Sensitive periods for psychosocial risk in childhood and adolescence and cardiometabolic outcomes in young adulthood

Abstract

Greater psychosocial risk in childhood and adolescence predicts poorer cardiometabolic outcomes in adulthood. We assessed whether the timing of psychosocial risk from infancy through adolescence predicts cardiometabolic outcomes in young adulthood. Young adults and their mothers participated in a longitudinal study beginning in infancy in Santiago, Chile (N = 1040). At infancy, 5y, 10y, and adolescence, mothers reported on depressive symptoms, stressful experiences, support for child development in the home, father absence, parental education, and socioeconomic status to create a psychosocial risk composite at each time point. Young adults (52.1% female; 21–27y) provided fasting serum samples and participated in anthropometric and blood pressure assessments, including a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan for measuring body fat. Greater infant psychosocial risk was associated with a greater young adult metabolic syndrome score (β = 0.07, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.13, p = 0.02), a higher body mass index and waist circumference composite (β = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.03 to 0.13, p = 0.002), and a higher body fat (DXA) composite (β = 0.07, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.12, p = 0.02). No psychosocial risk measure from any time point was associated with blood pressure. Infant psychosocial risk predicted cardiometabolic outcomes in young adulthood better than psychosocial risk at 5y, 10y, or adolescence, mean of psychosocial risk from infancy through adolescence, and maximum of psychosocial risk at any one time. Consistent with the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease model, findings suggest that infancy is a sensitive period for psychosocial risk leading to poorer cardiometabolic outcomes in young adulthood.