Understanding the influence of childhood socialization on adult reward-seeking psychology(e.g.,drinking, smoking

eating) may prove to be the most cost-effective strategy for widely effective public health initiatives for reducing

chronic disease, particularly in poorer societies where expensive interventions are untenable. We conducted an

ethnographically based pilot study in the rural Dominican village of Bwa Mawego (the site of an ongoing 19-year-

long longitudinal study o fchild development and health) among 35 females and 26 males ages 17–67 years. We collected anthropometric measures (height, weight, waist and hip circumference,skin folds at triceps, subscapular, abdominal), and questionnaires dealing with reward-sensitivity, exercise, smoking,drinking, and childhood parental bonding. Multivariate linear modeling revealed that men who recalled their mother as more ‘‘overprotective’’ or controlling during childhood tended to drink more (P = 0.005), and reward-sensitivity score was negatively correlated with numbers of cigarettes smoked (P < 0.042), but

there were no comparable associations for women. Apart

from age-related increases in adiposity in both sexes (increasing waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference, and

‘‘concern for dieting’’ scores), there were few associations between behavioral, or psychometric indices and body

composition, with one major exception. Women who recalled their mothers as being more ‘‘overprotective’’ or

controlling during childhood tended to have greater adiposity at triceps, subscapular, and abdominal folds (all

P < 0.01). Future efforts should seek to examine the cumulative

and long-term effects of maternal controlling on child reward-sensitivity as well as potential biological

mediators of appetite (e.g., leptin, ghrelin,‘ ‘stress’’ hormones) and reward-sensitivity.