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Due to reliability problems, use of retrospective measurement to assess child sexual abuse has long concerned researchers. Possible psychosocial causes of these reliability issues—including problem avoidance—have not been thoroughly studied. We tested the reliability of retrospective child sexual abuse measurement in a nationally representative sample of 12,438 adults over two periods (2001–2002, 2007–2008), assessed sex differences in reliability, and examined whether reliability depends on problem avoidance tendencies. Nearly three-fourths of child sexual abuse cases in the former wave were not again reported, and two-thirds of child sexual abuse cases in the latter wave were not previously reported. Females were more likely to report CSA later if reported previously (OR = 5.11). Participants who reported child sexual abuse in the former wave but not the latter were more avoidant than consistent reporters (3.13 versus 2.77). Our findings suggest that females may report child sexual abuse more consistently. Furthermore, inconsistent reporting may indicate problem avoidance. Suggestions for researchers and practitioners are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this study is to provide the first data on the prospective, reciprocal association between short sleep duration and DSM-IV anxiety disorders among adolescents.Methods: A community-based two-wave cohort study included 4175 youths aged 11-17 years at baseline, with 3134 of these followed up a year later, drawn from a metropolitan area with a population of over 4 million. Anxiety is defined as any DSM-IV anxiety disorder in the past year generalized anxiety: panic disorder, agoraphobia without panic, social phobia, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Short sleep duration is defined as ≤6 h of sleep per night.Results/conclusions: In multivariate analyses, short sleep duration every night at baseline predicted anxiety disorders at follow-up, controlling for anxiety at baseline. Examining the reciprocal association, anxiety disorders at baseline did not predict short sleep duration at follow-up. We are the first to examine the reciprocal effects for anxiety disorders and sleep duration among adolescents using prospective data. The data suggest that reduced quantity of sleep may increase risk for anxiety, but anxiety does not increase risk for decreased sleep duration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To estimate prevalence, trends and persistence of discordance between measured body weight and perceived body weight and body satisfaction, and examine its association with gender, ethnicity, and family income.Methods: Using two-wave data from a prospective cohort study of adolescents sampled from Houston metropolitan area, aged 11-17years at baseline (n=4175) in 2000, and followed up in 2001 (n=3134). Survey logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios (OR).Results: Females, European Americans, and adolescents in families with higher income were more likely to overestimate their body weight, and to be dissatisfied with their body weight, compared with males, African Americans, or those with a lower family income, respectively. Healthy weight females had significantly elevated odds of perceiving themselves as overweight compared with healthy weight males: OR=1.82 (1.27-2.61) in Wave 1, OR=2.81 (1.82-4.34) in Wave 2, and OR=3.85 (1.58-9.38) in both waves. Similarly, healthy weight European Americans had about two times higher odds of perceiving themselves as overweight than healthy weight African Americans. Healthy weight females had over 1.5 odds of being dissatisfied with their body compared to healthy weight males. Compared with African Americans, European Americans were more likely to be dissatisfied with their body even they were within healthy weight range.Conclusions: There was a high prevalence of discordance between actual weight and perceived weight and body satisfaction among adolescents. Discordances differed by gender, ethnicity, and family income, and should be taken into account in interventions for preventing overweight and obesity, and other undesired outcomes in adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There have been few prospective studies on the association between anxiety disorders and adolescent obesity; none examine potential reciprocal effects.Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the prospective association between anxiety disorders and obesity among adolescents.Methods: Using data from a two-wave, prospective study of 3134 adolescents, we examined reciprocal effects between body weight and DSM-IV anxiety disorders.Results: Weight status did not increase future risk of anxiety disorders nor did anxiety disorders at baseline increase risk of future obesity in the overall sample. Stratifying by gender revealed an increased risk of overweight and obesity in males with anxiety disorders, but not for females. Major depression did not mediate these associations.Conclusion: Similar to prospective studies of depression, it appears anxiety disorders may increase risk of obesity. However, more research is needed on the role of psychopathology in adolescent obesity, in particular anxiety disorders and possible moderators (such as gender) and mediators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This is the first prospective study of the reciprocal association between sleep restriction and weight among adolescents. Evidence on sleep