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Molecular stable isotope ratios are a novel type of dietary biomarker with high sensitivity and specificity for certain foods. Among these, fatty acid carbon isotope ratios (CIRs) have strong potential but have not been investigated as dietary biomarkers.We evaluated whether fatty acid CIRs and mass proportions were associated with meat, fish and sugar sweetened beverage (SSB) intake.Thirty-two men (aged 46.2 ± 10.5 y; BMI: 27.2 ± 4.0 kg/m2) underwent a 12-wk inpatient dietary intervention at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Phoenix, Arizona. Men were randomly assigned to one of eight dietary treatments varying the presence/absence of dietary meat, fish and SSBs in all combinations. Fatty acid CIRs and mass proportions were measured in fasting blood samples and adipose tissue biopsies that were collected pre- and post-intervention. Dietary effects were analyzed using multivariable regression and receiver operating characteristic AUCs were calculated using logistic regression.CIRs of the most abundant saturated (14:0, 16:0, 18:0) and mono-unsaturated (16:1n-7, 18:1) fatty acids and arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) in plasma were strongly associated with meat, as were a subset of these fatty acids in RBC. Effect sizes in plasma ranged from 1.01 to 1.93‰ and were similar but attenuated in RBC. Mass proportions of those fatty acids were not associated with diet. CIRs of plasma 20:3n-6 and adipose 16:0 were weakly associated with SSB. Mass proportions of plasma odd-chain fatty acids i-15:0, 17:0, and 17:1 were associated with meat, and mass proportions of plasma EPA and DHA (20:5n-3 and 22:6n-3) were associated with fish.CIRs of plasma saturated and mono-unsaturated fatty acids show promise as sensitive and specific measures of dietary meat. These provide different information to that provided by fatty acid mass proportions, and are informative where mass proportion is not.

OBJECTIVE: Food insecurity is known to be associated with obesity but its association with physiological measures is unclear. Therefore, we hypothesized that compared to food secure, individuals with food insecurity would have higher 24-h energy expenditure (EE[kcal/d]) and a 24-h respiratory quotient (RQ[ratio]). Subsequently, we explored hormones involved in appetite regulation, substrate oxidation, and EE. METHODS: One hundred-thirteen non-diabetic healthy participants (75M; Age 40±12 [years]; BMI 30±8 [kg/m(2)]) were included in this analysis. Participants completed the Food Security Short Form, a DXA scan, and spent 24 hours in a human respiratory chamber following a weight maintaining diet. RESULTS: Compared to individuals with food security, participants with food insecurity had no difference in 24-h EE. However, they had higher carbohydrate oxidation rates (p = 0.03), and lower lipid oxidation rates (p = 0.02), resulting in higher 24-h RQ (p

Background/Objectives: Lower birthweight has been previously identified as a risk factor for multiple chronic diseases which are also associated with poor diet. We sought to determine whether birthweight is related to objectively measured energy intake in adulthood. We hypothesized a negative association between birthweight and overall energy intake in adulthood. Subjects/Methods: Healthy Indigenous American adults (n=65; age 33.2±8.0 years; female n=29; BMI 33.2±8.1 kg/m2) with measures of birthweight (mean 3465±376g; mean gestational age 40.1±1.2 weeks), ad libitum energy intake, and body composition were included. Three-day energy intake was measured using vending machines and categorized as high (≥45% kcal) or low in fat (Results: A birthweight-by-sex interaction was found such that birthweight was associated with energy intake negatively in males and positively in females (interaction p=0.04; simple slopes: male β=−64, female β= 93 kcal/day per 100 g birthweight). This pattern was evident in fat (interaction p=0.01; simple slopes: male β=−48, female β=42 kcal/day per 100g birthweight), protein (interaction p=0.02; simple slopes: male β=−5, female β=20 kcal/day per 100g birthweight), and high-fat/high-protein (interaction p=0.01; simple slopes: male β=−46, female β=45 kcal/day per 100g birthweight) consumption. Conclusion: Birthweight was negatively associated with energy intake in adult males but was positively associated with energy intake in adult females.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are situated as the foundation of a six-tier pyramid, above which rests: (1) disrupted neurodevelopment; (2) social, emotional, and cognitive impairment; (3) adoption of health-risk behaviors; (4) disease, disability, and social problems; and (5) early death. ACEs purportedly initiate a causal sequence of negative developmental, behavioral, social, and cognitive outcomes, culminating in heightened mortality risk. Militating against this causal explanation, life history evolution is herein hypothesized to be the true foundation of any such pyramid. Subsuming ACEs within a life history framework has two broad implications: First, to some extent, ACEs are effectively changed from cause to correlate; second ACEs are seen as markers of strategic life history variation, not markers of dysfunction.

