Infant growth and hostility in adult life.
OBJECTIVE
Hostility may confer a risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality, but why is uncertain. A common origin in suboptimal fetal and early postnatal life may lie beneath. This study tested whether prenatal and postnatal growth predicts hostility in adult life.


METHODS
Women (n = 939) and men (n = 740) born in Helsinki, Finland, from 1934 through 1944 filled out the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale at an average age of 63.4 years. Growth was estimated from birth, child welfare clinic, and school records. Adult body size was measured in a clinic.


RESULTS
Men and women who had higher levels of hostility in adulthood were born lighter and thinner, showed slower weight gain from birth to 6 months of age, were lighter throughout childhood (standardized regression coefficients (beta) <-0.05; 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), -0.14 to -0.00; p values <.05), but were heavier in adulthood (beta values > 0.06; 95% CIs, 0.02-0.14; p values <.01). They were also shorter from 6 months until the age of 1 year (beta values <-0.09; 95% CIs, -0.14 to -0.03; p values <.003), and tended to be shorter in adulthood (beta = -0.05; 95% CI, -0.09 to 0.00; p = .06). The latter effects were largely attributable to slower growth in stature from birth to 6 months (beta = -0.08; 95% CI, -0.14 to -0.02; p = .005). The associations were not explained by major confounders.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study suggests that slow prenatal and infant growth is linked with hostility in adult life.
Rikkönen
Katri
K
Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 9 (Siltavuorenpenger 20 D), 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. katri.raikkonen@helsinki.fi
Pesonen
Anu-Katriina
AK
Heinonen
Kati
K
Lahti
Jari
J
Kajantie
Eero
E
Forsén
Tom
T
Osmond
Clive
C
Barker
David J P
DJ
Eriksson
Johan G
JG
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005183:Failure to Thrive / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000523:psychology*; D005387:Finland; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010553:Personality Development; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors; D014434:Type A Personality