Childhood Stress May Increase Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Adulthood

Young adults who endure higher levels of stress during their teenage years are more likely to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and other cardiometabolic risk factors, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Cardiometabolic risk factors are a significant driver of cardiovascular disease. A previous American Heart Association Scientific Statement found that childhood adversities such as stress impact cardiometabolic health across the course of life, and interventions for these adversities may be more appropriate than interventions for cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Researchers analyzed health information from the Southern California Children’s Health Study. Participants enrolled in the study as children along with their parents, then participated in follow-up assessments as adolescents (average age, 13 years) and as young adults (average age, 24 years).

At each stage, stress was measured with a 4-item Perceived Stress Scale, a questionnaire about feelings and thoughts from the previous month. Study participants were categorized into 4 risk-based groups: consistently high stress over time, decreasing stress over time, increasing stress over time, and consistently low stress over time.

To evaluate cardiometabolic risk in young adulthood, researchers used measures of carotid artery intima-media thickness; systolic and diastolic blood pressure; weight, percentage of body fat, and fat distribution; and hemoglobin A1c to analyze data on 276 individuals (56% girls/women; 62% White) from Southern California communities participating in the Southern California Children’s Health Study.

Perceived stress was reported by participants’ parents during childhood (average age, approximately 6 years) and by the participants themselves in adolescence (average age, approximately 13 years) and young adulthood (average age, nearly 24 years).

According to the findings, consistently high perceived stress from adolescence carrying into adulthood was associated with a greater risk for cardiometabolic diseases in young adulthood. The researchers observed that individuals who experienced greater levels of stress from their teenage years into adulthood were more likely to have worse vascular health, higher total body fat, more fat around the belly, and higher risk of obesity compared with those who felt less stressed over time. Moreover, adults who experienced higher levels of stress in adolescence tended to have higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

“Our findings suggest that perceived stress patterns over time have a far-reaching effect on various cardiometabolic measures, including fat distribution, vascular health, and obesity,” said Fangqi Guo, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, in a press release. “This could highlight the importance of stress management as early as in adolescence as a health protective behavior.”

She continued, “Health care professionals should consider using the Perceived Stress Scale to evaluate individuals’ stress levels during clinic visits. This way, those with higher stress levels can be identified and receive treatment earlier.”