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McPherson CB, O'Donnell L, Moes E, Edgar H. No relationship found between dental fluctuating asymmetry, birthweight, and birth term in two modern North American samples. Am J Hum Biol 2024:e24114. [PMID: 38842218 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.24114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Revised: 04/24/2024] [Accepted: 05/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Deciduous dental crowns primarily develop during gestation and early infancy and embody early life stress exposures. Composite measures of dental fluctuating asymmetry (DFA) generated from the deciduous teeth may therefore indicate cumulative gestational stress in developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) studies. This study examines whether higher composite measures of deciduous DFA are associated with low birthweight and prematurity, two aspects of birth phenotype consistently associated with increased morbidity and mortality risks in adulthood. SUBJECTS AND METHODS We evaluated associations between composite deciduous DFA, birthweight, and birth term in two contemporary North American samples: an autopsy sample from New Mexico (n = 94), and sample from a growth cohort study in Burlington, Ontario (n = 304). Dental metric data for each sample was collected from postmortem CT scans and dental casts, respectively. Composite DFA was estimated using buccolingual (BL) and mesiodistal (MD) crown diameters from paired deciduous teeth. RESULTS Contrary to expectations, the results of linear regression indicated no significant relationship between birthweight and DFA, or birth term and DFA, in either sample. CONCLUSIONS Deciduous DFA does not predict aspects of birth phenotype associated with gestational stress. Birthweight and birth term are plastic relative to the more developmentally stable deciduous dentition, which may only subtly embody early life stress. We suggest that deciduous DFA should be utilized with caution in DOHaD studies until its relationship with gestational stress is clarified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cait B McPherson
- Department of Pathology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Lexi O'Donnell
- College of Population Health, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Emily Moes
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
- Department of Physician Assistant Studies, University of St. Francis, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Heather Edgar
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
- Office of the Medical Investigator, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
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Meitern R, Hõrak P. Survival costs and benefits of reproduction: A register-based study in 20th century Estonia. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2024; 1535:137-148. [PMID: 38536396 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2024]
Abstract
Patterns of individual variation in lifespan and senescence depend on the associations between parental survival and reproductive rates. We studied the associations between parity and survival among 579,271 Estonians born between 1905 and 1945 and in a cohort with a completed lifespan born in 1905-1927. For this cohort, selection for increased lifespan operated on both sexes, but it was stronger in men than in women. However, the median lifespan increased between the subsequent cohorts in women but stagnated in men. Selection for longer lifespan was caused by the below-average lifespan of individuals with no or single offspring. Despite a general positive selection for lifespan, survival costs of reproduction were also detected among a relatively small proportion of individuals with high parities, as mothers of two and fathers of two and three children had the highest median lifespans. Fathers of more than six children had better survival than fathers of few children in their reproductive age, but this association reversed after age 70. The reversal of this association between survival and parity at old age indicates that relative mortality risks between those with lower versus higher parities change across ages, as predicted by the antagonistic pleiotropy theory of aging.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Peeter Hõrak
- Department of Zoology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
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Ding W, Xu Y, Kondracki AJ, Sun Y. Childhood adversity and accelerated reproductive events: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2024; 230:315-329.e31. [PMID: 37820985 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2023.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2023] [Revised: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Accelerated female reproductive events represent the early onset of reproductive events involving puberty, menarche, pregnancy loss, first sexual intercourse, first birth, parity, and menopause. This study aimed to explore the association between childhood adversity and accelerated female reproductive events. DATA SOURCES PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase were systematically searched from September 22, 2022 to September 23, 2022. STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA Observational cohort, cross-sectional, and case-control studies in human populations were included if they reported the time of reproductive events for female individuals with experience of childhood adversity and were published in English. METHODS Two reviewers independently screened studies, obtained data, and assessed study quality, and conflicts were resolved by a third reviewer. Dichotomous outcomes were evaluated using meta-analysis, and pooled odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were generated using random-effects models. Moderation analysis and meta-regression were used to investigate heterogeneity. RESULTS In total, 21 cohort studies, 9 cross-sectional studies, and 3 case-control studies were identified. Overall, female individuals with childhood adversity were nearly 2 times more likely to report accelerated reproductive events than those with no adversity exposure (odds ratio, 1.91; 95% confidence interval, 1.33-2.76; I2=99.6%; P<.001). Moderation analysis indicated that effect sizes for the types of childhood adversity ranged from an odds ratio of 1.61 (95% confidence interval, 1.23-2.09) for low socioeconomic status to 2.13 (95% confidence interval, 1.14-3.99) for dysfunctional family dynamics. Among the 7 groups based on different reproductive events, including early onset of puberty, early menarche, early sexual initiation, teenage childbirth, preterm birth, pregnancy loss, and early menopause, early sexual initiation had a nonsignificant correlation with childhood adversity (odds ratio, 2.70; 95% confidence interval, 0.88-8.30; I2=99.9%; P<.001). Considerable heterogeneity (I2>75%) between estimates was observed for over half of the outcomes. Age, study type, and method of data collection could explain 35.9% of the variance. CONCLUSION The literature tentatively corroborates that female individuals who reported adverse events in childhood are more likely to experience accelerated reproductive events. This association is especially strong for exposure to abuse and dysfunctional family dynamics. However, the heterogeneity among studies was high, requiring caution in interpreting the findings and highlighting the need for further evaluation of the types and timing of childhood events that influence accelerated female reproductive events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenqin Ding
- Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Yuxiang Xu
- Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Anthony J Kondracki
- Department of Community Medicine, Mercer University School of Medicine, Macon, GA
| | - Ying Sun
- Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China; Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle, Anhui Medical University, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Hefei, China; Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Population Health and Aristogenics, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
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McDade TW. Three common assumptions about inflammation, aging, and health that are probably wrong. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2317232120. [PMID: 38064531 PMCID: PMC10740363 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2317232120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic inflammation contributes to the onset and progression of cardiovascular disease and other degenerative diseases of aging. But does it have to? This article considers the associations among inflammation, aging, and health through the lens of human population biology and suggests that chronic inflammation is not a normal nor inevitable component of aging. It is commonly assumed that conclusions drawn from research in affluent, industrialized countries can be applied globally; that aging processes leading to morbidity and mortality begin in middle age; and that inflammation is pathological. These foundational assumptions have shifted focus away from inflammation as a beneficial response to infection or injury and toward an understanding of inflammation as chronic, dysregulated, and dangerous. Findings from community-based studies around the world-many conducted in areas with relatively high burdens of infectious disease-challenge these assumptions by documenting substantial variation in levels of inflammation and patterns of association with disease. They also indicate that nutritional, microbial, and psychosocial environments in infancy and childhood play important roles in shaping inflammatory phenotypes and their contributions to diseases of aging. A comparative, developmental, and ecological approach has the potential to generate novel insights into the regulation of inflammation and how it relates to human health over the life course.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas W. McDade
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL60208
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL60208
