Childhood Experiences and Adult Self-Rated Physical Health in 22 Countries

Background: Relatively little research has examined the associations between childhood experiences and subsequent adult self-rated physical health (SRH) in diverse nations and cultures around the world using nationally-representative data. Methods: The current study addresses this limitation by analyzing data from the Global Flourishing Study (GFS), an international survey of 202,898 individuals from 22 countries collected in 2022-2023. Associations between SRH and a variety of childhood experiences and characteristics including parent-child relations, parent marital status, income, abuse, feeling like an outsider, health, immigration, religious service attendance, year of birth, and gender were examined. Results: Findings from a random effects meta-analysis of the 22 countries combined showed that all childhood variables except parent marital status and immigration were associated with SRH in adulthood. Results varied across individual countries, but each childhood characteristic, including marital status and immigration, was associated with adult SRH in at least one country. This variation suggests that country-level contexts shape the associations between childhood experiences and adult health. E-values showed that many of these relationships were fairly robust against confounding from unmeasured covariates. Conclusion: Findings suggest that childhood experiences and characteristics shape adult SRH in countries around the world. They also demonstrate considerable variation in these associations across nations and cultures, inviting further exploration and examination. This article lays the foundation for future longitudinal GFS studies of SRH from a global perspective.