Can Childhood Health Adversities Determine Trajectories of Aging? Findings From the Health and Retirement Study

Using data drawn from biennial waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) collected between 2008 and 2018, this study examines how early-life health adversities relate to aging trajectories, influencing self-rated health, aging perceptions, and late-life resilience. The baseline sample comprised 19,931 individuals aged 50 and older (mean = 66.30 ± 11.14 years; 58.0% females), of who 3.9% reported chronic functional disability in childhood. Employing a General Linear Model (GLM) repeated-measures analysis, we compared outcome variables both between groups (childhood disability vs. no childhood disability) and within groups across three measurement points. Results indicated that the subgroup with childhood functional disability reported significantly lower levels of resilience and positive aging perceptions at baseline compared to those without such experiences. However, no significant group differences were observed at either follow-up. Over the 8-year period, resilience, positive aging perceptions, and perceived health changed within and between the groups, but in varied ways.