PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING AND CARDIOMETABOLIC RISK OVER FOUR DECADES: FINDINGS FROM THE VA NORMATIVE AGING STUDY

The role of psychological functioning in risk of incident cardiometabolic conditions is well-known, but less studied are its effects on underlying pathophysiology. This study examined the prospective association between psychological functioning and 40-year trajectories of cardiometabolic risk. Among men from the VA Normative Aging Study, measures of psychosocial functioning were obtained by survey between 1975 and 1986 (N=905–1562). Cardiometabolic risk (CMR) was assessed as the mean z-score across 7 biomarkers, assessed triennnially from 1975 to 2016. Growth curve models indicate that CMR increased linearly from midlife through age 64, followed by a less-steep increase in older ages. Higher levels of neuroticism, worry, fear, and anger, and lower levels of self-regulation, were each associated with higher levels of CMR. Psychological functioning was unrelated to change in CMR over age. These findings suggest common risk factors underlying psychological functioning and cardiometabolic risk, or biological programming of trajectory “set-points” at earlier ages.