PhD defence: Vivi Just-Nørregaard

Title: The role of psychosocial stressors and perceived stress in adolescence and young adulthood and later body mass index and HbA1c levels.

Date and Time: Tuesday, November 18th, 2025, at 13:00

Venue: Regionshospitalet Gødstrup, NIDO L118, Hospitalsparken 15, 7400 Herning

Institution: Gødstrup Hospital

After the defence everyone is welcome to join the reception hosted by Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Gødstrup Hospital.

Please register on arbejdsmedicin@goedstrup.rm.dk before November 10^th.

Adolescents who experience psychosocial stressors such as loneliness, perceived weight stigma, and stress may be at increased risk of poorer physical health later in life. This PhD project investigates associations between such psychosocial factors during adolescence and later BMI and HbA1c levels among younger Danish adults. By combining questionnaire, clinical, and register data from 7,000 participants in the VestLiv cohort, the project examines how psychosocial influences during adolescence are related to physical health in young adulthood.

The results show that adolescents who experience loneliness or perceived weight stigma tend to have greater increases in BMI in the following years. Experiences of weight stigma in the adolescent years are associated with BMI changes in both females and males, with effects more pronounced among females. In contrast, no consistent associations are found between psychosocial stressors—such as perceived stress, low family functioning, low social contact, and adverse life events—and young adults’ glycaemic regulation.

These findings contribute to a better understanding of how psychosocial stressors earlier in life may affect later health and may help to inform future research in this area.

Henriette Nørmølle Buttenschøn, PhD, Associate Professor (Chairman)
NIDO | Centre for Research and Education, Gødstrup Hospital
Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health, Aarhus University, DK

Ragnhild Bjarkøy Strandberg, PhD, Associate Professor
Department of Caring and Health Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, NO

Jannie Nielsen, PhD, Associate Professor
Section of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, DK

Main supervisor

Trine Nøhr Winding, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Occupational Medicine University Research Clinic, Danish Ramazzini Centre, Gødstrup Hospital, DK

Co-supervisors

Johan Hviid Andersen, MD, PhD, Professor
Department of Occupational Medicine University Research Clinic, Danish Ramazzini Centre, Gødstrup Hospital, DK

Jens Meldgaard Bruun, MD, PhD, Professor
Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus, Aarhus University Hospital, DK

Vita Ligaya Dalgaard, cand. scient. psych, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Dk