金属暴露与中国早期青少年队列中的内化及外化心理行为问题

Metal exposure and internalizing and externalizing psychobehavioral problems in a Chinese early adolescent cohort

金属暴露与中国早期青少年队列中的内化及外化心理行为问题

Authors: Ting Tang,Min Li,Mengyuan Yuan,Yonghan Li,Cong Wang,Qi Zhong,Xueying Zhang,Yichao Huang,Fangbiao Tao,Puyu Su,Gengfu Wang

Source:Environmental Research

PMID:40614846

DOI:10.1016/j.envres.2025.122276

Abstract

Background: Our study aimed to assess cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between exposure to individual metals (vanadium [V], chromium [Cr], manganese [Mn], iron [Fe], cobalt [Co], nickel [Ni], copper [Cu], zinc [Zn], arsenic [As], molybdenum [Mo], cadmium [Cd], and lead [Pb]), and metal mixtures and internalizing (depression, anxiety, suicidality) and externalizing (aggression) psychobehavioral problems in adolescents.

Methods: This study consisted of 1,398 Chinese adolescents (mean age = 12.48 ± 0.48 years) with a 2-year follow-up period. Cross-sectional (baseline serum metal exposure vs. baseline outcomes) and longitudinal (baseline serum metal exposure vs. outcomes at 2-year follow-up) analyses were conducted. Regression models for single and multiple metals employed linear regression (aggression) and modified Poisson regression (depression/anxiety/suicidality). The effects of metal mixtures were analyzed using quantile g-computation (qgcomp) and Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR). All analyses were sex-stratified (single-/multi-metal/BKMR models) and included interaction terms for single-/multi-metal/qgcompint models.

Results: No significant associations of individual metals or metal mixtures with outcomes were observed in the overall sample. Sex-stratified analyses showed cross-sectional associations between iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and aggression in males (β = -2.05, 95 % CI: -3.37 to -0.74; β = -1.80, 95 % CI: -3.08 to -0.53). Females showed a longitudinal association between vanadium (V) and depression (RR = 0.57, 95 % CI: 0.43 to 0.76). Interaction analysis revealed a significant Zn-by-sex interaction (FDR-P = 0.036), but qgcompint revealed no significant mixture-by-sex interactions. BKMR indicated null mixture effects in males, but inverse associations with new-onset depression/anxiety in females when all metals exceeded the 60th percentile, with vanadium(V) and arsenic(As) showing highest importance (PIPs: V = 0.994, As = 0.833).

Conclusion: These findings highlight sex-specific relationships between metals and psychobehavioral outcomes, warranting further validation.

Keywords: Cohort; Early adolescent; Internalizing and externalizing psychobehavioral problems; Metals.

摘要

背景：本研究旨在评估个体金属(钒[V]、铬[Cr]、锰[Mn]、铁[Fe]、钴[Co]、镍[Ni]、 铜[Cu]、锌[Zn]、砷[As]、钼[Mo]、镉[Cd]和铅[Pb]）以及金属混合物暴露与青少年内部化(抑郁、焦虑、自杀倾向）和外部化(攻击性）心理行为问题之间的横断面和纵向关联。

方法：本研究纳入了1,398名中国青少年(平均年龄=12.48±0.48岁），随访期为2年。研究采用了横断面分析(基线血清金属暴露与基线结果）和纵向分析(基线血清金属暴露与2年随访结果）。单一金属和多金属的回归模型分别采用线性回归(攻击性）和修正泊松回归(抑郁/焦虑/自杀倾向）。金属混合物的影响通过分位数g计算(qgcomp）和贝叶斯核机器回归(BKMR）进行分析。所有分析均按性别分层(单一/多种金属/BKMR模型），并包含单一/多种金属/qgcompint模型的交互项。

结果：在总体样本中未观察到单一金属或金属混合物与结局指标之间存在显著关联。按性别分层的分析显示，男性中铁(Fe）和锌(Zn）与攻击性存在横断面关联(β = -2.05，95% CI：-3.37 至 -0.74；β = -1.80，95% CI：-3.08 至 -0.53）。女性中观察到钒(V）与抑郁症之间存在纵向关联(RR = 0.57，95% CI：0.43 至 0.76）。交互作用分析显示锌与性别之间存在显著交互作用(FDR-P = 0.036），但 qgcompint 分析未发现显著的混合物与性别交互作用。BKMR分析显示男性中无混合效应，但当所有金属超过第60百分位数时，女性中与新发抑郁/焦虑存在负相关，其中钒(V）和砷(As）的重要性最高(PIPs：V = 0.994，As = 0.833）。

结论：这些发现突显了金属与心理行为结果之间的性别特异性关系，需要进一步验证。

关键词：队列；早期青少年；内化与外化心理行为问题；金属