Associations Between Dysregulation and Metabolic Syndrome in Youth and Adults

Objective

Metabolic syndrome is a serious and costly health condition that is increasingly prevalent in the United States. Current treatment standards, which include lifestyle modification and medication, do not consistently yield sustainable improvements. High rates of co-occurrence with psychiatric disorders suggest that understanding psychological factors associated with metabolic syndrome may be important for enhancing interventions. The current study examines the relations between the psychological construct of “dysregulation” and metabolic risk in children, adolescents, and adults.

Method

Participants were 95 family triads comprising 158 youth aged 7 to 17 years and 127 biological parents. Dysregulation was measured using a bifactor model comprising symptoms from the Anxious/Depressed, Attention Problems, and Aggressive Behavior subscales of the Child Behavior Checklist and Adult Self Report for children and adults, respectively. Metabolic risk was measured using confirmatory factor analysis, which included waist circumference, mean arterial pressure, insulin resistance, and triglyceride-to-HDL ratio.

Results

Higher levels of dysregulation were associated with increased metabolic risk in adults. In children, this association was moderated by age, such that dysregulation and metabolic risk were positively associated only for older youth.

Conclusion

The findings of this study suggest that the association between dysregulation and metabolic risk may become stronger with age and development. This highlights that early detection and intervention of dysregulation may help prevent metabolic comorbidities later in life.

Plain language summary

Psychiatric disorders frequently co-occur with metabolic syndrome. Understanding psychological factors associated with metabolic syndrome may help enhance interventions for both conditions. This study examined the relation between the psychological construct of “dysregulation” and metabolic risk in 95 families. Results showed that higher levels of dysregulation were associated with increased metabolic risk in both adults and their children. Dysregulation was positively associated with metabolic risk but only for older youth. Early identification and intervention of dysregulation may help prevent metabolic comorbidities later in life.