OBJECTIVE: To examine the influence of aggressive behaviour scores on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors throughout childhood.

METHODS: This study utilized cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study (n = 2900). Aggressive behaviour scores were derived from the Child Behavior Checklist/4-18(CBCL), Youth Self-Report/11-18 (YSR) and Teacher Report Form/6-18 (TRF). CVD risk factors included body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, fasting lipids and homeostasis model of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).

RESULTS: Girls with higher aggressive behaviour scores had higher BMI from 10 years of age (P ≤ 0.001), higher BMI trajectories throughout childhood (P = 0.0003) and at 14 years higher HOMA-IR (P = 0.008). At the 14-year survey, this equated to a difference of 1.7 kg/m2 in the predicted BMI between the extreme CBCL scores in girls (top 5% (CBCL ≥ 17) vs. CBCL score = 0). Boys with higher aggressive behaviour scores had higher BMI at 5 years (P = 0.002), lower diastolic pressure at 14 years (P = 0.002) and lower systolic blood pressure trajectories throughout childhood (P = 0.016).

CONCLUSION: Aggressive behaviour influences BMI from early childhood in girls but not boys. If this association is causal, childhood offers the opportunity for early behavioural intervention for obesity prevention.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Aggression, cardiovascular disease, Raine study, risk factors
Research Division:	Biomedical and Clinical Sciences
Research Group:	Nutrition and dietetics
Research Field:	Nutrition and dietetics not elsewhere classified
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Public health (excl. specific population health)
Objective Field:	Public health (excl. specific population health) not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Oddy, WH (Professor Wendy Oddy)
ID Code:	108595
Year Published:	2012
Web of Science® Times Cited:	8
Deposited By:	Menzies Institute for Medical Research
Deposited On:	2016-04-26
Last Modified:	2017-11-06
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