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Brun C, Boraud T, Gonon F. The neoliberal leaning of the neuroscience discourse when it deals with mental health and learning disorders. Neurobiol Dis 2024; 199:106544. [PMID: 38823458 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2024.106544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2024] [Revised: 05/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Neuroscience attracted increasing attention in mass media during the last decades. Indeed, neuroscience advances raise high expectations in society concerning major societal issues such as mental health and learning difficulties. Unfortunately, according to leading experts, neuroscience advances have not yet benefited patients, students and socially deprived families. Yet, neuroscience findings are widely overstated and misrepresented in the media. Academic studies, briefly described here, showed that most data misrepresentations were already present in the neuroscience literature before spreading in mass media. This triumphalist neuroscience discourse reinforces a neuro-essentialist conception of mental disorders and of learning difficulties. By emphasizing brain plasticity, this discourse fuels the neoliberal ethics that overvalue autonomy, rationality, flexibility and individual responsibility. According to this unrealistic rhetoric, neuroscience-based techniques will soon bring inexpensive private solutions to enduring social problems. When considering the social consequences of this rhetoric, neuroscientists should refrain from overstating the interpretation of their observations in their scientific publications and in their exchanges with journalists.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cédric Brun
- Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Bordeaux, CNRS UMR 5293, 33000 Bordeaux, France
| | - Thomas Boraud
- Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Bordeaux, CNRS UMR 5293, 33000 Bordeaux, France
| | - François Gonon
- Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Bordeaux, CNRS UMR 5293, 33000 Bordeaux, France.
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2
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Grano C. A Qualitative Study of School Nurses' Experience of Secondary Trauma. Creat Nurs 2024:10784535241268094. [PMID: 39099538 DOI: 10.1177/10784535241268094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/06/2024]
Abstract
This qualitative descriptive study explored school nurses' experiences of exposure to reports of trauma from those in their care. Online interviews of school nurses practicing in NJ, USA, were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The study found that school nurses were exposed to reports of others' trauma to varying degrees, with those serving in urban settings reporting more stories of exposure than those in suburban settings. Reports included numerous, layered traumas at the community and individual levels, including students' poverty-related adversity and psychological distress. Qualitative content analysis revealed four categories: Health Office as Safe Haven, Challenges Working Within the School Model, Things That We Hear: Reports of Trauma, and The Ripple Effect of Trauma. School-based challenges included a lack of collaboration, misunderstanding of the school nurse's role, and workload issues such as competing demands and limited time and resources. School nurses reported focusing on the individual's immediate needs and processing the experience afterward. They acknowledged they can only do so much, and shared stories of coping and resilience. Additional education, resources, and support in addressing student trauma can enhance the provision of school nursing services and support the well-being of school nurses, students, and staff. Further research is warranted with a larger and more diverse sample of school nurses, including attention to school nurse wellness and resilience strategies.
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3
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Chen CF, Weaver J, Schofield T. Neighborhood selection by parent personality, depression, and coparent support: A two-study replication. JOURNAL OF FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY : JFP : JOURNAL OF THE DIVISION OF FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY OF THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION (DIVISION 43) 2024; 38:721-731. [PMID: 38059970 PMCID: PMC11156791 DOI: 10.1037/fam0001182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
This study addresses the degree to which three selection factors (parent personality, depression, and coparent support) drive movement into neighborhoods and predict changes in youth externalizing behavior. Two studies followed children from birth to age 15 (N = 1,364 for Study 1; N = 4,898 for Study 2). Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage, family income, and youth externalizing behavior were consistently and significantly correlated cross sectionally and longitudinally. Selection factors predicted changes in youth externalizing behavior. Higher family income, mother agreeableness, and perceived support from a coparent predicted movement over time into less disadvantaged neighborhoods. Lower levels of mother impulsivity, neuroticism, and depression also predicted movement over time into less disadvantaged neighborhoods. Neighborhood disadvantage did not predict change in youth externalizing behavior when any of the above selection factors were included in the model. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Chia-Feng Chen
- Department of Human Development and Family Science, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849
| | - Jennifer Weaver
- Department of Psychological Science, Boise State University, 1910 W University Dr, Boise, ID 83725
| | - Thomas Schofield
- Corresponding author. Los Angeles County Department of Probation, 9150 E. Imperial Hwy. Downey CA 90242. Phone: (530) 601-1744,
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4
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Elgar FJ, Pförtner TK, Rothwell D. Socioeconomic differences and global trends in youth wellbeing and emotional distress in 165 countries and territories. Health Place 2024; 89:103322. [PMID: 39084116 DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2024.103322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2024] [Revised: 07/06/2024] [Accepted: 07/18/2024] [Indexed: 08/02/2024]
Abstract
Social stratifications in youth wellbeing are a concern for social policy. Using data from the Gallup World Poll (2009-2022), we examined time trends and income differences in youth wellbeing and their associations with area-level income and income inequality. Results showed that a growing proportion of youth have experienced emotional distress in recent years, and this trend disproportionately affected youth at lower incomes. Higher income inequality relates to lower life satisfaction and larger income differences in life satisfaction. Socioeconomic inequality in youth wellbeing underscores the need for coordinated policy actions that reduce economic inequality and its impacts on youth wellbeing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank J Elgar
- School of Population and Global Health, McGill University, 2001 McGill College Avenue, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 1G1.
| | - Timo-Kolja Pförtner
- Research Methods Division, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Cologne, Gronewaldstraße 2, 50931, Cologne, Germany
| | - David Rothwell
- School of Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University, 160 SW 26th Street, Corvallis, OR, USA, 97331
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5
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Chen J, Zhang Z. Family poverty and adolescents' cognitive and noncognitive outcomes: Evidence from China. ECONOMICS AND HUMAN BIOLOGY 2024; 54:101402. [PMID: 38772196 DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2024.101402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2024] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024]
Abstract
Using data from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) during the 2013-2014 academic year, this paper examines the effects of family poverty on adolescents' cognitive and noncognitive outcomes. We find that family poverty is detrimental to adolescent development. Children from poor families have poorer academic performance and noncognitive abilities. We also find that the negative effects of family poverty are more pronounced among children with urban hukou, boys, and children from one-child families. Furthermore, we find that there are multiple channels behind the estimated effects, including parental educational expectations, parental education investments, and parent-child relationship. This paper opens up the "black box" of family poverty affecting children's development, which can provide reference for governments to design measures aimed at eliminating poverty trap.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiwei Chen
- College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Zongli Zhang
- College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
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6
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Suzuki LA, Caso TJ, Yucel A, Asad A, Kokaze H. Contextualizing Positionality, Intersectionality, and Intelligence in the Anthropocene. J Intell 2024; 12:45. [PMID: 38667712 PMCID: PMC11050987 DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence12040045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2023] [Revised: 03/06/2024] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
The geological epoch of the Anthropocene has challenged traditional definitions of what intellectual abilities are necessary to creatively problem-solve, understand, and address contemporary societal and environmental crises. If we hope to make meaningful changes to how our society addresses these complex issues and pave the way for a better future for generations to come, we must advance traditional theories and measures of higher-order abilities to reflect equity and inclusion. To this end, we must address global issues by integrating the complexities of intersectional identities as they impact our understanding of what constitutes intelligence in individuals, groups, and diverse communities. This re-envisioning of intelligence presents new complexities for understanding and challenges for our field beyond the boundaries of what has been previously touted by many disciplines, including psychology. It is an opportunity to re-envision what it means to be intelligent in a diverse global context while also honoring and recognizing the value of difference, positionality, and other ways of knowing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa A. Suzuki
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA;
| | - Taymy J. Caso
- Educational Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1H9, Canada; (T.J.C.); (A.A.)
| | - Aysegul Yucel
- Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY 10019, USA;
| | - Ahad Asad
- Educational Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1H9, Canada; (T.J.C.); (A.A.)
| | - Haruka Kokaze
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA;
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Muskens M, Frankenhuis WE, Borghans L. Math items about real-world content lower test-scores of students from families with low socioeconomic status. NPJ SCIENCE OF LEARNING 2024; 9:19. [PMID: 38491021 PMCID: PMC10943209 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-024-00228-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 03/18/2024]
Abstract
In many countries, standardized math tests are important for achieving academic success. Here, we examine whether content of items, the story that explains a mathematical question, biases performance of low-SES students. In a large-scale cohort study of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS)-including data from 58 countries from students in grades 4 and 8 (N = 5501,165)-we examine whether item content that is more likely related to challenges for low-SES students (money, food, social relationships) improves their performance, compared with their average math performance. Results show that low-SES students scored lower on items with this specific content than expected based on an individual's average performance. The effect sizes are substantial: on average, the chance to answer correctly is 18% lower. From a hidden talents approach, these results are unexpected. However, they align with other theoretical frameworks such as scarcity mindset, providing new insights for fair testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marjolein Muskens
- School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University & KBA Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands.
