Reprint of “Relationship between BMI,waist circumference,physical activity and probable developmental coordination disorder over time”

BackgroundCross-sectional studies have shown that children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) are less likely to be physically active and have excess weight gain. However, longitudinal studies examining the relationship between DCD and measures of body composition (BMI and waist circumference) over time are lacking. It is not known if sex and physical activity affect the relationship between DCD and measures of body composition over time.Objective(1) To examine if BMI and waist circumference in children with and without probable DCD (pDCD) remain constant over time or change as children age, and whether this relationship varies by sex. (2) To examine if differences in physical activity between children with and without pDCD account for differences in BMI and waist circumference over time.MethodsPhysical Health Activity Study Team (PHAST) data were used for this longitudinal analysis. At baseline, a total of 2,278 (pDCD = 103) children aged 9–10 years were included in the analysis. The total follow-up period was five years. Mixed-effects modeling was used to estimate change in body composition measures in children over time.ResultsChildren with pDCD have higher BMI and waist circumference compared to typically developing children, and this difference increased over the study period. The relationship between pDCD and BMI over time also varied by sex. A similar trend was observed for waist circumference. Boys with pDCD were found to have a more rapid increase in BMI and waist circumference compared to girls with pDCD. Physical activity had neither a mediating nor a moderating effect on the relationship between pDCD and measures of body composition. However, physical activity was independently and negatively associated with measures of body composition.ConclusionspDCD is associated with higher body mass and waist circumference, both important risk factors for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and psychological problems and other health conditions.     

Temperament in childhood predicts body mass in adulthood: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

This study examined associations of temperament at ages 6 to 12 with body-mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) at ages 24 to 30 years. The participants were 619 men and women derived from the population-based Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Temperament was operationalized as (negative) emotionality, sociability, and activity. High emotionality predicted increased BMI, independently of WC, and independently of childhood and adulthood risk factors for adult obesity. None of the temperament dimensions had any associations with WC after controlling for BMI. The findings suggest that temperamental difficulty in childhood may be a useful risk indicator for general body mass in adulthood, and the mechanisms relating temperament with body mass should be further explored.     

Personality Traits and Body Weight Measures: Concurrent and Across‐Time Associations

We tested the possibility that the five‐factor model of personality is associated with three measures of body weight and with changes in their levels over time and that these associations are gender specific. The study was conducted at two points of time, Time 1 (2664 participants) and Time 2 (1492 participants), over approximately 4 years, controlling for gender, age, education, and having a chronic disease. Body weight was assessed by body mass index, waist circumference, waist‐to‐hip ratio, and the five‐factor model by Saucier's Mini‐Markers. Cross‐sectional regression results indicated that conscientiousness was negatively associated with the three body weight measures, whereas neuroticism and extraversion were positively associated with the three body weight measures. The longitudinal regression results indicate that extraversion was associated with an increase in two of the body weight measures. Neuroticism was associated with increase in all three body weight measures and more strongly for women than for men. Openness was associated with a decrease in all three body weight measures for women, but this association was not significant for men. These findings help identify personality traits that lead to risk of weight gain and point to the modifying role of gender. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychometric characteristics of the Iranian Acculturation Scale

The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid scale to measure acculturation of Iranian immigrants in Canada. The 20-item Iranian Acculturation Scale showed Cronbach alpha of .83. Item-total correlations ranged from .25 to .65. Four factors were extracted, based on responses from 119 Iranian immigrants (43 men and 76 women) living in Toronto. The scale tapped different acculturation dimensions, cultural identity, language, family-related attitude and family-related values. The longer these Iranian immigrants had lived in Canada, and the earlier the age of moving to Canada the better acculturation suggested by their scores.     

Waist-to-Hip Ratio and Unhealthy Body Change in Women

The role of waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) in unhealthy body change was examined in a sample of 143 women university students. They completed the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q), reported their level of concern with weight and with WHR, and used unmarked measuring tapes to record their subjective (self-perceived), ideal, and objective (measured) waist and hip circumference. Although body shape was reported as important, and concern with WHR correlated significantly with symptoms of disordered eating, the relationships involving WHR were not independent of those involving body weight. Thus, there appears to be little behavioural and/or clinical significance in the aesthetic evaluations made by women of their WHR. Reasons for this are considered in light of evidence that women regard WHR as more difficult to control and less amenable to change than their overall body weight.     

Cardiovascular reactivity and central adiposity in older African Americans.

This study examined central adiposity, as measured by waist circumference (WC), in relation to mental-stress induced systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and heart rate (HR) responses, body composition, the metabolic syndrome, and health practices in 22 older, African American men and women (ages 52-79 years). The high WC (> 100 cm) group showed significantly greater SBP, DBP, and HR reactivity, greater fasting insulin levels, lower high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, greater fat mass in both truncal and peripheral regions, and greater body mass index as compared to the low WC (< 100 cm) group. Groups were comparable with respect to fat-free mass, peak oxygen consumption (VO2), leisure time activity, dietary intake, resting blood pressure, and other metabolic variables. The findings support a clustering of metabolic and mental stress risk factors that may predispose older African Americans to increased cardiovascular and metabolic disease.     

