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Background. The beneficial effects of physical activity (PA) for both physical and mental wellbeing are well established. Given that adolescence presents a critical developmental period during which life-long patterns of PA become established, the exploration of the longitudinal impact of adolescent psychopathology on adult PA status is of interest. Methods. We analysed prospective data from 3663 young adults who participated in the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy. Psychopathology was measured using the Youth Self-Report (YSR) at age 14. Participants' engagement in three types of PA (vigorous exercise, moderate exercise and walking) at age 21 were dichotomised into either 'none' or 'any'. For our main analysis, we examined the association between the YSR score and subsequent PA engagement using logistic regression. We also conducted sensitivity analyses of longitudinal associations between the YSR internalising and externalising symptoms score at age 14 and PA engagement at age 21. Results. We found no longitudinal association between the total YSR score at age 14 and PA engagement at age 21. In addition, there was no longitudinal association between the YSR internalising or externalising symptoms and PA engagement. Conclusion. Our findings suggest that there is no longitudinal association between adolescent psychopathology and PA in young adulthood. [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]

The aim of this study was to investigate the beliefs that patients with advanced cancer held about the curability of their cancer, their use of alternatives to conventional medical treatment, and their need to have control over decisions about treatment. Of 149 patients who fulfilled the criteria for participation and completed a self-administered questionnaire, 45 patients (31%) believed their cancer was incurable, 61 (42%) were uncertain and 39 (27%) believed their cancer was curable. The index of need for control over treatment decisions was low in 53 patients (35.6%) and high in only 17 patients (11.4%). Committed users of alternatives to conventional medical treatments were more likely to believe that their cancer was curable (P<0.001) and to have a higher need for control over decisions about treatment (P<0.004). The mean need for control scores were highest in patients who believed that their cancer was curable, or who were uncertain about the curability of their cancer, but who acknowledged that their oncologist had reported that the cancer was incurable. The diverse beliefs, attitudes and actions of these patients were consistent with a range of psychological adaptations to a life-threatening illness, some realistic and others illusory. Illusory responses influence what communication can achieve in daily oncology practice. [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]

The article describes the creation of an Australian occupational status (prestige) hierarchy based upon the recently developed Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO). ASCO is a socioeconomic ranking scale based upon an amalgam of occupational prestige scores and socioeconomic characteristics of occupations. ASCO is based on the belief that occupations can be grouped in terms of the skills they demonstrate. In this study, a list of occupational groups was compiled on the basis of the ASCO minor groups. For each occupational group respondents were given details of the occupational activities and the usual prerequisite education level that characterized a particular occupation. Tests for the reliability/variability of the status groups showed that the characteristics of the ranker were not important in determining the occupational rankings. The study also confirms the high prestige attributed to professional groups such as judges, doctors, solicitors and dentists by the respondents.

A major goal underlying the community health programme initiative in Australia was the prevention of disease. The clients and people in the communities served by two Brisbane community health centres were studied to determine the extent to which (a) they had received preventive advice; (b) they had acted upon such advice. Comparative data on non-client community samples were also examined. The dab indicate that there is little preventive activity and little evidence of changes in behaviour associated with preventive programs in the two health centre areas. The apparent failure of at least one major goal of the community health programe in Queensland is attributable to, amongst other factors, political and structural forces which impeded the successful implementation of this policy initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information on patterns of morbidity, health care utilization and socio-economic status in Brisbane. It is informed that research into the association between indicators of socio-economic status, health and health care behavior has been responsible for one of the most extensive debates in social epidemiology. One approach to explaining socio-economic variations in morbidity and mortality involves a consideration of the use of particular therapeutic services. The poor are, more often, forced to use the least expensive services involving crowded hospital outpatient facilities. They also appear less likely to seek health care and their illnesses are more likely to remain untreated. The poor appear to ignore minor conditions and seek treatment at later stages in their illness. It is reported that most of the previous literature describing the association between socio-economic status and health has shown a convincing and consistent association. The poor are sicker and die at higher rates, they have more chronic disabilities, longer hospital stays, perceive symptoms in less threatening terms, delay seeking help for longer periods of time and tend to under-use preventive services. The findings of the study presented in this article shows that there is a modest association between income as a measure of socio-economic status and three measures of health, namely the regular use of dental services, the average number of recognized symptoms per person and the utilization of medical services.