| | - Willem E Frankenhuis
- Evolutionary and Population Biology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands & Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, Netherlands & Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Germany, Security and Law, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Lex Borghans
- School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
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8
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Zhang L, Liu Y, Jonson-Reid M. Early Childhood Income Instability and Mental Health in Adolescence: Parenting Stress and Child Maltreatment as Mediators. CHILD MALTREATMENT 2024:10775595241236389. [PMID: 38437737 DOI: 10.1177/10775595241236389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/06/2024]
Abstract
Ample research has examined how point-in-time or static measures of economic deprivation are associated with children's mental health outcomes. Less is known about the relationship between early childhood unstable income and mental health outcomes. Using the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, this study examined (1) the latent patterns of early childhood economic well-being, predicted by income level and instability (i.e., direction and frequency of income change); (2) the association of income deprivation patterns with subsequent anxiety and depression symptoms, paying particular attention to the mediating roles of parenting stress and child maltreatment risk. The latent class analysis results suggested four distinct groups representing different combinations of income level and instability. Structural equation modeling results indicated indirect links between income deprivation patterns and mental health outcomes, through parenting stress and physical and psychological abuse. Findings indicated the importance of policies and programs promoting economic stability over the long run.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liwei Zhang
- School of Social Work, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Yuerong Liu
- Sanford School of Public Policy, Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Melissa Jonson-Reid
- George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
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9
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Kirkbride JB, Anglin DM, Colman I, Dykxhoorn J, Jones PB, Patalay P, Pitman A, Soneson E, Steare T, Wright T, Griffiths SL. The social determinants of mental health and disorder: evidence, prevention and recommendations. World Psychiatry 2024; 23:58-90. [PMID: 38214615 PMCID: PMC10786006 DOI: 10.1002/wps.21160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2024] Open
Abstract
People exposed to more unfavourable social circumstances are more vulnerable to poor mental health over their life course, in ways that are often determined by structural factors which generate and perpetuate intergenerational cycles of disadvantage and poor health. Addressing these challenges is an imperative matter of social justice. In this paper we provide a roadmap to address the social determinants that cause mental ill health. Relying as far as possible on high-quality evidence, we first map out the literature that supports a causal link between social determinants and later mental health outcomes. Given the breadth of this topic, we focus on the most pervasive social determinants across the life course, and those that are common across major mental disorders. We draw primarily on the available evidence from the Global North, acknowledging that other global contexts will face both similar and unique sets of social determinants that will require equitable attention. Much of our evidence focuses on mental health in groups who are marginalized, and thus often exposed to a multitude of intersecting social risk factors. These groups include refugees, asylum seekers and displaced persons, as well as ethnoracial minoritized groups; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) groups; and those living in poverty. We then introduce a preventive framework for conceptualizing the link between social determinants and mental health and disorder, which can guide much needed primary prevention strategies capable of reducing inequalities and improving population mental health. Following this, we provide a review of the evidence concerning candidate preventive strategies to intervene on social determinants of mental health. These interventions fall broadly within the scope of universal, selected and indicated primary prevention strategies, but we also briefly review important secondary and tertiary strategies to promote recovery in those with existing mental disorders. Finally, we provide seven key recommendations, framed around social justice, which constitute a roadmap for action in research, policy and public health. Adoption of these recommendations would provide an opportunity to advance efforts to intervene on modifiable social determinants that affect population mental health.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Deidre M Anglin
- City College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
- Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ian Colman
- School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | | | - Peter B Jones
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
| | - Praveetha Patalay
- Medical Research Council Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London, London, UK
- Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Social Research Institute, University College London, London, UK
| | - Alexandra Pitman
- Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK
- Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Emma Soneson
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Thomas Steare
- Medical Research Council Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London, London, UK
| | - Talen Wright
- Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK
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10
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Merz EC, Myers B, Hansen M, Simon KR, Strack J, Noble KG. Socioeconomic Disparities in Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Regulation and Prefrontal Cortical Structure. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY GLOBAL OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 4:83-96. [PMID: 38090738 PMCID: PMC10714216 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2023.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2023] [Revised: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Socioeconomic disadvantage during childhood predicts an increased risk for mental health problems across the life span. Socioeconomic disadvantage shapes multiple aspects of children's proximal environments and increases exposure to chronic stressors. Drawing from multiple literatures, we propose that childhood socioeconomic disadvantage may lead to adaptive changes in the regulation of stress response systems including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. These changes, in turn, affect the development of prefrontal cortical (PFC) circuitry responsible for top-down control over cognitive and emotional processes. Translational findings indicate that chronic stress reduces dendritic complexity and spine density in the medial PFC and anterior cingulate cortex, in part through altered HPA axis regulation. Socioeconomic disadvantage has frequently been associated with reduced gray matter in the dorsolateral and ventrolateral PFC and anterior cingulate cortex and lower fractional anisotropy in the superior longitudinal fasciculus, cingulum bundle, and uncinate fasciculus during middle childhood and adolescence. Evidence of socioeconomic disparities in hair cortisol concentrations in children has accumulated, although null findings have been reported. Coupled with links between cortisol levels and reduced gray matter in the PFC and anterior cingulate cortex, these results support mechanistic roles for the HPA axis and these PFC circuits. Future longitudinal studies should simultaneously consider multiple dimensions of proximal factors, including cognitive stimulation, while focusing on epigenetic processes and genetic moderators to elucidate how socioeconomic context may influence the HPA axis and PFC circuitry involved in cognitive and emotional control. These findings, which point to modifiable factors, can be harnessed to inform policy and more effective prevention strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily C. Merz
- Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
| | - Brent Myers
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
| | - Melissa Hansen
- Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
| | - Katrina R. Simon
- Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | - Jordan Strack
- Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
| | - Kimberly G. Noble
- Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York
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11
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Zota AR, Franklin ET, Weaver EB, Shamasunder B, Williams A, Siegel EL, Dodson RE. Examining differences in menstrual and intimate care product use by race/ethnicity and education among menstruating individuals. FRONTIERS IN REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH 2023; 5:1286920. [PMID: 38126001 PMCID: PMC10731462 DOI: 10.3389/frph.2023.1286920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction United States consumers spend over two billion dollars a year on intimate care products. These products, along with scented menstrual products, are marketed for odor control, perceived "freshness," and vaginal/vulvar cleanliness. However, these scent-altering products may increase exposure to carcinogenic and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Prior research has not adequately characterized demographic differences in product use. The objective of our study is to examine racial/ethnic and educational differences in menstrual and intimate care product use among people who menstruate. Methods We pooled data from two US-based cross sectional studies to examine demographic characteristics and product use in 661 participants aged 18-54 years. Participants reported use of scented and unscented menstrual products (tampons, sanitary pads, and menstrual cups) and intimate care products (vaginal douches, sprays, wipes, and powders). We examined differences by race/ethnicity and education using log-binomial regression and latent class analysis (LCA), which can identify groups based on product use patterns. Results Our sample was 33.4% Black, 30.9% Latina, 18.2% White, and 16.2% another identity. Approximately half the population had a bachelor's degree or more; 1.4% identified as transgender and 1.8% as non-binary. In adjusted models, scent-altering products (i.e., scented menstrual and intimate care products) were more likely to be used by those with less formal education (p < 0.05). Unscented menstrual products were more likely to be used by those with more formal education. Compared to Black participants, White participants were more likely to use unscented tampons and menstrual cups and less likely to use douches and wipes (p < 0.05). Using LCA we identified two groups: one more likely to use scent-altering products, and a second more likely to use unscented menstrual products. Less education and older age, but not race/ethnicity, was significantly associated with membership in the group more likely to use scent-altering products. While sex/gender composition did not statistically vary across groups, all non-binary participants fell in the unscented menstrual product group. Discussion Lower educational attainment was consistently associated with greater use of scent-altering menstrual and intimate care products. Future research should examine associations between body odor stigma, product use, and health risks at intersections of race, class, and gender.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ami R. Zota
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | | | - Emily B. Weaver
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Bhavna Shamasunder
- Departments of Urban and Environmental Policy and Public Health, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | | | - Eva L. Siegel
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
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12
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Dougall I, Vasiljevic M, Kutlaca M, Weick M. Socioeconomic inequalities in mental health and wellbeing among UK students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Clarifying underlying mechanisms. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0292842. [PMID: 37910542 PMCID: PMC10619810 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Universities are seeing growing numbers of students with poor mental health and wellbeing. Given that lower socioeconomic status (SES) students typically have poorer mental health and wellbeing than their peers, this may be, in part, caused by an increase in the number of students attending university from lower SES backgrounds. However, less is known about how socioeconomic inequalities in mental health and wellbeing persist within university communities. Research investigating psychosocial factors that contribute to socioeconomic disparities in mental health and wellbeing suggests perceived control, inclusion, and perceived worth to be important underlying mechanisms. However, another strand of research suggests perceived competence may also play a mediating role in this relationship. Consequently, the present research seeks to examine fulfilment of perceived control, inclusion, perceived worth, and competence needs as potential mediators in the relationship between subjective SES and mental health and wellbeing in university students. Below, we report the results of a cross-sectional survey conducted among university students (n = 811) in the UK during a period of COVID-19 restrictions. In line with prior research, we found evidence of socioeconomic inequalities in mental health and wellbeing among students. Further, we found subjective SES predicted perceptions of control, inclusion, and competence. In turn, perceived control and competence predicted both positive and negative mental health and wellbeing, whilst inclusion predicted positive mental health and wellbeing only. Unexpectedly, we found no evidence that perceived worth acts as a mediator in this relationship, independently of perceived control, inclusion, and competence. As academic institutions continue to pursue policies to 'widen participation', they also have a responsibility to understand how socioeconomic inequalities in mental health and wellbeing are perpetuated within the university community. Research in this area marks a first step to improve socioeconomic equality within Higher Education.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isla Dougall
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | | | - Maja Kutlaca
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Mario Weick
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
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13
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Lai S, Lu L, Shen C, Yan A, Lei Y, Zhou Z, Wang Y. Income loss and subsequent poor psychological well-being among the Chinese population during the early COVID-19 pandemic. Int J Equity Health 2023; 22:219. [PMID: 37848883 PMCID: PMC10583462 DOI: 10.1186/s12939-023-02022-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 09/22/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has had major ramifications for health and the economy at both the individual and collective levels. This study examined exogenous negative changes in household income and their implications on psychological well-being (PWB) among the Chinese population during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS Data were drawn from the early China COVID-19 Survey, a cross-sectional anonymous online survey administered to the general population in China. Self-reported PWB was measured using a 5-point Likert scale with five questions related to the participants' recent psychological state. Hierarchical multiple linear regression was employed to examine whether income loss during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with poor psychological health. RESULTS This study included 8,428 adults, of which 90% had suffered from a moderate or severe loss of household income due to the early COVID-19 pandemic. Those who had experienced moderate or severe loss of income scored significantly lower on psychological well-being than those who did not experience income loss (19.96 or 18.07 vs. 21.46; P < 0.001); after controlling for confounders, income loss was negatively associated with PWB scores (moderate income loss: B = - 0.603, P < 0.001; severe income loss: B = - 1.261, P < 0.001). An interaction effect existed between the degree of income loss and pre-pandemic income groups. Specifically, participants in the middle-income group who had suffered severe income loss scored the lowest on PWB (B = - 1.529, P < 0.001). There was also a main effect on income loss, such that participants with varying degrees of income loss differed across five dimensions, including anhedonia, sleep problems, irritability or anger, difficulty with concentration, and repeated disturbing dreams related to COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS Income loss during the pandemic has had detrimental consequences on psychological well-being, and the magnitude of the impact of income loss on psychological well-being varied according to previous income levels. Future policy efforts should be directed toward improving the psychological well-being of the economically vulnerable and helping them recover from lost income in the shortest time possible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sha Lai
- School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
| | - Li Lu
- School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
| | - Chi Shen
- School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
| | - Alice Yan
- Division of Research Patient Care Services, Stanford Health Care, Palo Alto, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Yanjun Lei
- Department of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
| | - Zhongliang Zhou
- School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
| | - Youfa Wang
- School of Public Health, Global Health Institute, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, China.
