Trajectories of Shyness Across the Life Course: Associations With Health-behaviors and Cardiometabolic Risk in the Fifth Decade of Life

• In Event: Child and Adolescent Social Withdrawal and Subsequent Adult Psychosocial Adjustment, Health, and Intergenerational Transfer of Risk

Abstract

A shy temperament in childhood has an enduring influence on psychosocial development across the life course, including increased risks for poor social functioning and internalizing psychopathology (Asendorpf et al., 2008; Tang et al., 2017, 2020), which are major pathways that can shape poor physical health (Golden et al., 2008; Holt-Lundstad, 2017). However, less work has focused on the cardiovascular and metabolic health outcomes of shy children. In the present longitudinal study, we test a health-behavior hypothesis that shyness in children would be indirectly associated with greater cardiometabolic risks in adulthood, because (a) shy children have poor sleep quality due to greater internalizing psychopathology, and (b) they engage in less physical activity due to less social engagement.

Participants in the present cohort include 160 (55 males, 105 females) individuals from southwest Ontario Canada, who were followed from age 8 to 45. Shyness was reported by parents and the participants at ages 8, 12-16, 22-26, 30-35. Prior longitudinal cluster analyses on measures of shyness across ages 8 to 35 revealed 3 trajectories of shyness, including a low-stable non-shy trajectory (59.4%), an increasing shyness trajectory (23.1%), and a decreasing shyness trajectory (17.5%). Relative to the low-stable non-shy trajectory, the increasing, but not the decreasing, shyness trajectory was at higher risk for clinical social anxiety, mood, and substance-use disorders at age 30-35. Moreover, the increasing shy trajectory reported more adverse peer experiences during adolescence. In the present talk, we will focus on new cardiovascular and metabolic outcomes assessed at ages 40-45. A physical examination was conducted by trained lab personnel to measure cardiometabolic risk factors, including systolic and diastolic blood pressure, body mass, fat mass, and fat distribution. Physical activity and sleep quality were self-reported on the Huet Fitness questionnaire (Trivel et al., 2004) and PROMIS Sleep Quality Scale (Yu et al., 2012), respectively.

Results of regression models suggest that members of the increasing shy trajectory were less likely to engage in regular physical activity compared to members of both the non-shy (OR=3.31, CIs= 1.33 – 8.25) and the decreasing shy (OR= 3.31, CIs= 1.06 – 10.35) trajectories, who were more likely to report regular physical activity. Also, members of the increasing shyness trajectory reported poorer quality of sleep compared to members of the non-shy and decreasing shyness trajectories, F(152,2)=11.66, p <.001. Path analyses will be used to examine indirect effects of shyness trajectories on adult cardiometabolic risk factors via (a) sleep quality and (b) physical activity. All analyses account for demographic variables (i.e., participant sex, age at assessment) and other potential confounds of worse cardiometabolic health (i.e., socioeconomic status).

Findings will be discussed in terms of their implications for long-term health outcomes for children with different personalities and motivations, and their utility for enhancing prevention strategies aimed at reducing cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

Authors

• Alva Tang, University of Texas at Dallas
  Presenting Author

• Karen Mathewson

• Ryan J. Van Lieshout

• Louis A. Schmidt, McMaster University