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Increasing evidence supports the importance of socioeconomic factors in the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. However, the association of childhood socioeconomic status (SES) with arterial stiffness in adulthood has not been reported. Our aim was to determine whether higher childhood family-level SES is associated with lower arterial stiffness in adulthood. The analyses were performed using data gathered within the longitudinal Young Finns Study. The sample comprised 2566 participants who had data concerning family SES at ages 3 to 18 years in 1980 and arterial pulse wave velocity and carotid artery distensibility measured 21 or 27 years later in adulthood. Higher family SES in childhood was associated with lower arterial stiffness in adulthood; carotid artery distensibility being higher (β value±SE, 0.029±0.0089%/10 mm Hg; P=0.001) and pulse wave velocity lower (β value±SE, -0.062±0.022 m/s; P=0.006) among those with higher family SES in a multivariable analysis adjusted with age, sex, and conventional childhood cardiometabolic risk factors. The association remained significant after further adjustment for participant's SES in adulthood (β value±SE, 0.026±0.010%/10 mm Hg; P=0.01 for carotid artery distensibility and β value±SE, -0.048±0.023 m/s; P=0.04 for pulse wave velocity) but attenuated after adjustment for adulthood cardiometabolic risk factors (β value±SE, 0.015±0.008%/10 mm Hg; P=0.08 for carotid artery distensibility and β value±SE, -0.019±0.02 m/s; P=0.38 for pulse wave velocity). In conclusion, we observed an association between higher family SES in childhood and lower arterial stiffness in adulthood. Our findings suggest that special attention could be paid to children from low SES families to prevent cardiometabolic diseases primordially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The American Heart Association has defined a new metric of ideal cardiovascular health as part of its 2020 Impact Goals. We examined whether psychosocial factors in youth predict ideal cardiovascular health in adulthood. METHODS AND RESULTS: Participants were 477 men and 612 women from the nationwide Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Psychosocial factors were measured from cohorts 3 to 18 years of age at the baseline of the study, and ideal cardiovascular health was examined 27 years later in adulthood. The summary measure of psychosocial factors in youth comprised socioeconomic factors, emotional factors, parental health behaviors, stressful events, self-regulation of the child, and social adjustment of the child. There was a positive association between a higher number of favorable psychosocial factors in youth and greater ideal cardiovascular health index in adulthood ([beta]=0.16; P<0.001) that persisted after adjustment for age, sex, medication use, and cardiovascular risk factors in childhood ([beta]=0.15; P<0.001). The association was monotonic, suggesting that each increment in favorable psychosocial factors was associated with improvement in cardiovascular health. Of the specific psychosocial factors, a favorable socioeconomic environment ([beta]=0.12; P<0.001) and participants' self-regulatory behavior ([beta]=0.07; P=0.004) were the strongest predictors of ideal cardiovascular health in adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest a dose-response association between favorable psychosocial factors in youth and cardiovascular health in adulthood, as defined by the American Heart Association metrics. The effect seems to persist throughout the range of cardiovascular health, potentially shifting the population distribution of cardiovascular health rather than simply having effects in a high-risk population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novelty seeking is a trait that has been consistently associated with problem behaviours. There is evidence for heritability of novelty seeking, but the molecular genetic basis of the trait is still widely unclear.The interaction between polymorphisms of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and serotonin receptor 2A genes was examined in relation to novelty seeking and its different subscales in healthy Finnish adults. A subsample of 1214 participants derived from a population-based sample was genotyped for the COMT Val158Met (rs4680) and HTR2A T102C (rs6313) genes. Novelty seeking was measured twice, with a 4-year interval, using Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory.The interaction between COMT Val158Met and HTR2A T102C polymorphisms was found to be associated with subscale impulsiveness. T/T carriers of HTR2A T102C polymorphism, that also had Met/Met genotype of COMT Val158Met single nucleotide polymorphism, scored significantly higher on impulsiveness than Val allele carriers (P=0.005).Our results suggest that the interaction between dopaminergic and serotonergic genes might underlie impulsiveness. Together with earlier research our results also stress the importance of considering novelty seeking as a heterogeneous trait with its subscales having different genetic backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine whether the activation of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), an enzyme involved in serotonin production, is associated with depressive symptoms., Methods: The participants were 544 women and 442 men (aged 24-39 years) from the population-based Young Finns Study who participated in a medical examination in 2001 (including IDO and depression) and 2007 (follow-up assessment for depression)., Results: At baseline, IDO was associated with depressive symptoms (in the total cohort: B = 0.23, p < .001; women: B = 0.20, p = .007; men: B = 0.29, p = .002; p for interaction = .19). IDO at baseline was also associated with depressive symptoms at follow-up in women (B = 0.17, p = .03), which remained significant when adjusting for any of the biologic and behavioral risk factors. Adjusting for body mass index attenuated the association by 6%. In the final model including all baseline variables, none of the risk factors (except for baseline depressive symptoms) were associated with depressive symptoms at follow-up., Conclusions: These data suggest that IDO activity may be a risk factor for future depression especially in women. IDO-induced alterations in serotonergic function may offer one biologic explanation to the well-established associations between inflammation and depression.