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14
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Wallerich L, Fillol A, Rivadeneyra A, Vandentorren S, Wittwer J, Cambon L. Environment and child well-being: A scoping review of reviews to guide policies. Health Promot Perspect 2023; 13:168-182. [PMID: 37808945 PMCID: PMC10558968 DOI: 10.34172/hpp.2023.20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Acting on social determinants is the most effective, efficient, and fairest strategy to improve population health and health equity. Because of their vulnerability and dependence, children are particularly exposed to the deleterious effects of their living environment. Taking these issues into account in the development of public policies and identifying levers for action are crucial. The objective of this scoping review of reviews is to identify the main environmental determinants on children's health and development, and their mechanisms of effect, to be addressed by public policies. Methods We conducted a scoping review of reviews in accordance with the method developed by Arksey and O'Malley, and Levac and colleagues' methodology advancement and the PRISMA guideline. Inclusion criteria were identified with the PICos (population-phenomena of interest-context-study design) framework. We used the PubMed database and conducted a thematic analyze. Results Forty-seven articles were selected. Their analysis allowed us to identify five categories of interdependent environmental determinants of child health: i) urban design ii) contaminants, iii) parenting environment, iv) social conditions, v) climate change. Together and in a systemic way, they act on the health of the child. Conclusion The review carried out allows us to propose a pragmatic framework for clarifying the effects of the physical, social, and economic environment on children's health and wellbeing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louise Wallerich
- University of Bordeaux, INSERM, BPH, U1219, Mérisp/PHARES, Equipe Labellisée Ligue Contre le Cancer, CIC 1401, F-33000 Bordeaux, France
| | - Amandine Fillol
- University of Bordeaux, INSERM, BPH, U1219, Mérisp/PHARES, Equipe Labellisée Ligue Contre le Cancer, CIC 1401, F-33000 Bordeaux, France
| | - Ana Rivadeneyra
- Institute of Public Health, Epidemiology and Development, Bordeaux, France
- Equipe PHARes, Bordeaux Population Health, Bordeaux, France
| | - Stéphanie Vandentorren
- French Public Health Agency, F-94415 Saint-Maurice, France
- University of Bordeaux, Centre INSERM U1219 Bordeaux Population Health Research Center, Bordeaux, France
| | - Jérôme Wittwer
- University of Bordeaux, Centre INSERM U1219 Bordeaux Population Health Research Center, Bordeaux, France
| | - Linda Cambon
- University of Bordeaux, INSERM, BPH, U1219, Mérisp/PHARES, Equipe Labellisée Ligue Contre le Cancer, CIC 1401, F-33000 Bordeaux, France
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15
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Catthoor K, De Hert M, De Loof H, Jongeneelen I, Wuyts Y, Van den Broeck K. Psychiatrists and other medical professionals in Belgium show a substantial lack of knowledge about poverty. Eur Psychiatry 2023; 66:e60. [PMID: 37458201 PMCID: PMC10486249 DOI: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2023.2430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The bidirectional relationship between poverty and poor physical and mental health is well-known. All physicians should have sufficient knowledge on poverty as a social determinant and its impact on (mental) health. The knowledge of poverty in physicians is seldom investigated. An online and paper survey was circulated in March/April 2022 in Belgium, to assess physician's opinions about and attitudes toward patients in poverty. Not only was interest in the subject rather low, but there were also substantial contradictions in the responses. The lack of knowledge about poverty among physicians leads to reduced quality of medical care for this target group. This is an individual medical-ethical and societal problem. We suggest 10 point-action plan for policymakers, educational institutions, and physicians.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten Catthoor
- Estates-General of Mental Health, Kortenberg, Belgium
- Flemish Association of Psychiatry, Kortenberg, Belgium
- Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
- Ziekenhuis Netwerk Antwerpen, Psychiatrisch Ziekenhuis Stuivenberg, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Marc De Hert
- Flemish Association of Psychiatry, Kortenberg, Belgium
- University Psychiatric Centre, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kortenberg, Belgium
- Department of Neurosciences, Centre for Clinical Psychiatry, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Brain Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Antwerp Health Law and Ethics Chair, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Hans De Loof
- Estates-General of Mental Health, Kortenberg, Belgium
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Ingrid Jongeneelen
- Estates-General of Mental Health, Kortenberg, Belgium
- UilenSpiegel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Yves Wuyts
- Estates-General of Mental Health, Kortenberg, Belgium
- Zorgnet-Icuro, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Kris Van den Broeck
- Estates-General of Mental Health, Kortenberg, Belgium
- Flemish Association of Psychiatry, Kortenberg, Belgium
- Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
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16
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Mari G, Keizer R. Do high-income households 'label' family cash benefits? Evidence on family expenditures from Australia. SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 2023; 113:102830. [PMID: 37230710 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2022.102830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2022] [Revised: 10/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/09/2022] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
This study examines family expenditures and how they respond to the provision of family cash transfers, particularly among higher-income families. Naming cash benefits with explicit reference to 'families' or 'children' can nudge households into labelling the extra cash for financial investments in children. Labelling has mainly been assessed among lower-income families. Yet if also higher-income families engage in labelling, there could be unintended consequences on the often stark disparities in child-related investments across the socio-economic divide. Drawing on 2006-2019 data from Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA), the study relies on reforms to Australia's Family Tax Benefit to 'reveal' expenditure responses among higher-income families via an instrumented difference-in-differences design. Higher-income households seem to earmark a family cash transfer for children's clothing but not for children's education fees, while they also assign money to adult clothing. Lower-income households, differently, seem to engage in more clear-cut, child-oriented labelling, at the expense of adult-assignable goods. Family cash transfers can nudge households into spending more money on their children across the socioeconomic divide, but not necessarily homogeneously so. Providing more well-off families with modest transfers might thus have limited perverse effects on inequality in family expenditures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Mari
- Department of Public Administration and Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Renske Keizer
- Department of Public Administration and Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
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17
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Li W, Zhang S, Lin H, Zhang K, Zhang X, Chen J, Xu F, Liu C. Childhood Maltreatment and Creativity among Chinese College Students: A Serial Mediation Model. J Intell 2023; 11:jintelligence11040058. [PMID: 37103243 PMCID: PMC10147018 DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence11040058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2022] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Creativity plays a very crucial impact on our cultural life and has also been important to the improvement of human civilization. Numerous studies have indicated that family circumstance plays an important role in the development of individual creativity. However, little is known about the mediating mechanisms underlying the association between childhood maltreatment and creativity. This study intended to explore the serial multiple mediation model in which undergraduates' cognitive flexibility and self-efficacy were proposed to mediate the potential influence of childhood maltreatment on their creativity. Participants were 1069 undergraduates (573 males and 496 females, mean age was 20.57 ± 1.24 years ranging from 17 to 24) from a university in Shandong Province, China. Participants were required to complete an internet survey including the Short Form of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI), and Williams Creativity Aptitude Test (WCAT). Serial multiple mediation analysis and the bootstrap method were used to investigate the mediation effects of cognitive flexibility and self-efficacy. The results showed that childhood maltreatment indirectly influenced undergraduates' creativity through three indirect paths: childhood maltreatment→cognitive flexibility→creativity, childhood maltreatment→self-efficacy→creativity, and childhood maltreatment→cognitive flexibility→self-efficacy→creativity. The ratios of the total indirect effects and branch-indirect effects to the total effects were 92.73%, 34.61%, 35.68%, and 22.44%, respectively. These results indicated that cognitive flexibility and self-efficacy could completely mediate the potential impact of childhood maltreatment on individuals creativity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenfu Li
- School of Mental Health, Jining Medical University, Jining 272067, China
| | - Shuai Zhang
- School of Mental Health, Jining Medical University, Jining 272067, China
| | - Hao Lin
- College of Chinese and Western Medicine, Jining Medical University, Jining 272067, China
| | - Keke Zhang
- School of Mental Health, Jining Medical University, Jining 272067, China
| | - Xiaolong Zhang
- School of Mental Health, Jining Medical University, Jining 272067, China
| | - Jingting Chen
- Labor Union, Jining Medical University, Jining 272067, China
| | - Fangfang Xu
- School of Mental Health, Jining Medical University, Jining 272067, China
| | - Chuanxin Liu
- School of Mental Health, Jining Medical University, Jining 272067, China
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18
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Amemiya J, Mortenson E, Heyman GD, Walker CM. Thinking Structurally: A Cognitive Framework for Understanding How People Attribute Inequality to Structural Causes. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2023; 18:259-274. [PMID: 35981099 PMCID: PMC9938098 DOI: 10.1177/17456916221093593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
To make accurate causal inferences about social-group inequalities, people must consider structural causes. Structural causes are a distinct type of extrinsic cause-they are stable, interconnected societal forces that systematically advantage some social groups and disadvantage others. We propose a new cognitive framework to specify how people attribute inequality to structural causes. This framework is rooted in counterfactual theories of causal judgment and suggests that people will recognize structural factors as causal when they are perceived as "difference-making" for inequality above and beyond any intrinsic causes. Building on this foundation, our framework makes the following contributions. First, we propose specific types of evidence that support difference-making inferences about structural factors: within-group change (i.e., observing that disadvantaged groups' outcomes improve under better societal conditions) and well-matched between-group comparisons (i.e., observing that advantaged group members, who have similar baseline traits to the disadvantaged group, experience more favorable societal conditions and life outcomes). Second, we consider contextual, cognitive, and motivational barriers that may complicate the availability and acceptance of this evidence. We conclude by exploring how the framework might be applied in future research examining people's causal inferences about inequality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie Amemiya
- Department of Psychology, University of
California, San Diego
- Jamie Amemiya, Department of Psychology,
University of California, San Diego
| | | | - Gail D. Heyman
- Department of Psychology, University of
California, San Diego
| | - Caren M. Walker
- Department of Psychology, University of
California, San Diego
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19
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Liu J, Cerutti J, Lussier AA, Zhu Y, Smith BJ, Smith ADAC, Dunn EC. Socioeconomic changes predict genome-wide DNA methylation in childhood. Hum Mol Genet 2023; 32:709-719. [PMID: 35899434 PMCID: PMC10365844 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddac171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Revised: 07/01/2022] [Accepted: 07/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) is a major determinant of health and well-being across the entire life course. To effectively prevent and reduce health risks related to SEP, it is critical to better understand when and under what circumstances socioeconomic adversity shapes biological processes. DNA methylation (DNAm) is one such mechanism for how early life adversity 'gets under the skin'. In this study, we evaluated the dynamic relationship between SEP and DNAm across childhood using data from 946 mother-child pairs in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. We assessed six SEP indicators spanning financial, occupational and residential domains during very early childhood (ages 0-2), early childhood (ages 3-5) and middle childhood (ages 6-7). Epigenome-wide DNAm was measured at 412 956 cytosine-guanines (CpGs) from peripheral blood at age 7. Using an innovative two-stage structured life-course modeling approach, we tested three life-course hypotheses for how SEP shapes DNAm profiles-accumulation, sensitive period and mobility. We showed that changes in the socioeconomic environment were associated with the greatest differences in DNAm, and that middle childhood may be a potential sensitive period when socioeconomic instability is especially important in shaping DNAm. Top SEP-related DNAm CpGs were overrepresented in genes involved in pathways important for neural development, immune function and metabolic processes. Our findings highlight the importance of socioeconomic stability during childhood and if replicated, may emphasize the need for public programs to help children and families experiencing socioeconomic instability and other forms of socioeconomic adversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaxuan Liu
