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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: 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]

There have been calls to know more about vulnerability factors that may predispose to adverse health outcomes at work. We examined if childhood adverse experiences would affect vulnerability to psychosocial stress factors at work. A nationally representative sample of 1546 Finnish men and women was followed up from childhood to adulthood. Childhood adverse experiences consisted of socioeconomic and emotional factors. Job demands and job control were measured 21 years later, and depressive symptoms were measured 21 and 27 years after the childhood measurements. Job demands predicted depressive symptoms over 6 years, and the association was modified by childhood emotional adversity. Participants with three or more emotional adversities in childhood had more depressive symptoms in response to high job demands compared with participants with zero or one emotional adversities in childhood (Betas = −1.40 and −2.01, ps < 0.05 and <0.01). No such moderating effect by childhood adverse experiences was found for the association between job control and depressive symptoms. Although modest in effect size, these findings provide a developmental viewpoint for understanding the role of childhood experiences in work‐related stress factors. Such knowledge can enhance understanding of individual differences in vulnerability to the demands of working life. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined whether long QT syndrome status moderates the association between stressful life events and depressive symptoms. Participants were 562 (n = 246 symptomatic) long QT syndrome mutation carriers. Depressive symptoms were measured with a modified version of the Beck’s Depression Inventory. There was an interaction between long QT syndrome status and stressful life events on depressive symptoms. In the symptomatic long QT syndrome patients, stressful life events were associated with depressive symptoms (B = 0.24, p < 0.001). In the asymptomatic long QT syndrome mutation carriers, this association was 62.5 percent weaker (B = 0.09, p = 0.057). Compared to asymptomatic long QT syndrome mutation carriers, symptomatic long QT syndrome patients are more sensitive to the depressive effects of stressful life events. [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]

Objectives: To examine whether work stress is associated with a symptomatic status of the long QT syndrome (LQTS). Methods: The sample comprised 173 KCNQ1, KCNH2, or SCN5A gene mutation carriers (70 symptomatic) and control groups of 203 relatives without the family mutation, and of 1209 population-based young Finns control subjects. Work stress was assessed using the Job Content Questionnaire and Occupational Stress Questionnaire. Results: We found an association between the occurrence of symptoms in the LQTS and high work stress, higher job demands/effort, lower job control, and lower rewards compared with control subjects. We also found that symptomatic LQTS mutation carriers had higher work stress than asymptomatic LQTS mutation carriers. Conclusions: Higher work stress is related to arrhythmic risk in the LQTS. It may be useful to incorporate assessment of work conditions and stress interventions into management of high-risk patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long QT syndrome (LQTS) is an inherited cardiac disorder that predisposes the mutation carrier to ventricular arrhythmias that can lead to sudden death. The objective of the present study was to replicate the previous finding in terms of stress-related temperament trait, i.e. behavioural inhibition system (BIS). The study subjects included 583 LQTS mutation carriers (256 symptomatic and 327 asymptomatic) from the Finnish LQTS registry and 79 healthy subjects randomly derived from the population-based sample of the Young Finns Study. Symptomatic and asymptomatic LQTS mutation carriers did not differ from each other on BIS (3.27 versus 3.24, p > 0.05), whereas LQTS mutation carriers scored higher on BIS than the comparison group derived from the representative population-based sample (3.25 versus 2.99, p = 0.003, η² = 0.014). BIS was significantly higher in women than in men (3.32 versus 3.06, p < 0.001, η² = 0.017). The results confirm our previous finding of higher stress proneness of LQTS mutation carriers. Their innate stress proneness may have relevance because it increases our understanding on the role of stress in the manifestation of symptoms. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A population based study conducted to find whether Temporal and Energetic Characteristics of behaviour contributes to perceived job strain and its components is presented. Findings suggest that Higher Emotional activity and perseveration and lower briskness, endurance and activity leads to higher long term job strain, higher job demands and lower job controls.

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]

The article discusses a study conducted to analyze the correlations between personality stress and work stress. The results demonstrate a correlation between the Siegrist's effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model and personality traits. High extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were associated with lower perceived work stressors; and higher neuroticism was related to higher perceived work stressors. It suggests that personality traits may help to protect people from work stress.

Objective: To examine the bidirectional relationship between job strain and cynicism. Methods: The study sample was obtained from the Young Finns study and comprised 757 participants (399 women, 53%). The bidirectional association between cynicism and job strain over a 6-year-follow-up was examined with a cross-lagged structural equation model, controlling for a number o f demographic variables. Results: High job strain (β = 0.08; P = 0.007) was associated with higher baseline-adjusted cynicism 6 years later. Nevertheless, cynicism was not associated with baseline-adjusted job strain. The additional analysis showed that cynicism mediated 21.5% of the relationship between job strain and depression. Conclusions: Perceptions of having a highly strenuous job may elicit mistrustful and cynical attitudes in employees, which in turn may lead to mental health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We examined two alternative hypotheses on the association between low socioeconomic status (SES) and depressive symptoms: social causation and health selection. The latent growth curve (LGC) approach was used to examine trajectories of change in depressive symptoms over a period of 15 years in a dataset (the Young Finns study) consisting of a nationally representative sample of adolescents and young adults (n = 1613). Depressive symptoms were examined at four examination phases between 1992 and 2007. SES was measured as parental SES childhood (baseline of the study in 1980) and as the participants own SES in 2007 when the participants had reached adulthood and were between 30 and 45 years of age. The level of depressive symptoms was associated (r = −.14) with a slower decrease in symptoms during follow-up. Lower age, male gender, higher parental occupational grade but not parental income and lower negative emotionality in childhood were associated with a lower level of depressive symptoms. Higher age was also associated with a slower decrease in depressive symptoms. A lower level of depression and faster decrease in depressive symptoms were associated with a higher socioeconomic position in adulthood. A similar pattern was found in the relationship between the level of depression and income in adulthood. We concluded that the effect of childhood SES on depressive symptoms diminishes over time, but a higher level of, and especially faster decline of, depressive symptoms predicts the adulthood occupational SES gradient. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]