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Stöger R, Choi M, Begum K, Leeman G, Emes RD, Melamed P, Bentley GR. Childhood environment influences epigenetic age and methylation concordance of a CpG clock locus in British-Bangladeshi migrants. Epigenetics 2023; 18:2153511. [PMID: 36495138 PMCID: PMC9980690 DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2022.2153511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Migration from one location to another often comes with a change in environmental conditions. Here, we analysed features of DNA methylation in young, adult British-Bangladeshi women who experienced different environments during their childhoods: a) migrants, who grew up in Bangladesh with exposure to comparatively higher pathogen loads and poorer health care, and b) second-generation British-Bangladeshis, born to Bangladeshi parents, who grew up in the UK. We used buccal DNA to estimate DNA methylation-based age (DNAm age) from 14 migrants and 11 second-generation migrants, aged 18-35 years. 'AgeAccel,' a measure of DNAm age, independent of chronological age, showed that the group of women who spent their childhood in Bangladesh had higher AgeAccel (P = 0.028), compared to their UK peers. Since epigenetic clocks have been proposed to be associated with maintenance processes of epigenetic systems, we evaluated the preference for concordant DNA methylation at the luteinizing hormone/choriogonadotropin receptor (LHCGR/LHR) locus, which harbours one of the CpGs contributing to Horvath's epigenetic clock. Measurements on both strands of individual, double-stranded DNA molecules indicate higher stability of DNA methylation states at this LHCGR/LHR locus in samples of women who grew up in Bangladesh. Together, our two independent analytical approaches imply that childhood environments may induce subtle changes that are detectable long after exposure occurred, which might reflect altered activity of the epigenetic maintenance system or a difference in the proportion of cell types in buccal tissue. This exploratory work supports our earlier findings that adverse childhood environments lead to phenotypic life history trade-offs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reinhard Stöger
- School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Minseung Choi
- School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | - Gregory Leeman
- School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Richard D Emes
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.,Advanced Data Analysis Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Philippa Melamed
- Faculty of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Gillian R Bentley
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, UK.,Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing, Durham University, Durham, UK
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Holdsworth EA, Schell LM, Appleton AA. Maternal-infant interaction quality is associated with child NR3C1 CpG site methylation at 7 years of age. Am J Hum Biol 2023; 35:e23876. [PMID: 36779373 PMCID: PMC10909417 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23876] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 02/14/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Infancy is both a critical window for hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis development, and a sensitive period for social-emotional influences. We hypothesized that the social-emotional quality of maternal-infant interactions are associated with methylation of HPA-axis gene NR3C1 later in childhood. METHODS Using a subsample of 114 mother-infant pairs from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), linear regression models were created to predict variance in methylation of seven selected CpG sites from NR3C1 in whole blood at age 7 years, including the main predictor variable of the first principal component score of observed maternal-infant interaction quality (derived from the Thorpe Interaction Measure at 12 months of age) and covariates of cell-type proportion, maternal financial difficulties and marital status at 8 months postnatal, child birthweight, and sex. RESULTS CpG site cg27122725 methylation was negatively associated with warmer, more positive maternal interaction with her infant (β = 0.19, p = .02, q = 0.13). In sensitivity analyses, the second highest quartile of maternal behavior (neutral, hesitant behavior) was positively associated with cg12466613 methylation. The other five CpG sites were not significantly associated with maternal-infant interaction quality. CONCLUSIONS Narrow individual variation of maternal interaction with her infant is associated with childhood methylation of two CpG sites on NR3C1 that may be particularly sensitive to environmental influences. Infancy may be a sensitive period for even small influences from the social-emotional environment on the epigenetic determinants of HPA-axis function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A. Holdsworth
- Department of AnthropologyWashington State UniversityPullmanWashingtonUSA
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity at Albany State University of New YorkAlbanyNew YorkUSA
| | - Lawrence M. Schell
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity at Albany State University of New YorkAlbanyNew YorkUSA
- Department of Epidemiology & BiostatisticsUniversity at Albany State University of New YorkRensselaerNew YorkUSA
| | - Allison A. Appleton
- Department of Epidemiology & BiostatisticsUniversity at Albany State University of New YorkRensselaerNew YorkUSA
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Calanni JS, Dieguez HH, González Fleitas MF, Canepa E, Berardino B, Repetto EM, Villarreal A, Dorfman D, Rosenstein RE. Early life stress induces visual dysfunction and retinal structural alterations in adult mice. J Neurochem 2022; 165:362-378. [PMID: 36583234 DOI: 10.1111/jnc.15752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Revised: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Early life stress (ELS) is defined as a period of severe and/or chronic trauma, as well as environmental/social deprivation or neglect in the prenatal/early postnatal stage. Presently, the impact of ELS on the retina in the adult stage is unknown. The long-term consequences of ELS at retinal level were analyzed in an animal model of maternal separation with early weaning (MSEW), which mimics early life maternal neglect. For this purpose, mice were separated from the dams for 2 h at postnatal days (PNDs) 4-6, for 3 h at PNDs 7-9, for 4 h at PNDs 10-12, for 6 h at PNDs 13-16, and weaned at PND17. At the end of each separation period, mothers were subjected to movement restriction for 10 min. Control pups were left undisturbed from PND0, and weaned at PND21. Electroretinograms, visual evoked potentials, vision-guided behavioral tests, retinal anterograde transport, and retinal histopathology were examined at PNDs 60-80. MSEW induced long-lasting functional and histological effects at retinal level, including decreased retinal ganglion cell function and alterations in vision-guided behaviors, likely associated to decreased synaptophysin content, retina-superior colliculus communication deficit, increased microglial phagocytic activity, and retinal ganglion cell loss through a corticoid-dependent mechanism. A treatment with mifepristone, injected every 3 days between PNDs 4 and16, prevented functional and structural alterations induced by MSEW. These results suggest that retinal alterations might be included among the childhood adversity-induced threats to life quality, and that an early intervention with mifepristone avoided ELS-induced retinal disturbances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan S Calanni
- Laboratory of Retinal Neurochemistry and Experimental Ophthalmology, Department of Human Biochemistry, School of Medicine/CEFyBO, University of Buenos Aires/CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Hernán H Dieguez
- Laboratory of Retinal Neurochemistry and Experimental Ophthalmology, Department of Human Biochemistry, School of Medicine/CEFyBO, University of Buenos Aires/CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - María F González Fleitas
- Laboratory of Retinal Neurochemistry and Experimental Ophthalmology, Department of Human Biochemistry, School of Medicine/CEFyBO, University of Buenos Aires/CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Eduardo Canepa
- Neuroepigenetics Laboratory, Department of Biological Chemistry and Institute of Biological Chemistry, School of Science, University of Buenos Aires/CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Bruno Berardino
- Neuroepigenetics Laboratory, Department of Biological Chemistry and Institute of Biological Chemistry, School of Science, University of Buenos Aires/CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Esteban M Repetto
- Department of Human Biochemistry, School of Medicine/CEFyBO, University of Buenos Aires/CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Alejandro Villarreal
- Molecular Neuropathology Laboratory, School of Medicine, Cellular Biology and Neuroscience Institute, "Prof. E. De Robertis", University of Buenos Aires/CONICET, Argentina
| | - Damian Dorfman
- Laboratory of Retinal Neurochemistry and Experimental Ophthalmology, Department of Human Biochemistry, School of Medicine/CEFyBO, University of Buenos Aires/CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Ruth E Rosenstein
- Laboratory of Retinal Neurochemistry and Experimental Ophthalmology, Department of Human Biochemistry, School of Medicine/CEFyBO, University of Buenos Aires/CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Buikstra JE, DeWitte SN, Agarwal SC, Baker BJ, Bartelink EJ, Berger E, Blevins KE, Bolhofner K, Boutin AT, Brickley MB, Buzon MR, de la Cova C, Goldstein L, Gowland R, Grauer AL, Gregoricka LA, Halcrow SE, Hall SA, Hillson S, Kakaliouras AM, Klaus HD, Knudson KJ, Knüsel CJ, Larsen CS, Martin DL, Milner GR, Novak M, Nystrom KC, Pacheco-Forés SI, Prowse TL, Robbins Schug G, Roberts CA, Rothwell JE, Santos AL, Stojanowski C, Stone AC, Stull KE, Temple DH, Torres CM, Toyne JM, Tung TA, Ullinger J, Wiltschke-Schrotta K, Zakrzewski SR. Twenty-first century bioarchaeology: Taking stock and moving forward. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2022; 178 Suppl 74:54-114. [PMID: 36790761 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Revised: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 01/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
