Aim 1. To determine the relationship between early life adversity and cardiometabolic health and cognitive function in mid-life.

Study design: We will estimate the association between each of several measures of early life adversity (SEP measured by parental education and occupation; major life events such as parental divorce, death or illness; parental mental health and addiction; warmth, affection and satisfaction with parent-child relationships; perception of happiness of childhood; parental physical or emotional cruelty; sexual abuse; mobility of family indexed by number of schools attended) and 1) trajectories of cardiometabolic health in the ALSPAC mothers or 2) the single measures of cardiometabolic health in the ALSPAC fathers. In both the ALSPAC mothers and their partners, we will also assess the extent of clustering of dimensions of early life adversity, and whether these dimensions have effects on health that are greater or less than would be predicted from their independent associations.

Aim 2. To clarify the role of adult adversity in the association between early life adversity and cardiometabolic health and cognitive function in mid-life.

Study design: We will determine the extent to which social mobility (change in SEP between early life and adulthood), adult relationships, social support and neighbourhood factors mediate or modify the association between early life adversity and trajectories of cardiometabolic health and cognitive function. Within ALSPAC, we will examine male-female differences in the health consequences of early life adversity, using data from male-female partners (using couples who have been together throughout the period of the ALSPAC cohort, as identified by Yoav Ben-Schlomo and Alison Teyhan); these couples are matched at least partially for adult SEP and other life circumstances, but not necessarily for early life adversity.

Aim 3. To examine which factors mitigate or exacerbate the association between early life adversity and cardiometabolic health and cognitive function in mid-life.

Study design: We will examine the roles of trajectories of smoking, alcohol use, depression, and of DNA methylation as mediators or moderators of the association between early life adversity and cardiometabolic health/cognitive function.