Project description
The link between adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and later health has been established. However many ACE studies do not account for the temporal nature or clustering of events. This study examines how changes in family structure, parental employment and health status cluster during the first 16 years of a child’s life. These trajectories are then used to predict health in early adulthood.
Using data from the BHPS, we identify early life trajectories based on parental relationship, employment and health states between the ages of 0-16. Socio-demographic characteristics are used to describe the differences within and between childhood life event trajectories. Health (e.g. limiting long-term illness, GHQ-12, SF-12, etc) and social (e.g. age left full-time education, age at first child, age at first marriage, etc.) outcome data from the UKHLS are predicted from the childhood life event trajectories. Timing and clustering of childhood life events explored to determine whether critical or sensitive periods in early life have greater associations with later health and social outcomes.
Team members
Dr Cara Booker, Research Fellow and Deputy Director of Graduate Studies, ISER, University of Essex