This study investigated whether interindividual variance in diet-induced metabolic flexibility is explained by differences in gut hormone concentrations.A total of 69 healthy volunteers with normal glucose regulation underwent 24-hour assessments of respiratory quotient (RQ) in a whole-room indirect calorimeter during eucaloric feeding (EBL; 50% carbohydrate, 30% fat) and then, in a crossover design, during 24-hour fasting and three normal-protein (20%) overfeeding diets (200% energy requirements). Metabolic flexibility was defined as the change in 24-hour RQ from EBL during standard (50% carbohydrate), high-fat (60%), and high-carbohydrate (75%) overfeeding diets. Plasma concentrations of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and peptide YY (PYY) after an overnight fast were measured prior to and after each diet.Compared with EBL, on average, 24-hour RQ decreased by ~4% during high-fat overfeeding, whereas it increased by ~4% during standard overfeeding and by ~9% during high-carbohydrate overfeeding. During high-carbohydrate overfeeding, but not during any other overfeeding diet or fasting, increased GLP-1 concentration was associated with increased RQ (r = 0.44, p 0.001), higher/lower carbohydrate/lipid oxidation rates (r = 0.34 and r = -0.51, both p 0.01), respectively, and increased plasma insulin concentration (r = 0.38, p = 0.02).Increased GLP-1 concentration following high-carbohydrate overfeeding associated with a greater shift to carbohydrate oxidation, suggesting that GLP-1 may be implicated in diet-induced metabolic flexibility to carbohydrate overload.

The relationship between neighborhood quality and personality was explored using a large nationally representative sample of midlife adults, namely, the data from the Midlife in the United States Longitudinal Study of Health and Well-Being. A multilevel approach was used to track correlations between fluctuations in perceived neighborhood safety and inequality and personality across three points in time. As predicted from life history theory, personality fluctuated along with perceived neighborhood safety and inequality such that the general factor of personality decreased as neighborhood safety decreased and neighborhood inequality increased. In a second set of analyses, monozygotic twin difference scores were used to control for possible genetic confounds. It was found that the twin who reported the greatest neighborhood safety and least neighborhood inequality also had the highest general factor of personality. Future research could be directed at identifying and remediating the specific aspects of the neighborhood that may increase the risk of negative changes in functioning.

OBJECTIVE: Negative affect and food insecurity (FI) have been proposed to impede adherence to weight loss interventions. Thus, we examined the role of these variables on dietary adherence using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). METHODS: Fifty participants (19m; 49±14y) participated in an outpatient dietary study. Lean participants (n=22; BMI ≤ 25 kg/m(2)) received a weight maintaining diet (WMEN) and participants with obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2)) were randomized to receive either WMEN (n=14) or a 35% calorie-reduced diet (n=14). FI was measured and twice daily EMA-captured real-time affect ratings and adherence. Between-person (trait-level) and lagged within-person (state-level) scores were calculated. RESULTS: Greater FI and trait-level negative affect were associated with reduced adherence (p=0.0015, p=0.0002, respectively), whereas higher trait-level positive affect was associated with greater adherence (p

This chapter highlights parental behavior and household dynamics as one key set of factors that play a vital role in the regulation of development and behavior in children. It shows the benefits of using an evolutionary-developmental model and discusses fundamental points to consider when applying such a model to research. The application of Darwinian principles to domains of parenting and development provides a benefit to researchers by integrating the results of proximate-level research into a unified and interconnected framework. It also reorients within- and between-household differences in parenting as strategies molded by natural selection to maximize survival and reproduction under varied ecological circumstances. The chapter begins with a review of the theoretical foundations of evolutionary developmental psychology, followed by a brief explanation of methodological approaches used by developmentalists. It then looks at current research and future directions.

Knowledge of evolutionary influences on patterns of human mating, social interactions, and differential health is increasing, yet these insights have rarely been applied to historical analyses of human population dynamics. The genetic and evolutionary forces behind biases in interethnic mating and in the health of individuals of different ethnic groups in Latin America and the Caribbean since the European colonization of America are still largely ignored. We discuss how historical and contemporary sociocultural interactions and practices are strongly influenced by population-level evolutionary forces. Specifically, we discuss the historical implications of functional (de facto) polygyny, sex-biased admixture, and assortative mating in Latin America. We propose that these three evolutionary mechanisms influenced mating patterns, shaping the genetic and cultural landscape across Latin America and the Caribbean. Further, we discuss how genetic differences between the original populations that migrated at different times into Latin America contributed to their accommodation to and survival in the different local ecologies and interethnic interactions. Relevant medical and social implications follow from the genetic and cultural changes reviewed. UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Sociales::Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas (IIP)

Life history strategy represents individual variation in the degree to which bioenergetic resources are allocated toward growth, maintenance, and reproduction. Individual differences in life history strategies are thought to underlie many of the individual differences studied in Psychology. It was hypothesized that responses on the Sentence Completion Test of Ego Development are partially reflective of an individual’s life history strategy. This hypothesis was tested in three studies, each representing a different level of analysis. The results of Study 1 suggest near unity between ego-level and life history strategy at the conceptual level. In Study 2 a moderate association between rated ego-level and rated life history strategy was found. Additional analyses showed that this association remained when controlling for verbal IQ and that developmental change in each construct was correlated. In Study 3, it was found that responses to the sentence stems could be used directly to assess life history strategy. Combined, the results add to the evidence that responses on projective tests using a sentence stem format are associated with life history strategy. Future research could focus on identifying and constructing sentence stems that provide the maximum information about an individual’s life history strategy.

