Roles of participation in social activities in the association between adverse childhood experiences and health among older Japanese adults

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have shown strong associations with later-life health such as depression and subjective health. Social participation is also associated with later-life health but it is unclear to what extent this could contribute to alleviating harmful impacts of ACEs, nor is it clear whether ACEs are themselves associated with later-life social participation. Thus, this study aims to understand: (1) the influence of ACEs on social participation in later life and (2) whether social participation can alleviate the harmful influences of ACEs on depression and subjective health among Japanese older adults. Data were from 5,671 Japanese older adults (aged 65+) in surveys in 2013 and 2016 as part of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES). Logistic regression analyses were conducted to estimate the relations between ACEs and later-life social participation, adjusting for potential confounders and mediators. Inverse probability weighting was used to estimate average effects of ACEs on later-depression and subjective health, adjusting for potential confounders, and these were compared against controlled direct effect (CDE) estimates from marginal structural models based on all respondents experiencing weekly social participation. We found that ACEs were associated with reduced later-life social participation (OR for >1 ACEs = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.79, 0.99). The estimated effect of ACEs on depression ( adjusted total effect estimates: OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.05, 1.45) was marginally alleviated in estimates assuming weekly social participation for everyone (CDE = 1.18, 95% CI = 0.98, 1.43). A similar tendency was seen for poor subjective heath. Negative impacts of ACEs on depression may be marginally mitigated through social participation, but mitigating effects were moderate. Further investigation on other potential later-life mitigating factors is needed.

Childhood adversities and memory function in later life: the mediating role of activity participation

“…However, individuals exposed to childhood adversities, especially those related to parental and household environments, often face a higher risk of social exclusion in adulthood. This can result in less adaptive personality traits, more behavior problems [ 44 , 45 ], difficulties in forming and maintaining relationships [ 46 , 47 ], and weaker social skills and interpersonal trust [ 47 , 48 ]. Consequently, childhood adversities can lead to smaller and less supportive networks, increased loneliness, reduced activity participation [ 26 , 37 , 49 ], and ultimately poorer cognitive function in older age [ 26 , 50 ].…”

Childhood Interpersonal Trauma and Depression of Middle-Aged and Older Adults in China: The Mediation Effect of Social Integration

“…It has been found that people who experienced CIT encountered more difficulties in building interpersonal effectiveness, providing positive responses, or establishing boundaries in social interactions (D’Andrea et al, 2012). Evidence has also shown that early life interpersonal adversities were associated with the lack of social resources (Ferraro et al, 2016), eroding the opportunities for social engagement and acquiring social support (Nishio et al, 2022; Sperry & Widom, 2013; Su et al, 2022). Hence, it is projected a chain of risk that older adults with CIT may be more likely to withdraw from social activities and lack social support, which could further increase the risk of depression in mid-later life (Gariépy et al, 2016; Tengku Mohd et al, 2019).…”