Finding ways to alter the course of our fattening society is a national health priority. The next phase of this ongoing longitudinal study will be devoted to the study of obesity and other risk factors for the leading causes of death such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. The multiethnic Hawaii Personality and Health cohort offers an unprecedented opportunity to evaluate the processes by which childhood personality traits affect midlife health status, including obesity, as assessed by medical professionals 40-45 years later.
The aims are to evaluate childhood personality traits as determinants of midlife overweight and obesity and other health risk factors, and to evaluate psychosocial mechanisms to explain these long- lasting influences of childhood traits. Gender and ethnic group differences in these processes will be examined, and stability of personality over 40+ years evaluated.
These aims will be accomplished by completing a further 375 baseline medical and psychological examinations to bring the total examined to 900, collecting further information by questionnaires, and integrating these new data with those already collected. The extraordinarily rich data set for the Hawaii cohort includes childhood personality assessments obtained 40+ years ago, contemporary adult data, status on numerous health risk factors assessed at the baseline medical exam conducted at midlife, and a frozen data bank of biological samples for future testing. Among the many expected contributions, this research will advance understanding of the processes by which childhood personality traits have long-term effects on obesity and health;the influence of prior adverse experiences on adult obesity and health;why educational attainment affects obesity and health;ethnic differences in life-course pathways to midlife obesity and health status among Japanese Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Caucasians;and gender differences in these pathways. Consistent with the mission of NIA, this project will contribute to efforts to improve the health and well-being of older Americans by identifying new childhood risk factors for adult ill-health and obesity risk and thus opening up new possibilities for early preventive interventions. This project will also contribute to the study of ethnicity-based health disparities, which is an NIH-wide priority. This research exemplifies a new approach to the prevention of chronic diseases of middle age made possible by life span studies such as this. A significant practical outcome of this project is the potential for targeting children at risk of becoming obese by midlife. Long-term weight loss is notoriously hard for adults to achieve, in part because it requires major changes in life-long behavioral patterns. Intervening much earlier to prevent weight gain by deflecting high-risk children from life pathways leading to adult obesity may be a more successful strategy.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AG020048-14
Application #
8118477
Study Section
Social Psychology, Personality and Interpersonal Processes Study Section (SPIP)
Program Officer
Nielsen, Lisbeth
Project Start
1997-09-20
Project End
2012-08-31
Budget Start
2011-09-01
Budget End
2012-08-31
Support Year
14
Fiscal Year
2011
Total Cost
$598,383
Indirect Cost
Name
Oregon Research Institute
Department
Type
DUNS #
053615423
City
Eugene
State
OR
Country
United States
Zip Code
97403
Hampson, Sarah E; Edmonds, Grant W (2018) A New Twist on Old Questions: A Life Span Approach to the Trait Concept. J Pers 86:97-108
Weston, Sara J; Hill, Patrick L; Edmonds, Grant W et al. (2018) No Evidence of ""healthy neuroticism"" in the Hawaii Personality and Health Cohort. Ann Behav Med :
Hampson, Sarah E; Edmonds, Grant W; Goldberg, Lewis R (2017) The Health Behavior Checklist: Factor structure in community samples and validity of a revised good health practices scale. J Health Psychol :1359105316687629
Chapman, Benjamin P; Goldberg, Lewis R (2017) Act-Frequency Signatures of the Big Five. Pers Individ Dif 116:201-205
McGrath, Robert E; Hall-Simmonds, Ashley; Goldberg, Lewis R (2017) Are Measures of Character and Personality Distinct? Evidence From Observed-Score and True-Score Analyses. Assessment :1073191117738047
Hill, Patrick L; Edmonds, Grant W; Hampson, Sarah E (2017) A purposeful lifestyle is a healthful lifestyle: Linking sense of purpose to self-rated health through multiple health behaviors. J Health Psychol :1359105317708251
Nave, Christopher S; Edmonds, Grant W; Hampson, Sarah E et al. (2017) From Elementary School to Midlife: Childhood Personality Predicts Behavior During Cognitive Testing over Four Decades Later. J Res Pers 67:183-189
Edmonds, Grant W; Hampson, Sarah E; Côté, Hélène C F et al. (2016) Childhood Personality, Betrayal Trauma, and Leukocyte Telomere Length in Adulthood: A Lifespan Perspective on Conscientiousness and Betrayal Traumas as Predictors of a Biomarker of Cellular Aging. Eur J Pers 30:426-437
Hampson, Sarah E; Edmonds, Grant W; Goldberg, Lewis R et al. (2016) Lifetime trauma, personality traits, and health: A pathway to midlife health status. Psychol Trauma 8:447-54
Hill, Patrick L; Edmonds, Grant W; Peterson, Missy et al. (2016) Purpose in Life in Emerging Adulthood: Development and Validation of a New Brief Measure. J Posit Psychol 11:237-245

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