Maltreatment (physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect) in childhood is common and has both immediate and long-lasting negative effects. People who suffer maltreatment have a higher risk of many health conditions, including obesity, heart attack and stroke. However, it is not well understood why this is the case and at what age ill health starts to manifest. Unhealthy eating, smoking, physical inactivity and inadequate sleep may play a role in this relationship, but mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, inflammation and other biological factors can also be involved. These factors might have separate effects but also act together, and these mechanisms might differ between men and women. This research aims to understand when the cardiovascular consequences of maltreatment appear, the pathways that link childhood maltreatment to heart disease in later life and whether these mechanisms differ by sex. This will help to identify potential targets for interventions to prevent heart disease in those who suffered maltreatment. We will use data from several British studies (ALSPAC, UK Biobank, the 1958 British Birth Cohort, Millennium Cohort and Growing up in Scotland), that have assessed maltreatment in early life and have measures of cardiovascular health indicators at different ages to understand when, why and how people who suffered maltreatment in childhood have a higher risk of heart disease in later life.