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Background: Neurochemical studies have pointed to a modulatory role in human aggression for a variety of central neurotransmitters and neuromodulators such as cytokines. While animal studies of cytokines suggest an aggression-facilitating role for central cytokines, especially for interleukin-1β and other cytokines, no cerebrospinal fluid studies of cytokines have yet been reported in regard to human aggression. Methods: Basal lumbar cerebrospinal fluid samples were obtained from 38 physically healthy subjects with DSM-5 Personality Disorder and assayed for cerebrospinal fluid interleukin-6 (log IL-6) and cerebrospinal fluid soluble IL-1 Receptor II protein in the context of their relationship with measures of aggression. Results: Cerebrospinal fluid soluble interleukin-1 Receptor II (r=.35, r²=.12, P=.03), but not log interleukin-6 (r=-.05, r²=.00, P=.76), levels were positively correlated with a composite measure of aggression. Adding relevant covariates, including cerebrospinal fluid levels of serotonin and dopamine metabolites, to the statistical model doubled the strength of this relationship (partial r=.54, r²=.29, P=.002). No relationship was seen with history of suicidal behavior or with any measure of impulsivity, negative affectivity, or of general dimensions of personality. Conclusion: These data suggest a positive relationship between at least one inflammatory cytokine in the central nervous system and aggression in human subjects. This finding adds to the complex picture of the central neurochemistry of impulsive aggression in human subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the complex processes involved in the self-construction of academic identity in a UK School of Education. Building on seminal literature in this field and drawing on the research of four academics, it begins by discussing teacher educators’ varying perceptions of the need to re-configure their identity to meet the expectations of a twenty-first-century higher education workforce. The article proposes the formation of this identity to be a dynamic, career-long process. Diverse scaffolds for the development process are proposed, including opportunities for new teacher educators to be apprenticed into an academic role, the centrality of communities of practice and the importance of the supported development of academic skills such as writing for publication. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Context: Although the effects of stress on health have been studied in numerous urban-dwelling populations, fewer studies have addressed these effects in rural populations, such as farmers and ranchers. Purpose: The present study focuses on seasonal levels of depressed affect and perceived stress in Western Colorado ranchers, and how those phenomena related to their levels of cortisol. Methods: Twenty-one (21) ranchers, who were permittees on the Colorado Grand Mesa, completed the study. Participants identified 2-week time periods during the year representing relative high, medium, and low stress. During each period, participants took saliva samples, rated stress levels, and completed a daily health diary. In addition, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), the perceived stress scale (PSS), and a life events scale (LES) were administered. Results: Results showed a strong relationship between BDI-II and PSS scores (r = 0.748, P < .01). The decreased daytime cortisol decline supports the notion that the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis negative feedback loop is disrupted in chronic stress and depression, thus resulting in chronically elevated cortisol levels. Conclusion: This study supports the relationship between stress, depression, and HPA dysregulation in ranchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate smoking-related correlates of depressive symptomatology in low-income pregnant women. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 245 pregnant women who smoked prior to pregnancy. Results: Women who had lower self-efficacy for maintaining abstinence both in positive affect/social situations and when experiencing negative affect demonstrated greater depressive symptomatology. Additionally, marijuana use, nicotine dependence, and general confidence in one's ability to quit smoking showed a positive relationship to depression. Conclusions: Several modifiable factors that can be targeted through behavioral and cognitive behavioral intervention strategies appear to influence the relationship between depression and smoking in low-income pregnant women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depressive symptoms following birth are common and can have adverse effects for mothers, children, and families. Changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulation during pregnancy may be implicated in the development of postpartum depressive symptoms, particularly changes in placental corticotropinreleasing hormone (pCRH). However, few studies have tested how dynamic pCRH changes over pregnancy relate to postpartum depressive symptoms. This preregistered investigation tests associations of both pCRH levels and changes from early to late pregnancy with postpartum depressive symptoms. Methods: The sample consists of 173 women studied in early, mid, and late pregnancy who later reported on depressive symptoms with the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale during interviews at 1, 6 and 12 months postpartum. Blood samples were collected at each prenatal timepoint and assayed for pCRH using radioimmunoassay. Latent growth curve analysis was employed to identify distinct trajectories of pCRH during pregnancy.Results: We identified three prenatal pCRH trajectories labeled as typical, flat, and accelerated. Each trajectory showed exponential increases in pCRH levels over the course of gestation but differed in overall levels and rates of change. pCRH levels were not associated with postpartum depressive symptoms. However, women with accelerated pCRH trajectories reported marginally higher depressive symptoms one month postpartum. Primary analysis models adjusted for marital status, income, prepregnancy BMI, parity, prenatal depressive symptoms, and gestational age.Conclusions: These findings add to our understanding of dynamic changes to maternal HPA axis regulation during pregnancy and contribute to growing evidence on how pCRH changes relate to the development of postpartum depressive symptoms • This