Publications [#385851] of Terrie E. Moffitt

Journal Articles

1. Goldman-Pham, R; Alter, MP; Bao, R; Collins, SÉ; Debban, CL; Allinson, JP; Ambler, A; Bertoni, AG; Caspi, A; Lovinsky-Desir, S; Ekstrom, MP; Engert, JC; Jacobs, DR; Malinsky, D; Manichaikul, A; Michos, ED; Moffitt, TE; Oelsner, EC; Ramrakha, S; Rich, SS; Sack, C; Stanojevic, S; Subbarao, P; Sugden, K; Theodore, R; Watson, KE; Williams, B; Yang, B; Dupuis, J; Shaheen, SO; Barr, RG; Hancox, RJ; Smith, BM (2025). Quantifying the impact of early-life growth adversity on later-life health.. medRxiv. [doi]
   (last updated on 2026/01/10)

   Abstract:
   BACKGROUND: Early-life growth adversity is important to later-life health, but precision assessment in adulthood is challenging. We evaluated whether the difference between attained and genotype-predicted adult height ("height-GaP") would associate with prospectively ascertained early-life growth adversity and later-life all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. METHODS: Data were first analyzed from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) and UKBiobank. Genotype-predicted height was calculated using a multi-ancestry polygenic height score. Height-GaP was calculated as the difference between measured and genotype-predicted adult height. Early-life growth conditions were ascertained prospectively via standardized procedures (ALSPAC) and mortality via death register (UKBiobank). Regression models adjusted for age, sex, genotype-predicted height and genetic ancestry. Analyses were replicated in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (DMHDS) and the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). FINDINGS: Among 4,582 ALSPAC participants (median [IQR] age: 24[18-25] years at height-GaP assessment), lower gestational age at birth, greater pre- and post-natal deprivation indices, tobacco smoke exposure and less breastfeeding were associated with larger adult height-GaP deficit (p<0.01). Among 483,385 UKBiobank participants (mean±SD age: 56±8 years at height-GaP assessment), height-GaP deficit was associated with death from all-causes (adjusted hazard ratio comparing highest-to-lowest height-GaP deficit quartile [aHR]:1.25 95%CI:1.21-1.29), atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (aHR:1.33 95%CI:1.24-1.43) and coronary heart disease (aHR:1.68 95%CI:1.52-1.86). Early- and later-life height-GaP associations replicated in DMHDS and MESA. INTERPRETATION: This study introduces a simple index of early-life growth adversity deployable in adulthood to investigate the developmental origins of longevity and improve health equity across the life course. FUNDING: Federal agencies and academic institutions.