Leukocyte telomere length, a marker of immune system function, is sensitive to exposures such as psychosocial stressors and health-maintaining behaviors. Past research has determined that stress experienced in adulthood is associated with shorter telomere length, but is limited to mostly cross-sectional reports. We test whether repeated reports of chronic psychosocial and financial burden is associated with telomere length change over a 5-year period (years 15 and 20) from 969 participants in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study, a longitudinal, population-based cohort, ages 18-30 at time of recruitment in 1985. We further examine whether multisystem resiliency, comprised of social connections, health-maintaining behaviors, and psychological resources, mitigates the effects of repeated burden on telomere attrition over 5 years. Our results indicate that adults with high chronic burden do not show decreased telomere length over the 5-year period. However, these effects do vary by level of resiliency, as regression results revealed a significant interaction between chronic burden and multisystem resiliency. For individuals with high repeated chronic burden and low multisystem resiliency (1 SD below the mean), there was a significant 5-year shortening in telomere length, whereas no significant relationships between chronic burden and attrition were evident for those at moderate and higher levels of resiliency. These effects apply similarly across the three components of resiliency. Results imply that interventions should focus on establishing strong social connections, psychological resources, and health-maintaining behaviors when attempting to ameliorate stress-related decline in telomere length among at-risk individuals.

IntroductionThe transition from paediatric to adult diabetes care in youth-onset diabetes (type 1 diabetes mellitus, Y-T1DM and type 2 diabetes mellitus, Y-T2DM) is associated with worsening glycaemic control, missed clinical visits, decreased medication adherence and the emergence of cardiometabolic complications. The socio-ecological challenges that influence transitioning to adult diabetes care may be distinct between Y-T1DM and Y-T2DM. The goal of this scoping review is to map the state of the literature on transitioning care in Y-T2DM compared with Y-T1DM and to identify the main sources and types of evidence available. The objectives are : (1) to identify the factors within the socio-ecological framework (individual, relationship, community, societal) associated with transitioning to adult care in Y-T2DM compared with Y- T1DM, and (2) to identify knowledge gaps related to transitioning to adult care.MethodsThe scoping review protocol and reporting will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for scoping reviews guidelines. A systematic search of scientific databases (PubMed, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, Scopus and APA PsycNet will be undertaken for articles between 1 January 1990 and 30 September 2022. Study designs will include peer-reviewed experimental and quasi-experimental published studies without language or country-specific restrictions. We will exclude articles on other diabetes subtypes and will exclude non-peer reviewed articles such as opinion papers, anecdotal reports or supplementary commentaries.AnalysisReferences will be collated, sorted and extracted using Covidence. Factors associated with transition from paediatric to adult diabetes care in Y-T1DM and Y-T2DM will be identified using the socio-ecological framework and results will be presented in narrative format, tables, and summary graphs.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval will not be applicable for this review.Trial registration numberhttps://osf.io/k2pwc.

Knowledge of evolutionary influences on patterns of human mating, social interactions, and differential health is increasing, yet these insights have rarely been applied to historical analyses of human population dynamics. The genetic and evolutionary forces behind biases in interethnic mating and in the health of individuals of different ethnic groups in Latin America and the Caribbean since the European colonization of America are still largely ignored. We discuss how historical and contemporary sociocultural interactions and practices are strongly influenced by population-level evolutionary forces. Specifically, we discuss the historical implications of functional (de facto) polygyny, sex-biased admixture, and assortative mating in Latin America. We propose that these three evolutionary mechanisms influenced mating patterns, shaping the genetic and cultural landscape across Latin America and the Caribbean. Further, we discuss how genetic differences between the original populations that migrated at different times into Latin America contributed to their accommodation to and survival in the different local ecologies and interethnic interactions. Relevant medical and social implications follow from the genetic and cultural changes reviewed.

Introduction Latina women have a high burden of depression and other mental health issues, particularly in the perinatal period. Suboptimal maternal mental health can have adverse developmental and physiological impacts on child growth. The present study examines the impact of unplanned pregnancy and pregnancy relationship status on prenatal maternal depression in a sample of low-income Latina women. We hypothesized that the association between these prenatal stressors and newborn health would be mediated through prenatal depression. Method The present study included a sample 201 Latina mothers and their children recruited from prenatal clinics during their second or third trimesters. Depression symptomology, relationship status were collected prenatally. At birth, several indices of newborn health were examined, including head circumference percentile and birthweight. Finally, planned pregnancy status was retrospectively collected when the child was between 1 and 2 years old. Results Structural equation modelling revealed that single women, compared to partnered women, had higher levels of depression. Higher levels of depression, in turn, predicted poorer newborn health. Unplanned pregnancy was not significantly associated with newborn health. Discussion These results suggest that relationship status may be an important screening question for medical examiners to ask to pregnant Latina women during prenatal visits. These results are consistent with past research investigating the effects of maternal mental health on adverse birth outcomes that propose that stressful early environments shape developmental trajectories.

