Richie Poulton
Biographic Data
| ID | 83540 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Richie Poulton |
| GIVEN NAMES | Richie |
| FAMILY NAME | Poulton |
| SIGNATURE | POULTON R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Otago |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1052-4583 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 57 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 188 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 57 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1956 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Caries Trajectories From Childhood to Adulthood Associated With Mental Disorders in Midlife
People who experience poor oral health across the life course are also those who suffer from poorer mental health in mid-adulthood. A lifelong trajectory of poorer dental health indicates poorer mental health and well-being in adult life
Using risk of crime detection to study change in mechanisms of decision making
Perceptions of crime detection risk (e.g., risk of arrest) play an integral role in the criminal decision-making process. Yet, the sources of variation in those perceptions are not well understood. Do individuals respond to changes in legal policy or is perception of detection risk shaped like other perceptions-by experience, heuristics, and with biases? We applied a developmental perspective to study self-reported perception of detection risk. W…
Childhood Social Isolation as a Predictor of Retinal Neuronal Thickness in Middle Age
OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether childhood social isolation was associated with retinal neural layer changes in adulthood, and whether this association was independent of other childhood or adulthood risk factors, including adult social isolation. METHODS: Participants were members of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a longitudinal population-based birth cohort from Aotearoa New Zealand ( n = 1037), born 1972 to 1973 …
Which Types of Stress Are Associated With Accelerated Biological Aging? Comparing Perceived Stress, Stressful Life Events, Childhood Adversity, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
OBJECTIVE: Stress and stressful events are associated with poorer health; however, there are multiple ways to conceptualize and measure stress and stress responses. One physiological mechanism through which stress could result in poorer health is accelerated biological aging. This study tested which types of stress were associated with accelerated biological aging in adulthood. METHODS: Studying 955 participants from the Dunedin Longitudinal Stud…
Cross-National and Cross-Generational Evidence That Educational Attainment May Slow the Pace of Aging in European-Descent Individuals
OBJECTIVES: Individuals with more education are at lower risk of developing multiple, different age-related diseases than their less-educated peers. A reason for this might be that individuals with more education age slower. There are 2 complications in testing this hypothesis. First, there exists no definitive measure of biological aging. Second, shared genetic factors contribute toward both lower educational attainment and the development of ag…
Childhood caries is associated with poor health and a faster pace of aging by midlife
Oral health is essential for wellbeing. Poor oral health can be an early signal of a trajectory towards poor health in adulthood. Management for both conditions should be better-integrated; and integrated population-level prevention strategies should be foundational to any health system
Genetic associations with parental investment from conception to wealth inheritance in six cohorts
Genetic inheritance is not the only way parents' genes may affect children. It is also possible that parents' genes are associated with investments into children's development. We examined evidence for links between parental genetics and parental investments, from the prenatal period through to adulthood, using data from six population-based cohorts in the UK, US and New Zealand, together totalling 36,566 parents. Our findings revealed associatio…
Facilitators Of, and Barriers To, Whānau Engagement in Kaupapa Māori Early Years Provision
Kaupapa Māori early years provision (KM-EYP) has underpinned efforts to revitalise Māori language and culture throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Although many tamariki and whānau have benefited from engagement in KM-EYP, less than 20% of tamariki Māori currently participate. Kaupapa Māori psychological research is needed to better understand what facilitates participation among whānau who attend KM-EYP. This article describes findings from a study …
Life-Course Persistent Antisocial Behavior and Accelerated Biological Aging in a Longitudinal Birth Cohort
Prior research shows that individuals who have exhibited antisocial behavior are in poorer health than their same-aged peers. A major driver of poor health is aging itself, yet research has not investigated relationships between offending trajectories and biological aging. We tested the hypothesis that individuals following a life-course persistent (LCP) antisocial trajectory show accelerated aging in midlife. Trajectories of antisocial behavior …
