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High levels of cynical distrust partly predict premature mortality in middle-aged to ageing men

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of cynical distrust on mortality in middle-aged and aging men. The analysis is based on Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease study, follow-up from 1984 to 2011. Sample consisted of 2682 men, aged 42–61 years at baseline. Data on mortality was provided by the National Death Registry, causes of death were classified by the National Center of Statistics of Finland. Cynical distrust was measured at baseline using Cynical Distrust Scale. Survival analyses were conducted using Cox regression models. In crude estimates after 28 years of follow-up, high cynical distrust was associated with 1.5–1.7 higher hazards for earlier death compared to low cynical distrust. Adjusted for conventional risk factors, high cynical distrust was significantly associated regarding CVD-free men and CVD mortality, while non-CVD mortality in study sample was consistently but not significantly associated. The risk effects were more expressed after 12–20 years rather than in earlier or later follow-up. To conclude, high cynical distrust associates with increased risk of CVD mortality in CVD-free men. The associations with non-CVD mortality are weaker and not reach statistical significance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Psychology, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania

    Kastytis Šmigelskas, Roza Joffė & Jolita Jonynienė

  2. Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Juhani Julkunen

  3. Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland

    Jussi Kauhanen

Authors
  1. Kastytis Šmigelskas
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  2. Roza Joffė
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  3. Jolita Jonynienė
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  4. Juhani Julkunen
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  5. Jussi Kauhanen
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Correspondence to Kastytis Šmigelskas.

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Kastytis Šmigelskas, Roza Joffė, Jolita Jonynienė, Juhani Julkunen and Jussi Kauhanen declares that they have no conflicts of interest.

Human and animal rights and informed consent

All procedures performed in study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Šmigelskas, K., Joffė, R., Jonynienė, J. et al. High levels of cynical distrust partly predict premature mortality in middle-aged to ageing men. J Behav Med 40, 612–619 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-017-9834-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-017-9834-2

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