Childhood Misfortune as a Threat to Successful Aging: Avoiding Disease

The purpose of this study was to examine whether childhood misfortune reduces the likelihood of being disease free in adulthood. This article used a sample of 3,000+ American adults, aged 25-74, who were first interviewed in 1995 and reinterviewed in 2005. Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of avoiding disease at the first wave and remaining disease free a decade later. Consistent with a life course view of successful aging, higher levels of childhood misfortune (e.g., abuse, financial strain) are associated with a lower probability of disease avoidance. This pattern was observed across a large set of chronic conditions and in multivariate analyses spanning both waves of the study. Childhood misfortune has approximately equal consequences for adult disease avoidance as does the combined effect of moderate lifetime smoking and obesity. Efforts to alleviate adverse experiences for children may have long-term benefits for successful aging.