Central adiposity is associated with cardiovascular reactivity to stress in adolescents.

The current study examined the association between central adiposity, measured by waist circumference, and cardiovascular reactivity to stress among 106 White and 105 Black adolescents, approximately 50% of whom were girls. Participants engaged in 4 laboratory tasks while cardiovascular reactivity measures were taken. Independent of body mass index, race, and gender, participants with a greater waist circumference exhibited greater systolic blood pressure reactivity and diastolic blood pressure reactivity (boys only). Race did not affect the results. Results from the present study suggest that central adiposity is associated with blood pressure reactivity early in life, especially in adolescent boys.     

Self‐rated personality and intelligence: a multivariate genetic analysis

The present study investigated the phenotypic, genetic, and environmental correlations between personality factors and measured intelligence. Twin pairs (92 monozygotic and 50 same sex dizygotic) completed 20 sets of personality adjectives in self‐report form as well as a group administered intelligence test, measuring general intelligence and verbal and performance composite scales. The personality adjectives were found to fit a five factor model. Personality aggregates were also created based on multiple regression analyses and used to predict each intelligence dimension. Triangular decompositions were computed to estimate the degree to which the phenotypic personality and intelligence relations were attributable to common genetic and/or environmental factors. Results of these analyses found small to moderate genetic and environmental correlations between intelligence and the personality factors, and moderate to high genetic correlations between intelligence and the personality aggregates, suggesting that intelligence is related to some personality traits at both the phenotypic and the genetic level. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mesomorphy correlates with experiential cognitive style

The purpose of this study was to test for a relationship between mesomorphy and experiential cognitive style (S. Epstein, 1994) in a sample of university students (30 women and 24 men). Anthropometric somatotypes were obtained using the Heath-Carter procedure (J. E. L. Carter, 2002). Experiential cognitive style was operationalized as scores on the experiential scale of the Rational Experiential Inventory for Adolescents (A. D. Marks, D. W. Hine, R. L. Blore, & W. J. Phillips, 2008). Nonparametric bootstrap correlations were calculated using 80% confidence intervals. There were significant correlations between mesomorphy and experiential cognitive style for men (r(s) = .33) and women (r(s) = .25). For men, experiential cognitive style was also correlated with endomorphy (r(s) = .39) and ectomorphy (rs = -.48).     

Discrimination of young women athletes and nonathletes based on anthropometric jumping and muscular strength measures

The goal was to identify the anthropometric, jumping ability, and muscular strength measures which contributed most to discrimination among young women in track-and-field jumping (n = 20, Jumping group), volleyball (n = 20, Volleyball group), and girls in no activity (n=20, Control group). Using analysis of covariance and discriminant analysis the Jumping group, as compared to the Volleyball group, had smaller elbow breadth, knee breadth, upper arm circumference, proximal-, mid-, and distal-thigh circumferences, sum of skinfolds, and mesomorphy rating, and Jumping athletes showed larger jump height and muscular strength than the Volleyball group. Measures which contributed most to the discrimination between these groups were the distal-thigh circumference and jump height. Results could, to some extent, help training orientation of young women athletes by identifying whatever factors affect the measures indicated here as the most sensitive discriminators.     

Dimensions of personality in Saudi Arabia

This study aimed at exploring the basic dimensions of personality in Saudi Arabia. A number of personality tests were administered to a sample of 303 males living in the southwestern region of Saudi Arabia. The age range was 17–44 (mean = 24.36±5.25). The matrix of correlations was factor analyzed using the Principal Component method. Three factors were extracted and rotated orthogonally using the Varimax method. The emerging factors were interpreted as: 1. Neuroticism, 2. Extraversion and 3. Psychoticism. The main conclusion of this study is that even in remote areas, that remained culturally isolated for centuries until recently, the basic structure of personality is very similar to that found in other different cultures. This justifies the conclusion that these personality dimensions are universal.     

Religious Attendance and Body Mass: An Examination of Variations by Race and Gender

Studies of the association between religious attendance and body mass have yielded mixed results. In this paper, we consider intersectional variations by race and gender to advance our understanding of these inconsistencies. We use data from the 2006–2008 Health and Retirement Study to examine the association between religious attendance and three indicators of body mass: overall body mass index, waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio (n = 11,457). For White women, attendance is either protective or unrelated to body mass. For Black women, attendance is consistently associated with increased body mass. We find that religious attendance is not associated with body mass among the men.     

