community support. This study aims to explore the impacts of the pandemic on refugee service provision from the standpoint of refugee-serving professionals, refugee community leaders, and volunteers. Using rapid evaluation and appraisal methods, we conducted individual and focus group interviews with 42 key stakeholders in refugee services, followed by a brief online survey with 69 service providers. A thematic analysis revealed how preexisting are conflated with emergent barriers during the pandemic and how such cumulative adversities experienced by the refugee community have widened the gaps in social services and healthcare as well as social support within the refugee community. This study proposes several implications for future research and policy in social work with refugee populations during the post-COVID time.

Cumulative Childhood Adversity and Long-Term Educational Outcomes in Individuals with Out-of-Home Care Experience: Do Multiples Matter for a Population Defined by Adversity?

Abstract Previous research has demonstrated a graded relationship between cumulative childhood adversity and adverse later outcomes. Individuals with out-of-home care (OHC) experience constitute a population characterised by both childhood and educational disadvantages. Based on a fifty-year follow-up of a Stockholm cohort born in 1953, the purpose of this study was to examine the associations between cumulative childhood adversity and long-term educational outcomes in this group. The cumulative disadvantage perspective suggests that there would be a negative association, while the disadvantage saturation perspective implies that cumulative adversity would be less consequential for disadvantaged individuals. By means of multigroup path analysis, we furthermore asked whether this association may differ in relation to individuals with child welfare contact (CWC) and to the general population (GP). Adjusting for socioeconomic conditions and cognitive ability, cumulative childhood adversity had a negative influence on midlife educational attainment in the GP. However, it did not seem to influence the educational outcomes of neither OHC experienced individuals nor individuals with other types of CWC. The results of this study thus lend support to the disadvantage saturation perspective. Further studies are needed to explore this relationship.

Mental health in Lebanon: Tomorrow's silent epidemic

Lebanon is a middle-income country that has been recently crippled by several tragedies including the economic collapse, COVID-19, and the fourth of August Beirut port explosion, the world’s most powerful non-nuclear explosion of the twenty-first century. Recent data on mental health from Lebanon is summarised, and other topics such as the psychological impact of cumulative adversities and the role of international support in Lebanon are examined. Data from Lebanon shows severe levels of distress among the people, in a country with minimal resources. Given current adversities in Lebanon, recent data in the country, and the literature on adversity and mental health outcomes of man-made disasters, Lebanon is most likely going to face an epidemic in poor mental health. A call is made for the wider scientific community and international organizations to support the mental health field in the country and help prevent further negative mental health outcomes. Understanding how to better navigate mental health in places with extreme adversity and emergencies can be beneficial to other communities which might face similar challenges.

Lifetime cumulative adversity and physical health deterioration in old age: Evidence from a fourteen-year longitudinal study

BackgroundAlthough several studies have demonstrated the associations between lifetime cumulative adversity and late-life physical health, many of them were conducted at a single time point and examined events that occurred in childhood only. Less is known about the effect of lifelong adversity on the aging process over time. This study aimed to investigate the impact of cumulative adversity on the accelerated deterioration in health over time - mobility limitation and self-rated state of health in old age. MethodsThis study provides a 14-year, 6-time-point follow-up on a representative sample of Europeans using the SHARE Project - longitudinal survey panel. The sample included a total of 7195 respondents aged 65 and older from nine countries in Europe. The outcome measurements were the number of mobility limitations and self-rated health – trajectories along 6 measurements. The independent variable was Lifetime Cumulative Adversity, and the analyses included also control variables – age, gender, socioeconomic status, depression, and country. ResultsTime-based Latent Growth Curve Modeling has demonstrated that the effects of Lifetime Cumulative Adversity were significant on both health measures, by means of the intercepts and the slopes: Greater experience of adversities correlated with a higher physical health impairment at baseline and a higher decline along time. The effects of self-rated health were weaker than the effects of mobility limitations. ConclusionsGiven that the populations of numerous countries are rapidly aging, understanding the risk factors associated with health deterioration is important, especially for policymakers and medical health care experts, to raise awareness of the relationship between lifelong adversity and health decline and to build preventive interventions to deal with these consequences.

