Impact of Childhood Household Support on Depression and Self-Reported Mental and Physical Health

Background

Perceived household support during childhood may have long-term effects on mental and physical health across the life course. However, the specific associations between early supportive environments and adult health outcomes remain underexplored.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) collected between 2016 and 2023. The study included 31,233 U.S. adults aged 18 years and older who provided complete responses regarding perceived childhood household support, depression diagnosis, and the number of poor mental and physical health days. The primary exposure was self-reported childhood support, categorized as: “Never,” “A Little of the Time,” “Some of the Time,” “Most of the Time,” or “All of the Time.” Outcomes included lifetime diagnosis of depression, average monthly poor mental health days, and poor physical health days. Analyses were adjusted using inverse probability weighting and controlled for sociodemographic factors, survey weights, and state, year, and month fixed effects.

Results

Among respondents (mean age 52.2 years; 63.4% female; 76.0% White), individuals who reported “Never” being supported during childhood were 19.4 percentage points more likely to report a depression diagnosis (95% CI: 11.6–27.2), experienced 5.33 more poor mental health days (95% CI: 3.64–7.03), and 2.77 more poor physical health days per month (95% CI: 1.23– 4.32), compared to those who reported being “Always” supported. A clear dose-response relationship was observed across all categories of household support.

Conclusions

Lower levels of perceived childhood household support are significantly associated with increased risk of adult depression and greater burden of poor mental and physical health. Interventions targeting early supportive environments may improve population health outcomes across the life span.

Key Points