The American Heart Association (AHA) created the cardiovascular health (CVH) index to measure and monitor population-level reduction of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, with a goal of 20% reduction in CVD morbidity and mortality by 2020. Few U.S. adults meet all seven ideal CVH metrics (non-smoking behavior, healthy diet and body weight, active lifestyle, good cholesterol, glucose, and blood pressure scores), with 17% of men and women only achieving five or more ideal CVH metrics. This review describes the importance of considering sociodemographic, psychosocial, and behavioral factors as key strategies to achieve the AHA 2020 goals. Men, racial/ethnic minorities, and individuals of lower socioeconomic status are less likely to achieve ideal CVH—which may start in early childhood. An emerging body of literature indicates that individuals with high-quality social relationships, positive childhood experiences and psychological functioning, along with lifestyle factors, may impact attainment of optimal CVH. For example, exploring the role of food insecurity in CVH attainment demonstrates the complex interplay between contextual factors and lifestyle behaviors that may promote or deter ideal CVH. Evidence also suggests that the CVH index has convergent validity with intermediate and hard endpoints of CVD. Interventions that seek to promote multi-system resiliency may help close the gap in attainment of the AHA 2020 goals. Research on psychosocial and behavioral factors suggests that social connections, psychological resources, and health-maintaining behaviors are important areas to target to improve CVH in minorities and other vulnerable groups.

Depression/anxiety-related disorders and psychosocial stress have been implicated as cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. Women are at considerable risk for affective disorders and report greater severity from psychosocial stress, compared to men. Affective disorders and cardiovascular disease likely share underlying pathophysiological mechanisms that are potentiated among women – especially younger women. Environmental stressors that threaten the safety, security, and status of an individual are appraised by the brain, producing a cascade of evoked physiological and cognitive responses. In the short term, these processes overcome stressors, but come with long-term health implications. Chronic psychosocial stress leads to a dysregulation of the stress response systems that can lead to a heightened stress appraisal schema called the unpredictability schema, a construct that might arguably place women at heightened risk for CVD.

Theoretical and empirical work in the study of life history evolution has largely shifted away from density-dependent models since the 1980s, focusing on alternative causative processes such as the prominence of extrinsic morbidity and mortality. Nevertheless, recent evidence suggests that density dependent models are integral, even if clearly not sufficient, to account for trajectories of life history evolution. However, little investigation has been conducted among human populations to compare these models. Here we collate data for subnational regions of Italy, Spain, and Mexico to directly compare alternative models of life history evolution, including information on several dimensions of climate, parasite burden, population density, and manifest indicators of life history strategy. We examine direct and indirect effects of potential predictors upon life history speed, and address the hierarchical relations among these variables in relation to the goal of theory integration. Results revealed that ecological indicators had no significant impact on population density. Population density and the brumal factor (a composite denoting higher altitude, latitude and colder mean temperatures) predicted slower life histories, however parasite burden (a measure of morbidity and mortality) failed to exhibit a direct effect upon life history speed. The impact of ecological factors was stronger for Italy and Spain, in comparison to Mexico. We discuss the implications for life history theory.

We summarize and integrate the results of the sequential canonical cascade model that explores the structural relations among the various latent constructs we have operationalized, including climate, parasite burden, population density, life history strategy, social stratification, sexual differentiation, strategic and cognitive differentiation effects, macroeconomic specialization and diversification, human capital, and general cognitive ability.

Nothing is presently known about the relationship between individual differences in fertility and life history (LH) speed, as measured by the K-Factor. To examine this relationship, the correlation ...

Three large and nationally representative datasets (NCDS, N = 5225, NLSY′79, N = 7598 and Project Talent, N = 76,150) are here examined in order to determine if models incorporating negative quadratic effects of IQ on fertility (which would indicate the presence of stabilizing phenotypic selection) improve model fit, relative to ones that only consider linear effects (which indicate directional phenotypic selection). Also considered were possible interactions among these terms and sex and race. For two datasets (NCDS and NLSY′79) the best fitting models did not include quadratic terms, however significant sex*IQ and race*IQ interactions were found respectively. Only in Project Talent did the inclusion of a quadratic effect (along with IQ*sex and IQ2* sex interactions) yield the best-fitting model. In this instance a small magnitude, significant negative quadratic term was found in addition to a larger magnitude linear term. Post hoc power analysis revealed that power was lacking in the two smaller samples (NCDS and NLSY′79) to detect the quadratic term, however the best fitting and most parsimonious models selected for these datasets did not include the quadratic term. The quadratic terms were furthermore several times smaller in magnitude than the linear terms in all models incorporating both terms. This indicates that stabilizing phenotypic selection is likely only very weakly present in these datasets. The dominance of linear effects across samples therefore suggests that phenotypic selection on IQ in these datasets is principally directional, although the magnitude of selection is relatively small, with IQ explaining at most 1% of the variance in fertility.

