New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London has found that experiencing adversity in childhood, adulthood or both is associated with greater frailty in middle-aged and older adults.
Published in BMC Medicine, the study analysed data from over 150,000 participants and found the strongest associations in people who experienced adversity in both childhood and adulthood. These individuals were more frail than those exposed during only one life stage or not at all, and they also showed a biological age1 older than their chronological age2.
Frailty is a clinical syndrome marked by an overall decline in physical resilience and increased vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. As populations age globally, it is becoming an increasingly important public health challenge and a target for prevention and management.
The researchers investigated how adverse events experienced in childhood and adulthood were associated with molecular, clinical and functional markers of biological ageing, including telomere length, metabolomic ageing, frailty and grip strength.
153,557 participants provided health and sociodemographic data, underwent physical examination and provided biological samples as part of the UK Biobank study. They also completed questionnaires asking about their exposure to adversity and trauma.
A total of 40,086 participants (27 per cent) reported experiencing adverse events in both their childhood and adulthood. Overall, 63,066 participants (41 per cent) reported at least one adverse event in childhood, while 80,895 (53 per cent) reported at least one adverse event in adulthood.
An analysis of the data found that adversity at any life stage was associated with higher frailty index scores, with the strongest association seen in those who had experienced adversity in both childhood and adulthood. This group also had a biological age that was older than their chronological age and weaker grip strength.
"Our findings suggest that adversity across the life course may leave a lasting imprint on health, with the greatest burden seen in individuals exposed in both childhood and adulthood"
Dr Julian Mutz, King's Prize Research Fellow and the study's last author
Dr Julian Mutz, King's Prize Research Fellow and the study's last author, said, "While the human body becomes less physically strong as it ages, frailty is not simply about getting older. It reflects the accumulation of health deficits and a marked decline in physiological resilience."
Dr Monica Aas, MRC Research Fellow at King's IoPPN and the study's first author, said, "While these findings should be taken seriously, there is also reason for optimism. Regular light exercise, good nutrition and strong social connections have all been shown to be effective interventions for frailty, providing clinicians and policy makers with a clear means of prevention and management as the global populace continues to age."
The researchers now hope to investigate what could mitigate the impact of adversity on biological ageing, including the factors linked to healthy ageing in individuals exposed to adversity or trauma.
This work was conducted using data from UK Biobank, with funding support provided by the Medical Research Council and the King's Prize Fellowship.
Adverse events in both childhood and adulthood are associated with molecular, clinical and functional markers of ageing (Aas, Mutz et al) (DOI 10.1186/s12916-026-04815-x) was published in BMC Medicine.
