Table 1.

Definition of early-life adversities (child maltreatment and early-life socioeconomic disadvantage) and representative variables from the 1958 British birth cohort

	Definition*	1958 cohort variables	Age of ascertainment (method)†
Prospective report, birth to 11 years
Socioeconomic disadvantage (birth)		Based on father’s occupation at birth,‡ using the Registrar General’s Classification. Fathers with an unskilled manual occupation or households with no male head were classified as disadvantaged.	Birth (P)
Neglect§  (7 years and 11 years)	Failure to meet a child’s basic physical, emotional, medical/dental or education need; failure to provide adequate nutrition, hygiene, or shelter; or failure to ensure a child’s safety	Child looks undernourished, scruffy or dirty	7 and 11 years (T)
		Mother never/hardly ever takes child out¶	7 and 11 years (P)
		Father never/hardly ever takes child out¶	7 and 11 years (P)
		Mother shows little/no interest in child’s educational progress	7 and 11 years (T)
		Father shows little/no interest in child’s educational progress	7 and 11 years (T)
		Mother and Father never/hardly ever read to, or reads with child	7 years (P)
Retrospective report at 44/45 years
Physical abuse  (0–16 years)	Intentional use of physical force or implements against a child that results in, or has the potential to result in, physical injury.	I was physically abused by a parent—punched, kicked or hit or beaten with an object, or needed medical treatment	45 years (S)
Psychological abuse**  (0–16 years)	Intentional behaviour that conveys to a child that s/he is worthless, flawed, unloved, unwanted, endangered or valued only in meeting another’s needs. UK definition†† includes harmful (unintentional) parent–child interactions: ‘the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development’	I was verbally abused by a parent (or parent-figure)	45 years (S)
		I suffered humiliation, ridicule, bullying or mental cruelty from a parent (or parent-figure)
		Mother (or mother-figure) and father (or father-figure) were not at all affectionate
Witnessing abuse  (0–16 years)	Any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between intimate partners or adult family members, irrespective of sex or sexuality	I witnessed physical or sexual abuse of others in my family	45 years (S)
Sexual abuse  (0–16 years)	Any completed or attempted sexual act, sexual contact or non-contact sexual interaction with a child by a caregiver	I was sexually abused by a parent (or parent-figure)	45 years (S)

*Gilbert et al.¹

†(S): self-report; (T): teacher-report; (P): parent-report.

‡Socioeconomic position was classified as missing for fathers’ who were unemployed or sick.

§Questions relating to child neglect at 7 years and 11 years were answered by the child’s teacher and mother (or father if the mother was unavailable). The 11 neglect indicators were summed to create a score (range 0–11); those scoring > 3 were classified as neglected (see text for further details).

¶For example, walks, outings, picnics, visits, shopping.

**In the 1958 cohort psychological abuse was defined as experiencing at least one of the three listed variables.

††Department for Education. Working together to safeguard children. Her Majesty’s Government, 2006.