This article presents outcomes from a Workshop entitled "Bioarchaeology: Taking Stock and Moving Forward," which was held at Arizona State University (ASU) on March 6-8, 2020. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the School of Human Evolution and Social Change (ASU), and the Center for Bioarchaeological Research (CBR, ASU), the Workshop's overall goal was to explore reasons why research proposals submitted by bioarchaeologists, both graduate students and established scholars, fared disproportionately poorly within recent NSF Anthropology Program competitions and to offer advice for increasing success. Therefore, this Workshop comprised 43 international scholars and four advanced graduate students with a history of successful grant acquisition, primarily from the United States. Ultimately, we focused on two related aims: (1) best practices for improving research designs and training and (2) evaluating topics of contemporary significance that reverberate through history and beyond as promising trajectories for bioarchaeological research. Among the former were contextual grounding, research question/hypothesis generation, statistical procedures appropriate for small samples and mixed qualitative/quantitative data, the salience of Bayesian methods, and training program content. Topical foci included ethics, social inequality, identity (including intersectionality), climate change, migration, violence, epidemic disease, adaptability/plasticity, the osteological paradox, and the developmental origins of health and disease. Given the profound changes required globally to address decolonization in the 21st century, this concern also entered many formal and informal discussions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jane E Buikstra
- Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Sharon N DeWitte
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
| | - Sabrina C Agarwal
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Brenda J Baker
- Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Eric J Bartelink
- Department of Anthropology, California State University, Chico, California, USA
| | - Elizabeth Berger
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | | | - Katelyn Bolhofner
- School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
| | - Alexis T Boutin
- Department of Anthropology, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California, USA
| | - Megan B Brickley
- Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Michele R Buzon
- Department of Anthropology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
| | - Carlina de la Cova
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
| | - Lynne Goldstein
- Department of Anthropology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | | | - Anne L Grauer
- Department of Anthropology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Lesley A Gregoricka
- Department of Sociology, Anthropology, & Social Work, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, USA
| | - Siân E Halcrow
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Sarah A Hall
- Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Simon Hillson
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Ann M Kakaliouras
- Department of Anthropology, Whittier College, Whittier, California, USA
| | - Haagen D Klaus
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
| | - Kelly J Knudson
- Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Christopher J Knüsel
- Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie, University of Bordeaux, CNRS, MC, PACEA, UMR5199, F-33615, Pessac, France
| | | | - Debra L Martin
- Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
| | - George R Milner
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Mario Novak
- Center for Applied Bioanthropology, Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Kenneth C Nystrom
- Department of Anthropology, State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, New York, USA
| | | | - Tracy L Prowse
- Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Gwen Robbins Schug
- Environmental Health Program, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
| | | | - Jessica E Rothwell
- Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Ana Luisa Santos
- Research Centre for Anthropology and Health (CIAS), Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Christopher Stojanowski
- Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Anne C Stone
- Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Kyra E Stull
- Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | - Daniel H Temple
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
| | - Christina M Torres
- Department of Anthropology and Heritage Studies, University of California, Merced, USA, and Instituto de Arqueología y Antropología, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile
| | - J Marla Toyne
- Department of Anthropology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA
| | - Tiffiny A Tung
- Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Jaime Ullinger
- Bioanthropology Research Institute, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Connecticut, USA
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Do Optimists Like Vaccines? The Effect of Perceived Vaccine Novelty and Beliefs in the World’s Positivity and Orderliness on the Attitudes toward COVID-19 Vaccinations—The Case of European Young Adults. Vaccines (Basel) 2022; 10:vaccines10030379. [PMID: 35335011 PMCID: PMC8953489 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10030379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Revised: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The public debate over COVID-19 vaccinations tends to focus on vaccine-related arguments, such as their effectiveness and safety. However, the characteristics of a person’s worldview, such as beliefs about the world’s positivity and orderliness, may also shape attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccinations. These relationships were investigated using schema incongruity theory. The degree of the vaccine’s incongruence with the world’s order schema existing in people’s minds was represented by perceived vaccine novelty. Accordingly, the results of an online survey among European young adults (N = 435) indicate that perceived vaccine novelty negatively affects behavioral outcomes (vaccination intent, willingness to pay for vaccinations, and vaccination advocacy). Moreover, there occurred a negative interaction effect of positivity and orderliness beliefs on behavioral outcomes. Specifically, an effect of positivity was more positive when people perceived the world as less ordered. Furthermore, this interaction effect was more negative when perceived vaccine novelty was higher. A mediating role of perceived vaccine effectiveness was demonstrated for the above relationships. The results extend the existing literature on people’s worldviews into the domain of vaccine attitudes, and provide new insights on the role of perceived vaccine novelty. For vaccination policymakers and marketers, the paper suggests how to promote vaccinations with consideration of orderliness/positivity beliefs and vaccine novelty perception.
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Quade L, Gowland R. Height and health in Roman and Post-Roman Gaul, a life course approach. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PALEOPATHOLOGY 2021; 35:49-60. [PMID: 34656897 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2021.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Revised: 10/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/01/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The present study explores growth and health in Roman (1st-3rd centuries CE) and Post-Roman (4th-7th centuries CE) Gaul, incorporating a life-course approach, to better understand the influence of Roman practices and lifestyles on health, and the impact of cultural change from the Roman to the Post-Roman period. MATERIALS AND METHODS The skeletal remains of 844 individuals were analyzed for non-specific signs of physiological stress, including growth disruption (diaphyseal and adult maximum femur length), dental enamel hypoplastic defects (DEH), cribra orbitalia (CO), and periosteal reaction of the tibiae (Tibia PR). RESULTS The Gallo-Roman sample demonstrated shorter femoral lengths, and higher rates of DEH and Tibia PR. Post-Roman groups demonstrated longer femoral lengths and higher rates of CO. CONCLUSIONS Gallo-Roman individuals may have been more regularly exposed to infectious pathogens throughout childhood, inhibiting opportunities for catch-up growth, resulting in high rates of DEH and shorter femoral lengths ('intermittent stress of low lethality'). This could be the result of overcrowding and insalubrious urban environments. Higher rates of CO in the Post-Roman samples may have been influenced by dietary changes between the periods. SIGNIFICANCE The intertwined and often synergistic relationships between early life environment, nutrition and settlement structure is highlighted, helping to further understandings of life experiences during the Roman and Post-Roman periods. LIMITATIONS It was not possible to obtain sufficient data from northern regions during the Gallo-Roman period, limiting this analysis. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH Further application of life course approaches can reveal subtle patterns in stress indicators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leslie Quade
- Durham University, Department of Archaeology, Lower Mount Joy, South Rd, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom; Masaryk University, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Science, Kotlářská 267/2, 611 37, Brno, Czech Republic.
| | - Rebecca Gowland
- Durham University, Department of Archaeology, Lower Mount Joy, South Rd, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom.
