Objective: Sexual violence disproportionately impacts Black girls and women in the United States. The literature documents the long-term mental health outcomes of childhood sexual trauma, but ...research on resilience-promoting factors for Black women survivors of such trauma is sparse. The present study tests hypotheses about the influence of Black girls’ social connectedness (e.g., with mothers, peers, and racial/ethnic community) on the association between adolescent sexual trauma and early adulthood well-being. Method: Participants included 850 Black girls from the Pittsburgh Girls Study. Girls reported prospectively and retrospectively on experiences of sexual trauma between ages 13 and 17. Annual assessments of social connectedness comprised reports of closeness with mother, peer social self-worth, and belonging/affirmation in racial/ethnic identity. In early adulthood (ages 18–21), participants reported on psychological flourishing. Results: Approximately 10% ( N = 83) of participants reported having experienced sexual trauma during adolescence. Hierarchical linear regression analyses revealed that adolescent sexual trauma predicted lower psychological flourishing, whereas peer social self-worth and belonging in racial/ethnic identity predicted higher psychological flourishing in early adulthood. Tests of moderation revealed no significant effects of social connectedness on the association between adolescent sexual trauma and later psychological flourishing. Conclusions: Findings suggest that Black women survivors of adolescent sexual trauma may experience lower psychological flourishing than those without histories of such trauma and support the importance of multiple domains of social connectedness for Black adolescent girls, in general. However, further research is needed on race- and gender-specific contextual factors that enable Black women survivors of sexual trauma to thrive. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)
Objective:
The goal of the present study is to describe the ADHD phenotype from childhood to adolescence in Black and White girls in a community sample.
Method:
Primary caregivers enrolled in the ...population-based, longitudinal Pittsburgh Girls Study reported on girls’ ADHD symptoms and impairment from ages 7 to 17; diagnostic subtypes were estimated based on meeting symptom criteria.
Results:
The prevalence of any subtype of ADHD ranged from 6.4 to 9.2% and from 2.3 to 6.4% for Black and White girls respectively; the inattentive subtype was most endorsed. A relatively equal number of new diagnoses at each age was observed. Persistence of ADHD diagnoses was typically 1 to 2 years.
Conclusions:
ADHD in the community is relatively common, with the inattentive subtype as the most common phenotype for Black and White girls. Research on developmentally sensitive periods for symptom exacerbation or new onset of ADHD in girls is needed.
The study objective was to examine neural correlates of a specific component of human caregiving: maternal mental state talk, reflecting a mother's proclivity to attribute mental states and ...intentionality to her infant. Using a potent, ecologically relevant stimulus of infant cry during fMRI, we tested hypotheses that postpartum neural response to the cry of "own" versus a standard "other" infant in the right frontoinsular cortex (RFIC) and subcortical limbic network would be associated with independent observations of maternal mental state talk. The sample comprised 76 urban-living, low socioeconomic mothers (82% African American) and their 4-month-old infants. Before the fMRI scan, mothers were filmed in face-to-face interaction with their infant, and maternal behaviors were coded by trained researchers unaware of all other information about the participants. The results showed higher functional activity in the RFIC to own versus other infant cry at the group level. In addition, RFIC and bilateral subcortical neural activity (e.g., thalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, putamen) was associated positively with maternal mental state talk but not with more global aspects of observed caregiving. These findings held when accounting for perceptual and contextual covariates, such as maternal felt distress, urge to help, depression severity, and recognition of own infant cry. Our results highlight the need to focus on specific components of caregiving to advance understanding of the maternal brain. Future work will examine the predictive utility of this neural marker for mother-child function.