Epidemiologists and medical researchers often employ an allostatic load model that focuses on environmental and lifestyle factors, together with biological vulnerabilities, to explain the deterioration of human physiological systems and chronic degenerative disease. Although this perspective has informed medicine and public health, it is agnostic toward the functional significance of pathophysiology and health deterioration. Drawing on Life History (LH) theory, the current paper reviews the literature on disadvantaged families to serve as a conceptual model of stress-health relationships in which the allocation of reproductive effort is instantiated in the LH strategies of individuals and reflects the bioenergetic and material resource tradeoffs. We propose that researchers interested in health disparities reframe chronic degenerative diseases as outcomes resulting from strategic calibration of physiological systems to best adapt, survive, and reproduce in response to demands of specific developmental contexts. These effects of adversity on later-age degenerative disease are mediated, in part, by socioemotional and cognitive mechanisms expressed in different life history strategies.

Study Objectives Short sleep duration is associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. However, it is uncertain whether sleep debt, a measure of sleep deficiency during the week compared to the weekend, confers increased cardiovascular risk. Because sleep disturbances increase with age particularly in women, we examined the relationship between sleep debt and ideal cardiovascular health (ICH) in older women. Methods Sleep debt is defined as the difference between self-reported total weekday and weekend sleep hours of at least 2 hours among women without apparent CVD and cancer participating in the Women’s Health Stress Study follow-up cohort of female health professionals (N = 22 082). The ICH consisted of seven health factors and behaviors as defined by the American Heart Association Strategic 2020 goals including body mass index, smoking, physical activity, diet, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and glucose. Results Mean age was 72.1 ± 6.0 years. Compared to women with no sleep debt, women with sleep debt were more likely to be obese and have hypertension (pall < .05). Linear regression models adjusted for age and race/ethnicity revealed that sleep debt was significantly associated with poorer ICH (B = –0.13 [95% CI = –0.18 to –0.08]). The relationship was attenuated but remained significant after adjustment for education, income, depression/anxiety, cumulative stress, and snoring. Conclusion Sleep debt was associated with poorer ICH, despite taking into account socioeconomic status and psychosocial factors. These results suggest that weekly sleep duration variation, possibly leading to circadian misalignment, may be associated with cardiovascular risk in older women.

Background Financial strain is a prevalent form of psychosocial stress in the United States; however, information about the relationship between financial strain and cardiovascular health remains sparse, particularly in older women. Methods The cross-sectional association between financial strain and ideal cardiovascular health were examined in the Women's Health Study follow-up cohort (N = 22,048; mean age = 72± 6.0 years).Six self-reported measures of financial strain were summed together to create a financial strain index and categorized into 4 groups: No financial strain, 1 stressor, 2 stressors, and 3+ stressors. Ideal cardiovascular health was based on the American Heart Association strategic 2020 goals metric, including tobacco use, body mass index, physical activity, diet, blood pressure, total cholesterol and diabetes mellitus. Cardiovascular health was examined as continuous and a categorical outcome (ideal, intermediate, and poor). Statistical analyses adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, education and income. Results At least one indicator of financial strain was reported by 16% of participants. Number of financial stressors was associated with lower ideal cardiovascular health, and this association persisted after adjustment for potential confounders (1 financial stressor (FS): B = −0.10, 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) = −0.13, −0.07; 2 FS: B = −0.20, 95% CI = −0.26, −0.15; 3+ FS: B = −0.44, 95% CI = −0.50, −0.38). Conclusion Financial strain was associated with lower ideal cardiovascular health in middle aged and older female health professional women. The results of this study have implications for the potential cardiovascular health benefit of financial protections for older individuals.

Pregnancy and employment are critical life events that can affect chronic disease risk in women. Hence, we examined the relationship between parity and cardiovascular risk, and whether job stress affected this association. Cox proportional hazard models examined the association of parity with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk [myocardial infarction (MI), coronary artery revascularization, ischemic stroke, and CVD death] in 23,905 participants in the Women’s Health Study. Parity was defined at baseline as pregnancy lasting > 6 months gestation, categorized as none (referent), 1–2, 3–4, and 5+. Job strain assessed at year 5 was operationalized using the Karasek job strain model, and job insecurity was defined based on the item “My job security is good” (yes or no). The mean age of the women at baseline was 57.3 ± 5.2 years with an average follow-up for CVD of 16 years. In models adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, income, education, CVD risk factors, and age of menarche, increasing parity was associated with increased CVD risk compared to no pregnancies [hazard ratio (HR), 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15, 0.94–1.41 (1–2 pregnancies); 1.29, 1.06–1.58 (3–4 pregnancies); 1.52, 1.20–1.93 (5+ pregnancies)]. Further adjustment for job strain did not attenuate the noted relationship (HR, 95% CI 1.15, 0.94–1.41 (1–2 pregnancies); 1.30, 1.06–1.58 (3–4 pregnancies); 1.52, 1.20–1.93 (5+ pregnancies). There was no significant interaction between job strain (p = 0.68) or job insecurity (p = 0.97) and parity. Among working women, increased parity was related to heightened CVD risk, a relationship that was not attenuated by job strain or job insecurity.

