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Stress experienced in childhood literally stays forever, according to new research.

The latest study on women revealed that childhood stress had a greater impact on weight gain than stress experienced in adulthood. However, researchers found no link between stress and weight gain in men.

"These findings add to our understanding of how childhood stress is a more important driver of long-term weight gain than adult stress, and how such processes differ for men and women," researcher Hui Liu, MSU associate professor of sociology and an expert in statistics, population-based health and family science, said in a news release.

The latest study involved 2,259 women and 1,358 men who were interviewed four times over a 15-year period. Childhood stress was defined as stressors like economic hardship, divorce and mental health problems that occurred before the age of 17.

Study data revealed that women who experienced higher levels of childhood stress gained weight significantly more rapidly than women who experienced less childhood stress.

"Given the importance of body mass on health and disability," Liu said, "it's important that we consider the sex-specific social contexts of early childhood in order to design effective clinical programs that prevent or treat obesity later in life."

The findings are published in the journal Social Science & Medicine.