Biomedical subjects

H McCreath

Publications and source records attributed to H McCreath.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

Weight gain continues in the 1990s: 10-year trends in weight and overweight from the CARDIA study. Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults.

The prevalence of obesity increased in the United States through the 1980s. The authors examined 10-year aging and secular (time-related) trends in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) cohort for indications of whether these trends are continuing and for ages of peak weight gain in young adults. CARDIA is a population-based, prospective study of 5,115 African-American and White men and women aged 18-30 years at baseline. Body weight and overweight prevalence were measured at five time points from 1985-1986 to 1995-1996. Linear, mixed-model regression was used to partition weight gain into that due to secular trends and that due to aging. Prevalence of overweight (body mass index (BMI) > or = 25.0 kg/m2) increased markedly, and prevalence of severe obesity (BMI > or = 40.0 kg/m2) doubled in all race-sex groups. Each race-sex group experienced significant secular weight gains, ranging from 0.96 kg/year (95% confidence interval: 79, 1.13) in African-American women to 0.55 kg/year (95% confidence interval: 0.41, 0.69) in White women. Significant secular gains were present during each follow-up period. Each race-sex group also experienced significant weight increases related to aging during their early to midtwenties. Secular trends for weight gain are continuing in CARDIA, but the magnitude of weight gain differed among the four race-sex groups.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

Psychosocial work characteristics and cardiovascular disease risk factors in young adults: the CARDIA study. Coronary Artery Risk Disease in Young Adults.

The associations of high job demands, low decision latitude and job strain with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among 2665 black and white working men and women were examined in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study--a large, prospective, multi-center study of the development of CVD risk factors in young adults aged 18-30 years at baseline (1985-1986). Multiple linear and multiple logistic regression were used in cross-sectional analyses to examine the associations of job demands, decision latitude and job strain with blood pressure, total serum cholesterol, alcohol use and cigarette consumption. Inverse associations with risk factors were found for high job demands, low decision latitude and job strain. Few associations supported the hypotheses that high job demands, low decision latitude or job strain are associated with increased levels of CVD risk factors. We discuss possible explanations for these findings, including methodologic, age and gender differences between studies. In addition, we discuss the validity of job strain measures for women and minority workers.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1987

Consistency-based compliance: when and why do children become vulnerable?

This study examines the nature and development of behavioral consistency pressures in children. Specifically, we examined the effectiveness of the foot-in-the-door procedure in producing consistent prosocial behavior and self-attributions in kindergartners and second and fifth graders. Children were either induced to comply with a request to share prize coupons or were not given this initial prosocial experience. Those who complied either were labeled as helpful by an adult or were not. Later, children were given the opportunity to help under public or private circumstances. Moreover. children's understanding of trait stability, their internal preference for consistent behavior, and their belief that adults prefer behavioral consistency were assessed. Consistent responding began to occur within the foot-in-the-door procedure in the second grade, and this developmental shift was paralleled by a shift in children's understanding of trait stability. Furthermore, once the foot-in-the-door effect appeared among the second and fifth graders, its strength was significantly affected by the children's internal preference for consistency.

Child↗

PubMed1987

Commitments to help by children: effects on subsequent prosocial self-attributions.

Children of both sexes and at several ages were or were not induced to make a commitment to help hospitalized children by sorting papers. The commitments occurred under either public or private circumstances. Later, the children discovered that the commitment to help would require that they give up their recess times (i.e. breaks). The willingness of subjects to live up to their commitments and the altruistic self-attributions resulting from those commitments were measured. It was found that, regardless of conditions, virtually all subjects were willing to give up recess time to help. However, their self-attributions differed systemically with condition: only after making a private commitment to help did subjects come to see themselves as more altruistically oriented. Further, this effect appeared earlier for girls than for boys and persisted at least one month after the initial commitment. No such effects occurred for public commitments, suggesting that children as young as eight years were able to discount the self-relevant implications of prosocial commitments made under public scrutiny.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Psychosocial factors and plasma lipids in black and white young adults: the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study data.

These analyses examined the relationship between fasting plasma lipids and several psychosocial factors in a healthy cohort of 5115 black and white men and women between the ages of 18 and 30. Primary analyses were performed within race/gender subgroups and were supplemented with analyses examining consistency of associations across these groups. After controlling for age, high density lipoprotein (HDL) decreased, triglycerides increased, low density lipoprotein (LDL) increased, and the total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio increased with increasing level of education in black men. This pattern is, in general, opposite to that found in other groups, particularly white women, whose lipid profile was found to be less atherogenic the higher the education. These associations were strongly confounded with health behaviors. There was also a positive association between hostility and triglycerides in women but not in men. No significant association with any plasma lipid for either race or gender was found for Type A behavior, social support, or life events. Despite a narrow plasma lipid range in these young adults, these data support the conclusion that increasing education is associated with a less atherogenic plasma lipid profile, except in black men, for whom education is associated with a less favorable plasma lipid profile. Among other psychosocial factors, the only consistent finding was an inverse association between hostility and triglycerides in women.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Sexually transmitted diseases among young heterosexual urban adults.

A self-administered, confidential survey of respondents' history of selected sexually transmitted disease (STD) was conducted in 1987-88 among adults enrolled in a multicenter study of cardiovascular disease. Respondents (and response rates) included 535 white men (78 percent), 694 white women (89 percent), 262 black men (48 percent), and 472 black women (64 percent), ages 21 to 40 years at the time of the survey. Among those who were heterosexually active, 43 percent of black women, 37 percent of black men, 33 percent of white women, and 21 percent of white men reported ever having had at least one STD in the survey. A history of syphilis or gonorrhea was more commonly reported by blacks than whites; a history of genital herpes, chlamydia, or genital warts was more commonly reported by women than men. Independent risk factors for having had at least one STD in the survey included female sex; use of cocaine, amphetamines, or opiates; and lifetime number of sex partners. The number of sex partners was the most predictive risk factor. Black race was a significant marker for other, unidentified STD risk factors. The data show a high prevalence of a lifetime history of STD among young heterosexual urban U.S. adults with possible implications for the future spread of human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Adult↗