Association of childhood mental health and cardiovascular risk in adolescence and young adulthood

Abstract Introduction Mental health (MH), and in particular depression, is linked bi-directionally to cardiovascular disease through biological as well as behavioral pathways. Low MH has been associated with behaviors associated closely with cardiovascular risk (CVR) factors, such as reduced physical activity and sleep disturbances. It is not clear at what age the relation between MH and CVR begins to manifest and if MH in the young is also associated with vascular remodeling, operationalized as carotid-intima media thickness (CIMT). Methods We investigated the longitudinal association between childhood MH problems (age 3 to 17) and CVR factors as well as CIMT from carotid sonography in 4,361 14 to 28-year-olds of the KiGGS cohort. Using linear regression analyses adjusted for socioeconomic status, we analyzed the association of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) score with systolic blood pressure (SBP), body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol (TC), and CIMT in z-scores by sex and age. Additional cross-sectional analyses included scores of the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) in young adulthood. Results Childhood SDQ scores were significantly associated with SBP, BMI and TC one decade later (-0.03 ≤ ß ≥ 0.02). Cross-sectionally, no association of MHI-5 scores in young adults with CVR factors was found. PHQ-9 scores in young adults were associated significantly with SBP and BMI (-0.26≤ ß≥ 0.01). The investigated MH problems from childhood to young adulthood were not linked to CIMT. Conclusions Our results confirm an early association of MH with the examined CVR factors. However, we could not find evidence for an association between MH and vascular remodeling in this population-based sample of adolescents and young adults. Our results emphasize the importance of prevention strategies focusing on both, physical and MH of the young, in order to prevent vascular damage later in life. Key messages • Our results show an early association of childhood mental health with the examined cardiovascular risk factors systolic blood pressure, body mass index and total cholesterol one decade later. • Our results confirm the importance of prevention strategies focusing on both, physical and mental health of the young.