Social Determinants of Health and Adverse Outcomes in Adolescent Pregnancies.

The association between adolescent childbearing and adverse maternal and birth outcomes has been well documented. Adverse adolescent pregnancy outcomes are associated with substantial risk of long-term morbidities for the young mother and their newborns. Multiple levels of social disadvantage have been related to adverse pregnancy outcomes among adolescent mothers. Patterns of cumulative social adversity define the most marginalized group of adolescents at the highest risk of experiencing adverse maternal and birth outcomes. Using a social determinants of health (SDOH) framework, we present an overview of the current scientific evidence on the influence of these conditions on adolescent pregnancy outcomes. Multiple SDOH such as residence in remote areas, low educational attainment, low socioeconomic status, and lack of family and community support have been linked with increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes among adolescents. Based on the PROGRESS-Plus equity framework, this review highlights some SDOH aspects that perinatal health researchers, clinicians, and policy makers should consider in the context of adolescent pregnancies. There is a need to acknowledge the intersectional nature of multiple SDOH when formulating clinical and societal interventions to address the needs of the most marginalized adolescent in this critical period of life.

827Early life influences on timing of menarche in racial/ethnic minority and immigrant women

Abstract Background Early life adversity and infections may theoretically affect the timing and effort of reproductive development. We examined associations of childhood adversity and exposure to tonsillitis with age at menarche in women age 40-64 years. Methods A multi-ethnic cohort of 394 women reported on exposure to parental maltreatment and maladjustment during childhood (&amp;lt;18 years) and on any diagnosis of tonsillitis, an infection primarily acquired in early life and adolescence. We used linear and logistic regression models to examine the associations of cumulative/specific childhood adversity experience(s) and history of tonsillitis with average age at menarche and early onset of menarche (&amp;lt;12 years of age). Results The average age at menarche was 12.6 years, and was significantly lower for women who lived with a mentally ill caregiver (M = 12.4 (95% CI: 11.7-13.0)) and those with a history of tonsillitis (M = 12.6 (95% CI: 12.0-13.2)). In adjusted multivariable models, living with a mentally ill caretaker (RR = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.0-2.1) and a having a history of tonsillitis (RR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.3-2.4) were associated with increased risk of early menarche compared with women without these exposures. Cumulative and other specific adversities were not statistically associated with early menarche. Conclusions These findings support growing evidence that early life experiences may influence reproductive development. Key messages Early life adversity related to living with mentally ill caretakers and a history of tonsillitis is associated with earlier menarche in racial/ethnic minority and immigrant women.

910Maternal adversity and cardiovascular health of the offspring

Abstract Background We investigated the respective and cumulative impact of mothers’ exposure(s) to adversity over time on cardiovascular (CV) outcomes of her offspring. Methods Participants were part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Offspring CV measures were collected at seven and 17 years of age. Maternal adversity was self-reported from the onset of pregnancy to 8-weeks postnatal. Linear mixed models were used to analyse associations between adversity and log-transformed longitudinal CV outcomes. Results There was no association between cumulative or perceived impact of maternal adversity with CV outcomes in either sex. Specific adversities were associated with CV outcomes. For example, at age seven in girls, “Argued with partner” (β:0.9764 95%CI:0.9608-0.9922) was associated with decreased heart rate, and at age 17 “Partner rejected pregnancy” (β:1.0716 95% CI:1.0191-1.1269) with increased heart rate. In boys, at age seven “Partner was ill” (β:0.9713 95%CI:0.9511-0.9920) was associated with decreased systolic blood pressure, and at age 17 “Very ill” (β:1.0323 95%CI:1.0091-1.0561) with increased systolic blood pressure. Conclusions There were no associations evident with the primary exposure measure of maternal adversity and offspring CV outcomes. Specific adversities were associated with favourable changes in offspring CV outcomes at age seven, however the association reversed at age 17. This could be due to a protective adaptive response to maternal adversity present in childhood that may reverse trajectory by age 17. Key messages There was no association between cumulative maternal adversity and offspring cardiovascular outcomes, however specific events may be associated with cardiovascular outcomes in an age-dependent manner.