Using a Loneliness Measure to Screen for Risk of Mental Health Problems
These findings indicate that a loneliness measure could have utility in mental health screening contexts, as well as in research
Tangi te Kawekaweā
Kaupapa Māori early years provision (KM-EYP) is often understood as a critical site for Māori cultural revitalisation, where a foundation for the educational success and lifelong wellbeing of tamariki Māori is laid. Given its importance, the Tangi te Kawekaweā study sought to identify and examine barriers and facilitators of whānau engagement in KM-EYP. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individual whānau members (n = 19) and whānau g…
He Piki Raukura
The importance of early childhood education programmes has been widely established by researchers, but there has been little research on the outcomes of early childhood Kaupapa Māori educational initiatives in Aotearoa New Zealand. The aim of the research project reported here, He Piki Raukura, was to define Māori child behaviour constructs that may underlie positive Māori child development. We conducted in-depth interviews with two experts and 2…
Cannabis, the cannabis referendum and Māori youth
For Māori, the Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand, cannabis use and resulting interactions with the justice system are shaped by structural determinants of inequity including the country’s colonial history and the ongoing consequences and impacts of colonisation, institutional racism and poverty. Māori have higher rates of cannabis use than non‐Māori and are more likely to be convicted on cannabis charges, even accounting for higher rates…
Vital personality scores and healthy aging
Our study shows how the health benefits associated with personality accrue throughout the life-course and across generations
Longitudinal Assessment of Mental Health Disorders and Comorbidities Across 4 Decades Among Participants in the Dunedin Birth Cohort Study
Importance: Mental health professionals typically encounter patients at 1 point in patients' lives. This cross-sectional window understandably fosters focus on the current presenting diagnosis. Research programs, treatment protocols, specialist clinics, and specialist journals are oriented to presenting diagnoses, on the assumption that diagnosis informs about causes and prognosis. This study tests an alternative hypothesis: people with mental di…
A polygenic score for age‐at‐first‐birth predicts disinhibition
BACKGROUND: A recent genome-wide association study identified molecular-genetic associations with age-at-first-birth. However, the meaning of these genetic discoveries is unclear. Drawing on evidence linking early pregnancy with disinhibitory behavior, we tested the hypothesis that genetic discoveries for age-at-first-birth predict disinhibition. METHODS: We included participants with genotype data from the two-decade-long Environmental Risk (E-R…
Clustering of health, crime and social-welfare inequality in 4 million citizens from two nations
Global, regional, and national burden of neurological disorders, 1990–2016
BACKGROUND: Neurological disorders are increasingly recognised as major causes of death and disability worldwide. The aim of this analysis from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2016 is to provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date estimates of the global, regional, and national burden from neurological disorders. METHODS: We estimated prevalence, incidence, deaths, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs;…
Te kura mai i tawhiti research programme
Lifecourse research examines people's trajectories through life and factors that influence those trajectories. It has the potential to build an evidence base around programmes that are effective for Mori. This paper describes the development and initial stages of Te Kura Mai i Tawhiti (TKMT), an innovative long-term research programme run as a collaboration between Taranaki Mori community organisation Te Pou Tiringa and the University of Otago's …
Occupations and industries of employment of Māori university graduates
Technological advancements, a changing demography, and labour market demands mean that it is increasingly important to have a skilled Māori labour workforce. Māori students are graduating from universities in increasing numbers but little is known about their careers post‐graduation. Our aim was to describe the early career aspirations and destinations of Māori university graduates in the Graduate Longitudinal Study New Zealand. Data were collect…
Genetics of nurture
Twin studies have documented that parenting behavior is partly heritable, but it is unclear how parents' genetics shape their caregiving. Using tools of molecular genetics, the present study investigated this process by testing hypotheses about associations between a genome-wide polygenic score for educational attainment and parental caregiving in 702 members of the Dunedin Study, a population-representative birth cohort. Data have been prospecti…
Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017
