Back to Search
Start Over
Tracing the origins of midlife despair: association of psychopathology during adolescence with a syndrome of despair-related maladies at midlife.
- Source :
- Psychological Medicine; Dec2023, Vol. 53 Issue 16, p7569-7580, 12p
- Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- Background: Midlife adults are experiencing a crisis of deaths of despair (i.e. deaths from suicide, drug overdose, and alcohol-related liver disease). We tested the hypothesis that a syndrome of despair-related maladies at midlife is preceded by psychopathology during adolescence. Methods: Participants are members of a representative cohort of 1037 individuals born in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1972–73 and followed to age 45 years, with 94% retention. Adolescent mental disorders were assessed in three diagnostic assessments at ages 11, 13, and 15 years. Indicators of despair-related maladies across four domains – suicidality, substance misuse, sleep problems, and pain – were assessed at age 45 using multi-modal measures including self-report, informant-report, and national register data. Results: We identified and validated a syndrome of despair-related maladies at midlife involving suicidality, substance misuse, sleep problems, and pain. Adults who exhibited a more severe syndrome of despair-related maladies at midlife tended to have had early-onset emotional and behavioral disorders [ β = 0.23, 95% CI (0.16–0.30), p < 0.001], even after adjusting for sex, childhood SES, and childhood IQ. A more pronounced midlife despair syndrome was observed among adults who, as adolescents, were diagnosed with a greater number of mental disorders [ β = 0.26, 95% CI (0.19–0.33), p < 0.001]. Tests of diagnostic specificity revealed that associations generalized across different adolescent mental disorders. Conclusions: Midlife adults who exhibited a more severe syndrome of despair-related maladies tended to have had psychopathology as adolescents. Prevention and treatment of adolescent psychopathology may mitigate despair-related maladies at midlife and ultimately reduce deaths of despair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- SUBSTANCE abuse risk factors
SUICIDE risk factors
PAIN
SELF-evaluation
ACQUISITION of data
SLEEP disorders
BEHAVIOR disorders
SEX distribution
ATTENTION-deficit hyperactivity disorder
DESPAIR
PATHOLOGICAL psychology
AFFECTIVE disorders
SOCIAL status
INTELLECT
MENTAL depression
RESEARCH funding
QUESTIONNAIRES
MEDICAL records
ANXIETY
MENTAL illness
SOCIAL disabilities
SECONDARY analysis
LONGITUDINAL method
DISEASE risk factors
ADOLESCENCE
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00332917
- Volume :
- 53
- Issue :
- 16
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Psychological Medicine
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 174548454
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291723001320