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. 2021 May:146:106455.
doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106455. Epub 2021 Feb 23.

Classes of lifetime adversity in emerging adult women and men and their associations with weight status

N Jeanie Santaularia  1 , Majel R Baker  2 , Darin Erickson  3 , Patricia Frazier  2 , Melissa N Laska  3 , Katherine Lust  4 , Susan M Mason  3
Affiliations

Classes of lifetime adversity in emerging adult women and men and their associations with weight status

N Jeanie Santaularia et al. Prev Med. 2021 May.

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to better understand how child and adult adversities cluster together into classes, and how these classes relate to body weight and obesity. Analyses included 2015 and 2018 data from emerging adults (18-25 years old) who participated in a state surveillance system of 2- and 4-year college students in Minnesota (N = 7475 in 2015 and N = 6683 in 2018). Latent Class Analyses (LCA) of 12 child and adult adversities were run stratified by gender and replicated between 2015 and 2018. The distal outcome procedure and three-step Bolck-Croon-Hagenaars approach were used to estimate predicted BMI means and predicted probabilities of obesity for each class, adjusted for covariates. The LCA identified seven classes in women and 5 in men. In women, BMI ranged from 23.9 kg/m2 in the lowest-BMI class ("Adult Adversities and Childhood Household Dysfunction"; 95% CI: 22.6-25.1) to 27.3 kg/m2 in the highest-BMI class ("High Lifetime Adversities"; 95% CI: 25.9-28.7), a statistically significant difference of 3.4 kg/m2. In men, the adjusted BMIs ranged from 24.6 kg/m2 ("Low Adversities"; 95% CI: 24.3-25.0) to 26.0 kg/m2 ("Childhood Household Mental Illness"; 95% CI: 25.1-26.9), a statistically significant difference of 1.4 kg/m2. The pattern was similar for obesity. These results indicate that specific classes of child and adult adversities are strongly associated with BMI and obesity, particularly in women. A key contribution of LCA appeared to be identification of small classes at high risk for excess weight.

Keywords: Adverse childhood experiences; Latent class analysis; Obesity.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Model-estimate, Class Specific Item Probabilities Profile Plot for the Seven-Class Model in the 2018 Women (% of sample)
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Model-estimate, Class Specific Item Probabilities Profile Plot for the Five-Class Model in the 2018 Men (% of sample)
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Crude and Adjusted BMI (kg/m2) by Latent Class in the 2018 Sample Dotted line indicates adjusted mean BMI for Low Adversities class
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Crude and Adjusted Predicted Probabilities of Obesity by Latent Class in 2018 Sample Dotted line indicates adjusted predicted probability of obesity in Low Adversities class
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