Background: Stress responses of bereaved parents (mothers 194, fathers 143) who experienced infant loss were compared with parents (mothers 203, fathers 157) with a live born child.Method: Psychological distress using scales of anxiety, depression and alcohol use was compared at 2, 8, 15 and 30 months post-loss.Results: Bereaved mothers showed significantly more anxiety/depression than controls at all four interviews. For bereaved fathers, anxiety/depression differed significantly from controls only at two months. Heavy alcohol use was significantly more prevalent at 2 and 30 months. Relative risks showed significant gender differences between bereaved parents at all four interviews for anxiety/depression. When this outcome was extended to include heavy drinking in addition to anxiety/depression, these differences diminished and were significant only at 2 and 8 months. CONCLUSION. Female responses are longer lasting and reflected by elevated levels of anxiety/depression. Male responses equally involve anxiety, depression and heavy alcohol consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: Little is known about whether commonly occurring adverse birth outcomes have a long-term impact on the mental health of mothers. The aim of this study was to investigate whether commonly occurring adverse birth outcomes predicted mothers' depressive-symptom trajectories over a 27-year period following the birth of a baby. STUDY DESIGN: Longitudinal study. METHODS: Participants comprised a sub-group of women from the longitudinal cohort of the Mater and University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy. Maternal depression was measured at six time points from the first clinic visit of an index pregnancy to 27 years after birth. A semi-parametric mixture model was used to identify three symptom trajectories of low-stable, moderate-stable and moderate-rising depression. Multinomial logistic regression was then used to determine whether a number of commonly occurring birth outcomes predicted moderate-stable and/or moderate-rising depression trajectories over the subsequent 27 years. Sociodemographic and behavioural factors were used to adjust for possible confounding. RESULTS: After adjustment for potential confounders, none of the adverse birth outcomes predicted subsequent maternal depression trajectories. Teenage pregnancy, not completing high school, low family income, obesity, poorer quality partnership and not exercising, measured at women's first clinic visit, and small social networks at three to five days after birth, were significantly associated with women's moderate-rising depressive-symptoms trajectory over 27 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study of families who had experienced death from sudden infant death syndrome, neonatal death, or stillbirth were compared for anxiety, depression, andchurch attendance with control families who had not experienced such bereavement.

Objectives: Considerable evidence suggests maternal psychopathology influences that of their offspring. The probability of a reverse causal pathway has been only rarely considered but is a concern, given around 10% of children manifest mental impairment during their early years. This study determines the extent to which child behavior problems at ages 5 and 14 years are associated with mothers' mental health at 21 years post birth. Study design: Longitudinal study. Methods: Data were taken from a sample of 3650 women from Mater and University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy birth cohort. Women's mental health was measured using the Mental Disorder Screening Tool at 21 years post birth. The Child Behavior Check List was used to measure internalizing, combined social/attention/thought disorder, and aggression at the age of 5 and 14 years. Logistic regression was used to derive odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. A number of confounders were used to test for independence. Results: Following all adjustments, child internalizing behaviors and combined social/ attention/thought disorder at 5 years, and all measures of child behavior problem at 14 years were associated with mothers meeting criteria for mental health impairment at 21 years post birth. Moreover mothers of children with behavior problems at 14 years were approximately 2-3 times more likely to these meet these criteria. Conclusions: Mothers of children with behavior problems at 5 and 14 years of age were more likely to have mental health impairment at 21 years post birth. Child health professionals should be cognizant of the motherechild relationship having mutual mental health vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]