Publication Date

5-12-2022

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology

Keywords

Adversity, Body mass index (BMI), Early childhood, Emotion dysregulation, Impulsivity, Overeating

Abstract

Childhood adversity is associated with higher adult weight, but few investigations prospectively test mechanisms accounting for this association. Using two socioeconomically high-risk prospective longitudinal investigations, the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation (MLSRA; N = 267; 45.3% female) and the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS; n = 2,587; 48.5% female), pathways between childhood adversity and later body mass index (BMI) were tested using impulsivity, emotion dysregulation, and overeating as mediators. Childhood adversity from 0 to 5 years included four types of adversities: greater unpredictability, threat/abuse, deprivation/neglect, and low socioeconomic status. Parents reported on child impulsivity, emotion dysregulation, and overeating. Height and weight were self-reported and measured at 32 and 37 years in MLSRA and at 15 years in FFCWS. FFCWS results indicated that threat, deprivation, and low socioeconomic status predicted greater impulsivity and emotion dysregulation at 5 years, which in turn predicted greater overeating at 9 years and higher BMI z-score at 15 years. Early unpredictability in FFCWS predicted higher BMI through greater impulsivity but not emotion dysregulation at age 5. MLSRA regression results replicated the threat/abuse → emotion dysregulation → overeating → higher BMI pathway. These findings suggest that different dimensions of early adversity may follow both similar and unique pathways to predict BMI.

Copyright Date

5-12-2022

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the authors. User is responsible for all copyright compliance. This article was originally published as:

Doom, J., Young, E., Farrell, A., Roisman, G., & Simpson, J. (2022). Behavioral, cognitive, and socioemotional pathways from early childhood adversity to BMI: Evidence from two prospective, longitudinal studies. Development and Psychopathology,1-17. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579421001887

Rights Holder

Jenalee R. Doom, Ethan S. Young, Allison K. Farrell, Glenn I. Roisman, Jeffry A. Simpson

Provenance

Received from author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

17 pgs

File Size

887 KB

Publication Title

Development and Psycopathology

Volume

35

First Page

1

Last Page

17

ISSN

1469-2198

PubMed ID

35545317

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