Dataset Information

Stress-Related Changes in Body Form: Results from the Whitehall II Study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Stress is associated with body mass gain in some people but with body mass loss in others. When the stressor persists, some people adapt with their stress responses, whereas others do not. Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects autonomic variability and is related to stress responses to psychosocial challenges. It was hypothesized that the combined effects of stress exposure and autonomic variability predict long-term changes in body form.

Methods

Data of 1,369 men and 612 women from the Whitehall II cohort were analyzed. BMI, hip-to-height ratio, and waist-to-height ratio were measured at three time points over a 10-year period. HRV and psychological distress (General Health Questionnaire) were assessed.

Results

Men with high psychological distress were at risk of developing an increased waist-to-height ratio (F?=?3.4, P?=?0.038). Men with high psychological distress and low HRV were prone to develop an increased body mass and hip-to-height ratio (psychological distress: F?=?4.3, P?=?0.016; HRV: F?=?5.0, P?=?0.008). Statistical trends showed that women displayed similar patterns of stress-related changes in body form (P?=?0.061; P?=?0.063).

Conclusions

Assessing psychological distress and autonomic variability predicts changes in body form. Psychological distress was found to be associated with an increased risk of developing the wide-waisted phenotype, while psychological distress combined with low autonomic variability was associated with an increased risk of developing the corpulent phenotype.

SUBMITTER: Kubera B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5573629 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Stress-Related Changes in Body Form: Results from the Whitehall II Study.

Kubera Britta B Leonhard Claudine C Rößler Andreas A Peters Achim A

Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) 20170802 9

<h4>Objective</h4>Stress is associated with body mass gain in some people but with body mass loss in others. When the stressor persists, some people adapt with their stress responses, whereas others do not. Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects autonomic variability and is related to stress responses to psychosocial challenges. It was hypothesized that the combined effects of stress exposure and autonomic variability predict long-term changes in body form.<h4>Methods</h4>Data of 1,369 men and 61 ...[more]

PMID: 28767203

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Project description:Background and aimIt is known that persistent psychological stress predicts changes in body shape in two different ways: some stressed people lose weight, others gain weight. It is also known that persistent psychological stress predicts adverse health events. But it is unknown what role the body shape plays in this particular network of relationships. We therefore analyzed the Whitehall II dataset to relate body shape to stress and health risk.MethodsData of 4969 men and 2138 women from the Whitehall II cohort were analyzed. Psychological stress (General Health Questionnaire) was measured three times in the years 1991 till 2001. Body shape (BMI, waist and hip circumferences) was measured in the years 1991 till 1994. Childhood adversities were retrospectively assessed by questionnaire. Outcomes included the incidence of non-fatal or fatal CHD events (coronary heart disease) collected up to the years 2012 and 2013 and all-cause mortality collected up to July 2015. Cox proportional hazard models were conducted to estimate the relation between psychological stress and CHD events or all-cause mortality.ResultsThere was an increase in the expected hazard to develop CHD with high psychological stress (men: Exp (B) = 1.25 (1.06-1.47); P = 0.008; women: Exp (B) = 1.34 (1.05-1.70); P = 0.017). We found a clear dose-response relationship for the association between psychological stress and CHD events in both genders. That is, subjects with consistently high psychological stress in all assessments had a 2.4-fold (men) or 2.3-fold (women) higher risk for later CHD events compared to never-stressed subjects. Moreover, subjects with a high sum score of all 13 childhood experiences had a 10% increased hazard to develop fatal or non-fatal CHD events in adulthood. Although we could not find stress or BMI linked to all-cause mortality, the waist-to-hip ratio contributed to the risk of all-cause mortality in both genders (Exp (B) = 34.66 (6.43-186.92); P < 0.001 for men; Exp (B) = 60.65 (9.33-394.22); P < 0.001 for women).ConclusionThis analysis supports the notion that psychological stress and childhood adversities are associated with the risk of fatal or non-fatal CHD events. When this relationship is analyzed in more detail, the Whitehall II dataset provides further insights into the role of body shape. That is, stress is also related to changes in body shape, with waist size in particular predicting higher all-cause mortality.

Dataset Information

Stress-Related Changes in Body Form: Results from the Whitehall II Study.

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Stress-Related Changes in Body Form: Results from the Whitehall II Study.

Similar Datasets

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