The current study advances extant literature examining the neural underpinning of early parenting behavior. The findings highlight the special functional importance of the right frontoinsular cortex-thalamic-limbic network in a mother's proclivity to engage in mental state talk with her preverbal infant, a circumscribed aspect of maternal caregiving purported to be a prerequisite of sensitive and responsive caregiving. These associations existed specifically for maternal mentalizing behavior and were not evident for more generic aspects of caregiving in this urban sample of 76 postpartum mothers. Finally, the findings were robust even when controlling for potential demographic, perceptual, and contextual confounds, supporting the notion that these regions constitute an innate, specialized maternal mentalizing network.
Characterizing variations in the timing of alcohol, cigarette, and cannabis use onset both among and between Black and White youth can inform targeted prevention. The current study aimed to capture ...cross-substance initiation patterns in Black and White girls and characterize these patterns with respect to substance use related socioeconomic, neighborhood, family, community, and individual level factors. Data were drawn from interviews conducted at ages 8 through 17 in an urban sample of girls (n = 2172; 56.86% Black, 43.14% White). Discrete-time multiple event process survival mixture modeling was used to identify patterns (i.e., classes) representing timing of alcohol, cigarette, and cannabis use initiation, separately by race. Class characteristics were compared using multinomial logistic regression. Among both Black and White girls, four classes, including abstainer and cross-substance early onset classes, emerged. Two classes characterized by mid-adolescence onset (Black girls) and variation in onset by substance (White girls) were also observed. Class differences centered around cannabis for Black girls (e.g., preceding or following cigarette use) and alcohol for White girls (e.g., (in)consistency over time in greater likelihood of initiation relative to cigarette and cannabis use). Several factors distinguishing the classes were common across race (e.g., externalizing behaviors, friends' cannabis use); some were specific to Black girls (e.g., intentions to smoke cigarettes) or White girls (e.g., primary caregiver problem drinking). Findings underscore the need to recognize a more complex picture than a high-risk/low-risk dichotomy for substance use initiation and to attend to nuanced differences in markers of risky onset pathways between Black and White girls.
•Alcohol, cigarette, and cannabis use onset were examined in Black and White girls.•Modeling separately by race revealed four classes each for Black and White girls.•Abstainer and cross-substance early onset classes were observed in both groups.•Among Black girls only, two onset patterns involved cannabis before cigarette use.•Friends' cannabis use, externalizing, and depression distinguished classes.
Callous-unemotional (CU) traits have proven important for designating children and adolescents showing a pattern of particularly severe, stable, and aggressive antisocial behaviors (Frick, Ray, ...Thornton, & Kahn, 2014). Individuals with secondary CU traits represent a subpopulation that are distinguished from those with primary CU traits by their high anxiety levels and marked histories of social/environmental adversity; however, evidence is largely based on cross-sectional male samples and this study is the first to examine stable trajectories of CU variants among an all-girl population. Using longitudinal data from the Pittsburgh Girls Study (N = 1,829), we examined whether valid, stable primary and secondary variants of CU traits can be identified among girls using CU traits and anxiety scores, and whether they predict poor adolescent mental health outcomes. Separate trajectory analyses conducted from ages 7 to 15 years indicated an optimal 4-class solution for CU traits (high, moderately high, moderately low, low) and 3 classes for anxiety (high, moderate, low). Classes of interest were combined; those girls with high-anxious secondary CU traits (n = 139) reported significantly greater harsh parental punishment, depression, and less self-control at age 7, and at age 16 were distinguished by greater symptoms of depression, borderline personality disorder (BPD), and conduct disorder (CD), compared with those with primary CU traits (n = 59) and low CU girls (n = 326). Findings improve current understanding of female CU traits by supporting the possibility of multiple developmental pathways, and extend it by identifying possible factors for targeted intervention among this understudied population.