BackgroundThe Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017 comparative risk assessment (CRA) is a comprehensive approach to risk factor quantification that offers a useful tool for synthesising evidence on risks and risk–outcome associations. With each annual GBD study, we update the GBD CRA to incorporate improved methods, new risks and risk–outcome pairs, and new data on risk exposure levels and risk–outcome associatio…
The high societal costs of childhood conduct problems
BACKGROUND: Children with conduct problems that persist into adulthood are at increased risk for future behavioral, health, and social problems. However, the longer term public service usage among these children has not been fully documented. To aid public health and intervention planning, adult service usage across criminal justice, health care, and social welfare domains is compared among all individuals from a representative cohort who followe…
Pacific university graduates in New Zealand
Increasing the numbers of Pacific Island students who graduate from New Zealand universities is important for the students' futures, their families, communities and society in general. In this study, Pacific graduates ( N = 365) who are participants in the Graduate Longitudinal Study New Zealand were asked to describe what factors helped or hindered their qualification completion. Graduates from all eight New Zealand universities were surveyed be…
Māori University success
Māori (Indigenous New Zealand) university graduates are role models for educational success and are critical for the social and economic wellbeing of Māori whānau (extended family) and communities. In this study, Māori graduates ( N = 626) from all eight New Zealand universities participated in the Graduate Longitudinal Study New Zealand between July and December 2011. They were asked to describe factors that they found helpful or challenging to …
Low self-esteem during adolescence predicts poor health, criminal behavior, and limited economic prospects during adulthood
Using prospective data from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study birth cohort, the authors found that adolescents with low self-esteem had poorer mental and physical health, worse economic prospects, and higher levels of criminal behavior during adulthood, compared with adolescents with high self-esteem. The long-term consequences of self-esteem could not be explained by adolescent depression, gender, or socioeconomic status…
Childhood forecasting of a small segment of the population with large economic burden
Translating personality psychology to help personalize preventive medicine for young adult patients
The rising number of newly insured young adults brought on by health care reform will soon increase demands on primary care physicians. Physicians will face more young adult patients, which presents an opportunity for more prevention-oriented care. In the present study, we evaluated whether brief observer reports of young adults' personality traits could predict which individuals would be at greater risk for poor health as they entered midlife. F…
Community Water Fluoridation and Intelligence
Objectives. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between community water fluoridation (CWF) and IQ. Methods. We conducted a prospective study of a general population sample of those born in Dunedin, New Zealand, between April 1, 1972, and March 30, 1973 (95.4% retention of cohort after 38 years of prospective follow-up). Residence in a CWF area, use of fluoride dentifrice and intake of 0.5-milligram fluoride tablets were assessed in early…
Genetics of nurture
Twin studies have documented that parenting behavior is partly heritable, but it is unclear how parents' genetics shape their caregiving. Using tools of molecular genetics, the present study investigated this process by testing hypotheses about associations between a genome-wide polygenic score for educational attainment and parental caregiving in 702 members of the Dunedin Study, a population-representative birth cohort. Data have been prospecti…
Adult-onset offenders
Early-Life Intelligence Predicts Midlife Biological Age
These results suggest that accelerated aging may serve as one of the factors linking low early-life intelligence to increased rates of morbidity and mortality
Does being an older parent attenuate the intergenerational transmission of parenting
Evidence that the transition to parenthood is occurring at older ages in the Western world, that older parents provide more growth-facilitating care than do younger ones, and that most prospective studies of the intergenerational transmission of parenting have focused on relatively young parents led us to evaluate whether parental age might moderate-and attenuate-the intergenerational transmission of parenting. On the basis of the seemingly commo…
Worlds apart
Using risk of crime detection to study change in mechanisms of decision making
Perceptions of crime detection risk (e.g., risk of arrest) play an integral role in the criminal decision-making process. Yet, the sources of variation in those perceptions are not well understood. Do individuals respond to changes in legal policy or is perception of detection risk shaped like other perceptions-by experience, heuristics, and with biases? We applied a developmental perspective to study self-reported perception of detection risk. W…
