0000000000532591
AUTHOR
Liisa Keltikangas-järvinen
Type A Behaviour as a Determinant of Participation in Physical Activity and Sport Among Adolescents
As a part of an extensive research project 'Cardiovascular Risks in Young Finns ; this study examined the relationship between Type A behaviour and sports participation among adolescents. Subjects were 852 12- and 15-year-old boys and girls randomly selected from five Finnish university towns and their rural surroundings. Type A behaviour was categorized into two dimensions encompassing impatient- aggressive competitiveness (IAC) and responsible hard-driving (RHD). Level of participation in sport was measured by means of a short questionnaire. The results of the present study showed that active adolescents scored significantly higher on the RHD factor than passive adolescents in the four a…
Genetic association study of childhood aggression across raters, instruments, and age
AbstractChildhood aggressive behavior (AGG) has a substantial heritability of around 50%. Here we present a genome-wide association meta-analysis (GWAMA) of childhood AGG, in which all phenotype measures across childhood ages from multiple assessors were included. We analyzed phenotype assessments for a total of 328 935 observations from 87 485 children aged between 1.5 and 18 years, while accounting for sample overlap. We also meta-analyzed within subsets of the data, i.e., within rater, instrument and age. SNP-heritability for the overall meta-analysis (AGGoverall) was 3.31% (SE = 0.0038). We found no genome-wide significant SNPs for AGGoverall. The gene-based analysis returned three sign…
Factors associated with six-year weight change in young and middle-aged adults in the Young Finns Study
Objective. To examine factors associated with weight change and obesity risk in young and middle-aged adults. Subjects/methods. The Young Finns Study with its 923 women and 792 men aged 24–39 years at baseline were followed for six years. Variables associated with the weight change were investigated with regression models. Results. The average weight change was 0.45 kg/year in women and 0.58 kg/year in men. In women, weight change was steady across all ages. In men, weight changes were more pronounced in younger age groups. In women (weight gain > 2 kg, n = 490), medication for anxiety, low occupational status, high baseline BMI (body mass index), high intake of sweet beverages, high chi…
Cohort profile: the cardiovascular risk in Young Finns Study.
In Finland, coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence was very high in the 1960s and 1970s. In line with this high incidence, the Seven Countries Study showed that the level of serum cholesterol in Finns was also the highest among the investigated countries in the 1960s. Because several studies indicated that the atherosclerotic process starts early in life, and in accord with the World Health Organization Recommendation of 1978 which stated that studies assessing atherosclerosis precursors in children should be initiated, a program was launched in Finland in the late 1970s to study cardiovascular risk in the youth. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study was designed as a collaborative e…
Harmonization of Neuroticism and Extraversion phenotypes across inventories and cohorts in the Genetics of Personality Consortium:an application of Item Response Theory
Mega- or meta-analytic studies (e.g. genome-wide association studies) are increasingly used in behavior genetics. An issue in such studies is that phenotypes are often measured by different instruments across study cohorts, requiring harmonization of measures so that more powerful fixed effect meta-analyses can be employed. Within the Genetics of Personality Consortium, we demonstrate for two clinically relevant personality traits, Neuroticism and Extraversion, how Item-Response Theory (IRT) can be applied to map item data from different inventories to the same underlying constructs. Personality item data were analyzed in >160,000 individuals from 23 cohorts across Europe, USA and Australia…
Sense of coherence as a mediator between hostility and health
Abstract Objective: We proposed and tested a model in which low sense of coherence (SOC) was hypothesized to underlie the association between hostility and health problems. Methods: Structural equation modeling was based on cross-lagged 7-year follow-up data, relating to five measurement points in 433 female municipal employees. Results: The mediated model fitted well with the data. After adjustment for baseline characteristics, hostility was associated with increased risk of health problems, as indicated by records of sickness absences and poor self-rated health. Incorporating SOC into the model attenuated this association by 33–50%, depending on the indicator of health. The mediated effec…
Childhood Environmental and Genetic Predictors of Adulthood Obesity: The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study
Obesity from childhood to adulthood is associated with adverse health later in life. Increased youth BMI is a risk factor for later obesity, but it is unknown whether identification of other risk factors, including recently discovered genetic markers, would help to identify children at risk of developing adult obesity.Our objective was to examine the childhood environmental and genetic predictors of adult obesity.We followed 2119 individuals of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study for up to 27 yr since baseline (1980, age 3-18 yr).We evaluated adult obesity [body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m(2)].The independent predictors (P0.05) of adult obesity included childhood BMI, C-reactive pro…