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McPherson CB. Examining developmental plasticity in the skeletal system through a sensitive developmental windows framework. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 176:163-178. [PMID: 34105143 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2020] [Revised: 05/12/2021] [Accepted: 05/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Developmental plasticity facilitates energetically costly but potentially fitness-enhancing adjustments to phenotypic trajectories in response to environmental stressors, and thus may significantly impact patterns of growth, morbidity, and mortality over the life course. Ongoing research into epigenetics and developmental biology indicate that the timing of stress exposures is a key factor when assessing their impact on developmental processes. Specifically, stress experienced within sensitive developmental windows (SDWs), discrete developmental periods characterized by heightened energy requirements and rapid growth, may alter the pace and tempo of growth in ways that significantly influence phenotypic development over both the short and long term. In human skeletal biology, efforts to assess how developmental environments shape health outcomes over the life course could be enhanced by incorporating the SDW concept into existing methodological approaches. The goal of this article is to outline an interpretive framework for identifying and interpreting evidence of developmental stress in the skeletal system using the SDW concept. This framework provides guidance for the identification of elements most likely to capture evidence of stress most relevant to a study's core research questions, the interpretation of developmental stress exhibited by those elements, and the relationship of skeletal indicators of stress to the demographic patterning of morbidity and mortality. Use of the SDW concept in skeletal biology has the potential to enrich traditional approaches to addressing developmental origins of health and disease hypotheses, by targeting periods in which individuals are most susceptible to stress and thus most likely to exhibit plasticity in response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cait B McPherson
- School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA.,Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
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Kuzawa CW. Pregnancy as an intergenerational conduit of adversity: how nutritional and psychosocial stressors reflect different historical timescales of maternal experience. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
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Ham AC, Temple DH, Klaus HD, Hunt DR. Evaluating life history trade-offs through the presence of linear enamel hypoplasia at Pueblo Bonito and Hawikku: A biocultural study of early life stress and survival in the Ancestral Pueblo Southwest. Am J Hum Biol 2020; 33:e23506. [PMID: 32924230 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2019] [Revised: 08/23/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Due to the indelible nature of enamel, bioarchaeologists use linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) to detect early investments in surviving stress and have identified an association between LEH presence and constraints in growth and maintenance as well as an increased susceptibility to future stress events. This study evaluates heterogenous frailty and susceptibility to death in relation to episodes of early life stress, as reflected by LEH presence, in the Ancestral Pueblo Southwest. This study hypothesizes that LEH presence will be associated with decreased survivorship and an increased likelihood of mortality in both samples. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study uses two samples, one from Pueblo Bonito (A.D. 800-1200; n = 28) and the second from Hawikku (A.D. 1300-1680; n = 103). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis with a log-rank test was used to evaluate the effect of LEH presence on survivorship for the two samples. RESULTS Survival analysis reveals statistically significant differences in mortality risk between individuals with and without LEH for the Hawikku sample, but no significant differences for the Pueblo Bonito sample. CONCLUSION The results demonstrate differences in the response to early life stress at the Hawikku and Pueblo Bonito sites, likely reflecting context. The Pueblo Bonito sample represents a high-status group, and survival following LEH may be the result of cultural buffering. Hawikku dates to a period associated with increased levels of disease and malnutrition as well as Spanish colonization. This environment may have exacerbated mortality risk for individuals in the region who survived early life stress and signifies the consequences of European colonialism in the New World.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison C Ham
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
| | - Daniel H Temple
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
| | - Haagen D Klaus
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
| | - David R Hunt
- Physical Anthropology Division, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
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van der Veen R, Bonapersona V, Joëls M. The relevance of a rodent cohort in the Consortium on Individual Development. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 45:100846. [PMID: 32957026 PMCID: PMC7509002 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2020] [Revised: 07/29/2020] [Accepted: 08/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the features of the Consortium on Individual Development is the existence of a rodent cohort, in parallel with the human cohorts. Here we give an overview of the current status. We first elaborate on the choice of rat and mouse models mimicking early life adverse or beneficial conditions during development. We performed a systematic literature search on early life adversity and adult social behavior to address the status quo. Next, we describe the behavioral tasks we used and designed to examine behavioral control and social competence in rodents. The results so far indicate that manipulation of the environment in the first postnatal week only subtly affects social behavior. Stronger effects were seen in the model that targeted early adolescence; once adult, these rats are characterized by increased attention, a higher degree of impulsiveness and reduced social interest in peers. Many experiments in our rodent models with tightly controlled conditions were inspired by findings in human cohorts, and now allow in-depth mechanistic investigations. Vice versa, some of the findings in rodents are currently followed up by dedicated investigations in the human cohorts. This exemplifies the added value of animal investigations in a consortium encompassing primarily human developmental cohorts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rixt van der Veen
- Dept. Translational Neuroscience, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
| | - Valeria Bonapersona
- Dept. Translational Neuroscience, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Marian Joëls
- Dept. Translational Neuroscience, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
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Holder S, Miliauskienė Ž, Jankauskas R, Dupras T. An integrative approach to studying plasticity in growth disruption and outcomes: A bioarchaeological case study of Napoleonic soldiers. Am J Hum Biol 2020; 33:e23457. [PMID: 32618057 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2020] [Revised: 05/15/2020] [Accepted: 05/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate how much variation in adult stature and body mass can be explained by growth disruption among soldiers who served in Napoleon's Grand Army during the Russian Campaign of 1812. METHODS Linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) were recorded as representations of early life growth disruption, while the impact on future growth was assessed using maximum femur length (n = 73) as a proxy for stature and maximum femoral head diameter (n = 25) as a proxy for body mass. LEH frequency, severity, age at first formation, and age at last formation served as explanatory variables in a multiple regression analysis to test the effect of these variables on maximum femur length and maximum femoral head diameter. RESULTS The multiple regression model produced statistically significant results for maximum femur length (F-statistic = 3.05, df = 5 and 67, P = .02), with some variation in stature (adjusted r2 = 0.13) attributable to variation in growth disruption. The multiple regression model for maximum femoral head diameter was not statistically significant (F-statistic = 1.87, df = 5 and 19, P = .15). CONCLUSIONS We hypothesized stress events during early life growth and development would have significant, negative, and cumulative effects on growth outcomes in adulthood. The results did not support our hypothesis. Instead, some variables and interactions had negative effects on stature, whereas others had positive effects. This is likely due to catch-up growth, the relationship between acute and chronic stress and growth, resilience, and plasticity in human growth over the life course.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sammantha Holder
- Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
| | - Žydrūnė Miliauskienė
- Department of Anatomy, Histology & Anthropology, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Rimantas Jankauskas
- Department of Anatomy, Histology & Anthropology, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Tosha Dupras
- Department of Anthropology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA
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Trzebiński J, Cabański M, Czarnecka JZ. Reaction to the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Influence of Meaning in Life, Life Satisfaction, and Assumptions on World Orderliness and Positivity. JOURNAL OF LOSS & TRAUMA 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/15325024.2020.1765098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
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Pezo-Lanfranco L, Filippini J, Di Giusto M, Petronilho C, Wesolowski V, DeBlasis P, Eggers S. Child development, physiological stress and survival expectancy in prehistoric fisher-hunter-gatherers from the Jabuticabeira II shell mound, South Coast of Brazil. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0229684. [PMID: 32160224 PMCID: PMC7065757 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2019] [Accepted: 02/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, we shed light on the interdependency of child growth, morbidity and life expectancy in the fisher-hunter-gatherers of the Jabuticabeira II shell mound (1214-830 cal B.C.E. - 118-413 cal C.E.) located at the South Coast of Brazil. We test the underlying causes of heterogeneity in frailty and selective mortality in a population that inhabits a plentiful environment in sedentary settlements. We reconstruct osteobiographies of 41 individuals (23 adults and 18 subadults) using 8 variables, including age-at-death, stature, non-specific stress markers (cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, periosteal reactions, periapical lesions and linear enamel hypoplasia), as well as weaning patterns based on stable isotope data to examine how stress factors module growth and survival. Our results show that shorter adult statures were linked to higher morbidity around weaning age and higher chances of dying earlier (before 35 years) than taller adult statures. In addition, short juvenile stature was related to physiological stressors and mortality. The adult "survivors" experienced recurrent periods of morbidity during childhood and adulthood, possibly associated with the high parasite load of the ecosystem and dense settlement rather than to malnourishment. An association between early-stress exposure and premature death was not demonstrated in our sample. To explain our data, we propose a new model called "intermittent stress of low lethality". According to this model, individuals are exposed to recurrent stress during the juvenile and adult stages of life, and, nevertheless survive until reproductive age or later with relative success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Pezo-Lanfranco
- Laboratório de Antropologia Biológica, Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo, Cidade Universitária USP, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - José Filippini
- Laboratório de Antropologia Biológica, Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo, Cidade Universitária USP, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Marina Di Giusto
- Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia da Universidade de São Paulo, Cidade Universitária USP, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Cecília Petronilho
- Laboratório de Antropologia Biológica, Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo, Cidade Universitária USP, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Veronica Wesolowski
- Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia da Universidade de São Paulo, Cidade Universitária USP, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Paulo DeBlasis
- Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia da Universidade de São Paulo, Cidade Universitária USP, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Sabine Eggers
- Laboratório de Antropologia Biológica, Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo, Cidade Universitária USP, São Paulo, Brazil
- Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Anthropologische Abteilung, Vienna, Austria
