Individuals who had a greater PSS score had significantly greater carotid artery intima-media thickness (β, 0.01; 95% CI, 0.0003-0.02; P =.043), diastolic blood pressure (β, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.13-1.75; P =.024), and systolic blood pressure (β, 1.27; 95% CI, 0.09-2.45; P =.035) in adulthood.
PSS scores in adulthood had a significant overall association with the cumulative cardiometabolic risk score (β, 0.12; 95% CI, 0.01-0.22; P =.031), and PSS scores in childhood and adolescence were not significantly associated with this cumulative score.
Models that predicted cardiometabolic risk by perceived stress patterns indicated that individuals who had consistently high PSS from adolescence to young adulthood had significantly increased cumulative cardiometabolic risk scores (β, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.02-0.60; P =.036), android/gyroid ratio (β, 0.07; 95% CI, 0.02-0.13; P =.009), and percent body fat (β, 2.59; 95% CI, 0.01-5.17; P =.049), as well as greater odds for obesity (odds ratio [OR], 5.57; 95% CI, 1.62-19.10; P =.006), compared with individuals who had consistently low PSS scores.
Participants who had decreasing PSS scores over time also had significantly higher odds for obesity (OR, 4.87; 95% CI, 1.30-18.34; P =.019) compared with those who had consistently low PSS.
Among several limitations, the population was young adults primarily living in southern California, and parent-perceived stress in young childhood likely reflects the children’s social environment at home, which may not represent the children’s stress level. In addition, the analysis may not fully adjust for time-varying covariates, and the cardiometabolic cumulative risk score assumed that each indicator has equal weight toward the cardiometabolic risk.
“Our findings suggest that promoting healthy coping strategies for stress management early in life (eg, adolescence) may facilitate the prevention of cardiometabolic diseases,” the study authors wrote.
