Prenatal Stressful Life Events and Multi-Dimensional Life Success at Age 30: Exploring Associations and Potential Mediating Childhood Mechanisms in a Prospective Australian Cohort.

Michael Roettger, the Australian National University
Jolene Tan, Princeton University
Brian Houle, The Australian National University
Jake Najman, The University of Queensland
Tara McGee, Griffith University

Prenatal stress and stressful life events are associated with health and behavioral adversity in adulthood. Using a life course approach, we analyse a prospective Australian dataset to expand this body of research by examining associations between prenatal stressful life events (PSLEs) and a multidimensional measure of life success at age 30 measuring (a) socio-economic success; (b) family life/stability; and (c) happiness/life satisfaction. Using multivariate regression, we find mothers reporting 4 or more PSLEs significantly predicts lower life success at age 30 among males during early pregnancy and among all respondents at birth. These associations are significant after controlling for a range of prenatal conditions, such as SES, smoking, and health of the mother. In mediation analysis, we find that child and factors such as living with both biological parents, adolescent depression, physical or sexual abuse, and maternal mental health significantly mediate associations between PLSEs and adult life success. From a life course perspective, our results demonstrate that PSLEs are linked with a successful transition into adulthood, with events in childhood and adolescence substantially mediating these associations. Our results have important implications for policy and understanding how adversity across stages of child development may impact adult life success.

Keywords: Longitudinal studies , Children, Adolescents, and Youth, Families, Unions and Households

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