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.,Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Janine Cerutti
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Alexandre A Lussier
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Yiwen Zhu
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.,Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Brooke J Smith
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Andrew D A C Smith
- Mathematics and Statistics Research Group, University of the West of England, Bristol BS8 1QU, UK
| | - Erin C Dunn
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.,Harvard Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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20
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Elsenburg LK, Galenkamp H, Abrahamse ME, Harting J. Longitudinal changes in quality of life and psychosocial problems of primary school children in a deprived urban neighborhood over the course of a school-based integrated approach. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2023; 32:343-352. [PMID: 34510264 PMCID: PMC9971113 DOI: 10.1007/s00787-021-01853-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2021] [Accepted: 06/03/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The municipality of Amsterdam implemented a 2-year school-based integrated approach in schools in a deprived neighborhood. The integrated approach targeted the domains of education, health and poverty and the children's school, neighborhood and home environment by involving various agencies and actors. In this study, changes in children's quality of life and psychosocial problems over the course of the integrated approach were examined and evaluated. A dynamic cohort design was used. At five measurement occasions (T1-T5) during 2 years, children from four consecutive grades in five schools filled out a questionnaire (total n = 614). In children between 7 and 13 years, quality of life was measured with the KIDSCREEN-10. In children between 9 and 13 years, psychosocial problems were measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Generalized estimating equations were applied. Time, sex, age, socio-economic status, ethnic background, grade, and school were included as independent variables. Quality of life was higher from the first follow-up during the approach (T2) until the end of the approach (T4) compared to at the start of the approach (T1). At T5, several months after the approach ended, scores returned back to baseline. Likewise, a reduction in children's psychosocial problems was detected at the end of the approach (T4) compared to at the start of the approach (T1). However, both before and after that time point, no improvements were detected. This study shows that integrated approaches can be beneficial for children's quality of life and psychosocial health, but continued investments may be needed to maintain established improvements.Trial registration NTR6571 (NL6395), August 4 2017 retrospectively registered.
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Affiliation(s)
- L K Elsenburg
- Department of Public Health, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - H Galenkamp
- Department of Public Health, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - M E Abrahamse
- Department of Public Health, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - J Harting
- Department of Public Health, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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21
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Liu C, Li X. The Mechanism of Socioeconomic Status Effects on Cognition. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2023; 1419:73-81. [PMID: 37418207 DOI: 10.1007/978-981-99-1627-6_6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/08/2023]
Abstract
Socioeconomic status (SES) is a measurement of the sociological and economic statuses of individuals compared to others within the social and economic hierarchies. The common indicators of SES are income, education, and occupation statuses. Recently, researchers have used mixed measurements of SES, such as the MacArthur Scale. Numerous researches have proven the influence of SES on human development. Individuals who are less educated, have lower job status, and earn less or no income are at greater risk of poor health than their higher SES counterparts. SES has also been proven to influence life satisfaction, academic achievement, emotion regulation, cognitive function, and decision-making tendencies. SES has life span influence, which correlates with the level of cognition, rate of cognitive decline, and incidence of Alzheimer's disease among elderly individuals. Besides the individual level of SES, neighborhood SES can also affect cognitive function as an environmental factor. Low-SES individuals exhibit hypoactivation of the executive network and hyperactivation of the reward network, indicating low-SES individuals tend to focus more on monetary issues, while neglecting other non-monetary issues, which is consistent with the scarcity hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Aging Brain Rejuvenation Initiative (BABRI) Centre, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Xin Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
- Beijing Aging Brain Rejuvenation Initiative (BABRI) Centre, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
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22
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Niebaum JC, Munakata Y. Why doesn't executive function training improve academic achievement? Rethinking individual differences, relevance, and engagement from a contextual framework. JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT 2022; 24:241-259. [PMID: 37457760 PMCID: PMC10348702 DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2022.2160723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Performance on lab assessments of executive functions predicts academic achievement and other positive life outcomes. A primary goal of research on executive functions has been to design interventions that improve outcomes like academic achievement by improving executive functions. These interventions typically involve extensive practice on abstract lab-based tasks and lead to improvements on these practiced tasks. However, interventions rarely improve performance on non-practiced tasks and rarely benefit outcomes like academic achievement. Contemporary frameworks of executive function development suggest that executive functions develop and are engaged within personal, social, historical, and cultural contexts. Abstract lab-based tasks do not well-capture the real-world contexts that require executive functions and should not be expected to provide generalized benefits outside of the lab. We propose a perspective for understanding individual differences in performance on executive function assessments that focuses on contextual influences on executive functions. We extend this contextual approach to training executive function engagement, rather than training executive functions directly. First, interventions should incorporate task content that is contextually relevant to the targeted outcome. Second, interventions should encourage engaging executive functions through reinforcement and contextual relevance, which may better translate to real-world outcomes than training executive functions directly. While such individualized executive functions interventions do not address systemic factors that greatly impact outcomes like academic achievement, given the extensive resources devoted to improving executive functions, we hypothesize that interventions designed to encourage children's engagement of executive functions hold more promise for impacting real-world outcomes than interventions designed to improve executive function capacities.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Yuko Munakata
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
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23
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Nolvi S, Merz EC, Kataja EL, Parsons CE. Prenatal Stress and the Developing Brain: Postnatal Environments Promoting Resilience. Biol Psychiatry 2022; 93:942-952. [PMID: 36870895 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.11.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Revised: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Heightened maternal stress during pregnancy is associated with atypical brain development and an elevated risk for psychopathology in offspring. Supportive environments during early postnatal life may promote brain development and reverse atypical developmental trajectories induced by prenatal stress. We reviewed studies focused on the role of key early environmental factors in moderating associations between prenatal stress exposure and infant brain and neurocognitive outcomes. Specifically, we focused on the associations between parental caregiving quality, environmental enrichment, social support, and socioeconomic status with infant brain and neurocognitive outcomes. We examined the evidence that these factors may moderate the effects of prenatal stress on the developing brain. Complementing findings from translational models, human research suggests that high-quality early postnatal environments are associated with indices of infant neurodevelopment that have also been associated with prenatal stress, such as hippocampal volume and frontolimbic connectivity. Human studies also suggest that maternal sensitivity and higher socioeconomic status may attenuate the effects of prenatal stress on established neurocognitive and neuroendocrine mediators of risk for psychopathology, such as hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning. Biological pathways that may underlie the effects of positive early environments on the infant brain, including the epigenome, oxytocin, and inflammation, are also discussed. Future research in humans should examine resilience-promoting processes in relation to infant brain development using large sample sizes and longitudinal designs. The findings from this review could be incorporated into clinical models of risk and resilience during the perinatal period and used to design more effective early programs that reduce risk for psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saara Nolvi
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, Turku Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Department of Clinical Medicine, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Center for Population Health Research, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
| | - Emily C Merz
- Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
| | - Eeva-Leena Kataja
- Department of Clinical Medicine, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Center for Population Health Research, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Christine E Parsons
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Interacting Minds Center, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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24
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Sirois PA, Huo Y, Nozyce ML, Garvie PA, Harris LL, Malee K, McEvoy R, Mellins CA, Nichols SL, Smith R, Tassiopoulos K. Ageing with HIV: a longitudinal study of markers of resilience in young adults with perinatal exposure to HIV, with or without perinatally acquired HIV. J Int AIDS Soc 2022; 25 Suppl 4:e25982. [PMID: 36176020 PMCID: PMC9522985 DOI: 10.1002/jia2.25982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Medical challenges, including perinatally acquired HIV (PHIV), can be considered adversity with the potential to compromise individuals' ability to meet societal expectations across the lifespan. Studies suggest that resilience, defined as positive adaptation in the context of adversity, helps individuals overcome challenges and improve their quality of life. Few longitudinal studies have examined resilience in young adults with perinatally acquired HIV (YAPHIV) or perinatal HIV exposure, uninfected (YAPHEU). We examined three young adult milestones, which can affect the life-long quality of life, as markers of resilience: high school graduation, postsecondary education and current employment. METHODS Analyses included YAPHIV and YAPHEU, ages 19-27 years, followed in longitudinal cohort studies: Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study Adolescent Master Protocol (AMP) (7-17 years) and AMP Up (≥18 years). Factors known to influence the attainment of milestones (outcomes) were examined: executive function, cognitive efficiency (working memory and processing speed), behavioural/social-emotional functioning, parent/caregiver mental/physical health and cumulative risk. HIV disease markers for YAPHIV were examined. The most recent AMP assessment was used for each factor; outcomes were measured at AMP Up 1-year follow-up. Separate robust Poisson regression models were used to assess associations of each factor with each outcome; PHIV status was explored as an effect modifier of each association. RESULTS Participants (N = 315; YAPHIV = 228): 58% female, 67% Black and 27% Hispanic. Compared to YAPHEU, YAPHIV were older and from families with higher median income and fewer symptoms of parent/caregiver mental health/substance use disorders. Proportions of YAPHIV and YAPHEU, respectively, who achieved each milestone were comparable: 82% versus 78% for high school graduation (p = 0.49), 45% versus 51% for postsecondary education (p = 0.35) and 48% versus 54% for current employment (p = 0.32). Higher cognitive efficiency was positively associated with postsecondary education and current employment. Higher executive function, age-appropriate behavioural/social-emotional functioning and lower cumulative risk were associated with academic milestones. Among YAPHIV, positive associations were: higher current CD4 with postsecondary education and lower nadir CD4 with current employment. PHIV status did not modify any association. CONCLUSIONS YAPHIV and YAPHEU demonstrated resilience, attaining at least one young adult milestone. Cognitive, behavioural and social resources to support resilience in childhood and adolescence may provide the foundation for continued achievement throughout adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia A. Sirois
