Childhood Psychosocial Predictors of Adulthood Smoking, Alcohol Consumption, and Physical Activity

This study prospectively addresses whether aspects of the childhood home environment (SES and parental divorce) and personality are predictive of smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity in middle adulthood. Subjects were 972 males and females who participated in the Terman Life‐Cycle Study. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that childhood unconscientiousness, cheerfulness, and parental divorce predicted adult smoking. Childhood unconscientiousness and sociability predicted adult alcohol consumption. Physical activity was predicted by a higher energy/activity level in childhood. Results suggest that the previously found associations between childhood characteristics and health‐related behaviors over shorter periods are not simply reflective of early experimentation with such behaviors, but may be indicative of long‐term lifestyle patterns.