Abstract P253: The Association of Goal-Striving Stress With Measures of Adiposity in the Jackson Heart Study

Abstract

Introduction: Obesity is a public health epidemic, with a US prevalence of 39.8%. African Americans (AAs) have an even greater prevalence of obesity (46.8%), when compared to non-Hispanic whites at (37.9%). Behavioral risk factors, such as poor diet and sedentary lifestyle, are important antecedents to obesity, but psychosocial risk factors such as stress and perceived discrimination are also determinants of obesity. Goal-striving stress, (GSS), the difference between aspiration and achievement, weighted by the level of disappointment if goals are not reached, may be an important stressor among AAs that may influence measures of adiposity; however, this has yet to be explored. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between GSS and measures of adiposity in AAs. Hypothesis: GSS is positively associated with measures of adiposity, including BMI, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio (WHR), and neck circumference. Methods: We analyzed data from the baseline exam of the Jackson Heart Study (JHS; n=5306), an AA sample of women and men, 35-84 years old. GSS was derived assessing the difference between aspiration for the following year and current achievement (both using a 10-point scale), weighted by a disappointment is achievement is not reached, using 4-point scale. GSS was then divided by the standard deviation (SD) (5.05) to create GSS-SD units. BMI was measured in kg/m 2 and waist and neck circumference was measured in cm. WHR was derived from waist circumference and height measured in cm. We excluded participants with missing data on GSS, measures of adiposity, and covariates. Spline regression analyses were used to obtain the coefficient. Models were adjusted for sex, age, socioeconomic status, alcohol, smoking, physical activity, nutrition, hypertension, diabetes, history of cardiovascular disease, and discrimination. Results: There were 4360 participants included in this analysis; 64.29% female with a mean (± SD) age of 55.47 (± 12.57) years and mean BMI of 31.85 (±7.20) kg/m 2 , mean waist circumference of 100.75 (±16.14) cm, mean WHR of 59.80% (± 9.78), and mean neck circumference of 38.53 (±3.76) cm. After full adjustment, significant results show a positive association of GSS with waist circumference (b=1.30; p=0.0418) and WHR (b=0.80; p=0.0299). GSS was not associated with BMI or neck circumference. Conclusion: GSS was positively associated with measures of adiposity, specifically waist circumference and WHR. Potential interventions should consider the extent to which GSS may contribute to increases in adiposity. Also, future research should explore the longitudinal associations of GSS with measures of adiposity.