Objective: This study examined the association between personality traits and work stress., Methods: The sample comprised 757 women and 613 men (aged 30 to 45 years in 2007) participating in the Young Finns study. Personality was assessed with the NEO-FFI questionnaire and work stress according to Siegrist's effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model., Results: High neuroticism, low extraversion, and low agreeableness were associated with high ERI. Low conscientiousness was associated with high ERI in men. No association was found between openness and ERI. High neuroticism, high extraversion, and low agreeableness were associated with high effort and low neuroticism, high extraversion, and high agreeableness with high rewards. High conscientiousness was associated with high effort, and in women, with high rewards. High openness was associated with high effort., Conclusions: This study suggests that personality traits may predispose to and protect from work stress.

Objective: We examined whether long-term leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) has a moderating effect on the association between job strain and depressive symptoms using prospective data., Methods: Full-time employees (455 men and 480 women) aged 30 to 45 years were followed from 2001 to 2007. Data were collected using questionnaires., Results: Sustained participation in LTPA was inversely associated with depressive symptoms in employed men and women. The direct relationship of job strain to depressive symptoms was significantly moderated by LTPA only in women when the potential confounders were controlled for., Conclusions: Depressive symptoms are inversely associated with regular LTPA and directly associated with chronic job strain in both sexes. In women, persistent participation in LTPA may modify the relation between chronic job stress and subthreshold depressive symptoms by reducing depressive symptoms associated with job strain.

Objective: To explore the relationship between burnout and behavior-related health risk factors., Methods: We collected data from a population-based sample (n = 3264) through interviews, questionnaires, and health examinations. Burnout was assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey. Smoking, alcohol consumption, and leisure-time physical activity were self-reported. Obesity was based on measurements at screening., Results: Burnout and exhaustion were associated with a higher likelihood of risk factors. More specifically, burnout syndrome was related to low physical activity and obesity, exhaustion dimension to low physical activity and heavy drinking, cynicism dimension to low physical activity, and diminished professional efficacy to low physical activity, obesity, and lower likelihood of heavy drinking., Conclusions: Improving working conditions and psychoeducation on recommended ways of coping and recovery could help to prevent negative health consequences of chronic work stress.

Objective: To examine the potential moderating role of DRD2 polymorphism (rs1800497) in the association between stressful life events and depressive symptoms among young adults. Although stressful life events, such as divorce, unemployment, and serious illness in the family, are generally associated with negative health outcomes, including depressive symptoms, there are large individual differences in coping with such events. A number of studies suggest that variants in dopamine receptor genes, such as DRD2, are associated with depression but it is unclear if such variants also modify the association between life events and depression., Methods: We analyzed the prospective data on life events and depressive symptoms in 1992 and 2001 related to 1611 young adults (672 men and 939 women, aged 15-30 years at baseline) who participated in the ongoing population-based cardiovascular risk in young Finns study., Results: Occurrence of stressful life events was associated with increased risk of subsequent depressive symptoms in men and women. However, this association was seen only among those who carried A2/A2 (n = 872) genotype. No such association was detected in participants carrying A1/A1 or A1/A2 (n = 486) genotype., Conclusion: DRD2 polymorphism moderates the effect of stressful life events on depressive symptoms and those who carry A2/A2 DRD2 genotypes may be more vulnerable than others.

Objective: We prospectively examined whether preemployment family factors predict adulthood work stress manifested as effort-reward imbalance (ERI)., Methods: The study sample comprised 746 participants from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Data were collected by questionnaires. The parents reported their socioeconomic position and life satisfaction in 1983 when the participants were at age 6 to 21. The participants reported ERI in 2001 at age 24 to 39., Results: High rewards were predicted by high parental life satisfaction in men and by high parental socioeconomic position in women. The association between higher parental socioeconomic position and higher efforts was mediated by participant's education. Preemployment family factors were not associated with the total ERI., Conclusions: Although preemployment family factors were associated with the reward and effort components, they seemed to have little effect on the total ERI.

Objective: We investigated whether childhood temperament was able to predict carotid artery intima media thickness (IMT) and/or its risk factors in adulthood 21 years later., Methods: The subjects were the three youngest age cohorts of the population-based sample of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study, i.e., those who were aged 3 to 9 years (n = 708) at the baseline. IMT was assessed by ultrasound, and temperament in terms of negative emotionality, hyperactivity, and sociability (following Buss and Plomin). In addition, the levels of traditional risk factors for atherosclerosis were measured in both childhood and adulthood., Results: Childhood temperament was found to predict adulthood risk factors such as smoking in both genders and body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and educational level in women. In women, childhood hyperactivity predicted adulthood IMT after adjustment for childhood and adulthood risk factors for atherosclerosis., Conclusion: These findings suggest that temperament may contribute to the development of IMT in two ways: indirectly through risk factors in both genders and in women directly through a mechanism that is not considered in the present study. There were no significant gender-related differences in temperament, but it seemed to play different roles in different genders. Hyperactivity was a greater risk for girls than for boys.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether job strain and social support are associated with early atherosclerosis measured by carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in young adults., Methods: The subjects were 478 men and 542 women (mean age 32.3) who were participating in the ongoing prospective Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study. Job strain was defined as a joint effect of job demands and job control. Early atherosclerosis was determined with IMT ultrasound. The associations between job strain, social support, and IMT were evaluated using multiple linear regressions., Results: In men, job strain was associated with increased IMT after adjustment for age. This association was not attenuated by additional adjustment for established risk factors of coronary heart disease. In women, job strain was not associated with IMT. No 3-way interaction of job demand, job control, and social support on IMT was found., Conclusion: These findings suggest that job strain may be related to atherosclerosis already in its early nonsymptomatic stages in men.