From being raised by cold parents to violence, war and grief, emotional stress has a profound impact on our physical and mental well-being later in life. This is according to new research from the University of East Anglia. A new study shows how a range of inequalities and life events in life can have an impact in terms of physical andmental healthcould be related in later life.
Chief among these stressful and often heartbreaking life inequalities were emotionally cold parents, poor educational opportunities, loss of an unborn child, financial difficulties, involvement in conflict, violence and experiencing a natural disaster. The research team found that people experience great difficulty when emotional distress and personal loss are five times more common. This led to a lower quality of life for the test subjects with significantly more health and physical problems later in life.
Those raised by an emotionally cold mother, for example, were also significantly less likely to have a good quality of life. In addition, problems later in life such as anxiety, mental health problems and social distancing were more common. The researchers say policies to reduce inequalities in old age should take events across the life course into account.
Everyone lives a unique life shaped by events, experiences and their surroundings. We know that exposure to different events over a lifetime is associated with inequalities in health outcomes. This is particularly true of childhood events such as poverty, grief or violence. While the impact of adverse events in childhood is well known, we rarely discuss the negative aspects that shape the entire course of our lives when it comes to older people.”
The researchers analyzed the responses to identify patterns of life events. They also took into account factors such as age, ethnicity, gender and socioeconomic status. Researchers looked at each participant's life story and compared it to their quality of life. They also examined whether the test subjects had a long-term illness or suffered from anxiety,Depression or other psychological problemslike schizophrenia and psychosis.
Research results
Participants were also asked about their social networks, friendships and general health. The research team found some really strong patterns and associations between exposure to life events. These have a corresponding impact on physical and mental well-being later in life. The researchers grouped the participants into four main groups. These were those who reported few life events, those with an emotionally cold mother, people who had dealt with violence, and those who had experienced a series of difficult life events.
They found that people who had experienced many difficult life events were significantly less likely to experience a good quality of life. They compared this to people who had lived easier lives. Participants were three times more likely to have mental health problems. They were also twice as likely to be disconnected from social networks and to have multiple long-term illnesses.
The researchers are now hoping for...Studythat emotional stress in older people and its impact on life course, health and well-being will need to be considered. They say policymakers should also take a long-term perspective. The best way to do this is to target life events that could be changed. This would be, for example, teaching and improving parenting skills to avoid emotionally negative experiences. Another countermeasure would be to specifically ban weapons and knives in order to limit people's use of violence.