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Garland CJ. Implications of accumulative stress burdens during critical periods of early postnatal life for mortality risk among Guale interred in a colonial era cemetery in Spanish Florida (ca. AD 1605-1680). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2020; 172:621-637. [PMID: 32064605 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2019] [Revised: 01/24/2020] [Accepted: 01/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Research situated within the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease demonstrates that stressors are correlated with future mortality risk, especially if experienced frequently and during early periods of postnatal life. This study examines if the developmental timing and frequency of early life stressors influenced mortality risk for Indigenous Guale in Spanish Florida during the 17th century. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study examines internal enamel microgrowth disruptions (accentuated lines-AL) from Guale individuals (n = 52) interred at Mission Santa Catalina de Guale on St. Catherines Island, Georgia (AD 1605-1680). Teeth were thin-sectioned and microscopically analyzed to document AL variables as predictors of age-at-death. RESULTS Individuals with AL died earlier than those without AL. This difference, however, was not significant. Individuals who exhibit AL formed during their first year of life died on average three times earlier than those who did not. The frequency of AL and age-at-first-AL are significantly correlated with age-at-death, and Cox hazard analyses indicates that individuals with early forming and frequent AL had increased risks of early death. DISCUSSION This study emphasizes how the lived experiences of Guale children shaped demographic patterns during the 17th century. The survival of early life stressors resulted in life history trade-offs and increased risks for early death. Mortality risks were exacerbated for individuals who experienced frequent stressors during the earliest periods of life. This underscores a role for bioarchaeology in understanding of how accumulative stress burdens during the earliest years of postnatal life may influence mortality risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carey J Garland
- Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
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Holdsworth EA, Appleton AA. Adverse childhood experiences and reproductive strategies in a contemporary U.S. population. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2019; 171:37-49. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2018] [Revised: 09/25/2019] [Accepted: 10/22/2019] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A. Holdsworth
- Department of Anthropology, College of Arts & SciencesUniversity at Albany, SUNY Albany New York
| | - Allison A. Appleton
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public HealthUniversity at Albany, SUNY Albany New York
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Bovet J. Evolutionary Theories and Men's Preferences for Women's Waist-to-Hip Ratio: Which Hypotheses Remain? A Systematic Review. Front Psychol 2019; 10:1221. [PMID: 31244708 PMCID: PMC6563790 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2018] [Accepted: 05/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the last 25 years, a large amount of research has been dedicated to identifying men's preferences for women's physical features, and the evolutionary benefits associated with such preferences. Today, this area of research generates substantial controversy and criticism. I argue that part of the crisis is due to inaccuracies in the evolutionary hypotheses used in the field. For this review, I focus on the extensive literature regarding men's adaptive preferences for women's waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), which has become a classic example of the just-so storytelling contributing to the general mistrust toward evolutionary explanations of human behavior. The issues in this literature originate in the vagueness and incompleteness of the theorizing of the evolutionary mechanisms leading to mate preferences. Authors seem to have rushed into testing and debating the effects of WHR on women's attractiveness under various conditions and using different stimuli, without first establishing (a) clear definitions of the central evolution concepts (e.g., female mate value is often reduced to an imprecise concept of "health-and-fertility"), and (b) a complete overview of the distinct evolutionary paths potentially at work (e.g., focusing on fecundability while omitting descendants' quality). Unsound theoretical foundations will lead to imprecise predictions which cannot properly be tested, thus ultimately resulting in the premature rejection of an evolutionary explanation to human mate preferences. This paper provides the first comprehensive review of the existing hypotheses on why men's preferences for a certain WHR in women might be adaptive, as well as an analysis of the theoretical credibility of these hypotheses. By dissecting the evolutionary reasoning behind each hypothesis, I show which hypotheses are plausible and which are unfit to account for men's preferences for female WHR. Moreover, the most cited hypotheses (e.g., WHR as a cue of health or fecundity) are found to not necessarily be the ones with the strongest theoretical support, and some promising hypotheses (e.g., WHR as a cue of parity or current pregnancy) have seemingly been mostly overlooked. Finally, I suggest some directions for future studies on human mate choice, to move this evolutionary psychology literature toward a stronger theoretical foundation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeanne Bovet
- Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, United States
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21
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Worthman CM, Dockray S, Marceau K. Puberty and the Evolution of Developmental Science. JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE 2019; 29:9-31. [PMID: 30869841 PMCID: PMC6961839 DOI: 10.1111/jora.12411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
In recent decades, theoretical and methodological advances have operated synergistically to advance understanding of puberty and prompt increasingly comprehensive models that engage with the temporal, psychosocial, and biological dimensions of this maturational milepost. This integrative overview discusses these theoretical and methodological advances and their implications for research and intervention to promote human development in the context of changing maturational schedules and massive ongoing social transformations.
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Temple DH. Bioarchaeological evidence for adaptive plasticity and constraint: Exploring life‐history trade‐offs in the human past. Evol Anthropol 2018; 28:34-46. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.21754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2018] [Revised: 06/26/2018] [Accepted: 09/28/2018] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel H. Temple
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology George Mason University Fairfax Virginia
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23
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Amoroso A, Garcia SJ. Can early-life growth disruptions predict longevity? Testing the association between vertebral neural canal (VNC) size and age-at-death. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PALEOPATHOLOGY 2018; 22:8-17. [PMID: 29626662 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2018.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2017] [Revised: 03/05/2018] [Accepted: 03/21/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
This study tests the association of vertebral neural canal (VNC) size and age-at-death in a Portuguese skeletal collection from the 19th-20th century. If the plasticity and constraint model best explains this association, VNC size would be negatively related to mortality risk. If the predictive adaptive response (PAR) model is a better fit, no association can be inferred between VNC size and age-at-death. Ninety individuals were used in this study. The anteroposterior and transverse diameters of all vertebrae were measured. A Cox regression analysis was performed by sex to assess the effect of VNC size on age-at-death, after adjusting for the effects of year of birth and cause of death. Several measurements of VNC diameters have a statistically significant effect on age-at-death, but when the covariates were considered, this association became non-significant. The PAR model seems the best fit to explain the relation between VNC and age-at-death. Individuals who went through stressful events early in life were prepared to face a stressful environment later in life, allowing them to cope with adversity without affecting longevity. However, developmental plasticity may be buffered by maternal capital accumulated over several generations, and health hazards encountered throughout life can contribute to health outcomes and longevity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra Amoroso
- CAPP, Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, Rua Almerindo Lessa, 1300-663, Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Susana J Garcia
- CAPP, Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, Rua Almerindo Lessa, 1300-663, Lisboa, Portugal.
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Ward JB, Robinson WR, Pence BW, Maselko J, Albrecht SS, Haan MN, Aiello AE. Educational Mobility Across Generations and Depressive Symptoms Over 10 Years Among US Latinos. Am J Epidemiol 2018; 187:1686-1695. [PMID: 29762643 DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwy056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2017] [Accepted: 03/09/2018] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Few studies have collected intergenerational data to assess the association between educational mobility across multiple generations and offspring depression. Using data from the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging (1998-2008), we assessed the influence of intergenerational education on depressive symptoms over 10 years among 1,786 Latino individuals (mean age = 70.6 years). Educational mobility was classified as stable-low (low parental/low offspring education), upwardly mobile (low parental/high offspring education), stable-high (high parental/high offspring education), or downwardly mobile (high parental/low offspring education). Depressive symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D); higher scores indicated more depressive symptoms. To quantify the association between educational mobility and CES-D scores over follow-up, we used generalized estimating equations to account for repeated CES-D measurements and adjusted for identified confounders. Within individuals, depressive symptoms remained relatively stable over follow-up. Compared with stable-low education, stable-high education and upward mobility were associated with significantly lower CES-D scores (β = -2.75 and -2.18, respectively). Downwardly mobile participants had slightly lower CES-D scores than stable-low participants (β = -0.77). Our results suggest that sustained, low educational attainment across generations may have adverse mental health consequences, and improved educational opportunities in underresourced communities may counteract the adverse influence of low parental education on Latino depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia B Ward
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Whitney R Robinson
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Brian W Pence
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Joanna Maselko
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Sandra S Albrecht
- Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Mary N Haan
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Allison E Aiello
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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Childhood ecology influences salivary testosterone, pubertal age and stature of Bangladeshi UK migrant men. Nat Ecol Evol 2018; 2:1146-1154. [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0567-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2018] [Accepted: 05/01/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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26
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Thayer ZM, Wilson MA, Kim AW, Jaeggi AV. Impact of prenatal stress on offspring glucocorticoid levels: A phylogenetic meta-analysis across 14 vertebrate species. Sci Rep 2018; 8:4942. [PMID: 29563562 PMCID: PMC5862967 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-23169-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2017] [Accepted: 03/07/2018] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Prenatal exposure to maternal stress is commonly associated with variation in Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA)-axis functioning in offspring. However, the strength or consistency of this response has never been empirically evaluated across vertebrate species. Here we meta-analyzed 114 results from 39 studies across 14 vertebrate species using Bayesian phylogenetic mixed-effects models. We found a positive overall effect of prenatal stress on offspring glucocorticoids (d' = 0.43) though the 95% Highest Posterior Density Interval overlapped with 0 (-0.16-0.95). Meta-regressions of potential moderators highlighted that phylogeny and life history variables predicted relatively little variation in effect size. Experimental studies (d' = 0.64) produced stronger effects than observational ones (d' = -0.01), while prenatal stress affected glucocorticoid recovery following offspring stress exposure more strongly (d' = 0.75) than baseline levels (d' = 0.48) or glucocorticoid peak response (d' = 0.36). These findings are consistent with the argument that HPA-axis sensitivity to prenatal stress is evolutionarily ancient and occurs regardless of a species' overall life history strategy. These effects may therefore be especially important for mediating intra-specific life-history variation. In addition, these findings suggest that animal models of prenatal HPA-axis programming may be appropriate for studying similar effects in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zaneta M Thayer
- Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA.
