Association of adverse and positive childhood experiences with subjective age: findings from 5759 Chinese young adults

BACKGROUND: How old one feels one's subjective age has been shown to predict important psychological and health outcomes. However, little is known about the role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and positive childhood experiences (PCEs) in subjective age. METHODS: Subjective age was assessed via self-reported perceived psychological and physiological ages, and subjective aging was defined as the ratio of subjective age to chronological age greater than 1.5. Logistic regression was used to analyze the associations of ACEs and PCEs with subjective aging. Using relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI) as an effect measure, we evaluated whether PCEs moderated ACEs' impact on subjective aging. RESULTS: Participants had a mean chronological age of 19.3 years, with a mean self-perceived psychological age of 26.9 years and a physiological age of 30.1 years. Most (97.8%) reported PCEs, while 61.5% had ACEs. In adjusted models, those with high ACE exposure (≥5) showed increased odds of subjective physiological aging (OR = 1.976, 95%CI = 1.608-2.429) and a higher likelihood of subjective psychological aging (OR = 2.009, 95%CI = 1.596-2.529) compared to those with an ACE score of 0. Individuals with PCE scores of 10 had lower odds of subjective physiological aging (OR = 0.417, 95%CI = 0.318-0.545) and a lower likelihood of subjective psychological aging (OR = 0.586, 95%CI = 0.441-0.779) than those with lower PCE scores (0-4). Additionally, the effect of high ACE levels on subjective physiological aging was significantly increased by low PCE levels (RERI [95%CI]:3.900 [1.059-6.741]). CONCLUSIONS: ACEs significantly increased the risk of subjective aging. PCEs significantly buffered ACEs' impact, revealing their protective role in aging perceptions.