TY - JOUR
PY - 2014//
TI - Adverse experiences in childhood, adulthood neighbourhood disadvantage and health behaviours
JO - Journal of epidemiology and community health
A1 - Halonen, Jaana I.
A1 - Vahtera, Jussi
A1 - Kivimaki, Mika
A1 - Pentti, Jaana
A1 - Kawachi, Ichiro
A1 - Subramanian, S. V.
SP - 741
EP - 746
VL - 68
IS - 8
N2 - BACKGROUND: Early life adversities may play a role in the associations observed between neighbourhood contextual factors and health behaviours.
METHODS: We examined whether self-reported adverse experiences in childhood (parental divorce, long-term financial difficulties, serious conflicts, serious/chronic illness or alcohol problem in the family, and frequent fear of a family member) explain the association between adulthood neighbourhood disadvantage and co-occurrence of behavioural risk factors (smoking, moderate/heavy alcohol use, physical inactivity). Study population consisted of 31 271 public sector employees from Finland. The cross-sectional associations were analysed using two-level cumulative logistic regression models.
RESULTS: Childhood adverse experiences were associated with the sum of risk factors (cumulative OR 1.32 (95% CI 1.25 to 1.40) among those reporting 3-6 vs 0 adversities). Adverse experiences did not attenuate the association between neighbourhood disadvantage and risk factors; this cumulative OR was 1.52 (95% CI 1.43 to 1.62) in the highest versus lowest quartile of neighbourhood disadvantage when not including adversities, and 1.50 (95% CI 1.40 to 1.60) when adjusted for childhood adversities. In adversity-stratified analyses those reporting 3-6 adversities had 1.60-fold (95% CI 1.42 to 1.80) likelihood of risk factors if living in the neighbourhood of the highest disadvantage, while in those with fewer adversities this likelihood was 1.09-1.34-fold (95% CI 0.98 to 1.53) (p interaction 0.07).
CONCLUSIONS: Childhood adverse experiences and adulthood neighbourhood disadvantage were associated with behavioural risk factors. Childhood experiences did not explain associations between neighbourhood disadvantage and the risk factors. However, those with more adverse experiences may be susceptible for the socioeconomic conditions of neighbourhoods.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 0143-005X UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2013-203441 ID - ref1 ER -