| | - Meredith A Wilson
- Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA
| | - Andrew W Kim
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Illinois, USA
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The Intergenerational Transmission of Low Birth Weight and Intrauterine Growth Restriction: A Large Cross-generational Cohort Study in Taiwan. Matern Child Health J 2017; 21:1512-1521. [DOI: 10.1007/s10995-017-2276-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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28
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Kwok MK, Leung GM, Schooling CM. Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency and Physical and Mental Health until Adolescence. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0166192. [PMID: 27824927 PMCID: PMC5100951 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2016] [Accepted: 10/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Background To examine the association of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency with adolescent physical and mental health, as effects of G6PD deficiency on health are rarely reported. Methods In a population-representative Chinese birth cohort: “Children of 1997” (n = 8,327), we estimated the adjusted associations of G6PD deficiency with growth using generalized estimating equations, with pubertal onset using interval censored regression, with hospitalization using Cox proportional hazards regression and with size, blood pressure, pubertal maturation and mental health using linear regression with multiple imputation and inverse probability weighting. Results Among 5,520 screened adolescents (66% follow-up), 4.8% boys and 0.5% girls had G6PD deficiency. G6PD-deficiency was not associated with birth weight-for-gestational age or length/height gain into adolescence, but was associated with lower childhood body mass index (BMI) gain (-0.38 z-score, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.57, -0.20), adjusted for sex and parental education, and later onset of pubic hair development (time ratio = 1.029, 95% CI 1.007, 1.050). G6PD deficiency was not associated with blood pressure, height, BMI or mental health in adolescence, nor with serious infectious morbidity until adolescence. Conclusions G6PD deficient adolescents had broadly similar physical and mental health indicators, but transiently lower BMI gain and later pubic hair development, whose long-term implications warrant investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Man Ki Kwok
- School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Gabriel M. Leung
- School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - C. Mary Schooling
- School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
- City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York, New York, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Ferrucci L, Cooper R, Shardell M, Simonsick EM, Schrack JA, Kuh D. Age-Related Change in Mobility: Perspectives From Life Course Epidemiology and Geroscience. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2016; 71:1184-94. [PMID: 26975983 PMCID: PMC4978365 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glw043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 220] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2015] [Accepted: 02/19/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Mobility is the most studied and most relevant physical ability affecting quality of life with strong prognostic value for disability and survival. Natural selection has built the "engine" of mobility with great robustness, redundancy, and functional reserve. Efficient patterns of mobility can be acquired during development even by children affected by severe impairments. Analogously, age-associated impairments in mobility-related physiological systems are compensated and overt limitations of mobility only occur when the severity can no longer be compensated. Mobility loss in older persons usually results from multiple impairments in the central nervous system, muscles, joints, and energetic and sensory physiological systems. Early preclinical changes in these physiological systems that precede mobility loss have been poorly studied. Peak performance, rate of decline, compensatory behaviors, or subclinical deterioration of physiological resources may cumulatively influence both timing of mobility loss and chances of recovery, but their role as risk factors has not been adequately characterized. Understanding the natural history of these early changes and intervening on them would likely be the most effective strategy to reduce the burden of disability in the population. For example, young women with low bone peak mass could be counseled to start strength resistance exercise to reduce their high risk of developing osteoporosis and fracture later in life. Expanding this approach to other physiological domains requires collecting and interpreting data from life course epidemiological studies, establishing normative measures of mobility, physical function, and physical activity, and connecting them with life course trajectories of the mobility-relevant physiological domains.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Rachel Cooper
- Medical Research Council Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, London, UK
| | | | | | - Jennifer A Schrack
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Diana Kuh
- Medical Research Council Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, London, UK
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Alfonso-Durruty MP, Valeggia CR. Growth patterns among indigenous Qom children of the Argentine Gran Chaco. Am J Hum Biol 2016; 28:895-904. [DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.22886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2015] [Revised: 05/05/2016] [Accepted: 06/05/2016] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Marta P. Alfonso-Durruty
- Department of Anthropology, Sociology & Social-Work; Kansas State University; 008 Waters Hall Manhattan Kansas
| | - Claudia R. Valeggia
- Department of Anthropology; Yale University; 10 Sachem St. New Haven Connecticut
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Falconi A, Gemmill A, Karasek D, Goodman J, Anderson B, Lee M, Bellows B, Catalano R. Stroke-attributable death among older persons during the great recession. ECONOMICS AND HUMAN BIOLOGY 2016; 21:56-63. [PMID: 26744999 PMCID: PMC4892946 DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2015.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2014] [Revised: 11/03/2015] [Accepted: 11/06/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Epidemiological evidence indicates an elevated risk for stroke among stressed persons, in general, and among individuals who have lost their job, in particular. We, therefore, tested the hypothesis that stroke accounted for a larger fraction of deaths during the Great Recession than expected from other deaths and from trends, cycles, and other forms of autocorrelation. Based on vital statistics death data from California spanning 132 months from January 2000 through December 2010, we found support for the hypothesis. These findings appear attributable to non-Hispanic white men, who experienced a 5% increase in their monthly odds of stroke-attributable death. Total mortality in this group, however, did not increase. Findings suggest that 879 deaths among older white men shifted from other causes to stroke during the 36 months following the start of the Great Recession. We infer the Great Recession may have affected social, biologic, and behavioral risk factors that altered the life histories of older white men in ways that shifted mortality risk toward stroke.
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Affiliation(s)
- April Falconi
- University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA, USA.
| | - Alison Gemmill
- University of California, Berkeley Department of Demography, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Deborah Karasek
- University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Julia Goodman
- University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Beth Anderson
- University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Murray Lee
- University of Calgary, Department of Community Health Sciences, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | | | - Ralph Catalano
- University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA, USA
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English S, Fawcett TW, Higginson AD, Trimmer PC, Uller T. Adaptive Use of Information during Growth Can Explain Long-Term Effects of Early Life Experiences. Am Nat 2016; 187:620-32. [DOI: 10.1086/685644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Lynch RF. Parents face quantity-quality trade-offs between reproduction and investment in offspring in Iceland. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2016; 3:160087. [PMID: 27293787 PMCID: PMC4892449 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2016] [Accepted: 04/22/2016] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
How to optimally allocate time, energy and investment in an effort to maximize one's reproductive success is a fundamental problem faced by all organisms. This effort is complicated when the production of each additional offspring dilutes the total resources available for parental investment. Although a quantity-quality trade-off between producing and investing in offspring has long been assumed in evolutionary biology, testing it directly in humans is difficult, partly owing to the long generation time of our species. Using data from an Icelandic genealogy (Íslendingabók) over two centuries, I address this issue and analyse the quantity-quality trade-off in humans. I demonstrate that the primary impact of parents on the fitness of their children is the result of resources and or investment, but not genes. This effect changes significantly across time, in response to environmental conditions. Overall, increasing reproduction has negative fitness consequences on offspring, such that each additional sibling reduces an individual's average lifespan and lifetime reproductive success. This analysis provides insights into the evolutionary conflict between producing and investing in children while also shedding light on some of the causes of the demographic transition.
