Childhood Adversity and Systemic Inflammation in Preschool-Aged Children: The Role of Family Cohesion

Abstract

Systemic inflammation is a critical physiological mechanism that appears to link exposure to early childhood adversity to later disease. However, some children exposed to adversity have low levels of inflammatory proteins and do not go on to develop health problems. Thus, understanding what factors contribute to less inflammation in some (but not in others) is key to environmental effects on youth health. Family cohesion is one potential contributor to the differences in inflammation levels among adversity-exposed children. This study aimed to test the association between adversity and systemic inflammation, and the role of family cohesion as a moderator of this relation in 145 3- to 6-year-old children recruited from Head Start and the state Department of Social Services. Parents completed the Childhood Experiences Measure and the Cohesion subscale of the Family Environment Scale. Biomarkers linked to systemic inflammation (i.e., IL-6, IL-1β, IL-8, TNF-α, and CRP) were collected via saliva. Using path modeling, the results indicated that increases in adversity exposure were associated with increases in inflammation; adversity explained 27% of the variance in inflammation. The model testing family cohesion as a moderator was nonsignificant. Although family cohesion did not serve as a buffer as expected, dosage and frequency of adversity emerged as important factors influencing systemic inflammation in young children. These findings may suggest a need for a sharpened awareness of early adversity’s impact on biology among professionals who work with families exposed to adversity. Otherwise, the presence of these potential future disease indicators may go unnoticed in young children.