- Department of PediatricsTulane University School of MedicineNew OrleansLouisianaUSA
| | - Yanling Huo
- Center for Biostatistics in AIDS ResearchHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Molly L. Nozyce
- Department of PediatricsJacobi Medical CenterAlbert Einstein College of MedicineBronxNew YorkUSA
| | - Patricia A. Garvie
- Research DepartmentChildren's Diagnostic & Treatment CenterFort LauderdaleFloridaUSA
| | | | - Kathleen Malee
- Departments of Infectious Diseases and Psychiatry and Behavioral ScienceNorthwestern University Feinberg School of MedicineChicagoIllinoisUSA
| | - Robin McEvoy
- Department of Pediatrics, Infectious DiseasesUniversity of Colorado School of MedicineChildren's Hospital ColoradoAuroraColoradoUSA
| | - Claude A. Mellins
- HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral StudiesNew York State Psychiatric Instituteand Departments of Psychiatry and Sociomedical SciencesColumbia UniversityNew York CityNew YorkUSA
| | - Sharon L. Nichols
- Department of NeurosciencesUniversity of California, San DiegoLa JollaCaliforniaUSA
| | - Renee Smith
- Department of PediatricsUniversity of Illinois at ChicagoChicagoIllinoisUSA
| | - Katherine Tassiopoulos
- Department of EpidemiologyHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthBostonMassachusettsUSA
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25
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Adolescent Mental Health and Family Economic Hardships: The Roles of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Family Conflict. J Youth Adolesc 2022; 51:2294-2311. [PMID: 35997913 DOI: 10.1007/s10964-022-01671-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
Rising and economically disproportionate rates of adverse mental health outcomes among children and youth warrant research investigating the complex pathways stemming from socioeconomic status. While adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been considered a possible mechanism linking socioeconomic status (SES) and child and youth psychopathology in previous studies, less is understood about how family environments might condition these pathways. Using data from a longitudinal, multiple-wave study, the present study addresses this gap by examining the direct relationships between family economic status and youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms, if ACEs mediate these relationships, and if conflictual family environments moderate these direct and indirect relationships. The data were obtained from 5510 youth participants [mean age at baseline = 9.52 (SD = 0.50), 47.7% female, 2.1% Asian, 10.3% Black, 17.6% Hispanic, 9.8% Multiracial/Multiethnic, 60.2% White] and their caretakers from the baseline, 1-year, and 2-year follow up waves. Conditional process analysis assessed the direct, indirect, and moderated relationships in separate, equivalent models based on youth- versus caregiver-raters of ACEs and youth psychopathology to capture potential differences based on the rater. The results of both the youth- and caregiver-rated models indicated that lower family economic status directly predicted higher levels of externalizing symptoms, and ACEs indirectly accounted for higher levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Additionally, family conflict moderated some, but not all, of these relationships. The study's findings highlight that lower family economic status and ACEs, directly and indirectly, contribute to early adolescent psychopathology, and conflictual family environments can further intensify these relationships. Implementing empirically supported policies and interventions that target ACEs and family environments may disrupt deleterious pathways between SES and youth psychopathology.
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Merz EC, Strack J, Hurtado H, Vainik U, Thomas M, Evans A, Khundrakpam B. Educational attainment polygenic scores, socioeconomic factors, and cortical structure in children and adolescents. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:4886-4900. [PMID: 35894163 PMCID: PMC9582364 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Revised: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Genome‐wide polygenic scores for educational attainment (PGS‐EA) and socioeconomic factors, which are correlated with each other, have been consistently associated with academic achievement and general cognitive ability in children and adolescents. Yet, the independent associations of PGS‐EA and socioeconomic factors with specific underlying factors at the neural and neurocognitive levels are not well understood. The main goals of this study were to examine the unique contributions of PGS‐EA and parental education to cortical structure and neurocognitive skills in children and adolescents, and the associations among PGS‐EA, cortical structure, and neurocognitive skills. Participants were typically developing 3‐ to 21‐year‐olds (53% male; N = 391). High‐resolution, T1‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired, and cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA) were measured. PGS‐EA were computed based on the EA3 genome‐wide association study of educational attainment. Participants completed executive function, vocabulary, and episodic memory tasks. Higher PGS‐EA and parental education were independently and significantly associated with greater total SA and vocabulary. Higher PGS‐EA was significantly associated with greater SA in the left medial orbitofrontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus, which was associated with higher executive function. Higher parental education was significantly associated with greater SA in the left parahippocampal gyrus after accounting for PGS‐EA and total brain volume. These findings suggest that education‐linked genetics may influence SA in frontal regions, leading to variability in executive function. Associations of parental education with cortical structure in children and adolescents remained significant after controlling for PGS‐EA, a source of genetic confounding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily C Merz
- Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| | - Jordan Strack
- Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| | - Hailee Hurtado
- Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| | - Uku Vainik
- University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.,Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Michael Thomas
- Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| | - Alan Evans
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
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Edmonds AT, Moe CA, Adhia A, Mooney SJ, Rivara FP, Hill HD, Rowhani-Rahbar A. The Earned Income Tax Credit and Intimate Partner Violence. JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE 2022; 37:NP12519-NP12541. [PMID: 33703934 DOI: 10.1177/0886260521997440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health problem in the United States with adverse consequences for affected individuals and families. Recent reviews of the literature suggest that economic policies should be further investigated as part of comprehensive strategies to address IPV. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is the nation's largest anti-poverty program for working parents, and especially benefits low-income women with children, who experience an elevated risk of IPV. The EITC may prevent IPV by offering financial resources; such resources may help individuals experiencing IPV leave abusive relationships or address IPV risk factors, thereby preventing entry into abusive relationships. However, the association between EITC generosity and IPV has not been previously examined. We used state-level and individual-level datasets to examine the association between EITC generosity and IPV. Our state-level data source was the nationally representative National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS; N = ~ 95,000 households per year). For NCVS, we used a difference-in-difference approach to investigate the relationship between state EITC generosity and IPV rates. We also used individual-level longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study (n = 13,422 person-waves). Using this cohort of US families at higher risk for IPV, we evaluated associations between estimated EITC benefits based on the mother's state of residence and number of children and self-reported IPV. In both state- and individual-level analyses, no significant association between state EITC benefits and IPV was found. Factors that may account for these null findings include program ineligibility for individuals who separate from abusive spouses. Future research efforts should more closely examine EITC policy implementation processes and the lived experience of participating in anti-poverty programs for people experiencing IPV.
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Enns JE, Nickel NC, Chateau D, Katz A, Sarkar J, Lambert D, Brownell M. A longitudinal cohort study of participation in the Boys & Girls Clubs of Winnipeg. Int J Popul Data Sci 2022; 7:1735. [PMID: 35782200 PMCID: PMC9210069 DOI: 10.23889/ijpds.v6i1.1735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Out-of-school or after-school programs are designed to support healthy behaviours, boost academic achievement and strengthen social skills. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Winnipeg (BGCW) in Manitoba, Canada, have been offering out-of-school programs to children and adolescents in low-income neighbourhoods for more than 40 years. Many BGCW participants face considerable risk of poor health, social and educational outcomes due to challenges they experience at home, in school and in their communities. Objective We examined whether BGCW participation among children and adolescents aged 5-18 is associated with improved school outcomes and lower risk of justice system encounters and adverse health outcomes. Methods We linked de-identified data on BGCW participation for children and adolescents born 1987-2010 to administrative data from the healthcare system, education system, and social services in the Population Research Data Repository, Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. The exposure group (n = 8,990) included children and adolescents who visited BGCW at least once from 2005-2016. The comparison group (n = 69,980) comprised children and adolescents matched on school year and neighbourhood who had never participated in BGCW. Results Participation in BGCW was significantly associated with better scores in grade 3 numeracy and grade 7 student engagement assessments. The risk of justice system encounters among adolescents (aged 12-17) dropped as the frequency of BGCW participation increased, as did justice system encounters among young adults (aged 18-24) who had participated in BGCW as adolescents. The likelihood of teen pregnancy among female adolescents (aged 13-19) and sexually transmitted infections among adolescents (aged 13-19) also declined as the frequency of participation in BGCW increased. Conclusions The findings suggest that participation in BGCW is associated with positive outcomes for children and adolescents in multiple domains and despite socioeconomic and family challenges faced by many in this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer E. Enns
- Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Department of Community Health Sciences, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba,Corresponding author: Jennifer E. Enns
| | - Nathan C. Nickel
- Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Department of Community Health Sciences, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba,Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba
| | - Dan Chateau
- Research School of Population Health, College of Health and Medicine, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Alan Katz
- Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Department of Community Health Sciences, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba,Department of Family Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba
| | - Joykrishna Sarkar
- Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Department of Community Health Sciences, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba
| | - Drew Lambert
- Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Department of Community Health Sciences, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba
| | - Marni Brownell
- Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Department of Community Health Sciences, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba
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Motti-Stefanidi F, Pavlopoulos V, Mastrotheodoros S, Asendorpf JB. Resilience during a great economic recession: Social and personal resources for youth's positive adaptation in the school context. J Adolesc 2022; 94:667-683. [PMID: 35614855 DOI: 10.1002/jad.12055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Greece was hit particularly hard by the latest economic recession. METHOD Using a quasi-experimental design, we examined whether and how psychosocial resources promoted and/or protected youth's school adjustment (academic achievement, school engagement, and conduct) and psychological well-being (absence of emotional symptoms) during the economic crisis. We focused on three family resources (family economic well-being, parental education, and school involvement) and one personal resource (self-efficacy). Data were collected with multiple methods and informants. We compared two cohorts of adolescents, closely matched through Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting, who lived in the same neighborhoods, one before (2005; N = 1057; age M = 12.7 years) and the other during (2013; N = 1052; age M = 12.6 years) the economic recession. RESULTS Variable- and person-focused analyses revealed that in the context of the economic recession parental education and parental school involvement promoted and/or protected youth's school adjustment, and families' economic wellbeing was linked to both externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Another key finding is that youth who exhibited positive adaptation during the economic crisis were equally well adjusted as youth who were well adjusted before the economic crisis, even though they had fewer resources. Finally, youth with more adequate psychosocial resources were able to keep the same high level of adaptation during the crisis as well-adjusted youth had before the crisis. The findings were robust regarding variations in gender and immigrant status. CONCLUSION The results suggest that psychosocial resources are important in understanding the diversity in youth's school adjustment and well-being during a major economic crisis.
