ArticleInternational journal of epidemiology2016
A structured approach to hypotheses involving continuous exposures over the life course.
Article in International journal of epidemiology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed.
- Type and developmental timing of childhood adversity predicts psychopathology symptoms in a South African birth cohort.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Article
- Timing effects in the association between childhood and adolescent bullying victimisation with late adolescence and emerging adulthood depressive symptoms.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Depressive symptom instability predicts incident mild cognitive impairment and dementia in older adults.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Accumulation and sensitive period effects for childhood abuse and financial hardship on depressive symptoms in late adolescence.Journal of mood and anxiety disorders · 2026Article
- Sensitive periods of BMI change from childhood to adulthood on subclinical cardiovascular outcomes: a 36-year prospective cohort study.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- Association of duration and timing of household dysfunction with aggression: A Taiwan birth cohort study.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Modeling approaches for estimating the effects of risk factors using longitudinal lifecourse exposure data in dementia research.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Review
- Childhood adversity and adolescent mental health: Examining cumulative and specificity effects across contexts and developmental timing.Development and psychopathology · 2025Article
- A framework for conducting GWAS using repeated measures data with an application to childhood BMI.Nature communications · 2024Article
- The relationship between type, timing and duration of exposure to adverse childhood experiences and adolescent self-harm and depression: findings from three UK prospective population-based cohorts.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2024Article
- Body fatness across the adult life course and ovarian cancer risk.European journal of epidemiology · 2024Article
- Depressive symptoms in adolescence and adult educational and employment outcomes: a structured life course analysis.Psychological medicine · 2024Article
- A framework for conducting time-varying genome-wide association studies: An application to body mass index across childhood in six multiethnic cohorts.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- A Bayesian functional approach to test models of life course epidemiology over continuous time.International journal of epidemiology · 2024Article
- Association of body mass index from childhood to mid-adulthood with health-related quality of life in mid-adulthood.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2023Article
- Individual-level changes in religious/spiritual beliefs and behaviors over three decades in the parental generation of the ALSPAC cohort, UK.Religion, brain & behavior · 2023Article
- Association between the timing of childhood adversity and epigenetic patterns across childhood and adolescence: findings from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) prospective cohort.The Lancet. Child & adolescent health · 2023Article
- Sensitive Periods for the Effect of Childhood Adversity on DNA Methylation: Updated Results From a Prospective, Longitudinal Study.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2023Article
- Incorporating interactions into structured life course modelling approaches: A simulation study and applied example of the role of access to green space and socioeconomic position on cardiometabolic health.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
- Interpretation of Mendelian randomization using a single measure of an exposure that varies over time.International journal of epidemiology · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundEpidemiologists are often interested in examining different hypotheses for how exposures measured repeatedly over the life course relate to later-life outcomes. A structured approach for selecting the hypotheses most supported by theory and observed data has been developed for binary exposures. The aim of this paper is to extend this to include continuous exposures and allow for confounding and missing data.
methodsWe studied two examples, the association between: (i) maternal weight during pregnancy and birthweight; and (ii) stressful family events throughout childhood and depression in adolescence. In each example we considered several plausible hypotheses including accumulation, critical periods, sensitive periods, change and effect modification. We used least angle regression to select the hypothesis that explained the most variation in the outcome, demonstrating appropriate methods for adjusting for confounders and dealing with missing data.
resultsThe structured approach identified a combination of sensitive periods: pre-pregnancy weight, and gestational weight gain 0-20 weeks and 20-40 weeks, as the best explanation for variation in birthweight after adjusting for maternal height. A sensitive period hypothesis best explained variation in adolescent depression, with the association strengthening with the proximity of stressful family events. For each example, these models have theoretical support at least as strong as any competing hypothesis.
conclusionsWe have extended the structured approach to incorporate continuous exposures, confounding and missing data. This approach can be used in either an exploratory or a confirmatory setting. The interpretation, plausibility and consistency with causal assumptions should all be considered when proposing and choosing life course hypotheses.
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