Integrative data analysis (IDA) was used to derive developmental models of depression, externalizing problems, and self-regulatory processes in three prevention trials of the Family Check-Up and one ...longitudinal, community-based study of girls over a 10-year span covering early to late adolescence (
N
= 4,773; 74.9% female, 41.7% white). We used moderated nonlinear factor analysis to create harmonized scores based on all available items for a given participant in the pooled dataset while accounting for potential differences in both the latent factor and the individual items as a function of observed covariates. We also conducted latent growth model analyses to examine developmental trajectories of risk. Results indicated a bidirectional relationship between depression and externalizing problems, with greater baseline externalizing problems and depression predicting growth in inhibitory control difficulties. Furthermore, initial level of inhibitory control difficulties was associated with growth in depression. We did not, however, find a relationship between early inhibitory control difficulties and growth in externalizing problems. This work illustrates the utility of IDA techniques to harmonize data across multiple studies to identify risk factors for the development of depression and externalizing problems that can be targeted by prevention efforts.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND
Exposure to non-persistent chemicals in consumer products is ubiquitous and associated with endocrine-disrupting effects. These effects have been linked to infertility and adverse ...pregnancy outcomes in some studies and could affect couple fecundability, i.e. the capacity to conceive a pregnancy, quantified as time to pregnancy (TTP).
OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE
Few epidemiologic studies have examined the impact of non-persistent chemicals specifically on TTP, and the results of these studies have not been synthesized. We undertook a systematic review to summarize the strength of evidence for associations of common non-persistent chemicals with couple fecundability and to identify gaps and limitations in the literature, with the aim of informing policy decisions and future research.
SEARCH METHODS
We performed an electronic search of English language literature published between 1 January 2007 and 25 August 2017 in MEDLINE, EMBASE.com, Global Health, DART/TOXLINE, POPLINE and DESTAF. We included human retrospective and prospective cohort, cross-sectional and case–control studies that examined phthalates, bisphenol A, triclosan, triclocarban, benzophenones, parabens and glycol ethers in consumer products, and considered TTP or fecundability as an outcome among women, men and couples conceiving without medical assistance. We excluded editorials, opinion pieces, introductions to special sections, articles that described only lifestyle (e.g. caffeine, stress) or clinical factors (e.g. semen parameters, IVF success). Standardized forms for screening, data extraction and study quality were developed using DistillerSR software and completed in duplicate. We used the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale to assess risk of bias and devised additional quality metrics based on specific methodological features of fecundability studies.
OUTCOMES
The search returned 3456 articles. There were 15 papers from 12 studies which met inclusion criteria, of which eight included biomarkers of chemical exposure. Studies varied widely in terms of exposure characterization, precluding a meta-analytic approach. Among the studies that measured exposure using biospecimens, results were equivocal for associations between either male or female phthalate exposure and TTP. There was preliminary support for associations of female exposure to some parabens and glycol ethers and of male exposure to benzophenone with longer TTP, but further research and replication of these results are needed. The results provided little to no indication that bisphenol A, triclocarban or triclosan exposure was associated with TTP.
WIDER IMPLICATIONS
Despite a growing literature on couple exposure to non-persistent endocrine-disrupting chemicals and fecundability, evidence for associations between biologically measured exposures and TTP is limited. Equivocal results with different non-persistent chemical compounds and metabolites complicate the interpretation of our findings with respect to TTP, but do not preclude action, given the documented endocrine disrupting effects on other reproductive outcomes as well as fetal development. We therefore advocate for common-sense lifestyle changes in which both females and males seeking to conceive minimize their exposure to non-persistent chemicals.
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION NUMBER
CRD42018084304.
Objective
Research has yielded factors considered critical to risk for borderline personality disorder (BPD). Yet, these factors overlap and are relevant to other disorders, like depression and ...conduct disorder (CD). Regularized regression, a machine learning approach, was developed to allow identification of the most important variables in large datasets with correlated predictors. We aimed to identify critical predictors of BPD symptoms in late adolescence (ages 16–18) and determine the specificity of factors to BPD versus disorders with putatively similar etiology.