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Wu S, Zhang D, Li X, Zhao J, Sun X, Shi L, Mao Y, Zhang Y, Jiang F. Siblings and Early Childhood Development: Evidence from a Population-Based Cohort in Preschoolers from Shanghai. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19095739. [PMID: 35565134 PMCID: PMC9099463 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19095739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2022] [Revised: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
(1) Background: The current study aims to investigate the association between the presence of a sibling and early childhood development (ECD). (2) Methods: Data were obtained from a large-scale population-based cohort in Shanghai. Children were followed from three to six years old. Based on birth order, the sample was divided into four groups: single child, younger child, elder child, and single-elder transfer (transfer from single-child to elder-child). Psychosocial well-being and school readiness were assessed with the total difficulties score from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the overall development score from the early Human Capability Index (eHCI), respectively. A multilevel model was conducted to evaluate the main effect of each sibling group and the group × age interaction effect on psychosocial well-being and school readiness. (3) Results: Across all measures, children in the younger child group presented with lower psychosocial problems (β = −0.96, 95% CI: −1.44, −0.48, p < 0.001) and higher school readiness scores (β = 1.56, 95% CI: 0.61, 2.51, p = 0.001). No significant difference, or marginally significant difference, was found between the elder group and the single-child group. Compared to the single-child group, the single-elder transfer group presented with slower development on both psychosocial well-being (Age × Group: β = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.18, 0.56, p < 0.001) and school readiness (Age × Group: β = −0.75, 95% CI: −1.10, −0.40, p < 0.001). The sibling-ECD effects did not differ between children from families of low versus high socioeconomic status. (4) Conclusion: The current study suggested the presence of a sibling was not associated with worse development outcomes in general. Rather, children with an elder sibling are more likely to present with better ECD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saishuang Wu
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, National Children’s Medical Center, Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China; (S.W.); (J.Z.); (X.S.)
| | - Donglan Zhang
- Division of Health Services Research, Department of Foundations of Medicine, New York University Long Island School of Medicine, New York, NY 11501, USA;
| | - Xinyue Li
- School of Data Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China;
| | - Jin Zhao
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, National Children’s Medical Center, Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China; (S.W.); (J.Z.); (X.S.)
| | - Xiaoning Sun
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, National Children’s Medical Center, Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China; (S.W.); (J.Z.); (X.S.)
- Pediatric Translational Medicine Institution, Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China
- Shanghai Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Technology, Shanghai 201602, China
| | - Lu Shi
- Department of Public Health Science, College of Behavioral, Social and Health Science, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA;
| | - Yuping Mao
- Department of Communication Studies, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA 90840, USA;
| | - Yunting Zhang
- Child Health Advocacy Institute, National Children’s Medical Center, Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China
- Correspondence: (Y.Z.); (F.J.); Tel.: +86-189-3083-0698 (Y.Z.); +86-189-3083-0668 (F.J.)
| | - Fan Jiang
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, National Children’s Medical Center, Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China; (S.W.); (J.Z.); (X.S.)
- Pediatric Translational Medicine Institution, Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China
- Shanghai Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Technology, Shanghai 201602, China
- Correspondence: (Y.Z.); (F.J.); Tel.: +86-189-3083-0698 (Y.Z.); +86-189-3083-0668 (F.J.)
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Child socioeconomic status, Childhood adversity and adult socioeconomic status in a nationally representative sample of young adults. SSM Popul Health 2022; 18:101094. [PMID: 35601218 PMCID: PMC9118918 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2022] [Revised: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Methods Results Conclusions In a nationally representative sample of US adolescents lower childhood socioeconomic status is associated with childhood adversity. Additionally, childhood adversities were associated with lower adult socioeconomic status. In mediation analyses, childhood adversity partially mediated the relation between childhood socioeconomic status and adult socioeconomic status.
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Hyde LW, Gard AM, Tomlinson RC, Suarez GL, Westerman HE. Parents, neighborhoods, and the developing brain. CHILD DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/cdep.12453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Luke W. Hyde
- University of Michigan Department of Psychology and Institute for Social Research Ann Arbor Michigan USA
| | - Arianna M. Gard
- University of Maryland Department of Psychology College Park Maryland USA
| | - Rachel C. Tomlinson
- University of Michigan Department of Psychology and Institute for Social Research Ann Arbor Michigan USA
- University of Maryland Department of Psychology College Park Maryland USA
| | - Gabriela L. Suarez
- University of Michigan Department of Psychology and Institute for Social Research Ann Arbor Michigan USA
- University of Maryland Department of Psychology College Park Maryland USA
| | - Heidi E. Westerman
- University of Michigan Department of Psychology and Institute for Social Research Ann Arbor Michigan USA
- University of Maryland Department of Psychology College Park Maryland USA
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Young ES, Frankenhuis WE, DelPriore DJ, Ellis BJ. Hidden talents in context: Cognitive performance with abstract versus ecological stimuli among adversity-exposed youth. Child Dev 2022; 93:1493-1510. [PMID: 35404500 PMCID: PMC9543758 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Adversity-exposed youth tend to score lower on cognitive tests. However, the hidden talents approach proposes some abilities are enhanced by adversity, especially under ecologically relevant conditions. Two versions of an attention-shifting and working memory updating task-one abstract, one ecological-were administered to 618 youth (Mage = 13.62, SDage = 0.81; 48.22% female; 64.56% White). Measures of environmental unpredictability, violence, and poverty were collected to test adversity × task version interactions. There were no interactions for attention shifting. For working memory updating, youth exposed to violence and poverty scored lower than their peers with abstract stimuli but almost just as well with ecological stimuli. These results are striking compared to contemporary developmental science, which often reports lowered performance among adversity-exposed youth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ethan S Young
- Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.,Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Willem E Frankenhuis
- Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.,Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Danielle J DelPriore
- Division of Education, Human Development, and Social Sciences, Pennsylvania State University-Altoona, Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Bruce J Ellis
- Departments of Psychology and Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
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Klingelhöfer D, Braun M, Brüggmann D, Groneberg DA. Does health-related poverty publication landscape reflect global needs in the light of the current poverty rebound? Global Health 2022; 18:35. [PMID: 35313907 PMCID: PMC8935118 DOI: 10.1186/s12992-022-00828-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background After nearly a quarter-century of declining poverty, the numbers are rising again significantly. This is due not only to effects of climate change but also to the COVID-19 pandemics and armed conflict. Combined with the enormous health impacts, that will cause misery and health care costs worldwide. Therefore, this study provides background information on the global research landscape on poverty and health to help researchers, stakeholders, and policymakers determine the best way to address this threat. Results The USA is the key player, dealing mainly with domestic issues. European countries are also involved but tend to be more internationally oriented. Developing countries are underrepresented, with Nigeria standing out. A positive correlation was found between publication numbers and economic strength, while the relationship between article numbers and multidimensional poverty was negatively correlated. Conclusions These findings highlight the need for advanced networking and the benefits of cross-disciplinary research to mitigate the coming impacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doris Klingelhöfer
- Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt, Germany.
