Childhood Predictors of Suffering in Adulthood: A Cross-National Analysis With 22 Countries

Background: Empirical research suggests that suffering may degrade health and wellbeing. However, further research is needed to develop an epidemiology of suffering that can contribute to identifying potential targets for addressing population-level suffering.Methods: This cross-sectional study used the first wave of nationally representative data from 22 countries included in the Global Flourishing Study (N = 202,898) to explore associations of 13 individual characteristics and retrospectively recalled childhood factors with suffering in adulthood. We conducted a modified Poisson regression by country in which suffering was regressed on all candidate predictors. Random effects meta-analyses were used to aggregate results for the 11 predictors that were common across all countries.Results: Meta-analytic results suggested a combination of risk and protective factors during childhood may be associated with suffering in adulthood. Individuals whose parents were married (versus divorced) at age 12, had a very good/somewhat good paternal relationship (versus very bad/somewhat bad) when growing up, had excellent health (versus good) when growing up, and who reported their family lived comfortably (versus got by) financially when growing up were less likely to experience suffering in adulthood, whereas those who were abused during childhood (versus not), felt like an outsider in their family when growing up (versus not), attended religious services 1-3 times a month (versus never) around age 12, and were female (versus male) had a higher likelihood of suffering in adulthood. Associations were somewhat heterogenous across the countries.Conclusions: Childhood experiences, influences, and conditions may impact experiences of suffering in adulthood. Targeted early-life interventions could mitigate the burden of suffering later in life.