Mental Health Problems Early in Life Can Lead to Poor Physical Health Later On

A pair of recently-published studies, both from Duke University, suggests that mental struggles early in life could lead to poor physical health later in life.

Researchers note, however, that since mental health problems manifest and peak in earlier stages of life and are now identifiable, ample investments in proper mental health care systems could help prevent later diseases, and in turn, lead to lower social healthcare costs.

"The same people who experience psychiatric conditions when they are young go on to experience excess age-related physical diseases and neurodegenerative diseases when they are older adults," explains Terrie Moffitt, senior author of both studies and the Nannerl O. Keohane psychology and neuroscience professor at Duke, in a press release from the university.

Long-Term Study on Thousands of New Zealand Citizens

The first study, published last January 13 on JAMA Network Open, inquires on whether mental disorders are associated with subsequent physical diseases and early mortality. On the other hand, the more recent study was published in the online journal JAMA Psychiatry on February 17, examines the association between psychopathology and accelerated midlife aging.

Researchers tracked New Zealanders in a long-term Dunedin Study, testing and monitoring the health of people born in 1972 and 1973 up until they were well past 45 years old.

In their middle age, participants of the study who had records of psychopathology in their youth were found to be aging at a faster pace. They reported declines in sensory, motor, and cognitive functions. These participants were also rated to be looking older compared to their peers.

Furthermore, the same pattern has been observed even after controlling health factors like smoking, medications, physical disease history, and being overweight. In the study, youthful mental health issues noted are mostly cases of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and even schizophrenia.

"You can identify the people at risk for physical illnesses much earlier in life," notes Jasmin Wertz, who led the study as a Duke postdoc researcher at the time. She adds that if their mental health during childhood and adolescence could be improved, there is the chance of improving their physical health and aging.

Relationship Between Early-Life Mental Health and Later Life Medical Struggles

The January-released study from the same Duke team used a different approach, reviewing 30 years of hospital records of 2.3 million New Zealanders from 10 to 60 years old, from 1988 to 2018. The published report finds a strong connection between early-life mental health findings and later-life neurological and medical illnesses.

Led by Leah Richmond-Rakerd, former Duke postdoc researcher, the January 2021 study illustrated that young people who experienced mental illnesses were more likely to develop physical diseases later in life. They were also found to be more likely to die earlier compared to their peers who had no mental health struggles.

"Our healthcare system often divides treatment between the brain and the body, but integrating the two could benefit population health," Richmond-Rakerd explains.