| | - Markus Braun
- Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Dörthe Brüggmann
- Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - David A Groneberg
- Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt, Germany
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Morrissey TW. The Earned Income Tax Credit and Short-Term Changes in Parents' Time Investments in Children. JOURNAL OF FAMILY AND ECONOMIC ISSUES 2022; 44:412-433. [PMID: 35281944 PMCID: PMC8898557 DOI: 10.1007/s10834-022-09830-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
This study examined whether the addition of household resources via the receipt of the U.S. Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) affects short-term patterns of parents' time investments in children, including time spent engaged with children and in activities related to their education. Using difference-in-differences analyses that exploit seasonal variation in federal EITC outlays with nationally representative time-diary data from the 2003 to 2017 American Time Use Survey-Current Population Survey (ATUS-CPS; N = 61,355) merged with state-level data from the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research (UKCPR) National Welfare Database, I estimate the plausibly causal effects of predicted EITC receipt on various measures of parents' time investments in their children. I examine parents' time spent directly engaged with children in enriching activities like play and reading and in activities related to children's education among a low-socioeconomic sample (parents with less than a college degree). I find few associations between monthly federal EITC outlays and immediate changes in parents' time investments, although there was evidence that greater EITC outlays predicted small increases in mothers' time spent reading with or to children, particularly among mothers with young children, but also small decreases in fathers' time spent in activities with children, particularly school-age children. Findings suggest that increases in household resources, even relatively small and annual increases, may have short-term effects on parent-child interactions and time use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taryn W. Morrissey
- Department of Public Administration and Policy, School of Public Affairs, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20016 USA
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Mwenda V, Makena I, Ogweno V, Obonyo J, Were V. Effectiveness of interactive text messaging and structured psychosocial support groups on developmental milestones of children from adolescent pregnancies in Kenya: a quasi-experimental study (Preprint). JMIR Pediatr Parent 2022; 6:e37359. [PMID: 37126373 DOI: 10.2196/37359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Revised: 07/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In sub-Saharan Africa, one-quarter of all pregnancies occur in adolescents. Children born to adolescent mothers have poorer physical and socio-cognitive development. One reason may be inadequate knowledge on childcare and psychosocial support during pregnancy and post partum, since adolescent mothers have less antenatal care attendance and overall interaction with the health care system. Mobile health technology has been used to relay health information to special groups; however, psychosocial support commonly requires physical interaction. OBJECTIVE We aimed to assess the efficacy of an interactive mobile text messaging platform and support groups in improving adolescent mothers' knowledge and practices as well as infant growth and development. METHODS This was a quasi-experimental study, conducted among adolescent mothers with infants younger than 3 months, in Homa Bay County, Kenya. Five of the 8 subcounties in Homa Bay County were purposively selected as study clusters. Four subcounties were assigned as intervention clusters and 1 as a control cluster. Adolescent mothers from 2 intervention subcounties received interactive text messaging only (limited package), whereas those from the other 2 subcounties received text messaging and weekly support groups, moderated by a community health extension worker and a counselor (full package); the control cluster only received the end-line evaluation (posttest-only control). The follow-up period was 9 months. Key outcomes were maternal knowledge on childcare and infant development milestones assessed using the Developmental Milestones Checklist (DMC III). Knowledge and DMC III scores were compared between the intervention and control groups, as well as between the 2 intervention groups. RESULTS We recruited 791 mother-infant pairs into the intervention groups (full package: n=375; limited package: n=416) at baseline and 220 controls at end line. Attrition from the intervention groups was 15.8% (125/791). Compared with the control group, adolescent mothers receiving the full package had a higher knowledge score on infant care and development (9.02 vs 8.01; P<.001) and higher exclusive breastfeeding rates (238/375, 63.5% vs 112/220, 50.9%; P=.004), and their infants had higher average DMC III scores (53.09 vs 48.59; P=.01). The limited package group also had higher knowledge score than the control group (8.73 vs 8.01; P<.001); this group performed better than the full package group on exclusive breastfeeding (297/416, 71.4% vs 112/220, 50.9%; P<.001) and DMC III scores (58.29 vs 48.59; P<.001) when compared with the control group. We found a marginal difference in knowledge scores between full and limited package groups (9.02 vs 8.73; P=.048) but no difference in DMC III scores between the 2 groups (53.09 vs 58.29; P>.99). CONCLUSIONS An interactive text messaging platform improved adolescent mothers' knowledge on nurturing infant care and the development of their children, even without physical support groups. Such platforms offer a convenient avenue for providing reproductive health information to adolescents. TRIAL REGISTRATION Pan African Clinical Trials Registry PACTR201806003369302; https://tinyurl.com/kkxvzjse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valerian Mwenda
- Department of Non-communicable Diseases, Ministry of Health, Nairobi, Kenya
- Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program, Ministry of Health, Nairobi, Kenya
- Field Epidemiology Society of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Ireen Makena
- Department of Biological Sciences, Chuka University, Chuka, Kenya
| | - Vincent Ogweno
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Nairobi, NAIROBI, Kenya
| | - James Obonyo
- County Department of Health, Homa Bay County, Homa Bay, Kenya
| | - Vincent Were
- Kenya Medical Research Institute-Wellcome trust, Nairobi, Kenya
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Hackman DA, Duan L, McConnell EE, Lee WJ, Beak AS, Kraemer DJM. School Climate, Cortical Structure, and Socioemotional Functioning: Associations across Family Income Levels. J Cogn Neurosci 2022; 34:1842-1865. [PMID: 35171285 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
School climates are important for children's socioemotional development and may also serve as protective factors in the context of adversity. Nevertheless, little is known about the potential neural mechanisms of such associations, as there has been limited research concerning the relation between school climate and brain structure, particularly for brain regions relevant for mental health and socioemotional functioning. Moreover, it remains unclear whether the role of school climate differs depending on children's socioeconomic status. We addressed these questions in baseline data for 9- to 10-year-olds from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development study (analytic sample for socioemotional outcomes, n = 8,887), conducted at 21 sites across the United States. Cortical thickness, cortical surface area, and subcortical volume were derived from T1-weighted brain magnetic resonance imaging. School climate was measured by youth report, and socioemotional functioning was measured by both youth and parent report. A positive school climate and higher family income were associated with lower internalizing and externalizing symptoms, with no evidence of moderation. There were no associations between school climate and cortical thickness or subcortical volume, although family income was positively associated with hippocampal volume. For cortical surface area, however, there was both a positive association with family income and moderation: There was an interaction between school climate and income for total cortical surface area and locally in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex. In all cases, there was an unexpected negative association between school climate and cortical surface area in the lower-income group. Consequently, although the school climate appears to be related to better socioemotional function for all youth, findings suggest that the association between a positive school environment and brain structure only emerges in the context of socioeconomic stress and adversity. Longitudinal data are needed to understand the role of these neural differences in socioemotional functioning over time.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lei Duan
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles
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Zhang L, Cao H, Lin C, Ye P. Family socio-economic status and Chinese Preschoolers' anxious symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic: the roles of parental investment, parenting style, home quarantine length, and regional pandemic risk. EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH QUARTERLY 2022; 60:137-149. [PMID: 35125643 PMCID: PMC8802162 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2022.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2021] [Revised: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Using data from 16,161 families with target child of 3-6 years old in Hubei, China during COVID-19 pandemic, this study examined the association between family socio-economic status (SES) and preschoolers' anxious symptoms (PAS). Parental investment and parenting style were tested as mediators for this association. Home quarantine length was tested as a moderator for this direct association and for the associations between family SES and parenting processes, whereas regional pandemic risk was tested as a moderator for the entire model. Results support the utility of Family Stress and Family Investment Models in a Chinese context by identifying unique roles of parental investment and parenting style in mediating the link between family SES and PAS. Quarantine length moderated the link between family SES and authoritarian parenting: Strength of this negative association was stronger for families with longer quarantine than for those with shorter quarantine. Further, family SES was negatively associated with PAS through its negative association with authoritarian parenting, regardless of the quarantine length. Model comparison analyses between high-risk region versus low/medium-risk region groups indicated that the pandemic risk for living regions did not alter any pathway in the model. Such findings inform the designs of targeted interventions to help families cope with pandemic-related challenges. Promoting parental investment and adaptive patenting style represents an avenue to diminish consequences of family economic hardship for young children's mental health, regardless of macrolevel pandemic risk. Interventions should attend to home quarantine duration, as it contextualizes the links among family SES, parenting, and child well-being.
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Affiliation(s)
- Limin Zhang
- Department of Early Childhood Education, School of Education, Guangzhou University, 602 Xing Zheng Xi Building, No. 230 Wai Huan Xi Road, Guangzhou 510006 China
| | - Hongjian Cao
- Institute of Early Childhood Education, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, China
| | - Chaopai Lin
- Department of Early Childhood Education, School of Education, Central China Normal University, China
| | - Pingzhi Ye
- Department of Early Childhood Education, School of Education, Guangzhou University, 602 Xing Zheng Xi Building, No. 230 Wai Huan Xi Road, Guangzhou 510006 China
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Hasl A, Voelkle M, Kretschmann J, Richter D, Brunner M. A Dynamic Structural Equation Approach to Modeling Wage Dynamics and Cumulative Advantage across the Lifespan. MULTIVARIATE BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH 2022:1-22. [PMID: 35129003 DOI: 10.1080/00273171.2022.2029339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Wages and wage dynamics directly affect individuals' and families' daily lives. In this article, we show how major theoretical branches of research on wages and inequality-that is, cumulative advantage (CA), human capital theory, and the lifespan perspective-can be integrated into a coherent statistical framework and analyzed with multilevel dynamic structural equation modeling (DSEM). This opens up a new way to empirically investigate the mechanisms that drive growing inequality over time. We demonstrate the new approach by making use of longitudinal, representative U.S. data (NLSY-79). Analyses revealed fundamental between-person differences in both initial wages and autoregressive wage growth rates across the lifespan. Only 0.5% of the sample experienced a "strict" CA and unbounded wage growth, whereas most individuals revealed logarithmic wage growth over time. Adolescent intelligence and adult educational levels explained substantial heterogeneity in both parameters. We discuss how DSEM may help researchers study CA processes and related developmental dynamics, and we highlight the extensions and limitations of the DSEM framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Hasl
- International Max Planck Research School on the Life Course (LIFE)
- Department of Educational Sciences, University of Potsdam
| | | | | | - Dirk Richter
- Department of Educational Sciences, University of Potsdam
| | - Martin Brunner
- Department of Educational Sciences, University of Potsdam
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Klingberg T, Judd N, Sauce B. Assessing the impact of environmental factors on the adolescent brain: the importance of regional analyses and genetic controls. World Psychiatry 2022; 21:146-147. [PMID: 35015364 PMCID: PMC8751551 DOI: 10.1002/wps.20934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Nicholas Judd
- Department of NeuroscienceKarolinska InstituteStockholmSweden
| | - Bruno Sauce
- Department of NeuroscienceKarolinska InstituteStockholmSweden
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Infants exploring objects: A cascades perspective. ADVANCES IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOR 2022; 64:39-68. [PMID: 37080674 DOI: 10.1016/bs.acdb.2022.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Infants spend much of their time exploring objects (Herzberg et al., 2021), and object exploration is linked to learning and development in various domains (e.g., social, cognitive, motor). But how does exploration develop in the first place, and how, exactly, does exploration promote learning? One way to approach these process-oriented questions is with a developmental cascades perspective, which holds that new skills emerge from earlier-developing ones and that various interactions with people and objects accumulate over time to influence multiple domains of development (Masten & Cicchetti, 2010). In this chapter, we describe object exploration from a developmental cascades perspective. In Section 2, we describe typical and atypical trajectories of exploration behaviors, noting how these behaviors emerge from earlier-developing cognitive and motor skills. In Section 3, we discuss how object exploration opens the door for new types of learning opportunities. In Section 4, we discuss early experiences that may shape the development of object exploration. Altogether, we aim to convey that new developments in exploration skills are extensions of earlier-developing skills, and that seemingly insignificant exploratory behaviors (e.g., shaking a rattle) may result in numerous and varied consequences for the developing infant.