study is among the first to use a person-centered approach to characterize pCRH trajectories during pregnancy. • We identified three prenatal pCRH trajectories labeled as typical, flat, and accelerated. • Each trajectory showed exponential increases in pCRH levels over pregnancy but differed in overall levels and rates of change. • Pregnant women with accelerated pCRH trajectories reported marginally higher depressive symptoms at one and six months postpartum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined whether women with prenatal mood and anxiety disorders would exhibit differential pro- and anti-inflammatory marker trajectories during the prenatal and postpartum periods compared to women without these disorders. Approximately 179 pregnant women participated in a longitudinal study conducted in two urban areas. Blood samples for inflammatory markers were collected at six study visits. The Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV (SCID) was administered to participants scoring above cutoffs on anxiety and depression. Pregnant women with SCID Axis I diagnoses of mood and/or anxiety disorders were compared to other participants on inflammatory markers. Multilevel modeling tested associations between SCID diagnoses and within-person interleukin (IL)6 and IL10 trajectories. Prenatal SCID diagnoses were associated with linear, quadratic and cubic change in IL6 from prenatal to postpartum timepoints. Women with a prenatal SCID diagnosis had steeper decreases and increases in IL6 during prenatal and postpartum periods. SCID diagnoses were associated with lower IL10 in mid-pregnancy to postpartum (b = −0.078, SE = 0.019; p =.015). Future studies would benefit from a larger sample size and a larger number of participants with SCID diagnoses. Future research should also examine whether different prenatal Axis 1 diagnoses are associated with different patterns of immune response in pregnancy. Pregnant women with prenatal mood and anxiety disorders had greater fluctuations in IL6 across prenatal and postpartum periods and lower IL10 through pregnancy and postpartum. They may have different proinflammatory states that remain after birth without a reciprocal anti-inflammatory response. • Prenatal mood and anxiety disorders are linked to postpartum inflammation. • Women with prenatal SCID diagnoses had greater fluctuations of inflammatory markers. • Lower anti-inflammatory markers in pregnancy associated with prenatal SCID diagnoses [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Pregnancy could be associated with inflammatory regulation, as indexed by IL-6:IL-10. • Relationship quality is associated with IL-6:IL-10 from pregnancy to a year post-birth. • Lower partner support may be associated with reduced moderation of IL-6 by IL-10. • Relevant implications for maternal mental and physical health. Inflammatory activity during pregnancy and the postpartum period shifts systematically due to pregnancy progression, delivery, and postpartum recovery. Factors that deregulate inflammatory activity increase the risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes and slower postpartum recovery. The IL-6:IL-10 or TNF-α:IL-10 ratio is potentially one way to capture peripheral inflammatory regulation; higher values indicate that anti-inflammatory IL-10 is less effective at regulating pro-inflammatory TNF-α or IL-6, skewing towards maladaptive pro-inflammatory profiles. Associations between partner relationship quality and IL-6:IL-10 or TNF-α:IL-10 trajectories during pregnancy and the postpartum period have not been assessed. The purpose of this study was to test whether partner relationship quality (support, conflict) is associated with attenuated IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, TNF-α:IL-10 or IL-6:IL-10 trajectories from the third trimester to the postpartum period. A sample of 162 women from the Healthy Babies Before Birth study reported on partner relationship quality (support and conflict) using the Social Support Effectiveness Questionnaire during the third trimester. Plasma samples were collected in the third trimester and at 1-, 6- and 12-months postpartum, and assayed for TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10. Associations between both indicators of relationship quality (support and conflict) and TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, IL-6:IL-10, TNF-α:IL-10 trajectories were tested using multi-level modelling, controlling for sociodemographic, pregnancy and health variables. Partner support interacted with time to predict IL-6:IL-10 trajectories, linear: b = -0.176, SE = 0.067, p =.010, quadratic: b = 0.012, SE = 0.005, p =.009. Lower partner support was associated with steeper increases in IL-6:IL-10 from the third trimester to 6 months postpartum, followed by steeper decreases in IL-6:IL-10 from 6 months postpartum to a year after birth. Partner conflict was not associated with IL-6:IL-10 levels at study entry, b = 0.233 , SE = 0.219, p =.290, or over time, p 's > 0.782. Neither indicator of partner relationship quality was associated with TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, or TNF-α:IL-10 trajectories, p's > 0.205. Lower partner support may be associated with reduced moderation of IL-6 by IL-10 between pregnancy and a year postpartum, with possible consequences for maternal health and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Maternal depressive symptoms in pregnancy may affect offspring health through prenatal programming of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. The biological mechanisms that explain the associations between maternal prenatal depressive symptoms and offspring HPA axis regulation are not yet clear. This pre-registered investigation examines whether patterns of maternal depressive symptoms in pregnancy are associated with infant cortisol reactivity and whether this association is mediated by changes in placental corticotropin-releasing hormone (pCRH). Method: A sample of 174 pregnant women completed assessments in early, mid, and late pregnancy that included standardized measures of depressive symptoms and blood samples for pCRH. Infant cortisol reactivity was assessed at 1 and 6 months of age. Results: Greater increases in maternal depressive symptoms in pregnancy were associated with higher cortisol infant cortisol reactivity at 1 and 6 months. Greater increases in maternal depressive symptoms in pregnancy were associated with greater increases in pCRH from early to late pregnancy which