The Influence of Childhood Adversity on Inflammation and Psychopathology in Older Adults: An HRS study

It is expected that within the next decade, adults aged 65 will outnumber those under 18. Additionally, 20% of older adults meet criteria for a mental health disorder (Carpenter et al., 2022). One theorized contributor to this includes childhood adversity, through its effects on systemic inflammation and chronic diseases (Hillman et al., 2024; Lin et al., 2016). However, no studies have examined how current perceived stress can influence this relationship. This study uses data from the Health and Retirement Study (Sonnega et al., 2014) to examine pathways between childhood adversity, general psychopathology, inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP), and current perceived stress in older adulthood. All methods and secondary analyses are registered on the Open Science Framework (LINK). Data comes from a U.S population-based sample of 3,400 older adults (ages 50 - 83) who participated in face-to-face interviews in 2010 and 2012. Self-report questionnaires assessed all variables besides inflammation, which was measured through blood draws and assayed for CRP. Aim 1 will use linear regression and simple sloped analyses to examine the influence of childhood adversity on inflammation, general psychopathology and whether current perceived stress moderates the associations. Aim 2 will use structural equation modeling to estimate an indirect moderating effects model in which greater childhood adversity will be associated with greater psychopathology through higher CRP. Associations are expected to be weaker among older adults with lower levels of current perceived stress. Findings will advance understanding heterogeneity in the long term associations between adversity, health and wellbeing across the lifespan.