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Cerutti J, Lussier AA, Zhu Y, Liu J, Dunn EC. Associations between indicators of socioeconomic position and DNA methylation: a scoping review. Clin Epigenetics 2021; 13:221. [PMID: 34906220 PMCID: PMC8672601 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-021-01189-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 10/21/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Socioeconomic position (SEP) is a major determinant of health across the life course. Yet, little is known about the biological mechanisms explaining this relationship. One possibility widely pursued in the scientific literature is that SEP becomes biologically embedded through epigenetic processes such as DNA methylation (DNAm), wherein the socioeconomic environment causes no alteration in the DNA sequence but modifies gene activity in ways that shape health. METHODS To understand the evidence supporting a potential SEP-DNAm link, we performed a scoping review of published empirical findings on the association between SEP assessed from prenatal development to adulthood and DNAm measured across the life course, with an emphasis on exploring how the developmental timing, duration, and type of SEP exposure influenced DNAm. RESULTS Across the 37 identified studies, we found that: (1) SEP-related DNAm signatures varied across the timing, duration, and type of SEP indicator; (2) however, longitudinal studies examining repeated SEP and DNAm measures are generally lacking; and (3) prior studies are conceptually and methodologically diverse, limiting the interpretability of findings across studies with respect to these three SEP features. CONCLUSIONS Given the complex relationship between SEP and DNAm across the lifespan, these findings underscore the importance of analyzing SEP features, including timing, duration, and type. To guide future research, we highlight additional research gaps and propose four recommendations to further unravel the relationship between SEP and DNAm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janine Cerutti
- Department of Pscyhology, University of Vermont, 2 Colchester Ave, Burlington, VT, USA
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, Simches Research Building 6th Floor, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Alexandre A Lussier
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, Simches Research Building 6th Floor, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Yiwen Zhu
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, Simches Research Building 6th Floor, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jiaxuan Liu
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, Simches Research Building 6th Floor, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Erin C Dunn
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, Simches Research Building 6th Floor, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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Mooney KE, Prady SL, Barker MM, Pickett KE, Waterman AH. The association between socioeconomic disadvantage and children's working memory abilities: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0260788. [PMID: 34855871 PMCID: PMC8639069 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Working memory is an essential cognitive skill for storing and processing limited amounts of information over short time periods. Researchers disagree about the extent to which socioeconomic position affects children's working memory, yet no study has systematically synthesised the literature regarding this topic. The current review therefore aimed to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic position and working memory in children, regarding both the magnitude and the variability of the association. METHODS The review protocol was registered on PROSPERO and the PRISMA checklist was followed. Embase, Psycinfo and MEDLINE were comprehensively searched via Ovid from database inception until 3rd June 2021. Studies were screened by two reviewers at all stages. Studies were eligible if they included typically developing children aged 0-18 years old, with a quantitative association reported between any indicator of socioeconomic position and children's working memory task performance. Studies were synthesised using two data-synthesis methods: random effects meta-analyses and a Harvest plot. KEY FINDINGS The systematic review included 64 eligible studies with 37,737 individual children (aged 2 months to 18 years). Meta-analyses of 36 of these studies indicated that socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with significantly lower scores working memory measures; a finding that held across different working memory tasks, including those that predominantly tap into storage (d = 0.45; 95% CI 0.27 to 0.62) as well as those that require processing of information (d = 0.52; 0.31 to 0.72). A Harvest plot of 28 studies ineligible for meta-analyses further confirmed these findings. Finally, meta-regression analyses revealed that the association between socioeconomic position and working memory was not moderated by task modality, risk of bias, socioeconomic indicator, mean age in years, or the type of effect size. CONCLUSION This is the first systematic review to investigate the association between socioeconomic position and working memory in children. Socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with lower working memory ability in children, and that this association was similar across different working memory tasks. Given the strong association between working memory, learning, and academic attainment, there is a clear need to share these findings with practitioners working with children, and investigate ways to support children with difficulties in working memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate E. Mooney
- Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, England
| | | | - Mary M. Barker
- Diabetes Research Centre, University of Leicester, Leicester, England
| | - Kate E. Pickett
- Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, England
| | - Amanda H. Waterman
- School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, England
- Centre for Applied Education Research, Wolfson Centre for Applied Health Research, Bradford, England
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Turesky TK, Shama T, Kakon SH, Haque R, Islam N, Someshwar A, Gagoski B, Petri WA, Nelson CA, Gaab N. Brain morphometry and diminished physical growth in Bangladeshi children growing up in extreme poverty: A longitudinal study. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2021; 52:101029. [PMID: 34801857 PMCID: PMC8605388 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2021.101029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2021] [Revised: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Diminished physical growth is a common marker of malnutrition and it affects approximately 200 million children worldwide. Despite its importance and prevalence, it is not clear whether diminished growth relates to brain development and general cognitive ability. Further, diminished growth is more common in areas of extreme poverty, raising the possibility that it may mediate previously shown links between socioeconomic status (SES) and brain structure. To address these gaps, 79 children growing up in an extremely poor, urban area of Bangladesh underwent MRI at age six years. Structural brain images were submitted to Mindboggle software, a Docker-compliant and high-reproducibility tool for tissue segmentation and regional estimations of volume, surface area, cortical thickness, sulcal depth, and mean curvature. Diminished growth predicted brain morphometry and mediated the link between SES and brain morphometry most consistently for subcortical and white matter subcortical volumes. Meanwhile, brain volume in left pallidum and right ventral diencephalon mediated the relationship between diminished growth and full-scale IQ. These findings offer malnutrition as one possible pathway through which SES affects brain development and general cognitive ability in areas of extreme poverty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ted K Turesky
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
| | - Talat Shama
- The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | | | - Rashidul Haque
- The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Nazrul Islam
- National Institute of Neuroscience and Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Amala Someshwar
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Borjan Gagoski
- Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA, United States; Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Development Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - William A Petri
- Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States
| | - Charles A Nelson
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Nadine Gaab
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
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Income dynamics and behavior problems in early childhood, middle childhood, and the transition to adolescence. JOURNAL OF APPLIED DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.appdev.2021.101345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Kachmar AG, Wypij D, Perry MA, Curley MAQ. Income-driven socioeconomic status and presenting illness severity in children with acute respiratory failure. Res Nurs Health 2021; 44:920-930. [PMID: 34505720 DOI: 10.1002/nur.22182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Children living in low socioeconomic communities are vulnerable to poor health outcomes, especially when critically ill. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and illness severity upon pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission in children with acute respiratory failure. This secondary analysis of the multicenter Randomized Evaluation of Sedation Titration for Respiratory Failure clinical trial includes children, 2 weeks to 17 years old, mechanically ventilated for acute respiratory failure; specifically, subjects who had parental consent for follow-up and residential addresses that could be matched with census tracts (n = 2006). Subjects were categorized into quartiles based on income, with a median income of $54,036 for the census tracts represented in the sample. Subjects in the highest income quartile were more likely to be older, non-Hispanic White, and hospitalized for pneumonia. Subjects in the lowest income quartile were more likely to be Black, younger, and hospitalized for asthma or bronchiolitis, to have age-appropriate baseline functional status, and history of prematurity and asthma. After controlling for age group, gender, race, and primary diagnosis, there were no associations between income quartile and either Pediatric Risk of Mortality scores or pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome. As measured, income-based SES was not associated with illness severity upon PICU admission in this cohort of patients. More robust and reliable methods for measuring SES may help to better explain the mechanisms by which socioeconomic affect critical illness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alicia G Kachmar
- Department of Family and Community Health, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - David Wypij
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Mallory A Perry
- Research Institute, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Martha A Q Curley
- Department of Family and Community Health, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.,Research Institute, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.,Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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Society to cell: How child poverty gets “Under the Skin” to influence child development and lifelong health. DEVELOPMENTAL REVIEW 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2021.100983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
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Poverty-related bandwidth constraints reduce the value of consumption. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2102794118. [PMID: 34446552 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2102794118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Poverty confers many costs on individuals, primarily through direct material deprivation. We hypothesize that these costs may be understated: poverty may also reduce human welfare by decreasing the experiential value of what little the poor are able to consume via reduced bandwidth (cognitive resources)-exerting a de facto "tax" on the value of consumption. We test this hypothesis using a randomized controlled trial in which we experimentally simulate key aspects of poverty that impair bandwidth via methods commonly used in laboratory studies (e.g., memorizing sequences) and via introducing stressors commonly associated with life in poverty (e.g., thinking about financial security and experiencing thirst). Participants then engaged in consumption activities and were asked to rate their enjoyment of these activities. Consistent with our hypothesis, the randomly assigned treatments designed to reduce bandwidth significantly and meaningfully reduced ratings of the consumption activities, with the strongest effects on the consumption of food. Our results shed additional light on how the consequences of poverty on human welfare may compound and motivate future work on the full scope of returns to poverty alleviation efforts.
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Natale BN, Shaw DS, Janson H, Nærde A. Duration of Breastfeeding Mediates the Association Between Early Socioeconomic Risk and Child Vocabulary at Age 4. J Dev Behav Pediatr 2021; 42:472-480. [PMID: 33507042 DOI: 10.1097/dbp.0000000000000913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Accepted: 12/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Early-life socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with both obesity and lower cognitive abilities in childhood. One theorized underlying mechanism is breastfeeding duration because breast milk contains nutrients that can promote healthy adiposity profiles and stimulate brain development. However, studies have rarely examined these potential associations with child body mass index (BMI) in high-income Western countries, much less investigated breastfeeding duration as a mediator of the relationship between childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and later child vocabulary. The current study aimed to prospectively examine associations between early-life family socioeconomic risk and both child BMI and vocabulary at age 4 in a Norwegian cohort and the potential mediating contribution of breastfeeding duration. METHODS The Behavior Outlook Norwegian Developmental Study (BONDS) followed 1159 families and their children from 6 months of age onward. Parents reported on SES and breastfeeding duration in infancy, and child BMI and vocabulary ability were assessed at age 4. Direct and indirect effects were estimated using a path model that adjusted for several demographic and perinatal covariates (e.g., parental nativity and birthweight). RESULTS Family socioeconomic risk was significantly and negatively related to child vocabulary but was unrelated to child BMI. In addition, breastfeeding duration mediated the association between family socioeconomic risk and child vocabulary, with greater family socioeconomic risk associated with a shorter breastfeeding duration, which, in turn, predicted poorer child vocabulary. CONCLUSION The current findings suggest that longer breastfeeding duration is a viable target for preventatively promoting child vocabulary, especially among families at socioeconomic risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brianna N Natale
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Daniel S Shaw
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Harald Janson
- The Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ane Nærde
- The Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development, Oslo, Norway
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Niwa EY, Shane J. The spaces between: Parents' perceptions of neighborhood cohesion and child well-being. JOURNAL OF APPLIED DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.appdev.2021.101293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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