The Long Arm of Childhood: Pathways to Later-Life Health

Proteomic signatures underlying the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and multimorbidity: evidence from the 1958 National Child Development Study (Raphaële Castagné, EQUITY research team, CERPOP, Toulouse INSERM-University)

Multimorbidity, the co-occurrence of ?2 chronic conditions, is a growing concern across the life course. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase the risk of multiple chronic conditions in later life. Using data from the National Child Development Study (N=18,558; follow-up N=5,056), we examined associations between ACEs, proteomic profiles, and multimorbidity at age 62. Participants with ?2 ACEs had higher levels of adrenomedullin, IL-6, and serine protease 8, which partially mediated the ACEs-multimorbidity link. Findings highlight early-life prevention, psychosocial factors, and the need to move beyond single-disease frameworks toward integrated health approaches.

Drawing Your Inner Self: How Children’s Drawings Predict Their Future (Gabriella Conti, UCL)

This study examines whether human figure drawings in early childhood predict long-term outcomes decades later using two British birth cohorts: the 1970 BCS70 and 1958 NCDS. Children’s drawings were scored using established systems (Koppitz, Harris-Goodenough) and individual features recorded. LASSO feature selection identified predictive elements after controlling for cognitive ability, behavior, health, and family factors. Results show drawing features significantly predict academic achievement and adult outcomes including education, income, and health. Different features predict different domains—facial elements for education, pupils for psychological distress. Findings suggest drawings capture multidimensional developmental processes, with important implications for AI-based low-cost developmental screening in resource-constrained settings.

Dimensions of Childhood Adversity and Midlife Orthostatic Stress Response in the 1958 British Birth Cohort (Sidonie Roque, UCL)

The study aims to investigate the relationship between dimensions of childhood adversity– specifically threat, deprivation, and unpredictability, and their sub-dimensions – and midlife (age 62) heart rate and blood pressure at rest and recovery to orthostatic stress and orthostatic hypotension using data from the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS). The results show limited evidence of general associations with cardiovascular or orthostatic stress responses in midlife. When associations were found, they were modest and outcome-specific, indicating selective differences in blood pressure regulation rather than global autonomic dysregulation at age 62. Further research is needed to explore the long-term effects of childhood threat and unpredictability on autonomic functioning throughout the life course.

Using Longitudinal Cohort Data to Inform Prevention Interventions: Analysis of Early-Life Determinants of Multiple Long Term Conditions (Sebastian Stannard, University of Southampton Faculty of Medicine)

Building on early work that developed a conceptual framework of early life domains of future health risk and mapped these domains across UK birth cohorts, we used the 1970 British Cohort Study to examine how five domains from pregnancy through childhood relate to multiple long term conditions (MLTCs) with role limitation at age 46. We also explored the potential impact of early years interventions by applying effect estimates from programmes including Family Hubs, the Family Nurse Partnership, and teenage pregnancy prevention initiatives. These analyses suggested these interventions could have modest but meaningful reductions in risk of MLTCs with role-limitation, particularly for children experiencing higher early-life adversity. Overall, this work highlights the value of birth cohort datasets for generating life course evidence and informing early life prevention policy.