Method
We used a prospective longitudinal dataset (n = 2,450) of adolescent girls assessed on a range of clinical, psychosocial, and demographic factors, highlighted by previous research on BPD. Predictors were grouped by developmental periods: late childhood (8–10) and early (11–13) and mid‐adolescence (14–15), yielding 128 variables from 41 constructs. The same variables were used in models predicting depression and CD symptoms.
Results
The best‐fitting model for BPD symptoms included 19 predictors and explained 33.2% of the variance. Five constructs – depressive and anxiety symptoms, self‐control, harsh punishment, and poor social and school functioning – accounted for most of the variance explained. BPD was differentiated from CD by greater problems with mood and anxiety in BPD and differences in parenting risk factors. Whereas the biggest parenting risk for BPD was a punitive style of parenting, CD was predicted by both punitive and disengaged styles. BPD was differentiated from MDD by greater social problems and poor behavioral control in BPD.
Conclusions
The best predictors of BPD symptoms in adolescence are features suggesting complex comorbidity, affective activation, and problems with self‐control. Though some risk factors were non‐specific (e.g., inattention), the disorders were distinguished in clinically significant ways.
High levels of stress during pregnancy can have lasting effects on maternal and offspring health, which disproportionately impacts families facing financial strain, systemic racism, and other forms ...of social oppression. Developing ways to monitor daily life stress during pregnancy is important for reducing stress-related health disparities. We evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of using mobile health (mHealth) technology (i.e., wearable biosensors, smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment) to measure prenatal stress in daily life. Fifty pregnant women (67% receiving public assistance; 70% Black, 6% Multiracial, 24% White) completed 10 days of ambulatory assessment, in which they answered smartphone-based surveys six times a day and wore a chest-band device (movisens EcgMove4) to monitor their heart rate, heart rate variability, and activity level. Feasibility and acceptability were evaluated using behavioral meta-data and participant feedback. Findings supported the feasibility and acceptability of mHealth methods: Participants answered approximately 75% of the surveys per day and wore the device for approximately 10 hours per day. Perceived burden was low. Notably, participants with higher reported stressors and financial strain reported lower burden associated with the protocol than participants with fewer life stressors, highlighting the feasibility of mHealth technology for monitoring prenatal stress among pregnant populations living with higher levels of contextual stressors. Findings support the use of mHealth technology to measure prenatal stress in real-world, daily life settings, which shows promise for informing scalable, technology-assisted interventions that may help to reduce health disparities by enabling more accessible and comprehensive care during pregnancy.
-3 fatty acid consumption during pregnancy is recommended for optimal pregnancy outcomes and offspring health. We examined characteristics associated with self-reported fish or
-3 supplement intake.
...Pooled pregnancy cohort studies.
Cohorts participating in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) consortium with births from 1999 to 2020.
A total of 10 800 pregnant women in twenty-three cohorts with food frequency data on fish consumption; 12 646 from thirty-five cohorts with information on supplement use.
Overall, 24·6 % reported consuming fish never or less than once per month, 40·1 % less than once a week, 22·1 % 1-2 times per week and 13·2 % more than twice per week. The relative risk (RR) of ever (
. never) consuming fish was higher in participants who were older (1·14, 95 % CI 1·10, 1·18 for 35-40
. <29 years), were other than non-Hispanic White (1·13, 95 % CI 1·08, 1·18 for non-Hispanic Black; 1·05, 95 % CI 1·01, 1·10 for non-Hispanic Asian; 1·06, 95 % CI 1·02, 1·10 for Hispanic) or used tobacco (1·04, 95 % CI 1·01, 1·08). The RR was lower in those with overweight
. healthy weight (0·97, 95 % CI 0·95, 1·0). Only 16·2 % reported
-3 supplement use, which was more common among individuals with a higher age and education, a lower BMI, and fish consumption (RR 1·5, 95 % CI 1·23, 1·82 for twice-weekly
. never).
One-quarter of participants in this large nationwide dataset rarely or never consumed fish during pregnancy, and
-3 supplement use was uncommon, even among those who did not consume fish.
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