Gender Differences in Early Life Adversity: Adult Obesity and Cardiovascular Risk

项目总结 在过去的三十年里，广泛的健康、经济和社会成本都与肥胖有关。 来自贫困家庭的儿童更有可能肥胖，儿童时期体重增加。 持续到成年期，并导致心血管疾病的早期发作。这样的不利影响是 在女性中明显多于男性。性别差异在社会经济机会方面也很明显， 心理社会资源和情绪/行为应对策略，表明可能存在性别- 由心理社会、行为和生物学驱动，例如遗传和生殖，连接早期生命的机制 逆境(ELA)对肥胖和心血管风险的影响。尽管如此，一些经历了 ELA不会屈服于心血管风险；他们可能会利用个人的心理社会资源来阻止或 扭转童年积累的劣势，尽管这种资源的可获得性也可能有所不同 按性别排列。很少有研究采用综合的方法来理解更广泛的一系列影响 关于肥胖和心血管风险的性别差异。这条通往独立之路的总体目标 奖励是为PI提供所需的跨学科培训和研究经验，以调查 ELA通过心理社会、行为和生物学的相互作用影响体重和心血管风险。 机制，同时在整个分析过程中描述性别差异。以前担任过一名 在韩国的护士，PI将一线经验带到了解健康差距的任务中。在.期间 她后来在社会学和人口健康科学方面的培训和研究，她应用了 多个具有全国代表性的数据集的健康决定因素。PI很好地沿着成为 性别、生活逆境和健康方面的主要研究人员。在K99阶段，PI寻求培训和 指导将她的关注点从社会视角扩大到包括流行病学和心理学 了解(1)行为肥胖研究中的因果推断(包括同卵双胞胎对照分析)，(2) 心血管疾病，(3)生殖健康，(4)复原力。在R00阶段，PI将发展为 综合生命过程方法研究性激素受体影响成人风险的性别特异性途径 肥胖和心血管疾病，将她在社会学方面的主要专业知识与其他 流行病学和心理学知识。拟议的研究将基于一项全国性的 具有代表性的纵向数据集，称为MIDUS(美国的中年)，从7,108开始 成年，包括998对双胞胎。国际和平研究所的研究结果应该与发展 针对性别的干预措施，以减少肥胖和心血管疾病的风险，特别是 早年经历过逆境的人。

PROJECT SUMMARY Over the past three decades, extensive health, economic, and social costs have been associated with obesity. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to be obese, with weight gain in childhood continuing into adulthood and resulting in the early onset of cardiovascular disease. Such adverse effects are pronounced among women than men. Gender differences are also evident in socioeconomic opportunities, psychosocial resources, and emotional/behavioral coping strategies, suggesting that there may be gender- driven psychosocial, behavioral, and biological, e.g., genetic and reproductive, mechanisms linking early life adversities (ELAs) to obesity and cardiovascular risk. Nonetheless, some individuals who have experienced ELAs do not succumb to cardiovascular risk; they may leverage individual psychosocial resources to halt or reverse accumulated disadvantages from childhood, although the availability of such resources may also vary by gender. Few studies have employed an integrative approach to understanding the broader set of influences on gender differences in obesity and cardiovascular risk. The overall goal of this Pathway to Independence Award is to provide the PI with the interdisciplinary training and research experience needed to investigate how ELAs affect body weight and cardiovascular risk, via the interplay of psychosocial, behavioral, and biological mechanisms, while characterizing gender differences throughout the analysis. Having previously worked as a nurse in South Korea, the PI brings front-line experience to the task of understanding health disparities. During her subsequent training and research in sociology and population health science, she applied theories of social determinants of health to multiple nationally representative data sets. The PI is well along the path to becoming a leading researcher on gender, life adversities, and health. During the K99 phase, the PI seeks training and mentoring to broaden her focus beyond social perspectives to include epidemiological and psychological knowledge of (1) causal inferences in behavioral obesity research (including co-twin control analyses), (2) cardiovascular disease, (3) reproductive health, and (4) resilience. During the R00 phase the PI will develop an integrative life-course approach to study the gender-specific pathways through which ELAs affect risk of adult obesity and cardiovascular disease by combining her primary expertise in sociology with additional epidemiological and psychological knowledge. The proposed research will be based on a nationally representative longitudinal data set, known as MIDUS (Midlife in the United States), which began with 7,108 adults, including 998 twin dyads. Findings from the PI's research should be relevant for development of gender-specific interventions to reduce the risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease, particularly for individuals who have experienced adversities in early life.