The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Body size at birth and socio-economic status in childhood: implications for Cloninger's psychobiological model of temperament at age 60

Body size at birth and socio-economic status in childhood: implications for Cloninger's psychobiological model of temperament at age 60
Body size at birth and socio-economic status in childhood: implications for Cloninger's psychobiological model of temperament at age 60
Small birth size predicts various psychiatric outcomes, including depression. While biologically based temperamental traits may constitute a vulnerability factor for depression, the extent to which birth size predicts these traits in adulthood is not known. We studied, in 1369 women and men identified from a cohort born in 1934-44 in Helsinki, Finland, whether birth size predicts the temperamental traits measured with Cloninger's Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire at an average age of 63 years. Moreover, we examined whether socio-economic status (SES) in childhood modified the associations. Data on birth size were obtained from birth records, and SES in childhood was obtained from school records. Weight and length at birth showed curvilinear, reverse J-shaped effects on harm avoidance (HA), such that the highest HA scores were most characteristic of those born small. Furthermore, high HA was confined to those belonging to a low SES group in childhood regardless of birth size, and to those belonging to the high SES group in childhood if their birth size was small. The associations were independent of several confounders. Since small birth size as well as high HA in adulthood may associate with subsequent depression, our findings might shed light on understanding the early neurodevelopmental processes that predispose to depression through vulnerability characteristic.
167-174
Lahti, Jari
230457a3-300b-4faf-810e-e2a07f57fcee
Räikkönen, Katri
32cd0aa3-6dc2-40a3-b1a0-245ccedd41c3
Heinonen, Kati
46bb57d0-1c33-4cdd-badf-d38a5fc61200
Pesonen, Anu-Katriina
8cc53fef-f713-425e-bd01-8f1c53842351
Kajantie, Eero
d68d55b6-6df1-4195-a914-44c738a6db93
Forsén, Tom
71e12224-d830-4202-9b7c-ee8fe47a4d54
Osmond, Clive
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Barker, David J.P.
5c773838-b094-4ac1-999b-b5869717f243
Eriksson, Johan G.
eb96b1c5-af07-4a52-8a73-7541451d32cd
Lahti, Jari
230457a3-300b-4faf-810e-e2a07f57fcee
Räikkönen, Katri
32cd0aa3-6dc2-40a3-b1a0-245ccedd41c3
Heinonen, Kati
46bb57d0-1c33-4cdd-badf-d38a5fc61200
Pesonen, Anu-Katriina
8cc53fef-f713-425e-bd01-8f1c53842351
Kajantie, Eero
d68d55b6-6df1-4195-a914-44c738a6db93
Forsén, Tom
71e12224-d830-4202-9b7c-ee8fe47a4d54
Osmond, Clive
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Barker, David J.P.
5c773838-b094-4ac1-999b-b5869717f243
Eriksson, Johan G.
eb96b1c5-af07-4a52-8a73-7541451d32cd

Lahti, Jari, Räikkönen, Katri, Heinonen, Kati, Pesonen, Anu-Katriina, Kajantie, Eero, Forsén, Tom, Osmond, Clive, Barker, David J.P. and Eriksson, Johan G. (2008) Body size at birth and socio-economic status in childhood: implications for Cloninger's psychobiological model of temperament at age 60. Psychiatry Research, 160 (2), 167-174. (doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2007.07.016).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Small birth size predicts various psychiatric outcomes, including depression. While biologically based temperamental traits may constitute a vulnerability factor for depression, the extent to which birth size predicts these traits in adulthood is not known. We studied, in 1369 women and men identified from a cohort born in 1934-44 in Helsinki, Finland, whether birth size predicts the temperamental traits measured with Cloninger's Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire at an average age of 63 years. Moreover, we examined whether socio-economic status (SES) in childhood modified the associations. Data on birth size were obtained from birth records, and SES in childhood was obtained from school records. Weight and length at birth showed curvilinear, reverse J-shaped effects on harm avoidance (HA), such that the highest HA scores were most characteristic of those born small. Furthermore, high HA was confined to those belonging to a low SES group in childhood regardless of birth size, and to those belonging to the high SES group in childhood if their birth size was small. The associations were independent of several confounders. Since small birth size as well as high HA in adulthood may associate with subsequent depression, our findings might shed light on understanding the early neurodevelopmental processes that predispose to depression through vulnerability characteristic.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 15 August 2008

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 61313
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/61313
PURE UUID: 4c781a61-7f53-47f3-8fd3-badd28b48456
ORCID for Clive Osmond: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9054-4655

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 30 Sep 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:50

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Jari Lahti
Author: Katri Räikkönen
Author: Kati Heinonen
Author: Anu-Katriina Pesonen
Author: Eero Kajantie
Author: Tom Forsén
Author: Clive Osmond ORCID iD
Author: David J.P. Barker
Author: Johan G. Eriksson

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×