Exposure to Adversity and its Impact on Later Life Cognitive, Mental, and Physical Health

Objectives We aimed to assess later-life health responses to childhood and lifetime adversity in a cohort of rural, Black South African adults.Methods We performed ordinary least squares regression using two waves of data from Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) to estimate a decline in cognitive, mental, and physical health over approximately 3 years. Our analytic sample consisted of 1,993 women and 1,496 men.Results Associations between several types of adversity and health outcomes point to declines in health. At the same time, many adverse experiences are associated with improvements in cognitive, mental, and physical health in later life. The direction of the association varied by type of exposure, health outcome, and gender.Conclusion In populations exposed to many adversities during life, specific adverse experiences may sometimes be associated with greater improvements (and not just greater decline) in health in later life. Further research is needed to unpack the mechanisms at play in these populations.