in turn were associated with higher infant cortisol reactivity. Conclusions: Increases in maternal depressive symptoms and pCRH over pregnancy may contribute to higher infant cortisol reactivity. These findings help to elucidate the prenatal biopsychosocial processes contributing to offspring HPA axis regulation early in development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Maternal stress, anxiety, and depression are associated with shifts in infant microbiome alpha diversity. • Beneficial microbes, including members of the bifidobacteria, were reduced in infants born to mothers with higher reported stress, anxiety, and depression. • Infant beneficial bacterial abundances were also linked to maternal inflammatory levels in both pre- and post-natal timepoints. Uncovering mechanisms underlying fetal programming during pregnancy is of critical importance. Atypical neurodevelopment during the pre- and immediate postnatal period has been associated with long-term adverse health outcomes, including mood disorders and aberrant cognitive ability in offspring. Maternal factors that have been implicated in anomalous offspring development include maternal inflammation and tress, anxiety, and depression. One potential mechanism through which these factors perturb normal offspring postnatal development is through microbiome disruption. The mother is a primary source of early postnatal microbiome seeding for the offspring, and the transference of a healthy microbiome is key in normal neurodevelopment. Since psychological stress, mood disorders, and inflammation have all been implicated in altering maternal microbiome community structure, passing on aberrant microbial communities to the offspring that may then affect developmental outcomes. Therefore, we examined how maternal stress, anxiety and depression assessed with standardized instruments, and maternal inflammatory cytokine levels in the pre- and postnatal period are associated with the offspring microbiome within the first 13 months of life, utilizing full length 16S sequencing on infant stool samples, that allowed for species-level resolution. Results revealed that infants of mothers who reported higher anxiety and perceived stress had reduced alpha diversity. Additionally, the relative taxonomic quantitative abundances of Bifidobacterium dentium and other species that have been associated with either modulation of the gut-brain axis, or other beneficial health outcomes, were reduced in the offspring of mothers with higher anxiety, perceived stress, and depression. We also found associations between bifidobacteria and prenatal maternal pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10. In summary, specific microbial taxa involved in maintaining proper brain and immune function are lower in offspring born to mothers with anxiety, depression, or stress, providing strong evidence for a mechanism by which maternal factors may affect offspring health through microbiota dysregulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose To determine whether a diagnosis of a perinatal mood and anxiety disorder (PMAD) is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes. Methods Mental health symptom screening and diagnostic data from 82 women with single gestation in the Healthy Babies Before Birth study conducted from 2013 to 2018 were obtained by clinic interview. If a woman scored over 10 on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) or endorsed the suicidality item; or scored over 7 on the Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS), a Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) Axis I Disorders was administered. An adverse perinatal outcome was operationalized as a diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus, intrauterine growth restriction, preeclampsia, chorioamnionitis, hemorrhage, fetal death, preterm birth, or a low birthweight baby, and abstracted from the medical records. Results Women were between 22.0 and 45.0 years old (Mean age = 33.1 ± 4.3). Mean BMI was 24.7 ± 5.6 (Range 16.8 to 47.1). Nineteen percent (16) of the 82 women had a SCID diagnosis of a PMAD. Thirty-seven percent (30) had a diagnosed adverse perinatal outcome. Multiple logistic regression was conducted with these predictors: SCID diagnosis of a PMAD, maternal age, BMI. All predictors were significant with respective odds ratios as follows: OR = 3.58, 95% CI 1.03–12.44, p = .045; OR = 2.30, 95% CI 1.21–4.38, p = .011; OR = 1.69, 95% CI 1.06–2.69, p = .027. Conclusions A PMAD diagnosis was associated with 3.5 times higher odds of having an adverse perinatal outcome. For every 5 years a woman aged or every five units her BMI increased her odds of having an adverse perinatal outcome increased. Older age and increased BMI are well established adverse perinatal outcome risk factors. These results suggest that mental illness risk should also be consistently assessed in obstetric settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Greater acculturation is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes in Mexican-American women, but the mechanisms by which acculturation influences perinatal outcomes are unclear. Pregnant acculturated Mexican-American women are more likely to engage in unhealthy prenatal behaviors relative to those less acculturated, including poor sleep. As sleep disruptions are associated with acculturation and negative perinatal outcomes, particularly maternal depression, alterations in sleep may adversely affect pregnant Mexican-American women. Methods Sixty pregnant women of Mexican descent completed surveys about sleep, acculturation, depressive symptoms and potential protective factor of social support. Results Acculturation, but not social support, significantly predicted increased sleep disruptions as well as overall feeling less refreshed upon waking across pregnancy. Moderation analysis indicated that more acculturated women who took longer to fall asleep reported increased depressive symptoms. Feeling refreshed upon waking also mediated the relationship between increased acculturation and elevated maternal depressive symptoms. Conclusions Acculturation and altered sleep contribute to greater risk in Mexican-American women for maternal depressive symptoms in the perinatal period. These findings have implications for prevention and treatment of maternal mental health disorders, which may adversely affect perinatal outcomes in the vulnerable Mexican-American population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]