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Objective: Delusional-like experiences (DLE) are common in the general community and are associated with a family history of mental illness. The aim of this study was to estimate the heritability of DLE. Method: The Peter's Delusional Inventory (PDI) was administered to a population-based cohort of mothers ( n = 2861, aged 35-67 years) and their adult offspring ( n = 3079, aged 18-23 years). Heritability of DLE was estimated from the sum scores of the 21 item PDI under the assumption that the covariance between mother-offspring scores is attributable to shared additive genetic factors. Results: The means (medians and standard deviations) for the total PDI scores for the mothers and their offspring were 3.6 (3.0, 3.0) and 5.0 (4.0, 3.5), respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient between mother and offspring PDI scores was 0.17 ( P < 0.001). The heritability was estimated to be 0.35 (standard error 0.04). Conclusion: Heritable factors contribute to over a third of the variance of PDI scores in this population. In light of the association between a family history of a wide range of mental disorders and DLE, these experiences may represent a useful quantitative endophenotype for genetic studies of common mental disorders in population settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Welham J, Scott J, Williams GM, Najman JM, Bor W, O’Callaghan M, McGrath J. The antecedents of non-affective psychosis in a birth-cohort, with a focus on measures related to cognitive ability, attentional dysfunction, and speech problems. Objective: Adults with non-affective psychosis show subtle deviations in a range of developmental trajectories as children and adolescents. Method: Based on a birth-cohort ( n = 3801), we examined the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPTV) at age 5, and Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM) and Wide Range Achievement Test reading scale (WRAT-R) at age 14. Items related to speech problems and attentional dysfunction were available from maternal- or self-report. At age 21, we identified 60 cohort members who were screen-positive for non-affective psychosis (SP-NAP). Results: Impaired performance on the PPVT and RSPM (but not WRAT-R) predicted SP-NAP for males only. Male cohort members in the highest quartile for attentional dysfunction at ages 5 and 14 were about 5–8 times more likely to develop SP-NAP. SP-NAP in males was significantly associated with speech problems at age 14. Conclusion: Males who develop non-affective psychoses have subtle impairments in cognitive capacity prior to the development of their psychotic disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To report the stability of parent-perceived child irregular eating from 6 months to 14 years of age and to investigate a predictive model inclusive of child and parent factors. Methods: Of the 7223 singleton children in a birth cohort, 5122 children were re-interviewed at 5 years and 4554 for the 14-year analysis. Information was obtained from structured interviews including questions answered by parents of the child at birth, 6 months, 5 years and 14 years; and by teenagers at age 14 years and from physical measures of the child. The mother’s perception that the child was an irregular eater at age 14 years was the major outcome variable of interest. Results: Approximately 40% of irregular eaters at age 5 will still be irregular eaters at age 14 years. This was not related to maternal education or socio-economic class. Significant at multivariate analysis were infant feeding problems and the children’s ability to regulate their sleep and mood. Significant maternal factors were greater age, not feeling positive about the baby and persistent maternal anxiety during the child’s early years. Conclusion: Irregular eating behaviour displays considerable continuity from childhood to mid-adolescence. Independent contributions to this behavioural phenotype include child biological and psychological factors and maternal anxiety during the child’s early years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To understand the relationship of health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) to early life experience.Methodology: Eight thousand five hundred and fifty-six women enrolled in a prospective study at their first antenatal clinic visit. At 13 years, of 5345 women remaining, a consecutive sample of 901 mother/child pairs provided data on adolescent HR-QOL using the Child Health Questionnaire-Parent Report form (CHQ-PF50) and the Dartmouth COOP Functional Assessment Charts for Adolescents. The CHQ-PF50 yielded physical (PHS) and psychosocial (PSS) summary scores. We examined the relationship between health-related QOL and early childhood predictive variables.Results: PHS was related to gestation, maternal health symptoms in pregnancy, maternal anxiety at 6 months, child health and hours of childcare at 5 years (P < 0.05). PSS was related to maternal age at index visit, maternal attitude to pregnancy, maternal satisfaction with care giving and maternal depression at 6 months, and child health and behaviour problems at 5 years (internalizing and social/attentional/thought (SAT) domains) (P < 0.05). Findings from adolescent self-reports were similar.Conclusions: This study has identified a number of early childhood determinants of adolescent HR-QOL. These findings add to evidence of the effects of early adversity on the developmental pathways of children and support the need for effective early intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine the relationship between being bullied and health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in adolescence.Methodology: Subjects were a cohort of 805 adolescents with a mean age of 