Relative age at school entry, school performance and long-term labour market outcomes
This article examines the impact of relative age at school entry on school performance, educational attainment and labour market outcomes later in life. We find that the advantages of maturity at school entry are short-lived with relative age having no impact on the years of formal education, adulthood earnings or employment. Our findings are consistent with the view that assumes modest maturity effects in countries where formal education begins late and there are no ability-differentiated learning groups at initial grades. peerReviewed
The serum copper/zinc ratio in childhood and educational attainment : a population-based study
Background Micronutrients are potentially important determinants of adult outcomes such as educational attainment. Copper and zinc have known effects on several medical conditions and cognitive development. Elevated copper and depressed zinc is a common trace metal imbalance. Methods We estimate the correlation between the copper/zinc ratio (Cu/Zn) in childhood (year 1980) and educational attainment in adulthood (year 2010). We use the Young Finns Study (YFS) combined with the Finnish Linked Employer-Employee Data (FLEED). The regression models account for confounders such as other biomarkers and parental observables. Results We report a sizeable, negative correlation between Cu/Zn and educ…
Personality, occupational sorting and routine work
Purpose – A prominent labour market feature in recent decades has been the increase in abstract and service jobs, while the demand for routine work has declined. This article examines whether the components of Type A behaviour predict workers’ selection into nonroutine abstract, non-routine service and routine jobs. Design/methodology/approach – Building on the work by Barrick et al. (2013), this article first presents how the theory of purposeful work behaviour can be used to explain how individuals with different levels of Type A components sort into abstract, service and routine jobs. Then, using longitudinal data, it examines whether the components of Type A behaviour predict occupation…
Does Childhood Temperamental Activity Predict Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior over a 30-Year Period? Evidence from the Young Finns Study
We examined associations between childhood temperamental activity, physical activity (PA), and television (TV) viewing over a 30-year period. The participants (1220 boys and 1237 girls) were aged 3, 6, 9, and 12 years in 1980 and were followed until 2011. Temperamental activity was evaluated by participants' mothers at baseline. The PA was assessed based on maternal ratings of the child from ages 3 to 6 and via self-report age from the age of 9 across all measurements. TV viewing was assessed using self-reports taken from 2001 to 2011. The associations between temperamental activity and the level and change of PA and TV viewing were determined using linear growth modeling stratified by gend…
Parental Physical Activity Associates With Offspring's Physical Activity Until Middle Age: A 30-Year Study.
Background:Parents’ physical activity associates with their children’s physical activity. Prospective designs assessing this association are rare. This study examined how parents’ physical activity was associated with their children’s physical activity from childhood to middle adulthood in a 30-year prospective, population-based setting.Methods:Participants (n = 3596) were from the ongoing Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study started in 1980. Participants’ physical activity was self-reported at 8 phases from 1980 to 2011, and their parents’ physical activity at 1980. Analyses were adjusted for a set of health-related covariates assessed from 1980 to 2007.Results:High levels of mothers’ …
Personality, occupational sorting and routine work
PurposeA prominent labour market feature in recent decades has been the increase in abstract and service jobs, while the demand for routine work has declined. This article examines whether the components of Type A behaviour predict workers' selection into non-routine abstract, non-routine service and routine jobs.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on the work by Barrick et al. (2013), this article first presents how the theory of purposeful work behaviour can be used to explain how individuals with different levels of Type A components sort into abstract, service and routine jobs. Then, using longitudinal data, it examines whether the components of Type A behaviour predict occupational sor…
PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL AROUSAL RELATED TO TYPE-A COMPONENTS IN ADOLESCENT BOYS
The association between psychophysiological responses (heart rate, skin conductance and blood volume) and Type A behavior was studied in adolescent boys (n = 48) in computer-controlled experiments. Although psychophysiological arousal was related to the type of stress-evoking element, task-specificity did not result in significant psychophysiological differences between Type As and Nontype As. The indication is that physiological arousal may be a constitutional characteristic of Type A behavior. The multidimensionality of type A behavior must be considered in any investigation examining the psychophysiological Type A-Nontype A differences. Different Type A dimensions, together with previous…