Soy extranjero en mi tierra, y no vengo a darles guerra, soy hombre trabajador. Y si no miente la historia, aqui se sento en la gloria la poderosa nacion entre guerreros valientes, indios de dos continentes, mezclados con espanol ("Somos Mas Americanos" by Los Tigres Del Norte).Fuerst and Kirkegaard have written a comprehensive paper that examines the Racial-Cognitive Ability-Socioeconomic (R-CA-S) hypothesis, a synthesis of hypotheses that broadly conceptualize racial differences in cognitive abilities as resulting from environmental, genetic/epigenetic, and evolutionary progression (e.g., Lynn 2008). This paper follows other research that examines whether cognitive abilities mediate the association between race and socioeconomic status. Collecting regional and intra-regional data is often elusive. Fuerst and Kirkegaard have not only been diligent and creative, but have also been appropriately transparent by presenting their raw data for others to replicate or reinterpret the analyses. Further, although tackling such a topic is often met with immediate knee-jerk resistance, science is built on testing a wide range of hypotheses even when they are not popular. To their credit, the authors have handled a controversial topic tactfully and respectfully.Broadly, we agree with the overall results of the findings. We concede that the reported associations among European ancestry, cognitive abilities, and socioeconomic status in the Americas are robust. European-descended groups in the United States, for instance, have both higher incomes and greater social capital with which to increase both their individual and aggregate wealth (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor, 2014) and also perform better on measures of cognitive abilities (e.g., National Center for Education Statistics, 2015). We do, however, take some exception to the interpretations proffered for their findings and the atheoretical approach the authors took toward analyzing the data. Our present commentary focuses on the conceptual problems in their paper that we believe need to be addressed to expand research on the R-CA-S hypothesis, as well as their corresponding parallels in the seemingly suboptimal statistical methodologies used. While we applaud the authors for being more transparent than most, there is a notable absence of clarity when describing some of the methods used in this paper, so our characterization of these methods as "suboptimal" might be due to their inadequate description in this paper rather than the procedures that were actually applied.Paraphrase of Main ThesisFuerst and Kirkegaard essentially argue that being genetically of European heritage provides an advantage in general cognitive abilities, and that those higher cognitive abilities lead in turn to the achievement of a higher mean level of socioeconomic achievement. We will summarize in turn our concerns regarding each of the points in this proposed causal progression.Estimation of Genetic HeritageAmong the methodological concern that we had was one regarding admixture in the Americas analyses. Fuerst and Kirkegaard obtained admixture frequencies from genetic studies that estimated the proportion of admixture present within the states of each respective country. For data points that they were unable to find, they took steps to impute estimates based on surrounding areas. For these analyses, some of the admixture estimates were estimated by dividing parental groups:In regards to hybrid identities such as Mestizo and Mulatto, percentages were split by parental group e.g., one half European and one half Amerindian. For tribrid identities such as Montubio, percentages were split three ways. Assumptions had to be made for a number of nations. (p.281).Dividing admixed populations in half (or in thirds) based on their parental groups may produce an over or underestimation of levels of racial descent. That is, the estimations derived from imputed data may be unrepresentative of the underlying distributions. …

The purpose of this investigation was to test the replicability of the positive correlation between a general factor of personality (GFP) derived from the California Child Q-set (CCQ) and general intelligence. Analyses were performed using data from two samples of children in which the participants were administered both a test of general cognitive ability and had their personality judged by raters using the CCQ. The results were consistent with previous results in which a positive correlation was found between the CCQ Big Five-based GFP and general intelligence. Future research should help to determine why GFPs derived from some measures correlate positively with general intelligence while GFPs derived from other measures do not.

High-quality relationships have been shown to be beneficial for physical and mental health. This study examined overall relationship satisfaction and perceived stress as well as daily reports of partner support, partner conflict, and physical intimacy obtained over the course of one week in a sample of 129 high and low stress mothers. Telomere length was examined in whole blood, as well as the two cell subpopulations: peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and granulocytes. Telomerase activity was measured in PBMCs. Analyses revealed no statistically significant associations of telomere length with current relationship satisfaction, daily support or conflict, or perceived stress. In contrast, women who reported any sexual intimacy during the course of the week had significantly longer telomeres measured in whole blood and PBMCs, but not in granulocytes. These relationships held covarying for age, body mass index, perceived stress, the relationship indices, and caregiver status. Sexual intimacy was not significantly related to PBMC telomerase activity. These data provide preliminary data that sexual intimacy is associated with longer telomere length. Future studies investigating these associations are warranted.

