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Objectives To examine the relation between perinatal depression at child age 1 year and behavioral issues and altered social functioning at school age. Methods The Future of Families (formerly Fragile Families) and Child Wellbeing Study longitudinal cohort age 9 nationally representative urban sample was used to examine associations between maternal depression at child age 1 and child behavior and social functioning at age 9 (n = 2,305 children and their mothers). Measures included the Composite International Diagnostics Interview (depression), Child Behavior Checklist total score (child behavior problems) and social function subscale. Clinical significance of child behavior problems and social function problems were determined by normed T-scores. Analyses included chi square, t-tests, and linear regression using SAS 9.4 Survey procedures. Results Higher household income was associated with lower behavior problem scores (F = 8.76, p < 0.0001, R.sup.2 = 0.07. School-aged children whose mothers had major depression at child age 1 (10.8%) were more than twice as likely to have clinically significant behavior problems (OR 2.46, p < 0.0001) than children whose mothers did not have depression (4.1%). Further, children with depressed mothers were more than twice as likely to have clinically significant social function problems than children whose mothers were not depressed (OR = 2.09, p < 0.0001). Conclusions for Practice Children whose mothers were depressed at child age 1 have higher risk of having behavior problems and poor social functioning at age 9. Early and repeated maternal depression screening is needed to treat the disease sooner and attempt to avoid these outcomes., Author(s): Lisa M. Blair [sup.1] [sup.2] , Emma Wheeler [sup.4] , Marianne H. Hutti [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.254444.7, 0000 0001 1456 7807, College of Nursing, Wayne State University, , [...]

Introduction In the US, approximately 8% of pregnant women smoke, and 5-11.9% currently use ENDS products. The health effects of ENDS use are debated; however, most contain nicotine which is known to cause adverse perinatal outcomes. Studies have shown adult ENDS users significantly alter use behaviors over time (switch to conventional cigarettes-only or dual use) thus complicating efforts to examine health effects of ENDS use. The purpose of this study was to describe switching behaviors and associated birth outcomes among infants of women using conventional cigarettes only, ENDS-only, or both. Methods This was a multisite, longitudinal study of biologically confirmed perinatal tobacco users, with nicotine product use assessed each trimester. For the purpose of analysis, participants were defined as switchers, no-switchers, or quitters. Birth outcomes were abstracted from electronic medical records. Analysis included descriptive statistics, linear and multivariate logistic regression adjusted for age, preterm birth, smoking behavior in the first trimester, and an interaction between smoking switching behavior and smoking behavior in the first trimester. Analysis was conducted using SAS v9.4 with significance determined as p < 0.05. Results At enrollment, 48.6% of participants used only conventional cigarettes, 41.7% were dual users, and 10% used ENDS-only. While almost two-thirds of participants used the same tobacco product throughout pregnancy, 26% reported switching behaviors that were complex and not easily clustered. No differences were found in birth outcomes between switchers and no-switchers; however, a difference emerged in birth weight between no-switchers and quitters. Discussion Given the limited data on health effects of ENDS use, and the known harmful consequences of perinatal nicotine use, capturing and classifying product switching behaviors is imperative to inform public health, and remains a challenge requiring further research., Author(s): Kristin Ashford [sup.1] , Andrea McCubbin [sup.1] , Janine Barnett [sup.1] , Lisa M. Blair [sup.1] , Feitong Lei [sup.2] , Heather Bush [sup.2] , Alison Breland [sup.3] Author [...]

The effects of place on human health and development have been extensively studied in recent years in the adult and adolescent populations, but minimal research has addressed neighborhood effects in early childhood. This analysis of the National Survey of Children's Health 2011/2012 cross-sectional survey examined relationships between risk for developmental disability in early childhood and neighborhood characteristics in a nationally-representative sample of children ages 0-5 years. Parents reported on their child's development using a well-validated parent report screening tool for developmental problems (the Parent's Evaluation of Developmental Status tool), and neighborhood and family characteristics. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted for each of three neighborhood variables: physical disorder, safety, and isolation. After controlling for parental and child characteristics, the three neighborhood variables were each significantly associated with moderate (but not severe) risk versus low to no risk for developmental disabilities. When all neighborhood characteristics were included simultaneously in the same model, only physical disorder remained statistically significant [OR 1.44 (95% CI 1.09-1.91)], though modestly attenuated. These results suggest that neighborhoods may have effects on early childhood development, after controlling for individual child, parental, and family characteristics., Author(s): Lisa M. Blair [sup.1] , Jodi L. Ford [sup.2] [sup.3] [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) 0000 0000 9136 933X, grid.27755.32, University of Virginia School of Nursing, , 202 Jeanette Lancaster [...]

The article discusses the challenges faced by early career nursing faculty due to a shortage of PhD-prepared nurse faculty, emphasizing the importance of informal support structures such as "Academic Therapy" to address the socialization gap and reduce feelings of isolation, overload, and competition; Academic Therapy, a structured support group leveraging technology, offers a supportive space for early career investigators (ECIs) to navigate the demands of academia.

Low birth weight is an ongoing public health problem with severe consequences for those affected, including early morbidity and mortality and elevated risk for lifelong deficits in cognitive function. These deficits can be ameliorated by early intervention in many cases. To contribute to criteria for earlier identification of at-risk children prior to the onset of delays or deficits, we examined relationships between three gene candidates— SLC6A4, BDNF, COMT— and cognitive outcomes at school age in a secondary analysis of existing data from a nationally representative cohort. Single nucleotide polymorphism rs4074134, a variant of BDNF, and a rare insertion/deletion in the intron region of SLC6A4 were significant predictors of cognitive performance. Our final model predicted 17% of the variance in composite cognitive test scores among children with low birth weight at school age (F = 96.36, p <.001, R 2 =.17). Specifically, children homozygous for cytosine at rs4074134 scored.62 standard deviations higher on a measure of global cognition than children with one or more thymine. Similarly, children with an extra-long copy number variant of SLC6A4 scored.88 standard deviations higher than children who had one or more short forms of the gene. These findings support the potential for an approach to identifying children with low birth weights who are most at need of early intervention services. Future research should focus on validation of these findings in an independent sample and confirmation of the biological mechanisms through which these genes influence cognitive development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preterm infants are at elevated risk for a host of neurodevelopmental problems, including disorders that appear later in life. Gene-environment interactions and prematurity may combine to increase the risk for poor neurodevelopmental outcomes. Increasing evidence supports a genetic link to risk for atypical development; however, no genomic risk profiles are currently used for infants without apparent genetic disorders. The purpose of this review was to synthesize recent evidence of genetic associations with atypical neurodevelopmental outcomes that may affect preterm infants who do not have a rare genetic disease. Electronic and hand-search strategies were used to find relevant articles that were English-language, peer-reviewed primary research or meta-analysis reports published between July 2009 and July 2014, involving human participants. Articles included in the analysis (N = 29) used a wide range of study designs and methodologies, complicating the analysis. An integrative-review design was used to synthesize the data. Numerous genes (n = 43) and additional large deletion copy number variants were associated with neurodevelopmental outcomes, including cognition, attention, perception, psychiatric disease, autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, infant behavior, and alterations in brain architecture. The creation of genetic risk profiles for complex disorders of neurodevelopment is presently hindered by inconsistent genetic-association evidence, methodological considerations, reporting problems, and lack of replication. However, several avenues of investigation offer promise, including large (> 100 kb) copy number variants and the candidate genes MET, NRG3, and SLC6A4, each of which were reported to have associations with neurodevelopmental outcomes in multiple, high-quality studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]