Interventions targeting modifiable risk factors (eg, smoking, inactivity, and poor diet) in adult life have only limited efficacy in preventing age - related disease.3, 4 Because of the increasing recognition that preventable risk exposures in
early life may contribute to pathophysiological processes leading to age - related disease, 5,6 the science of aging has turned to a life - course perspective.7, 8 Capitalizing on this perspective, this study tested the contribution of adverse psychosocial experiences in
childhood to 3 adult conditions that are known to predict age - related diseases: depression, inflammation, and the clustering of metabolic risk markers, hereinafter
referred to as age - related - disease risks.