In his target article, Lynn compiles and reviews various convergent strands of evidence supportive of potential race differences in psychopathic personality. The origin of this group-difference is attributed to cold-selection in the Pleistocene. We contend that Life History Theory provides a better theoretical rubric within which to evaluate Lynn's arguments as a) it better accounts for the adaptive logic of the coherent pattern among the traits characteristic of so-called ‘psychopathic personality’, b) it provides a normatively free language with which group differences in behavior can be described, and c) it makes predictions at the level of both the individual and intra-individual (developmental) levels, which permit the role of environmental contributions to these dispositions to be better comprehended. Thus the Life History model is more empirically nuanced. We also consider the merits of future, more systematic studies along the lines of Lynn's contribution.

The purpose of the present study is to test an integrated model of human ecology, which takes into consideration variables and predictions derived from both life history and social privilege paradigms. Population-level statistics were collected from an assortment of Mexican national agencies on thirty-one Mexican States and the Federal District ( N = 32). The integrated model of human cognitive ecology specifically described how biodiversity impacts state-level life history strategies and cognitive abilities in Mexico. Results from the sequential canonical cascade analysis supported the three following hypotheses: (1) regional climatic factors affected regional life histories; (2) both regional life histories and climatic factors affected regional levels of human capital; and (3) both regional levels of human capital and regional climatic factors affected regional mean cognitive abilities. The integrated model of human cognitive ecology explained a preponderance of the pooled multivariate variance ( V = .66) in cognitive abilities. Implications and future directions within life history and intelligence research are discussed.

Children and parents often rely on the support provided by non-parental adults such as extended family members. Expanding conceptualizations of social support beyond traditional nuclear family paradigms to include non-parental adults may be particularly relevant to identifying family strengths among economically disadvantaged and Latino families. In the present study, we examine the extent to which child reports of parenting support provided by non-parental adults are linked to variations in mother-reported parenting efficacy and depressive symptoms, and whether these associations vary according to maternal marital status and Latino/Hispanic race/ethnicity. The present study considers how child-reported social support specific to parenting is associated with maternal self-reported wellbeing among a community sample of 59 mothers and their 10–12 year-old children. Findings indicate that controlling for maternal perceptions of global social-emotional support, parenting support is inversely related to parenting efficacy among single mother and Latino/Hispanic families. Further, Latino/Hispanic children of mothers with higher levels of depressive symptoms report greater support from non-parental adults. These results suggest that parenting support may in this cross-sectional study be a response to maternal need. Further, the function of support from non-parental adults may vary for single-mother versus two-parent families, and Latino/Hispanic families in comparison to European American families.

This retrospective essay appraises J. Philippe Rushton's application of life history to understanding the covariation among human traits in light of subsequent developments in the measurement and latent structure of Human Life History, covitality, and personality. We conclude that Rushton should be recognized for having initiated a theoretically and empirically highly fertile paradigm in human individual differences research.

Transcending reviewed proximate theories, Van Lange et al.'s CLASH model attempts to ultimately explain the poleward declension of aggression and violence. Seasonal cold is causal, but, we contend, principally as an ecologically relevant evolutionary pressure. We further argue that futurity and restraint are life history variables, and that Life History Theory evolutionarily explains the biogeography of aggression and violence as strategic adaptation.

The psychometric trait approach to human life history, based on common factor modeling, has recently come under some criticism for neglecting to inquire into the developmental progression that orients and executes human life history trajectories (Copping, Campbell, & Muncer, 2014). It was asserted that the psychometric approach wholly focuses on creating a higher-order latent factor of life history by subsuming individual differences with developmental and social experiences, ignoring ontogenetic progression. Implicit in the critique is the assumption that developmental perspectives and latent approaches are mutually exclusive and incompatible with each other. The response to this critique by Figueredo and colleagues (2015) proposed instead that developmental perspectives and latent trait approaches are both compatible and necessary to further research on human life history strategies. The current paper uses three independent cross-sectional samples to examine whether models of human life history are best informed by a developmental perspective, psychometric trait approach, or both. UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Sociales::Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas (IIP)

This review focuses on the impact of parental behavior on child development, as interpreted from an evolutionary-developmental perspective. We employ psychosocial acceleration theory to reinterpret the effects of variation in parental investment and involvement on child development, arguing that these effects have been structured by natural selection to match the developing child to current and expected future environments. Over time, an individual’s development, physiology, and behavior are organized in a coordinated manner (as instantiated in ‘life history strategies’) that facilitates survival and reproductive success under different conditions. We review evidence to suggest that parental behavior (1) is strategic and contingent on environmental opportunities and constraints and (2) influences child life history strategies across behavioral, cognitive, and physiological domains.