Clustering of health, crime and social-welfare inequality in 4 million citizens from two nations
Tropical tapestry from Capricorn to Cape York
Individuals who grew up experiencing low childhood SES were less likely to adopt a routine dental visiting trajectory in adulthood than those with a high childhood SES. Dental anxiety was also an important predictor of dental visiting patterns
Tropical tapestry from Capricorn to Cape York
Individuals who grew up experiencing low childhood SES were less likely to adopt a routine dental visiting trajectory in adulthood than those with a high childhood SES. Dental anxiety was also an important predictor of dental visiting patterns
Association between children's experience of socioeconomic disadvantage and adult health
Role of Genotype in the Cycle of Violence in Maltreated Children
We studied a large sample of male children from birth to adulthood to determine why some children who are maltreated grow up to develop antisocial behavior, whereas others do not. A functional polymorphism in the gene encoding the neurotransmitter-metabolizing enzyme monoamine oxidase A ( MAOA ) was found to moderate the effect of maltreatment. Maltreated children with a genotype conferring high levels of MAOA expression were less likely to devel…
Worlds apart
Fluctuating asymmetry and physical health among young adults
Influence of Life Stress on Depression
In a prospective-longitudinal study of a representative birth cohort, we tested why stressful experiences lead to depression in some people but not in others. A functional polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter (5-HT T) gene was found to moderate the influence of stressful life events on depression. Individuals with one or two copies of the short allele of the 5-HT T promoter polymorphism exhibited more depressive sympto…
Prior Juvenile Diagnoses in Adults With Mental Disorder
BACKGROUND: If most adults with mental disorders are found to have a juvenile psychiatric history, this would shift etiologic research and prevention policy to focus more on childhood mental disorders. METHOD: Our prospective longitudinal study followed up a representative birth cohort (N = 1037). We made psychiatric diagnoses according to DSM criteria at 11, 13, 15, 18, 21, and 26 years of age. Adult disorders were defined in the following 3 way…
Association between child and adolescent television viewing and adult health
Socially Isolated Children 20 Years Later
OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that children who occupy peripheral or isolated roles in their peer groups (isolated children) are at risk of poor adult health. DESIGN: Longitudinal study of an entire birth cohort. SETTING: Dunedin, New Zealand. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1037 children who were followed up from birth to age 26 years. INTERVENTIONS: Measurement of social isolation in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Wh…
Low self-esteem during adolescence predicts poor health, criminal behavior, and limited economic prospects during adulthood
Using prospective data from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study birth cohort, the authors found that adolescents with low self-esteem had poorer mental and physical health, worse economic prospects, and higher levels of criminal behavior during adulthood, compared with adolescents with high self-esteem. The long-term consequences of self-esteem could not be explained by adolescent depression, gender, or socioeconomic status…
Work stress precipitates depression and anxiety in young, working women and men
Background Rates of depression have been rising, as have rates of work stress. We tested the influence of work stress on diagnosed depression and anxiety in young working adults. Method Participants were enrolled in the Dunedin study, a 1972–1973 longitudinal birth cohort assessed most recently in 2004–2005, at age 32 ( n =972, 96% of 1015 cohort members still alive). Work stress (psychological job demands, work decision latitude, low work social…
Childhood maltreatment predicts adult inflammation in a life-course study
Stress in early life has been associated with insufficient glucocorticoid signaling in adulthood, possibly affecting inflammation processes. Childhood maltreatment has been linked to increased risk of adult disease with potential inflammatory origin. However, the impact of early life stress on adult inflammation is not known in humans. We tested the life-course association between childhood maltreatment and adult inflammation in a birth cohort fo…
Prediction of Differential Adult Health Burden by Conduct Problem Subtypes in Males
CONTEXT: A cardinal feature of the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for conduct disorder is the distinction between childhood- vs adolescent-onset subtypes. Whether such developmental subtypes exist in the population and have different prognoses should be rigorously tested to inform the DSM-V. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the epidemiological validity of childhood- vs adolescent-onset conduct problems in a prospective birth cohort, and to assess whether life…
Psychosocial correlates of 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) ratings in a birth cohort