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Associations of Birth Order with Early Adolescent Growth, Pubertal Onset, Blood Pressure and Size: Evidence from Hong Kong's "Children of 1997" Birth Cohort. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0153787. [PMID: 27088360 PMCID: PMC4835083 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2015] [Accepted: 04/04/2016] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Birth order has been proposed as a cardiovascular risk factor, because the lower birth weight and greater infant weight gain typical of firstborns could programme metabolism detrimentally. Methods We examined the associations of birth order (firstborn or laterborn) with birth weight-for-gestational age, length/height and body mass index (BMI) z-scores during infancy, childhood, and puberty using generalized estimating equations, with age at pubertal onset using interval-censored regression and with age-, sex- and height-standardized blood pressure, height and BMI z-scores at 13 years using linear regression in a population-representative Chinese birth cohort: “Children of 1997” (n = 8,327). Results Compared with laterborns, firstborns had lower birth weight-for-gestational age (mean difference = -0.18 z-score, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.23, -0.14), lower infant BMI (-0.09 z-score, 95% CI -0.14, -0.04), greater childhood height (0.10 z-score, 95% CI 0.05, 0.14) and BMI (0.08 z-score, 95% CI 0.03, 0.14), but not greater pubertal BMI (0.05 z-score, 95% CI -0.02, 0.11), adjusted for sex, parental age, birthplace, education and income. Firstborns had earlier onset of pubic hair (time ratio = 0.988, 95% CI 0.980, 0.996), but not breast or genitalia, development. Firstborns had greater BMI (0.07 z-score, 95% CI 0.002, 0.15), but not height (0.05 z-score, 95% CI -0.01, 0.11), at 13 years, but similar blood pressure. Conclusions Differences by birth order continue into early adolescence with firstborns being heavier with earlier pubic hair development, which could indicate long-term cardiovascular risk.
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Braithwaite EC, Kundakovic M, Ramchandani PG, Murphy SE, Champagne FA. Maternal prenatal depressive symptoms predict infant NR3C1 1F and BDNF IV DNA methylation. Epigenetics 2016; 10:408-17. [PMID: 25875334 DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2015.1039221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 167] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Prenatal maternal psychological distress increases risk for adverse infant outcomes. However, the biological mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. Prenatal stress can impact fetal epigenetic regulation that could underlie changes in infant stress responses. It has been suggested that maternal glucocorticoids may mediate this epigenetic effect. We examined this hypothesis by determining the impact of maternal cortisol and depressive symptoms during pregnancy on infant NR3C1 and BDNF DNA methylation. Fifty-seven pregnant women were recruited during the second or third trimester. Participants self-reported depressive symptoms and salivary cortisol samples were collected diurnally and in response to a stressor. Buccal swabs for DNA extraction and DNA methylation analysis were collected from each infant at 2 months of age, and mothers were assessed for postnatal depressive symptoms. Prenatal depressive symptoms significantly predicted increased NR3C1 1F DNA methylation in male infants (β = 2.147, P = 0.044). Prenatal depressive symptoms also significantly predicted decreased BDNF IV DNA methylation in both male and female infants (β = -3.244, P = 0.013). No measure of maternal cortisol during pregnancy predicted infant NR3C1 1F or BDNF promoter IV DNA methylation. Our findings highlight the susceptibility of males to changes in NR3C1 DNA methylation and present novel evidence for altered BDNF IV DNA methylation in response to maternal depression during pregnancy. The lack of association between maternal cortisol and infant DNA methylation suggests that effects of maternal depression may not be mediated directly by glucocorticoids. Future studies should consider other potential mediating mechanisms in the link between maternal mood and infant outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- E C Braithwaite
- a Department of Psychiatry; University of Oxford; Warneford Hospital ; Oxford , UK
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Agarwal SC. Bone morphologies and histories: Life course approaches in bioarchaeology. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 159:S130-49. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina C. Agarwal
- Department of Anthropology; University of California Berkeley; Berkeley CA 94720-3710
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Thayer ZM, Kuzawa CW. Ethnic discrimination predicts poor self-rated health and cortisol in pregnancy: insights from New Zealand. Soc Sci Med 2015; 128:36-42. [PMID: 25589034 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Despite growing research emphasis on understanding the health effects of ethnic discrimination, little work has focused on how such exposures may influence a woman's biology and health during pregnancy. Understanding such effects is important given evidence that maternal stress experience in pregnancy can have long term effects on offspring health. Here we present data evaluating the relationship between perceived discrimination, self-rated health, and the stress hormone cortisol measured in late pregnancy among a diverse sample of women living in Auckland, New Zealand (N = 55). We also evaluated possible intergenerational impacts of maternal discrimination on stress reactivity in a subset of offspring (N = 19). Pregnant women were recruited from two antenatal care clinics in Auckland. Women were met in their homes between 34 and 36 weeks gestation, during which time a prenatal stress questionnaire was administered and saliva samples (morning and evening from two days) were obtained. Offspring cortisol reactivity was assessed at the standard six week postnatal vaccination visit. We found that 34% of women reported having experienced ethnic discrimination, with minority and immigrant women being more likely to report being angry or upset in response to discrimination experience compared with NZ-born women of European descent. Women reporting discrimination experience had worse self-rated health, higher evening cortisol and gave birth to infants with higher cortisol reactivity, all independent of ethnicity and material deprivation. These findings suggest that discrimination experience can have biological impacts in pregnancy and across generations, potentially contributing to the ethnic gradient in health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zaneta M Thayer
- Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA.
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Chisholm JS, Bittles AH. Consanguinity and the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015. [DOI: 10.4303/jem/235909] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Kohrt BA, Jordans MJD, Koirala S, Worthman CM. Designing mental health interventions informed by child development and human biology theory: a social ecology intervention for child soldiers in Nepal. Am J Hum Biol 2015; 27:27-40. [PMID: 25380194 PMCID: PMC5483323 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.22651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2014] [Revised: 10/10/2014] [Accepted: 10/18/2014] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The anthropological study of human biology, health, and child development provides a model with potential to address the gap in population-wide mental health interventions. Four key concepts from human biology can inform public mental health interventions: life history theory and tradeoffs, redundancy and plurality of pathways, cascades and multiplier effects in biological systems, and proximate feedback systems. A public mental health intervention for former child soldiers in Nepal is used to illustrate the role of these concepts in intervention design and evaluation. Future directions and recommendations for applying human biology theory in pursuit of public mental health interventions are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandon A Kohrt
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta; Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO), Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal
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Strober M, Peris T, Steiger H. The plasticity of development: how knowledge of epigenetics may advance understanding of eating disorders. Int J Eat Disord 2014; 47:696-704. [PMID: 24976293 DOI: 10.1002/eat.22322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2014] [Revised: 06/09/2014] [Accepted: 06/10/2014] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To depict the processes through which animals and human beings engage their environment in continuously evolving states of conflict and cooperation. METHOD Descriptive literature review. RESULTS Life history outcomes are more relative than they are absolute. Genetic variations play a crucial role, but heavily influencing behavioral outcomes, psychopathology included, are external cues that epigenetically remodel DNA along experience-dependent signaling pathways. The result is phenotypes that either optimize adjustment, or constrain it. DISCUSSION Knowledge of epigenetic mechanisms may help shed new light on the origin of maturational phenotypes underlying eating disorders and why adjusting treatments to these realities warrants our attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Strober
- Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles; Stewart & Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA, Los Angeles, California
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Plasticity and constraint in response to early-life stressors among late/final jomon period foragers from Japan: Evidence for life history trade-offs from incremental microstructures of enamel. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2014; 155:537-45. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2014] [Accepted: 08/16/2014] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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Temple DH, Goodman AH. Bioarcheology has a “health” problem: Conceptualizing “stress” and “health” in bioarcheological research. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2014; 155:186-91. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2014] [Revised: 08/10/2014] [Accepted: 08/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel H. Temple
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology; George Mason University; Fairfax VA 22030-4444
| | - Alan H. Goodman
- School of Natural Science, Hampshire College; Amherst MA 01002-3372
