Masters Thesis

Examining the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Body Fat in Young Adults who Have a Family History of Type II Diabetes

Background: Obesity is prevalent in approximately 40% of individuals in the United States. Understanding the determinants of obesity in younger populations helps curb the risk of obesity-associated diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes. Psychosocial stress is an exposure that contributes to the development of obesity; for example, higher stress levels associate with higher abdominal adiposity. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the relationship between perceived stress and body composition, including total body fat and waist circumference, in young adults who have a family history of Type 2 diabetes. Methods: We recruited young adults between the ages of 18-25 (N=55) who have a family history of Type 2 diabetes from CSUN in the San Fernando Valley. We measured the participants' psychosocial stressors (Perceived Stress Scale, 10 item) and body fat percentage (by bioimpedance analysis with the TANITA TB-400) and waist circumference (measured in triplicate). An OLS linear regression was utilized and included are age, gender, ethnicity, and household income. Our proposed analysis was done utilizing SPSS v.26. Results: Our sample consists of 36 females (65.5%) and 18 males (32.7%). The overall age of the participants is 21.11(1.94) years with 58% being Caucasian Hispanic/Latinos. Perceived stress was not associated with body fat percentage (β=0.103, p=0.433) or average waist circumference (β=0.171, p=0.330). Gender was associated with body fat percentage, independent of perceived stress, where females exhibited higher body fat percentage than males (β= -0.556, p=0.00). Conclusions: Our current analysis reveals no association between high psychosocial stress and body composition in young adults with an existing family history of type 2 diabetes. However, females had a higher body fat percentage than males independent of perceived stress. Future studies should include improved measures of perceived stress and a higher sample size.

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