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The Long-Term Effects of Stress on Partner Weight Characteristics.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUNDRecent experimental evidence suggests that stressed males find heavier women more attractive than non-stressed males. The aim of this study is to examine whether these results also appear in actual mating patterns of adults from a national sample.METHODSRegression analysis linking partner weight measures to own measures of childhood stress, as measured by mistreatment. Cross-sectional data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, Romantic Partners Sample is used to measure partner weight, childhood stressful events, and socio-demographic characteristics. Childhood experiences of adult mistreatment are retrospectively collected.RESULTSMen who experienced childhood mistreatment are more likely to have obese female partners during young adulthood. The results are strongest for interactions with social services, adult neglect and physical abuse. We also present novel evidence of the opposite association in similarly stressed women whose male partners are more likely to be thin.CONCLUSIONSThese results suggest that preferences for partner characteristics are sensitive to histories of stress and that previously hypothesized patterns occur outside the experimental setting.

SUBMITTER: Fletcher JM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3694100 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The Long-Term Effects of Stress on Partner Weight Characteristics.

Fletcher Jason M JM Tefft Nathan N

PloS one 20130626 6

<h4>Background</h4>Recent experimental evidence suggests that stressed males find heavier women more attractive than non-stressed males. The aim of this study is to examine whether these results also appear in actual mating patterns of adults from a national sample.<h4>Methods</h4>Regression analysis linking partner weight measures to own measures of childhood stress, as measured by mistreatment. Cross-sectional data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, Romantic Partners Sa ...[more]

PMID: 23840447

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Project description:Background: We tested the effect of weight loss on circulating levels of the angiogenic factors VEGF and pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) in postmenopausal overweight/obese women, 18 months after completing a year-long 4-arm randomized controlled trial of behavioral weight loss and/or exercise versus control (i.e., 30 months postrandomization).Methods: The 439 overweight/obese, postmenopausal women, ages 50 to 75 years, were randomized to: diet (goal: 10% weight loss, N = 118), exercise (225 min/wk moderate-to-vigorous activity, N = 117), diet + exercise (N = 117), or control (N = 87). At 12 months, 399 women gave a blood sample; 156 returned at 30 months. Biomarkers were measured by immunoassay. Changes were compared using generalized estimating equations, adjusting for baseline BMI, age, and race/ethnicity.Results: Participants randomized to diet, exercise, and diet + exercise arms had greater reductions in VEGF at 30 months (-14.1% P = 0.02; -19.7% P = 0.003; -14.5% P = 0.002, respectively) versus controls (-4.5%). There were no statistically significant changes in PEDF in any intervention arm. Participants maintaining ?10% of baseline weight loss at 30 months had greater reductions in VEGF versus those who gained weight/had no weight change (-22.3% vs. -10.2% respectively, P = 0.002). Participants maintaining any weight loss had significantly lower levels of PEDF at 30 months versus those who gained weight/no weight change.Conclusions: Sustained weight loss via diet and/or exercise results in reductions in angiogenic factors, and can be maintained up to 30-month follow-up. Limitations include relatively small numbers, and possible bias toward more successful weight loss among women who returned at 30 months.Impact: Maintaining weight loss can achieve long-term reductions in biomarkers of angiogenesis that can persist up to 18 months after completion of a weight loss intervention. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(12); 1788-94. ©2017 AACR.

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The Long-Term Effects of Stress on Partner Weight Characteristics.

Publications

The Long-Term Effects of Stress on Partner Weight Characteristics.

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