A failure to replicate the Bem and Allen study of individual differences in cross-situational consistency

Bem and Allen (1974) purportedly found evidence that, by using self-report measures of cross-situational consistency as moderator variables, it was possible to substantially increase the size of correlation coefficients computed among measures of each of two personality traits. The present study was undertaken to (a) replicate the Bem and Allen finding on a larger set of personality traits, (b) determine if the results hold differentially for self-report, other-report, and objective personality measures, and (c) compare different methods for dividing subjects into high and low consistent groups. One hundred twelve subjects (64 men and 48 women) were divided into high and low consistent groups using three different methods. Within each group correlations were computed among and between 6 self-report measures, 10 other-report measures, and when possible a few objective measures, for each of eight traits. In general, none of the methods of consistency classification replicated the Bem and Allen finding. In cases where the high consistent group had a larger average correlation among the measures than their low consistent counterparts, the size of that difference was negligible. Moreover, there were about as many instances in which the low consistent group actually had larger average correlations. Finally, there was essentially no agreement among the various consistency classification methods in dividing subjects into high and low consistent subsamples.     

肥胖男性血浆脂联素水平及影响因素

检测正常男性血浆脂联素水平,探讨其与各检测指标之间的相关性。选取正常男性96例,按体重指数（BMI）将上述两组分为2个亚组：肥胖（BMI≥25kg／m^2）组40例及体重正常（BMI〈25kg／m^2）组56例,测定空腹血浆脂联素浓度。肥胖组的血浆脂联素水平[（7．48±3．4）μg／m1]明显低于体重正常组[（10．57±4．73）μg／m1],差异有显著的统计学意义（P〈0．01）。相关分析显示血浆脂联素与体重指数（BMI）、腰围（WC）、血压（BP）、总胆固醇（TC）、血清胰岛素（FINs）、胰岛素抵抗指数（HOMA-IR）之间存在负相关,与高密度脂蛋白胆固醇（HDL-C）正相关。BMI、WC、HOMA-IR为影响血浆脂联素水平的独立因素。男性肥胖者血浆脂联素水平较体重正常者明显降低,血浆脂联素水平可能与肥胖及其相关疾病相关。     

Gender,psychological well-being and somatic cardiovascular risk factors

The purpose of this study is to determine associations between cardiovascular risk factors and subjective experience of psychological general well-being with special reference to gender-related differences. One hundred fifty white-collar workers in a car manufacturing plant in Sweden participated in a health care screening program. Subjective experience of psychological well-being was significantly correlated with cardiovascular risk factors among both men and women. There were, however, marked differences between the genders. For men, the following specific psychological variables were significantly correlated with cardiovascular risk factors: estimation of general health, anxiety, self-control and vitality. For women, more complex significant relationships between the two sets of variables were found. Moreover, the direction of the correlations differed between the genders. For example, men with cardiovascular risk factors, such as increased blood pressure, blood lipids and body mass index, reported significantly morepositive estimation of their general health. For women the relation was the opposite with a significantly positive correlation (p-0.004) between experience of good health and a low risk factor profile indicating the concordance between physiological and psychological parameters. Possible reasons for these sex differences are discussed.     

CROSS-VALIDATIONAL EVIDENCE ON THE DIMENSIONS OF PROBLEM BEHAVIOR IN THE EARLY GRADES

One hundred forty-seven children in the first through the third grades were rated by their teachers on a behavior problem inventory employed in previous studies. The data were subjected to a principal axis factor analysis and rotated to an oblique position. Congruence coefficients were computed among the twelve factors resulting from the current analysis, and the eight factors extracted in an earlier study. Six of the factor matches were significant at or beyond the .O1 level. Five of these matches had a sufficient number of salient variables common to the two studies. The five dimensions meeting the consideration of significance of congruence across samples and sufficient common salients were termed, in an earlier study, Hyperactivity, Sluggishness, Paranoid Tendencies, Social Withdrawal, and Acting Out. The evidence of the predictive validity of these was briefly discussed.     

Metabolic and endocrine disturbances in psychiatric disorders: a multidisciplinary approach to appropriate atypical antipsychotic utilization

Patients with psychiatric disorders have an increased rate of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality compared with the general population. Metabolic issues such as weight gain, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, diabetic ketoacidosis,and pancreatitis have been reported with the use of antipsychotic agents. Although atypical antipsychotics have not been linked directly to the development of metabolic syndrome, these medications have been shown to increase risk factors that can lead to metabolic and endocrine disturbances. Therefore, clinicians should provide ongoing monitoring for patients who are being treated for psychiatric disorders with these agents. According to the 2004 Consensus Report on Antipsychotics, screening measures should include baseline and follow-up monitoring of personal/family histories, weight (body mass index), waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, and fasting lipid profile.     

The general factor of personality and humor styles

The present study examined the phenotypic, genetic, and environmental correlations between a general factor of personality (GFP) and four humor styles: affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating. Participants were 571 same-sex adult twin pairs. Individuals completed the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) and a short form of the NEO personality scale (from which the GFP was extracted). The GFP was found to be heritable with an estimated value of .31. At the phenotypic level, the GFP was found to correlate significantly with the HSQ scales; positively with affiliative and self-enhancing, and negatively with aggressive and self-defeating. Three of the four phenotypic correlations were found to be attributable to correlated genetic factors, suggesting that these dimensions of humor styles and the GFP may have a common genetic factor.