ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology

Sci Rep. 2022; 12(1): 7062. PMID: 35488035https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35488035/

Brief Summary: This study provides evidence on the relationship between parental separation and hypertension at midlife and suggests interventions to enhance the psychological and cognitive development of girls who have experienced parental separation to help reduce multiple adverse health outcomes, including hypertension in adulthood.

Life events in early life may shape health trajectories. Parental separation and the subsequent adjustment reflect disruption that can continue for many years. Previous studies focused mostly on outcomes in early adulthood. Few studies extended the time frame to midlife. Studies that investigated outcomes in older adulthood suggest that offspring who experience parental separation may be at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity and stroke, and an increase in mortality risk.

This study examined whether parental separation in childhood is associated with hypertension at age 46, whether this differs by gender, and how any such association is mediated through family socioeconomic status (SES) during childhood, child behavior and cognitive development, and childhood physical health. It used prospective longitudinal data and formal mediation analysis to quantify previously unexplored mediating pathways in childhood, reflecting on how early life mediators might lead into adult mediators of hypertension, as a key early life event known to have significant implications for children’s outcomes in education, mental wellbeing and physical health. Furthermore, this analysis suggests a significant gender difference in the association between parental separation and offspring hypertension. While no association was found for men, for women parental separation was associated with offspring hypertension (in unadjusted models). Girls who experience parental separation before age 10 years may suffer a decline in economic and social resources, and poorer motor coordination and behavioral development, which predicts later health outcomes. These childhood mediators appear to partially mediate the association between parental separation and hypertension at age 46. Although, these childhood mediators partly operate through adult mediators, policy interventions should still consider these childhood antecedents in prevention efforts. Parental separation is stressful process and exposure to chronic stressors during early developmental years can lead to both long-term elevated blood pressure and long-lasting neurobiological effects, including a decline in cognitive development and an increase in behavioral problems.

In summary, this study provides evidence on the relationship between parental separation and hypertension at midlife. The findings suggest interventions to enhance the psychological and cognitive development of girls who have experienced parental separation to help reduce multiple adverse health outcomes, possibly including hypertension in adulthood.