Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 22, 2025

A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents
Published on: July 10, 2017
Exposure to Adversity and its Impact on Later Life Cognitive, Mental, and Physical Health
Elyse A Jennings1, Sumaya Mall2, Darina T Bassil1
1Center for Population and Development Studies, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States.
Objectives:
We aimed to assess later-life health responses to childhood and lifetime adversity in a cohort of rural, Black South African adults.
Methods:
We performed ordinary least squares regression using two waves of data from Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) to estimate a decline in cognitive, mental, and physical health over approximately 3 years. Our analytic sample consisted of 1,993 women and 1,496 men.
Results:
Associations between several types of adversity and health outcomes point to declines in health. At the same time, many adverse experiences are associated with improvements in cognitive, mental, and physical health in later life. The direction of the association varied by type of exposure, health outcome, and gender.
Conclusion:
In populations exposed to many adversities during life, specific adverse experiences may sometimes be associated with greater improvements (and not just greater decline) in health in later life. Further research is needed to unpack the mechanisms at play in these populations.
Related Concept Videos
Cognitive Development During Adulthood
Stress and Mental Health
Individuals with depression often experience challenges in both their personal and professional...
Introduction to Stress and Lifestyle
Aging
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...
Psychological Responses to Stress
Psychoneuroimmunology: Diabetes and Cancer