Longitudinal studies to detect gene×environment interactions in common disease – Bang for your buck? A commentary on Chaufan's “How much can a large population study on genes, environments, their inte…
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adult Risk Factors for Age-Related Disease
OBJECTIVE: To understand why children exposed to adverse psychosocial experiences are at elevated risk for age-related disease, such as cardiovascular disease, by testing whether adverse childhood experiences predict enduring abnormalities in stress-sensitive biological systems, namely, the nervous, immune, and endocrine/metabolic systems. DESIGN: A 32-year prospective longitudinal study of a representative birth cohort. SETTING: New Zealand. PAR…
Links Between Anxiety and Allergies
The objective of the study was to examine the link between anxiety and allergies to establish whether it reflects a psychobiological reality or a possible methodological bias. A cohort of 1,037 children enrolled in the study. Anxiety disorders were assessed between 11 and 21 years. Anxious personality was assessed at 18 years. Allergies were examined at 21 years by (a) self reports, (b) skin pricks, and (c) serum total immunoglobulin E (IgE). Sel…
A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety
Policy-makers are considering large-scale programs aimed at self-control to improve citizens’ health and wealth and reduce crime. Experimental and economic studies suggest such programs could reap benefits. Yet, is self-control important for the health, wealth, and public safety of the population? Following a cohort of 1,000 children from birth to the age of 32 y, we show that childhood self-control predicts physical health, substance dependence,…
Impact of dental visiting trajectory patterns on clinical oral health and oral health‐related quality of life
Long-term, postchildhood dental attendance patterns are associated with oral health in adulthood, whether defined by clinical dental indicators or OHRQoL. Improving dental visiting behavior among low socioeconomic status groups would have the greatest effect on improving oral health and reducing oral health impacts
Persistent cannabis users show neuropsychological decline from childhood to midlife
Recent reports show that fewer adolescents believe that regular cannabis use is harmful to health. Concomitantly, adolescents are initiating cannabis use at younger ages, and more adolescents are using cannabis on a daily basis. The purpose of the present study was to test the association between persistent cannabis use and neuropsychological decline and determine whether decline is concentrated among adolescent-onset cannabis users. Participants…
Does being an older parent attenuate the intergenerational transmission of parenting
Evidence that the transition to parenthood is occurring at older ages in the Western world, that older parents provide more growth-facilitating care than do younger ones, and that most prospective studies of the intergenerational transmission of parenting have focused on relatively young parents led us to evaluate whether parental age might moderate-and attenuate-the intergenerational transmission of parenting. On the basis of the seemingly commo…
The p Factor
Mental disorders traditionally have been viewed as distinct, episodic, and categorical conditions. This view has been challenged by evidence that many disorders are sequentially comorbid, recurrent/chronic, and exist on a continuum. Using the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, we examined the structure of psychopathology, taking into account dimensionality, persistence, co-occurrence, and sequential comorbidity of mental diso…
Translating personality psychology to help personalize preventive medicine for young adult patients
The rising number of newly insured young adults brought on by health care reform will soon increase demands on primary care physicians. Physicians will face more young adult patients, which presents an opportunity for more prevention-oriented care. In the present study, we evaluated whether brief observer reports of young adults' personality traits could predict which individuals would be at greater risk for poor health as they entered midlife. F…
Life satisfaction and mental health problems (18 to 35 years)
Background Previous research has found that mental health is strongly associated with life satisfaction. In this study we examine associations between mental health problems and life satisfaction in a birth cohort studied from 18 to 35 years. Method Data were gathered during the Christchurch Health and Development Study, which is a longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 1265 children, born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1977. Assessments of ps…
Early-Life Intelligence Predicts Midlife Biological Age
These results suggest that accelerated aging may serve as one of the factors linking low early-life intelligence to increased rates of morbidity and mortality
Psychology (44 works) · Medicine (41 works) · Developmental psychology (24 works) · Psychiatry (24 works) · Population (22 works) · Environmental health (18 works) · Clinical Psychology (16 works) · Demography (14 works) · Cohort study (12 works) · Cohort (11 works)