Holly C Gooding1, Carly E Milliren2, S Bryn Austin3, Margaret A Sheridan4, Katie A McLaughlin5. 1. Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, holly.gooding@childrens.harvard.edu. 2. Clinical Research Center, Boston Children's Hospital. 3. Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health. 4. Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, and. 5. Department of Psychology, University of Washington.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Childhood trauma is associated with hypertension in adults. It is unknown whether childhood trauma predicts elevated blood pressure earlier in development. We investigated whether the trauma of child abuse was associated with blood pressure in adolescents. METHODS: The sample included 145 adolescents aged 13-17 years, 40% with exposure to child abuse. The mean age of participants was 14.93 years (SD = 1.33); 58% were female. The majority self-identified as non-Hispanic White (43%), with the remainder identifying as non-Hispanic Black (17%), Hispanic (17%), or other/mixed race (23%). We used established age/sex/height-specific cutoffs to determine the prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension in the sample. We used two-sample t tests to examine associations of abuse with resting systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and blood pressure reactivity to the Trier Social Stress Test and a frustration task. We used linear regression to adjust for potential confounders including sociodemographic variables, body mass index, smoking, and psychopathology. RESULTS: Mean resting SBP and DBP were 114.07 mmHg and 61.35 mmHg in those with a history of abuse and 111.39 mmHg and 56.89 mmHg in those without a history of abuse. This difference was significant for DBP only. Twelve percent of participants met criteria for prehypertension or hypertension based on resting blood pressure values; this did not differ between those with and without an abuse history. Child abuse was associated with lower DBP and SBP reactivity to laboratory stress tasks and reduced DBP reactivity to frustration. These associations were robust to adjustment for potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Child abuse is associated with higher resting DBP and blunted DBP and SBP reactivity to laboratory stress in adolescence. These findings suggest a potential pathway by which child abuse leads to hypertension.
OBJECTIVE: Childhood trauma is associated with hypertension in adults. It is unknown whether childhood trauma predicts elevated blood pressure earlier in development. We investigated whether the trauma of child abuse was associated with blood pressure in adolescents. METHODS: The sample included 145 adolescents aged 13-17 years, 40% with exposure to child abuse. The mean age of participants was 14.93 years (SD = 1.33); 58% were female. The majority self-identified as non-Hispanic White (43%), with the remainder identifying as non-Hispanic Black (17%), Hispanic (17%), or other/mixed race (23%). We used established age/sex/height-specific cutoffs to determine the prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension in the sample. We used two-sample t tests to examine associations of abuse with resting systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and blood pressure reactivity to the Trier Social Stress Test and a frustration task. We used linear regression to adjust for potential confounders including sociodemographic variables, body mass index, smoking, and psychopathology. RESULTS: Mean resting SBP and DBP were 114.07 mmHg and 61.35 mmHg in those with a history of abuse and 111.39 mmHg and 56.89 mmHg in those without a history of abuse. This difference was significant for DBP only. Twelve percent of participants met criteria for prehypertension or hypertension based on resting blood pressure values; this did not differ between those with and without an abuse history. Child abuse was associated with lower DBP and SBP reactivity to laboratory stress tasks and reduced DBP reactivity to frustration. These associations were robust to adjustment for potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS:Child abuse is associated with higher resting DBP and blunted DBP and SBP reactivity to laboratory stress in adolescence. These findings suggest a potential pathway by which child abuse leads to hypertension.
Authors: Jutta Lindert; Ondine S von Ehrenstein; Rachel Grashow; Gilad Gal; Elmar Braehler; Marc G Weisskopf Journal: Int J Public Health Date: 2014-04 Impact factor: 3.380
Authors: Christina M Shay; Hongyan Ning; Norrina B Allen; Mercedes R Carnethon; Stephanie E Chiuve; Kurt J Greenlund; Martha L Daviglus; Donald M Lloyd-Jones Journal: Circulation Date: 2011-11-17 Impact factor: 29.690
Authors: Shaoyong Su; Xiaoling Wang; Gaston K Kapuku; Frank A Treiber; David M Pollock; Gregory A Harshfield; W Vaughn McCall; Jennifer S Pollock Journal: Hypertension Date: 2014-04-28 Impact factor: 10.190
Authors: Dan J Stein; Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola; Jordi Alonso; Ronny Bruffaerts; Peter de Jonge; Zharoui Liu; Jose Miguel Caldas-de-Almeida; Siobhan O'Neill; Maria Carmen Viana; Ali Obaid Al-Hamzawi; Mattias C Angermeyer; Corina Benjet; Ron de Graaf; Finola Ferry; Viviane Kovess-Masfety; Daphna Levinson; Giovanni de Girolamo; Silvia Florescu; Chiyi Hu; Norito Kawakami; Josep Maria Haro; Marina Piazza; Jose Posada-Villa; Bogdan J Wojtyniak; Miguel Xavier; Carmen C W Lim; Ronald C Kessler; Kate M Scott Journal: Gen Hosp Psychiatry Date: 2013-11-14 Impact factor: 3.238
Authors: Shakira F Suglia; Cari J Clark; Renée Boynton-Jarrett; Nancy R Kressin; Karestan C Koenen Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2014-11-06 Impact factor: 3.295
Authors: Natalie Slopen; Alva Tang; Charles A Nelson; Charles H Zeanah; Thomas W McDade; Katie A McLaughlin; Nathan A Fox Journal: Psychosom Med Date: 2019-06 Impact factor: 4.312
Authors: K C Koenen; J A Sumner; P Gilsanz; M M Glymour; A Ratanatharathorn; E B Rimm; A L Roberts; A Winning; L D Kubzansky Journal: Psychol Med Date: 2016-10-04 Impact factor: 7.723
Authors: Brie M Reid; Michelle M Harbin; Jessica L Arend; Aaron S Kelly; Donald R Dengel; Megan R Gunnar Journal: J Pediatr Date: 2018-08-23 Impact factor: 4.406
Authors: Virginia Jimenez; Natalia Sanchez; Emma L M Clark; Reagan L Miller; Milena Casamassima; Megan Verros; Isabella Conte; Metztli Ruiz-Jaquez; Lauren D Gulley; Sarah A Johnson; Christopher Melby; Rachel G Lucas-Thompson; Lauren B Shomaker Journal: Dev Psychobiol Date: 2021-05-15 Impact factor: 2.531
Authors: Emma L Anderson; Rishi Caleyachetty; Mai Stafford; Diana Kuh; Rebecca Hardy; Debbie A Lawlor; Abigail Fraser; Laura D Howe Journal: Int J Equity Health Date: 2017-09-07