Despite widespread acceptance of natural selection in biology and the life sciences, social and developmental scientists have resisted incorporating evolutionary frameworks into research and teaching curricula. Charlesworth (1992) has argued that developmentalists avoid evolution because they perceive it as running contrary to meliorist attitudes that are predominate in the field. Other scholars have suggested that evolution is ignored by social scientists because of a lack of knowledge about the theory. In this study, we suggest that resistance among developmentalists toward evolution may occur due to individual differences in life history and personality traits. We examine the meliorist attitudes, life history and personality traits of faculty, graduate and undergraduates in family studies in human development and the effect these variables have on the acceptance and usage of evolutionary theory in academia. Results reveal that life history may contribute to more meliorism, increasing disuse of evolutionary theory due to affective reasons.

Previous developmental research has found that children from households with high shared parenting, childrearing agreement, and equitable division of parental labor experience positive developmental and social outcomes; a major limitation of these studies is that shared parent- ing measures do not assess the amount of total parental effort the child receives, but instead partitioning the amount of effort between parents. Life History (LH) theory predicts that the total amount of parenting the child receives should produce a greater developmental impact on the future LH strategies of children than precisely how that parental effort was apportioned between mothers and fathers.This report presents a cross-cultural study using convenience samples of university students in Mexico, the United States, and Costa Rica, investigating the relationship of total as well as shared parental effort on family emotional climate and the LH strategy of the participants as young adults.The first study was performed exclusively in Mexico; results indicated that higher levels of shared parenting experienced as a child were associated with Family Emotional Climate also during childhood and with participant adult LH.The second study extended these findings; higher total parental effort predicted shared parenting effort, positive emotional climate, and slower offspring adult life history strategy in the three conve- nience samples of Mexico, the United States, and Costa Rica. UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Sociales::Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas (IIP)

SYNOPSIS Utilizing an evolutionary framework can elucidate the causes of variation in parental effort and guide measurement of relevant parenting constructs. The current article presents an evolutionary analysis of the determinants of parental effort and suggests that evolutionarily informed measures are needed to test evolutionary hypotheses. Towards this end, we employ evolutionary theory to guide development of new Parental Effort Scales, which supplement and extend extant methods for assessing coparenting.

Our commentary articulates some of the commonalities between Baumeister et al.'s theory of socially differentiated roles and Strategic Differentiation-Integration Effort. We expand upon the target article's position by arguing that differentiating social roles is contextual and driven by varying ecological pressures, producing character displacement not only among individuals within complex societies, but also across social systems and multiple levels of organization.

The Continuous Parameter Estimation Model is applied to develop individual genomic-level heritabilities for the latent hierarchical structure and developmental dynamics of Life History (LH) strategy LH strategies relate to the allocations of bioenergetic resources into different domains of fitness. LH has moderate to high population-level heritability in humans, both at the level of the high-order Super-K Factor and the lower-order factors, the K-Factor, Covitality Factor, and General Factor of Personality (GFP). Several important questions remain unexplored. We developed measures of genome-level heritabilities employing an American sample of 316 monozygotic (MZ) and 274 dizygotic (DZ) twin dyads and a Swedish sample of 863 MZ and 475 DZ twin dyads. This novel heritability index measures individual genetic transmissibility, therefore opening new avenues for analyzing complex interactions among heritable traits inaccessible to standard structural equations methods. For these samples: (1) moderate to high heritability of factor loadings of Super-K on its lower-order factors is demonstrated, evidencing biological preparedness, genetic accommodation, and the gene-culture coevolution of biased epigenetic rules of development; (2) moderate to high heritability of the magnitudes of the effect of the higher-order factors upon their loadings on their constituent factors, evidencing genetic constraints upon phenotypic plasticity; and (3) that heritability of the LH factors, of factor loadings, and of the magnitudes of the correlations among factors are weaker among those with slower LH speeds, demonstrating that inter-individual variation in transmissibility is a function of individual socioecological selection pressures.

Copping, Campbell, and Muncer (2014) have recently published an article critical of the psychometric approach to the assessment of life history (LH) strategy. Their purported goal was testing for the convergent validation and examining the psychometric structure of the High-K Strategy Scale (HKSS). As much of the literature on the psychometrics of human LH during the past decade or so has emanated from our research laboratory and those of close collaborators, we have prepared this detailed response. Our response is organized into four main sections: (1) A review of psychometric methods for the assessment of human LH strategy, expounding upon the essence of our approach; (2) our theoretical/conceptual concerns regarding the critique, addressing the broader issues raised by the critique regarding the latent and hierarchical structure of LH strategy; (3) our statistical/methodological concerns regarding the critique, examining the validity and persuasiveness of the empirical case made specifically against the HKSS; and (4) our recommendations for future research that we think might be helpful in closing the gap between the psychometric and biometric approaches to measurement in this area. Clearly stating our theoretical positions, describing our existing body of work, and acknowledging their limitations should assist future researchers in planning and implementing more informed and prudent empirical research that will synthesize the psychometric approach to the assessment of LH strategy with complementary methods.