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Williams-Wyss O, Zhang S, MacLaughlin SM, Kleemann D, Walker SK, Suter CM, Cropley JE, Morrison JL, Roberts CT, McMillen IC. Embryo number and periconceptional undernutrition in the sheep have differential effects on adrenal epigenotype, growth, and development. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2014; 307:E141-50. [PMID: 24844259 PMCID: PMC4101636 DOI: 10.1152/ajpendo.00051.2012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to poor maternal nutrition around the time of conception results in an early prepartum activation of the fetal pituitary-adrenal axis and in increased adrenal growth and stress response after birth associated with epigenetic changes in a differentially methylated region (DMR) of adrenal IGF2/H19. We have determined the effects of maternal undernutrition during the periconceptional period (PCUN: 70% of control intake from 60 days before until 6 days after conception) and early preimplantation period (PIUN: 70% of control intake for 6 days after conception) on fetal plasma ACTH and cortisol concentrations and fetal adrenal ACTHR, StAR, 3βHSD, CYP11B, CYP17, TGFβ1, IGF1, IGF1R, IGF2, and IGF2R mRNA expression and the methylation level of sites within the DMRs of IGF2/H19 and IGF2R in the adrenal of twin and singleton fetuses at 136-138 days gestation. Being a twin resulted in a delayed prepartum increase in fetal ACTH and in a lower cortisol response to CRH in the control but not PCUN and PIUN groups. PCUN, but not PIUN, resulted in an increase in adrenal weight and CYP17 expression in singletons, a decrease in adrenal IGF2 expression in singletons, and an increase in adrenal IGF2R expression in both twins and singletons. IGF2/H19 and IGF2R DMR methylation levels and ACTHR expression were lower in the twin adrenal. Thus, exposure of the oocyte and embryo to maternal undernutrition or to the environment of a twin pregnancy have differential effects on epigenetic and other factors that regulate fetal adrenal growth and IGF2 and IGF2R expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivia Williams-Wyss
- Discipline of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia; Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Song Zhang
- Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Severence M MacLaughlin
- Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - David Kleemann
- South Australian Research and Development Institute, Turretfield Research Centre, Rosedale, Australia
| | - Simon K Walker
- South Australian Research and Development Institute, Turretfield Research Centre, Rosedale, Australia
| | - Catherine M Suter
- Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Darlinghurst, Australia; and
| | | | - Janna L Morrison
- Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Claire T Roberts
- Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - I Caroline McMillen
- Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia;
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Thayer ZM, Kuzawa CW. Early origins of health disparities: material deprivation predicts maternal evening cortisol in pregnancy and offspring cortisol reactivity in the first few weeks of life. Am J Hum Biol 2014; 26:723-30. [PMID: 24599586 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.22532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2013] [Revised: 02/06/2014] [Accepted: 02/08/2014] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Maternal hypothalamic pituitary adrenal-axis function regulates production of the stress hormone cortisol, which during pregnancy can cross the placenta and have lasting impacts on fetal growth and development. This article provides a preliminary test of the hypothesis that a woman's socioeconomic status (SES) predicts her cortisol during pregnancy and her offspring's cortisol during the early postnatal period among an ethnically diverse sample in Auckland, New Zealand to evaluate whether differences in cortisol contribute to the intergenerational inheritance of health disparities within this population. METHODS Maternal saliva samples were collected at waking and prior to sleep on 2 days in late pregnancy (34-36 weeks gestation; N = 55), and a subset of offspring saliva was collected before (N = 48) and 20 min after a standard vaccination at 6 weeks of age (N = 19). SES was quantified using a locally validated index of material deprivation, the NZ Deprivation Index for individuals (NZiDep). RESULTS We found that, after controlling for ethnicity and other covariates, women with higher NZiDep scores had significantly higher evening but similar morning cortisol, consistent with a pattern of chronic strain. Infants of women reporting greater material deprivation had elevated cortisol response to vaccination. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that maternal SES experience impacts maternal cortisol in pregnancy and offspring cortisol reactivity soon after birth, with potential long-term effects on offspring biology and health. Additional research is needed to clarify how biological and behavioral factors in both the prenatal and postnatal period facilitate this relationship.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zaneta M Thayer
- Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colorado, 80202
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Temple DH, Bazaliiskii VI, Goriunova OI, Weber AW. Skeletal growth in early and late Neolithic foragers from the Cis-Baikal region of Eastern Siberia. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2013; 153:377-86. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2013] [Accepted: 11/08/2013] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel H. Temple
- Department of Anthropology; University of North Carolina Wilmington; Wilmington NC 28403-5907
| | | | - Olga I. Goriunova
- Department of Geoarchaeology; Irkutsk State University; Irkutsk 664003 Russia
| | - Andrzej W. Weber
- Department of Anthropology; University of Alberta; Edmonton AB T6G 2H4 Canada
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Cohen Hubal EA, de Wet T, Du Toit L, Firestone MP, Ruchirawat M, van Engelen J, Vickers C. Identifying important life stages for monitoring and assessing risks from exposures to environmental contaminants: results of a World Health Organization review. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 2013; 69:113-24. [PMID: 24099754 PMCID: PMC5355211 DOI: 10.1016/j.yrtph.2013.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2013] [Accepted: 09/27/2013] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
We propose a harmonized set of age bins for assessing risks from chemical exposure. The set of early life age groups will facilitate consistency with recent guidance. The age bins allow results from longitudinal birth cohort studies to be combined. Region-specific exposure factors and monitoring data are needed to apply the bins.
In this paper, we summarize exposure-related issues to consider in determining the most appropriate age ranges and life stages for risk assessment. We then propose a harmonized set of age bins for monitoring and assessing risks from exposures to chemicals for global use. The focus is on preconception through adolescence, though the approach should be applicable to additional life stages. A two-tiered set of early life age groups is recommended. The first tier involves the adoption of guidance similar to the childhood age groups recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, whereas the second tier consolidates some of those age groups to reduce the burden of developing age-specific exposure factors for different regions. While there is no single “correct” means of choosing a common set of age groups to use internationally in assessing early life exposure and risk, use of a set of defined age groups is recommended to facilitate comparisons of potential exposures and risks around the globe, the collection of data and analyses of aggregate exposure and cumulative risk. Application of these age groups for robust assessment of exposure and risk for specific populations will require region-specific exposure factors as well as local environmental monitoring data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elaine A Cohen Hubal
- National Center for Computational Toxicology, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA.
| | - Thea de Wet
- Centre for Anthropological Research and Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, The University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa.
| | - Lilo Du Toit
- Centre for Rural Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
| | - Michael P Firestone
- Regulatory Support & Science Policy Division, Office of Children's Health Protection (MC 1107T), Office of the Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Room 1130 EPA West Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20460, USA.
| | - Mathuros Ruchirawat
- Office of Research, Chulabhorn Research Institute, 54 Kamphaeng-phet 6 Road, Laksi, Bangkok 10210, Thailand.
| | - Jacqueline van Engelen
- Center for Sustainability, Environment and Health, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), PO Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
| | - Carolyn Vickers
- International Programme on Chemical Safety, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland.
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Blasco-Fontecilla H, Jaussent I, Olié E, Garcia EB, Beziat S, Malafosse A, Guillaume S, Courtet P. Additive effects between prematurity and postnatal risk factors of suicidal behavior. J Psychiatr Res 2013; 47:937-43. [PMID: 23535031 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2013.02.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2012] [Revised: 02/20/2013] [Accepted: 02/26/2013] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pre- and perinatal insults increase suicide risk. The main objective of the present study is to investigate if prematurity interacts in an additive fashion with postnatal risk factors of suicidal behavior. METHOD Sample and procedure: 857 adult suicide attempters consecutively hospitalized for a suicide attempt were included. Studied characteristics of suicide attempts included use of a violent mean, age at first suicide attempt, and number of suicide attempts. Risk factors of suicidal behavior included indexes of pre- and perinatal adversity, childhood maltreatment as measured with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, personality traits as measured with the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire, and family history of suicidal behavior. STATISTICAL ANALYSES Comparisons between the different patterns of suicide attempts characteristics were made using logistic regression with crude and adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS The risk of violent suicide attempts increased significantly in patients born prematurely (OR [95%] = 2.38[1.12-5.08]). There were additive effects for very preterm birth and 1) emotional abuse (OR [95% CI] = 4.52 [1.75-11.60]), 2) novelty seeking (OR [95% CI] = 8.92[3.09-25.7]), and 3) harm avoidance (OR [95% CI] = 5.81 [2.43-13.90]) on the age at first suicide attempt, after adjustment for potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS Very preterm birth appears to be the first step in a cascade of stressors across lifetime, which affects the risk and the severity of suicidal behavior. Furthermore, very preterm birth, childhood maltreatment and personality traits have additive effects that influence the age at onset of suicide attempt. Our findings may have potential consequences for preventive policies.
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