Adverse childhood experiences affect the health of middle-aged and older people in China: The multiple mediating roles of sleep duration and life satisfaction

Haojie Yin; Xueying Qiu; Yan Zhu; Qing Yang

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1092971

Adverse childhood experiences affect the health of middle-aged and older people in China: The multiple mediating roles of sleep duration and life satisfaction

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Mar 22:14:1092971. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1092971. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Haojie Yin¹, Xueying Qiu¹, Yan Zhu², Qing Yang³

Affiliations

¹ Geriatrics, Respiratory and Critical Care Department, The First People's Hospital of Neijiang, Neijiang, China.
² Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First People's Hospital of Neijiang, Neijiang, China.
³ Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.

Abstract

Background: Although a significant amount of literature has examined the association between childhood adversity and adverse health outcomes, which may be affected by sleep duration and life satisfaction. However, this relationship has not been researched in the Chinese population. This study aimed to assess the association between childhood adversity and health outcomes, with sleep duration and life satisfaction as mediators.

Methods: A total of 14,693 subjects aged 45 and over from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) were included. Taking childhood adversity as the independent variable, the health level of middle-aged and older individuals as the dependent variable, and sleep time and satisfaction as the mediating factors, Mplus 8.0 software was used to establish a structural equation model (SEM) to analyze the link between childhood adversity and health level and to explore the mediating effect of target mediators between childhood adversity and health level.

Results: In this study, childhood adversity was positively associated with depression symptoms, activities of daily living (ADL), and the number of chronic diseases (r = 0.116, 0.026 and 0.050, respectively, P < 0.001). Associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and depressive symptoms, ADL, and number of chronic diseases were mediated by sleep duration and life satisfaction, respectively.

Conclusion: Adversity experienced in childhood can affect the health status of middle-aged and older people. By ensuring adequate sleep and improving life satisfaction, health outcomes can be improved, and the negative effects of childhood adversity can be reduced.

Keywords: activities of daily living; adverse childhood experiences; chronic disease; depression; mediation analysis.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Sichuan Medical Hygiene and Health Promotion Association (No. KY2022QN0030). The funders played no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, publication decision, or manuscript preparation.