Childhood Psychosocial Resources: Derived from Age 11 Essays in the National Child Development Study, 2018-2021

Boehm, Julia K. (2022). Childhood Psychosocial Resources: Derived from Age 11 Essays in the National Child Development Study, 2018-2021. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Service. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-855776

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and the prevalence of certain cardiovascular risk factors continues to rise. These trends suggest that primary and secondary prevention efforts could be accompanied by primordial prevention, which seeks to preserve the ideal cardiovascular health that most children experience early in life. However, the psychosocial factors in childhood that promote cardiovascular functioning are vastly understudied. Initial evidence indicates that adversity in childhood (e.g., socioeconomic disadvantage, abuse) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk in adulthood. Yet substantially less is known about protective psychosocial factors in childhood (also known as resources) that may promote cardiovascular functioning. Protective factors are not the mere opposite of risk factors, and research suggests that adults with psychosocial resources have reduced risk of CVD. To date, however, protective psychosocial factors in childhood have received little attention. Given recent calls to implement primordial prevention strategies, this is a significant gap. Thus, the overall hypothesis of the proposed research is that psychosocial resources in childhood (including positivity, optimism, purpose in life, and supportive social relationships) may foster healthy behavioral patterns in early adulthood that contribute to reduced cardiometabolic risk in middle age. The specific aims to be tested are: 1) determine whether psychosocial resources in childhood protect against cardiometabolic risk in adulthood, 2) determine whether psychosocial resources in childhood are associated with healthier behavior in adulthood, and 3) determine whether psychosocial resources are linked with cardiometabolic risk in adulthood via healthier behaviors. The proposed research will capitalize on data from the 1958 British Birth Cohort (i.e., the National Child Development Study), which assessed psychosocial resources at age 11, health behaviors at age 33, and cardiometabolic risk at age 45. Notably, childhood psychosocial resources will be determined based on essays that cohort members wrote at age 11 about their future lives at age 25. Trained judges will rate this rich and unique data source for the presence of psychosocial resources so that associations with adult health behaviors and cardiometabolic risk can be determined. The proposed work will advance understanding of how psychosocial factors play a role in the primordial prevention of CVD.

Data description (abstract)

Childhood adversity is associated with poor health in adulthood. Yet substantially less is known about protective psychosocial factors in childhood (also known as resources) that may promote health across the lifespan. Protective factors are not the mere opposite of risk factors, and research suggests that adults with higher versus lower levels of psychosocial resources have better health outcomes. However, psychosocial resources in childhood have received little attention. Given recent calls to implement primordial prevention strategies to improve population health, this is a significant gap. Thus, the overall hypothesis guiding this research is that childhood psychosocial resources - including positive affect, optimism, purpose in life, life satisfaction, and supportive social relationships - may foster healthy patterns across adulthood. This research capitalized on essays that members of the National Child Development Study wrote at age 11 about their imagined future lives at age 25. A team of judges rated the essays, a rich and unique data source, for the presence of psychosocial resources so that associations with adult health could be explored. This data collection provides background materials for rating the age 11 essays from the National Child Development Study. The data itself can be requested from the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) via clsfeedback@ucl.ac.uk.

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