Table 2.

Association of early life stress retrospectively assessed at baseline (CARDIA Year 15) with fatigue assessed at follow-up as an adult (CARDIA Year 20) (N=2716)

Adjustment*	Beta	P
Unadjusted model	0.138	<0.001
Model 1: Sociodemographic variables	0.126	<0.001
Model 2: Model 1 + Biomedical factors	0.120	<0.001
Model 3: Model 2 + Health-related behaviors	0.116	<0.001
Model 4: Model 3 + Current stress	0.080	<0.001
Model 5: Model 4 + Sickness behavior symptoms	0.045	0.016
Model 6†: Model 5 + Baseline fatigue	0.047	0.007

Beta = standardized regression coefficient expressing the change in standardized fatigue score per one standard deviation in early life stress measured as Early Family Environment

^*Sociodemographic variables include age, gender, ethnicity, and education. Biomedical factors include body-mass index, medication use, and medical comorbidity. Health-related behaviors include smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity. Current stress means ongoing adversity present for 6 months or more assessed by the Chronic Burden Questionnaire. Sickness behavior symptoms include pain, sleep disturbance, and depression (CES-D score without fatigue and sleep items).

No effect modification was observed for age (P = 0.233), gender (P = 0.849), ethnicity (P = 0.070), or education (P = 0.935).