From early adversity to brain health: the Blossom Programme

We know that early adversity—such as maltreatment, chronic family conflict, parental mental illness or severe economic hardship—is both common and consequential. Large population surveys suggest that around half of all children experience at least one form of adversity by adulthood. Around 60% of adult mood disorders can be linked to experiences that happened between the ages of 4 and 12. Early adversity is estimated to account for almost 30% of all lifetime mental disorders.

Yet adversity is not destiny. Many people who grow up in difficult circumstances do not develop depression or anxiety, while others do. Understanding why requires us to look closely at how early experiences shape the developing brain and body, and how these changes unfold across the lifecourse.

What do we mean by early adversity?

Within the Blossom Early Adversity and Brain Health Programme, we use a broad definition of early adversity, recognising that these personal experiences vary widely. These are stressful or potentially traumatic events that deviate from what a child would typically be expected to experience and that require significant adaptation from the child. Early adversity can involve threats such as abuse, but also more chronic forms of stress such as long-term poverty or growing up with a parent who is very unwell.

Over the past two decades, research has shown that early adversity is linked to lasting biological changes. For example, adults who experienced adversity in childhood often show elevated levels of inflammation decades later. Differences have also been observed in brain regions that support emotion regulation, stress responsiveness or reward processing. Early adversity can also influence the development of stress hormone systems, cardiovascular function and metabolism. These biological changes are thought to accumulate over time, especially when adversity is severe or when it occurs during sensitive windows of development.

Importantly, some people seem to be more "biologically sensitive to context" than others. Some individuals have more reactive stress systems. This can increase vulnerability in harsh conditions but may also support positive outcomes in supportive environments. This sensitivity reflects both genetic influences and early experience, but not in a simple one-to-one manner. Instead, many genetic variants, the way those genes are expressed and early experiences, help shape how our brain and body respond to the world.

Why large datasets matter

While it is clear that early adversity affects individual and population health, despite decades of research, we are still developing our understanding of how and why these experiences shape later outcomes. Not everyone exposed to adversity follows the same trajectory, and this variability is one of the biggest challenges in the field, which remains largely observational rather than discovery-driven.

As Dr Gheorghe explains:

"To understand these differences we need datasets that capture biological, psychological and social dimensions of development. The Blossom Early Adversity and Brain Health Programme aims to capture and integrate multimodal data to improve mechanistic models of early adversity and later brain health."

This requires harmonised pipelines and close collaboration across research groups. Large datasets enable this work and support the development of evidence that can guide policy and targeted intervention. The programme's findings are helping to shape our understanding of how early experiences influence brain health across the lifecourse, and how we might better support those who need it most.

Read the full research paper here.