Journal
ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA
Volume 121, Issue 3, Pages 227-235Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2009.01432.x
Keywords
birth weight; growth; anxiety; longitudinal study
Categories
Funding
- Academy of Finland
- European Science Foundation (EuroSTRESS)
- University of Helsinki
- Graduate School of Psychology
- Emil Aaltonen foundation
- Alfred Kordelin foundation
- Ella and Georg Ehrnrooths Stiftelse
- Yrjo Jahnsson Foundation
- Medical Research Council [U1475000004] Funding Source: researchfish
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objective: Trait anxiety may predispose to anxiety disorders and cardiovascular events. We tested whether prenatal growth or postnatal growth from birth to 11 years of age and in adulthood predict trait anxiety in late adulthood. Method: Women (n = 951) and men (n = 753) reported trait anxiety using the Spielberger Trait Anxiety Scale at an average age of 63.4 years and growth was estimated from records. Results: Higher trait anxiety was predicted by smaller body size at birth, in infancy and in adulthood. Moreover, faster growth particularly from seven to 11 years of age and slower growth between 11 and 63 years predicted higher trait anxiety. Conclusion: We found a pattern of pre- and postnatal growth that predisposed to higher trait anxiety in late adulthood. This pattern resembles that found to increase the risk of cardiovascular events and, thus, points to a shared common origin in a suboptimal prenatal and childhood developmental milieu.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available