13.6 years (standard deviation 0.2 years). An adolescent questionnaire elicited the frequency of being bullied. HR-QOL was measured using the Child Health Questionnaire - Parent Report Form (CHQ-PF50) and Dartmouth COOP Functional Health Assessment Charts for Adolescents.Results: Thirty-six per cent of boys and 38 per cent of girls reported being bullied at least weekly. Adolescent psychosocial HR-QOL was inversely related to frequency of being bullied, while physical HR-QOL was not related.Conclusion: Peer bullying is an important determinant of adolescent HR-QOL with a negative impact on psychosocial well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine, using a 30-month prospective study, patterns of anxiety, depression and alcohol use in couples following stillbirth, neonatal death or sudden infant death syndrome.Methodology: One hundred and thirty-eight bereaved and 156 non-bereaved couples completed standardized interviews at 2, 8, 15 and 30 months post-loss.Results: At all interviews, bereaved couples were significantly more likely than non-bereaved couples to have at least one distressed partner. Rarely were both partners distressed in either group. For bereaved couples, 'mother only' distress declined from 21% to 10% during the study. 'Father only' distress ranged from 7% to 15%, peaking at 30 months. Bereaved mothers who were distressed at 2 months reported significantly lower marital satisfaction at 30 months.Conclusions: At the couple level, the experience of a baby's death is multifaceted. Gender differences are common and partners' needs may change over time. Early recognition of these differences may facilitate longer-term adjustment for both partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To determine the extent to which childhood short stature is associated with cognitive, behavioural and chronic health problems, and whether these problems could be attributed to recognized adverse biological, psychosocial or psychological factors.Methodology: At their first antenatal session, 8556 women were enrolled in a prospective study of pregnancy. When their children were 4 and 6 years of age, mothers completed a detailed questionnaire concerning their child's health and behaviour. A Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) was completed by the child at 5 years of age. Z scores were used to categorize height measurements in 3986 children. The relationship of these height categories with the child's health, and behavioural and cognitive problems was then examined.Results: No association was found between height and symptoms of chronic disease or behaviour problems in boys or girls. On the unadjusted analysis, mean PPVT-R scores were significantly lower in boys with heights < 3 percentile and 3-< 10 percentile compared with study children between 10 to 90 percentile (P < 0.01). Scores were similarly significantly lower in girls with heights < 3 percentile and 3-10 percentile (P = 0.01). Even after adjusting for psychosocial and biological confounders, short stature remained a significant predictor for lower PPVT-R scores in both boys and girls, although height only accounted for 1.1% of the variance in scores in boys and 0.5% of the variance in PPVT-R scores in girls. Psychosocial factors had a greater role than height in determining PPVT-R scores at 5 years of age.Conclusions: These findings suggest a significant, though small, association between height and PPVT-R scores at 5 years of age, independent of psychosocial disadvantage and known biological risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine whether mothers who quit or reduce their level of smoking in pregnancy comprise a group of health-conscious women who are disproportionally likely to adopt a healthier smoking lifestyle in the medium to longer term, compared with women who continue to smoke during pregnancy., Design: A prospective cohort study., Setting: A public hospital in Australia., Population: A cohort of 6703 individual mothers who completed both initial phases of data collection in 1981-1983; mothers who smoked daily (2992) before pregnancy were included in this study., Methods: Mothers were interviewed at 3-5 days post-delivery, 6 months, 5 years, 14 years and 21 years to determine their smoking status. An inverse probability-weighted Poisson regression with a robust error variance was fitted to the data using a log-link function and a binary response variable for smoking outcome, and adjusting for several possible confounding factors., Main Outcome Measure: Smoking cessation at several follow-up points, for up to 21 years., Results: Of the mothers who smoked daily before pregnancy, 12, 23, 37 and 41% reported having ceased smoking at 6 months and at 5, 14 and 21 years, respectively. The decision to quit smoking during pregnancy was found to be independently associated with a higher rate ratio (RR) of smoking cessation at 6 months (RR 30.60, 95% CI 20.50-45.69), 5 years (RR 4.36; 95% CI 3.61-5.27), 14 years (RR 2.42, 95% CI 2.12-2.75) and 21 years (RR 1.86; 95% CI 1.60-2.15), after adjusting for several possible confounding factors., Conclusions: Pregnancy appears to be an opportunity for successfully quitting smoking, regardless of socio-economic circumstances or demographic background., (© 2012 The Authors BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology © 2012 RCOG.)

Previous studies suggest that medical students and doctors may express a range of positive and negative attitudes and behaviours towards patients. As an initial attempt to understand how attitudes toward patients are formed, first-year medical students were asked to describe their feelings about six categories of patients. These reactions were then correlated with the students' social background, social values and perception of these conditions.