duration and obesity in youth is sparse and the results have been equivocal.Methods: Data are from a community-based, two-wave cohort study. The setting was a metropolitan area with a population of over 4 million. The cohort consisted of 4175 youths 11-17 at baseline and 3134 of these followed up a year later. Obesity was defined as body mass index >95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. Sleep restriction was defined as 6 or fewer hours of sleep per night on weeknights or on both weekends and weeknights. Covariates examined were age, gender, family income and depression.Results: Results clearly demonstrated that there was no association between sleep restriction and obesity at baseline. In prospective analyses, sleep restriction did not increase future risk of obesity, nor did obesity increase risk of future sleep restriction.Conclusions: These findings call into question previous research based primarily on cross-sectional data suggesting a positive correlation between sleep restriction and obesity. However, the results for adolescents in this study are supported by one study of adolescents and by studies of adults using prospective designs. At this point, there appears to be little evidence for a temporal relation between sleep duration and obesity among adults or adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To examine the association between perceived overweight in adolescents and the development of overweight or obesity later in life. Methods: This paper uses data from a prospective, two-wave cohort study. Participants are 2445 adolescents 11–17years of age who reported perceived weight at baseline and also had height and weight measured at baseline and at follow-up six years later sampled from managed care groups in a large metropolitan area. Results: Youths who perceived themselves as overweight at baseline were approximately 2.5 times as likely to be overweight or obese six years later compared to youths who perceived themselves as average weight (OR=2.45, 95% CI=1.77–3.39), after adjusting for weight status at baseline, demographic characteristics, major depression, physical activity and dieting behaviors. Those who perceived themselves as skinny were less likely to be overweight or obese later (OR=0.36, 95% CI=0.27–0.49). Conclusions: Perceived overweight was associated with overweight or obesity later in life. This relationship was not fully explained by extreme weight control behaviors or major depression. Further research is needed to explore the mechanism involved. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We estimate prevalence, incidence and persistence of short sleep or sleep deprivation in a two wave cohort study of 4175 youths 11–17 years old at baseline and 3134 of these a year later. Data were collected using computer interviews and questionnaires. Sleep deprivation was defined as 6h or less per night during the past 4 weeks. Weighted logistic regression procedures were employed to calculate prevalence, incidence, persistence/chronicity, and odds ratios. Prevalence rates and rates of persistence suggest sleep deprivation is highly prevalent and chronic. Multivariate analyses indicate that short sleep increases risk across multiple domains of dysfunction, suggesting pervasive deleterious effects. The broad impact of sleep deprivation and its pervasiveness suggests interventions will need to focus on multilevel changes to increase sleep time and reduce the negative impact of sleep deprivation among adolescents. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Does obesity affect mental health? Two waves of data from a panel study of community residents 50 years and older were used to investigate the association between obesity and eight indicators of mental health: happiness, perceived mental health, life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, optimism, feeling loved and cared for, and depression. For none of the eight mental health outcomes examined did we observe a protective effect for obesity. Either no association was observed between obesity and psychological functioning, or the obese were worse off. Using 1994-1999 prospective data, the obese were at increased risk for poorer mental health on five of the outcomes examined using bivariate analyses. However, controlling for mental health problems at baseline and using statistical controls for covariates, the increased relative risk was limited to depression. There has been sufficient disparity of results thus far to justify further research on this question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the presence of a dose--response relationship between work hours and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a representative sample of U.S. workers. Methods: A retrospective cohort study of 1926 individuals from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1986 to 2011) employed for at least 10 years. Restricted cubic spline regression was used to estimate the dose--response relationship of work hours with CVD. Results: A dose--response relationship was observed in which an average workweek of 46 hours or more for at least 10 years was associated with an increased risk of CVD. Compared with working 45 hours per week, working an additional 10 hours per week or more for at least 10 years increased CVD risk by at least 16%. Conclusion: Working more than 45 work hours per week for at least 10 years may be an independent risk factor for CVD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]