The Weight of Trauma: Gendered Associations between Childhood Trauma and BMI in Middle Adulthood

Format: Poster

Cluster: Mental Health

Research Method: Quantitative

Abstract:

Background and Purpose

Having an unhealthy body mass index (BMI) is an established risk factor for several health conditions including cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes, and joint conditions. The relationship between childhood trauma and body mass index (BMI) has been well-documented in adolescence and early adulthood. However, its persistence into middle adulthood remains underexplored. This study aimed to investigate whether the association between childhood trauma and BMI extends into midlife. Additionally, the study examined whether this relationship holds after controlling for demographic factors, including age, sex, race, ethnicity, and educational attainment. Finally, the sample was stratified by gender to explore potential differences in how childhood trauma impacts BMI across sexes.

Methods

Data, Sample, and Measures: This study utilized data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS 3) Project (N = 695), collected between 2017 and 2022. The mean age of the sample was 60 years old. Childhood trauma was assessed using responses from the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), while body mass index (BMI) was calculated based on participants' measured height and weight at the time of the study. Multivariate linear regression analyses were conducted to control for demographic characteristics. To examine potential gender differences in the results, separate multivariate analyses were performed for male and female participants.

Results

Bivariate analyses showed significant associations between several types of childhood trauma and body mass index (BMI) in middle adulthood. Specifically, higher BMI was associated with greater exposure to overall childhood trauma (R² = .03, p < .001), emotional abuse (R² = .02, p = .001), physical abuse (R² = .01, p = .002), physical neglect (R² = .01, p = .008), and sexual abuse (R² = .03, p < .001).

When controlling for demographic factors (age, race, and educational attainment) in multivariate regression models stratified by gender, significant associations between childhood trauma and BMI remained for women but not for men. Among women, overall childhood trauma (R² = .12, p < .001), emotional abuse (R² = .11, p < .001), physical abuse (R² = .11, p < .001), and sexual abuse (R² = .13, p < .001) were all significantly associated with higher BMI in middle adulthood. In contrast, none of the trauma variables were significantly associated with BMI among men.

Conclusion and Implications

This study supports the hypothesis that childhood trauma is linked to BMI in middle adulthood. Though multi-variate analyses with the entire sample indicated that overall childhood trauma, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse, are associated with BMI in middle adulthood, the findings also highlight important differences between men and women. These results suggest that addressing childhood trauma early in life may be a potential opportunity to prevent the development of an unhealthy BMI that may persist into adulthood for women.