Factors associated with six-year weight change in young and middle-aged adults in the Young Finns Study
Objective. To examine factors associated with weight change and obesity risk in young and middle-aged adults. Subjects/methods. The Young Finns Study with its 923 women and 792 men aged 24–39 years at baseline were followed for six years. Variables associated with the weight change were investigated with regression models. Results. The average weight change was 0.45 kg/year in women and 0.58 kg/year in men. In women, weight change was steady across all ages. In men, weight changes were more pronounced in younger age groups. In women (weight gain > 2 kg, n = 490), medication for anxiety, low occupational status, high baseline BMI (body mass index), high intake of sweet beverages, high chi…
Depressive symptoms and long-term income: The Young Finns Study
Abstract Background Higher depressive symptoms have been associated with lower future income. However, studies examining this issue have had limited follow-up times and have used self-reported measures of income. Also, possible confounders or mediators have not been accounted. Methods 971 women and 738 men were selected from the ongoing prospective Young Finns Study (YFS) that began in 1980. Depressive symptoms were measured in 1992 when participants were from 15 to 30 years old. Information on annual income and earnings from 1993 to 2010 were obtained from the Finnish Longitudinal Employer-Employee Data (FLEED) of Statistics Finland and linked to the YFS. Results Higher depressive symptoms…
Insulin resistance syndrome and autonomically mediated physiological responses to experimentally induced mental stress in adolescent boys
We investigated the relationship between hemodynamic and other autonomically mediated responses to experimentally induced mental stress and the parameters of the insulin resistance syndrome (IRS) in 48 healthy adolescent boys. Mental stress was induced with mental arithmetic and the Stroop Color-Word Test. Heart rate (HR), finger blood volume (FBV), and skin conductance level (SCL) were recorded continuously during task performance. IRS parameters measured were serum insulin, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, serum triglyceride (TG), systolic blood pressure (SBP), subscapular skinfold (SSF), and subscapular to triceps skinfold ratio (STR). The results indicated that a high level a…
Factors associated with six-year weight change in young and middle-aged adults in the Young Finns Study.
To examine factors associated with weight change and obesity risk in young and middle-aged adults.The Young Finns Study with its 923 women and 792 men aged 24-39 years at baseline were followed for six years. Variables associated with the weight change were investigated with regression models.The average weight change was 0.45 kg/year in women and 0.58 kg/year in men. In women, weight change was steady across all ages. In men, weight changes were more pronounced in younger age groups. In women (weight gain2 kg, n = 490), medication for anxiety, low occupational status, high baseline BMI (body mass index), high intake of sweet beverages, high childhood BMI, high salt (NaCl and/or KCl) use, l…
Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns
This report describes the general outline and progress of a multicentre study on risk factors of coronary heart disease and their determinants in children and adolescents. "Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns" comprises a cross-sectional study of 3 to 18-year old subjects in 1980, and follow-up studies in 1983 and 1986 in various parts of Finland, and in 1989 in one of the study areas (Turku). The number of participants in 1980 was 3596 (83.1%) of those invited. In 1983 and 1986 83.2% and 77.8% of them, respectively, participated. The study programme has comprised questionnaire data on, for example, general health and living conditions, physical activity, eating habits, smoking, and psycholo…
Is It Good To Be Good? Dispositional Compassion and Health Behaviors
Background Despite the documented importance of dispositional compassions for a range of health-related outcomes, its role in predicting health behaviors remains unclear. Purpose This study examined the associations between dispositional compassion and three domains of health behavior, including physical activity, alcohol use, and smoking. Methods The participants (N = 1,279–1,913) were from the Finnish population-based Young Finns study. We collected self-reports of compassion in 1997 and 2011 and health behaviors in 2001, 2007, and 2011. In addition, an objective pedometer measure of physical activity was collected in 2011. Linear and logistic regression models were fitted to estimate the…
Trajectories of Physical Activity Predict the Onset of Depressive Symptoms but Not Their Progression: A Prospective Cohort Study
This prospective, community-based study examined trajectories of physical activity from childhood to adulthood and whether these trajectories contributed to depressive symptoms in adulthood to a greater degree than adulthood physical activity. Participants (n=3596) were from the ongoing Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study which started in 1980. Depressive symptoms were measured with Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) in 2012, and physical activity was assessed from 1980 to 2011 with self-reports. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, childhood negative emotionality, socioeconomic factors, previous depressive symptoms, social support, body mass index, and smoking status (1980–2007). High…