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Background: This study investigated (i) whether compassion is associated with blood pressure or hypertension in adulthood and (ii) whether familial risk for hypertension modifies these associations. Method: The participants (N = 1112–1293) came from the prospective Young Finns Study. Parental hypertension was assessed in 1983–2007; participants' blood pressure in 2001, 2007, and 2011; hypertension in 2007 and 2011 (participants were aged 30–49 years in 2007–2011); and compassion in 2001. Results: High compassion predicted lower levels of diastolic and systolic blood pressure in adulthood. Additionally, high compassion was related to lower risk for hypertension in adulthood among individuals with no familial risk for hypertension (independently of age, sex, participants' and their parents' socioeconomic factors, and participants' health behaviors). Compassion was not related to hypertension in adulthood among individuals with familial risk for hypertension. Conclusion: High compassion predicts lower diastolic and systolic blood pressure in adulthood. Moreover, high compassion may protect against hypertension among individuals without familial risk for hypertension. As our sample consisted of comparatively young participants, our findings provide novel implications for especially early-onset hypertension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has been associated with depressive symptoms, but the causal direction of this association and the underlying mechanisms, such as increased glucose levels, remain unclear. We used instrumental-variable regression with a genetic instrument (Mendelian randomization) to examine a causal role of increased glucose concentrations in the development of depressive symptoms. Method: Data were from the population-based Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study ( n = 1217). Depressive symptoms were assessed in 2012 using a modified Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-I). Fasting glucose was measured concurrently with depressive symptoms. A genetic risk score for fasting glucose (with 35 single nucleotide polymorphisms) was used as an instrumental variable for glucose. Results: Glucose was not associated with depressive symptoms in the standard linear regression ( B = −0.04, 95% CI [−0.12, 0.04], p = .34), but the instrumental-variable regression showed an inverse association between glucose and depressive symptoms ( B = −0.43, 95% CI [−0.79, −0.07], p = .020). The difference between the estimates of standard linear regression and instrumental-variable regression was significant ( p = .026) Conclusion: Our results suggest that the association between T2D and depressive symptoms is unlikely to be caused by increased glucose concentrations. It seems possible that T2D might be linked to depressive symptoms due to low glucose levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We examined associations between childhood temperamental activity, physical activity (PA), and television (TV) viewing over a 30-year period. Method: The participants (1220 boys and 1237 girls) were aged 3, 6, 9, and 12 years in 1980 and were followed until 2011. Temperamental activity was evaluated by participants' mothers at baseline. The PA was assessed based on maternal ratings of the child from ages 3 to 6 and via self-report age from the age of 9 across all measurements. TV viewing was assessed using self-reports taken from 2001 to 2011. The associations between temperamental activity and the level and change of PA and TV viewing were determined using linear growth modeling stratified by gender and age group. Results: High temperamental activity assessed from ages 9 to 12 was associated with high levels of childhood PA in both genders, but with a steeper decline in PA levels during the first 9 years of follow-up in boys. High temperamental activity assessed from ages 3 to 6 was associated with the decline of PA from childhood to youth in girls. High childhood temperamental activity was associated with decreased levels of PA in adulthood in men, but not in women. The associations between childhood temperamental activity and TV viewing during adulthood seemed to be positive but not consistently significant in all age and gender groups. Conclusion: High temperamental activity may contribute to the development of a physically inactive lifestyle. More evidence is needed with regard to gender differences among participants in similar study settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over the recent decades, the incidence of cardiovascular and heart diseases has decreased while levels of type-A behavior, i.e., a potential risk factor, appear to have increased. However, the long-term developmental patterns of type-A behavior is poorly understood. Both age- and cohort-related changes may be involved in these developments. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine an age- and cohort-related changes of Hunter-Wolf type-A behavior from adolescence to adulthood. Methods: Type-A behavior and its components (aggressiveness, leadership, hard driving, and eagerness energy) were assessed using the Hunter-Wolf A-B rating scale at five time points (1983, 1986, 1989, 2001, and 2007) in a population-based sample consisting of six birth cohorts born between 1962 and 1977 ( n = 3,341, a total of 10,506 person observations). Development of type-A behavior and its components was examined with cohort-sequential multilevel modeling. Results: Aggressiveness decreased with age, eagerness energy, hard driving, and global type-A behavior increased, and leadership exhibited no mean level changes. Younger cohorts had higher aggressiveness, lower hard driving, and global type-A behavior. Conclusions: The findings suggest that in order to understand the health consequences of type-A behavior, both life span and societal changes should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although previous studies have associated physical activity (PA) with lower depressive symptoms, the combined effects of the (1) frequency, (2) intensity, and (3) duration of long-term PA have not been examined in detail. Purpose: We examined the dose-response association between changes in frequency, intensity, and duration of PA and depressive symptoms in men and women over 6 years. Methods: Participants comprised 1,959 healthy adults (833 men and 1,126 women), aged 24-39 years in 2001, drawn from the ongoing Young Finns Study. PA was assessed using a self-report questionnaire completed in connection with a medical examination in 2001 and 2007. Depressive symptoms were simultaneously assessed using a modified version of Beck's Depression Inventory in both phases. Results: High doses of PA at baseline were prospectively associated with fewer depressive symptoms in men, while moderate doses of PA at baseline were inversely associated with the prevalence of depressive symptoms in women. Associations between baseline PA and depressive symptom changes were mediated by social and health-related factors which differed between men and women. Long-term participation in regular PA in all dimensions remained remarkably stable (all p < 0.001). Compared to those who remained inactive, the persistently active participants in all dimensions, with the exception of women's intensity group, were more likely to show decreases in depressive symptoms independent of the included confounders. An increase in PA in certain groups was also independently associated with fewer depressive symptoms, particularly in women. Conclusions: Regular and persistent participation in different doses of PA may provide short-term and long-term beneficial effects on depressive symptom changes. The results imply that the moderate to high doses of PA may serve as a buffer against depression in early midlife. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research on the long-term effects of Type A behavior and its components in the prediction of physical activity in adulthood is scarce and there is a lack of prospective data that are able to show such an association. Purpose: We examined the relations between components of Type A behavior and physical activity from youth to early midlife. Method: The sample included 2,031 participants (43.8% of males) aged 9 to 24 years in 1986 from the Young Finns Study. Type A behavior was measured by the Hunter-Wolf A-B Rating Scale at three phases in 1986, 1989, and 2001. Physical activity was assessed using a short self-report questionnaire at five phases between 1986 and 2007. Results: High Type A leadership was associated with high physical activity in 1986 ( r = 0.37, P < 0.01), 1989 ( r = 0.36, P < 0.01) and 2001 ( r = 0.31, P < 0.01), and youth leadership also predicted high adult physical activity ( P < 0.001). After adjustment for age, education, occupation, smoking, body mass index, and baseline physical activity, the association remained significant. There was also a bidirectional association between Type A leadership and physical activity. Persistent physical activity during the adult years was associated with a higher Type A leadership than persistent physical inactivity (Cohen's d = 0.34, P < 0.001), even after controlling for potential confounders. The associations of other components of Type A behavior, i.e., hard-driving, eagerness-energy, and aggression with physical activity were marginal. Conclusion: There is a direct relation between Type A leadership and physical activity at different development phases that maybe bidirectional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]