Child maltreatment and metabolic syndrome in midlife: a cohort study

Abstract

Background: Previous studies suggest associations between child maltreatment and individual adverse cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in adulthood. Less is known, however, about the relationship between child maltreatment and metabolic syndrome (MetS). This study examined the association between child maltreatment and MetS severity in midlife, and how age of child maltreatment initiation may influence this association.Methods: This study used prospectively collected data from 725 individuals followed from age 10 to 47. Participants retrospectively reported experiences of child maltreatment at age 24 using the short-term Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. We examined child maltreatment exposure as a dichotomous variable (yes/no) and as a three-level categorical variable accounting for age at maltreatment initiation (no maltreatment, prior to age 10, between ages 10-17). Standardized z-scores were used to create a continuous MetS severity score based on individual components (HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, glycated hemoglobin, blood pressure, waist circumference) measured at age 47. In secondary analyses, we examined the association between forms of child maltreatment and MetS severity. We performed linear regression to obtain mean differences and 95% confidence intervals adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics. Results: The prevalence of child maltreatment in the sample was 35.9%. There was little evidence for an association between child maltreatment and MetS score (b = 0.044; 95% CI: -0.27, 0.36). Although there was a different direction in associations depending on age of initiation, neither coefficient was statistically significant (b for initiation prior to age 10 = 0.10; 95% CI: -0.23, 0.44; b for initiation between ages 10-17 = -0.14; 95% CI: -0.81, 0.53). Emotional abuse was significantly associated with a higher MetS severity score (b = 0.58; 95% CI: 0.042, 1.11), and physical abuse was associated with a lower MetS severity score (b = -0.52; 95% CI: -1.02, -0.018). Conclusion: While overall experience of child maltreatment was not associated with mid-adult MetS, specific forms of child maltreatment may have greater impacts on adult cardiometabolic health. Future longitudinal research into associations between forms of maltreatment and MetS, and potential mechanisms linking them, is warranted.