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Abstract: Objectives: One of the possible consequences of tobacco consumption is that it contributes to an earlier age of menopause, though the causal relationship is yet to be confirmed. This study aimed to examine the prospective association between smoking and earlier age of menopause in a cohort of middle age Australian women after adjustment for a number of potential confounders. Study design: 21-Year follow-up of a cohort prospective study, Brisbane, Australia. Main outcome measures: Age of menopause measured at the 21-year follow-up. Smoking and menopausal status were assessed by self-report. Other covariates were measured prospectively in the previous follow-ups. Results: This study is based on 3545 women who provided data on their menopausal status at the 21-year follow-up of the study, and prospective as well as concurrent data on smoking. In univariate analysis tobacco smoking during the reproductive life course, socio-economic status and gravidity were significantly associated with earlier age of menopause. In multivariate analyses women who smoked cigarettes were more likely to experience earlier menopause than non-smokers. Compared to current smokers, risk of early menopause was significantly lower in those women who quit smoking in the past. Conclusions: The data suggest that the impact of smoking is independent of other covariates associated with both smoking and age of menopause. The findings raise the possibility that effective quit smoking interventions may lead to a later age of menopause, and reduce the risk of adverse health consequences of early menopause. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: There is inconsistent evidence about the association between school performance and subsequent use of alcohol and alcohol problems in adolescents and young adults. This study examines whether school performance at 14 years is associated with drinking problems in early adulthood; and whether this association is explained by family and individual factors in childhood and adolescence. Data were from a 21-year follow-up of 3,478 Australian young adults from birth to the age of 21 years when data on use of alcohol were collected. Child school performance (CSP) was assessed at 14 years via self- and maternal report. Alcohol consumption at 21 years was measured via self-report, and alcohol abuse and dependence were assessed by the computerized version of Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI-Auto). Potential confounding factors were prospectively measured between the child’s birth and age of 14 years. School performance at 14 years predicted young adults’ alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorders (AUDs). After controlling for confounding, children who had lower school performance had increased risk of drinking more than two glasses of alcohol per day in early adulthood (odds ratio=1.7; 95% confidence interval: 1.1–2.6). There was a similar pattern of association between CSP and young adults’ alcohol abuse and dependence (AUD) measured by CIDI-Auto. Level of academic performance in high school children predicts their drinking problems as young adults, independently of a selected group of individual and family confounders. Exploration of the pathway linking school performance and alcohol problems in young people may help identify opportunities for preventive interventions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: With increased rates of marital breakdown it is important to identify the long-term mental health outcomes of marital problems and marital change for mothers and their children. Of particular interest is the possibility that mothers may benefit from leaving a relationship, but their children may not. This study examines the effects of marital quality and marital change on symptoms of depression in mothers and their children over 21 years. Method: Data (3,512 mothers and 3,334 children) were from Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP), a population-based birth cohort study, which commenced in Brisbane, Australia, in 1981. Mothers and children were followed up at birth, 6 months and 5, 14 and 21 years after the initial interview. Marital status and marital quality were assessed at 5 and 14 years. Symptoms of depression were assessed in mothers and children at the 21-year follow-up. Results: A poor-quality marital relationship at the 14-year follow-up was associated with increased symptoms of depression in both mothers (+3.3 symptoms) and children (+1.1 symptoms) 7 years later. Symptoms of depression in the mother improved if she changed to unpartnered status (−1.31 symptoms); however, children experienced an increase in depression (+1.30 symptoms). There was a substantial increase in mothers' depression (+3.9 symptoms) associated with a poor reconstructed relationship but no change for children (0.68). Conclusion: Marital transitions may improve symptoms of depression in the mothers but not in their children. Clinical decisions for families living in some difficult marital relationships need to take into account the association between maternal and child mental health particularly evidence from clinical samples that remission of depression in the mother improves outcomes for the child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A substantial minority of children are born as a consequence of an unplanned pregnancy. Yet little is known about the impact of unplanned/unwanted pregnancy (UP) on long-term health outcomes for children. This study aimed to examine the association between UP and child mental health and behavioural problems at 14years, and whether this association is confounded or mediated by other variables. Data were from a pre-birth prospective study that included 4765 mothers and their children (48.4% female and 51.6% male) followed up from pregnancy to 14years of the child''s age in Brisbane, Australia. Child anxiety/depression, aggression, delinquency, attention problems, withdrawal problems, somatic complaints, social problems, thought problems, internalizing, externalizing and total problems were measured using the Achenbach''s Youth Self Report at 14years. Child smoking and alcohol consumption were self-reported at 14years. UP was prospectively assessed at the first antenatal visit of pregnancy. UP as reported by mothers at first antenatal visit predicted elevated levels of problem behaviours and increased substance use in children at 14years. The impact of UP on child mental health and problem behaviours is partly due to the confounding effect of other variables, such as maternal socio-demographic status, mental health and substance use during pregnancy. Further research is needed to investigate the mechanism of association between UP and child aggression and early alcohol consumption at 14years. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to examine the longitudinal association between early childhood factors and early initiation of use of substances and substance use disorders in a large prospective study. Method: Data were from the Mater Hospital University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy, a prospective birth cohort study in Brisbane, Australia. Use of nicotine, alcohol and cannabis and age of initiation of such use were reported at the 21 year follow up. DSM-IV diagnosis of nicotine, alcohol and cannabis use disorders was assessed at 21 years using a computerized version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI-Auto). Early childhood factors were measured between mother's pregnancy and child age 5 years. Results: Of the 3647 respondents with complete data, 15.4% had started to smoke cigarettes before 15 years. Another 17.4% and 12.2% reported having started to consume alcohol or use cannabis in early adolescence, respectively. Some 16.2%, 27.8% and 21.9% had ever had nicotine, alcohol or cannabis abuse or dependence (disorder) by 21 years, respectively. In multivariate models early initiation of use of substances, and substance use disorders were associated with disrupted families or drug-using parents, childhood problem behaviours, and poor parental monitoring and supervision in childhood. Conclusions: There are four independent factors in early or middle childhood that predict early initiation of use of substances and subsequent substance use disorders by early adulthood. There is a need to consider whether what is known about the risk factors that predict young age of substance use, and substance use disorders, may be incorporated into treatment and/or prevention initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Longitudinal and experimental studies in criminology have advanced substantially since publication of my Crime and Justice reviews of longitudinal studies (in 1979) and randomized experiments (in 1983). Longitudinal surveys have become larger and longer-lasting; have focused more on self- reported offending; have made increasing efforts to study biological, neighborhood, and protective factors; and have increasingly investigated intergenerational transmission and desistance. Randomized experiments have become much more common in the United States but not elsewhere, and there have been more large-scale, replicated, and multisite experiments. Experiments have demonstrated that many types of interventions are effective, including nurse home visiting, cognitive-behavioral skills training, parent management training, preschool intellectual enrichment programs, multisystemic therapy, mentoring, hot spots policing, and drug courts. Experiments are needed on the effectiveness of major sentences such as prison and probation and on intervening processes between interventions and outcomes. A multiple cohort longitudinal-experimental study should be mounted to simultaneously advance knowledge about the development, explanation, prevention, and treatment of offending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]