Primary Submission Category: Life-course/developmental
Early Life Adversity and Adult Substance Misuse: The Moderating Role of Adult Residential Characteristics
Authors: Blakelee Kemp, Alex Mason, Promise Emmanuel,
Presenting Author: Blakelee Kemp*
Childhood adversity (e.g., socioeconomic disadvantage, child abuse) leads to lasting biopsychosocial changes that considerably increase the risk of later substance misuse, even into midlife and beyond. This is a concern because substance misuse among midlife and older adults is a growing public health concern. However, there are significant gaps in knowledge about the multiple contextual factors that diminish or heighten the risk of substance misuse after experiencing adversity decades earlier. Modifiable features of the places in which people live and age can dramatically shape, for better or worse, the availability of resources, exposure to risks, and responses to early life adverse experiences. This study links data from the Health and Retirement Study to examine the extent to which adult residential characteristics (e.g., alcohol and tobacco outlets, neighborhood socioeconomic status) intensify or diminish associations of childhood adversity with alcohol and tobacco misuse among midlife and older adults. Results indicate that residential social cohesion and the number of residential social ties increase the predicted probability of heavy episodic drinking, particularly among those who had no socioeconomic disadvantage during childhood. These findings are consistent with reports showing that alcohol misuse tends to be a social behavior and is more prevalent among those in a higher socioeconomic standing. Importantly, this study extends prior evidence of the link between socioeconomic status and alcohol misuse by demonstrating a similar pattern with childhood socioeconomic status and finding that this association is contingent upon adult social residential characteristics. This study reinforces the value of a contextual approach to the study of substance misuse, considering how early life conditions and adult residential contexts jointly contribute to mid and later life substance misuse.