Previous studies of associations between ASD and conception using assisted reproductive technology (ART) are inconsistent and few studies have examined associations with other infertility treatments or infertility disorders. We examined associations between ASD and maternal/paternal infertility disorders and numerous maternal treatments among 1538 mother–child pairs in the Study to Explore Early Development, a population-based case-control study. ASD was associated with any female infertility diagnosis and several specific diagnoses: blocked tubes, endometriosis, uterine-factor infertility, and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Stratified analyses suggested associations were limited to/much stronger among second or later births. The findings were not explained by sociodemographic factors such as maternal age or education or multiple or preterm birth. ASD was not associated with ART or non-ART infertility treatments.
by
Peter Jensen ;
Margaret Roper;
Prudence Fisher;
John Piacentini;
Glorisa Canino;
John Richters;
Maritza Rubio-Stipec;
Mina Dulcan;
Sherryl H Goodman;
Mark Davies;
Donald Rae;
David Shaffer;
Hector Bird;
Benjamin Lahey;
Mary Schwab-Stone
Background: Previous research has not compared the psychometric properties of diagnostic interviews of community samples and clinically referred subjects within a single study. As part of a multisite cooperative agreement study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, 97 families with clinically referred children and 278 families identified through community sampling procedures participated in a test-retest study of version 2.1 of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC 2.1).
Methods: The DISC was separately administered to children and parents, and diagnoses were derived from computer algorithms keyed to DSM-III-R criteria. Three sets of diagnoses were obtained, based on parent information only (DISC-P), child information only (DISC-C), and information from either or both (DISC-PC).
Results: Test-retest reliabilities of the DISC-PC ranged from moderate to substantial for diagnoses in the clinical sample. Test-retest κ coefficients were higher for the clinical sample than for the community sample. The DISC-PC algorithm generally had higher reliabilities than the algorithms that relied on single informants. Unreliability was primarily due to diagnostic attenuation at time 2. Attenuation was greatest among child informants and less severe cases and in the community sample.
Conclusions: Test-retest reliability findings were consistent with or superior to those reported in previous studies. Results support the usefulness of the DISC in further clinical and epidemiologic research; however, closely spaced or repeated DISC interviews may result in significant diagnostic attenuation on retest. Further studies of the test-retest attenuation phenomena are needed, including careful examination of the child, family, and illness characteristics of diagnostic stability.
This study investigated the influences of neighborhood factors (residential stability and neighborhood disadvantage) and variants of the serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) genotype on the development of substance use among African American children aged 10-24 years. To accomplish this, a harmonized data set of five longitudinal studies was created via pooling overlapping age cohorts to establish a database with 2,689 children and 12,474 data points to span ages 10-24 years. A description of steps used in the development of the harmonized data set is provided, including how issues such as the measurement equivalence of constructs were addressed. A sequence of multilevel models was specified to evaluate Gene × Environment effects on growth of substance use across time. Findings indicated that residential instability was associated with higher levels and a steeper gradient of growth in substance use across time. The inclusion of the 5-HTTLPR genotype provided greater precision to the relationships in that higher residential instability, in conjunction with the risk variant of 5-HTTLPR (i.e., the short allele), was associated with the highest level and steepest gradient of growth in substance use across ages 10-24 years. The findings demonstrated how the creation of a harmonized data set increased statistical power to test Gene × Environment interactions for an under studied sample.
Booster interventions have been presumed to be important methods for maintaining the effects of evidence-based programs for children with behavioral problems, but there has been remarkably little empirical attention to this assumption. The present study examines the effect of a child-oriented booster preventive intervention with children who had previously received an abbreviated version (24 child sessions, 10 parent sessions) of the Coping Power targeted prevention program. Two hundred and forty-one children (152 boys, 89 girls) were screened as having moderate to high levels of aggressive behavior in 4th grade, then half were randomly assigned to receive the abbreviated Coping Power program in 5th grade, and half of the preventive intervention children were then randomly assigned to a Booster condition in 6th grade. The Booster sessions consisted of brief monthly individual contacts, and were primarily with the children. Five assessments across 4 years were collected from teachers, providing a three-year follow-up for all children who participated in the project. Results indicated that the abbreviated Coping Power program (one-third shorter than the full intervention) had long-term effects in reducing children's externalizing problem behaviors, proactive and reactive aggression, impulsivity traits and callous-unemotional traits. The Booster intervention did not augment these prevention effects. These findings indicate that a briefer and more readily disseminated form of an evidence-based targeted preventive intervention was effective. The findings have potential implications for policy and guidelines about possible intervention length and booster interventions.
Introduction:
Volume of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity completed during the elementary school day is insufficient, and associated with health risks. Improvements in theory-based psychosocial factors might facilitate increased out-of-school physical activity.
Methods:
A behaviorally based after-school care protocol, Youth Fit 4 Life, was tested for its association with increased voluntary, out-of-school physical activity and improvements in its theory-based psychosocial predictors in 9- to 12-year-olds.
Results:
Increases over 12 weeks in out-of-school physical activity, and improvements in self-regulation for physical activity, exercise self-efficacy, and mood, were significantly greater in the Youth Fit 4 Life group (n = 88) when contrasted with a typical care control group (n = 57). Changes in the 3 psychosocial variables significantly mediated the group–physical activity change relationship (R2 = .31, P < .001). Change in self-regulation was a significant independent mediator, and had a reciprocal relationship with change in out-of-school physical activity. In the Youth Fit 4 Life group, occurrence of 300 min/wk of overall physical activity increased from 41% to 71%.
Conclusions:
Targeting theory-based psychosocial changes within a structured after-school care physical activity program was associated with increases in children’s overall time being physically active. After replication, large scale application will be warranted.
Purpose: To identify significant factors that distinguish African American girls who have high sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention knowledge from those lacking such knowledge. Methods: We recruited a sample of 715 African American girls from three public health clinics in downtown Atlanta. Using audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (A-CASI) technology, we assessed for age, self-mastery, employment status, attendance at sex education classes, socioeconomic status, and STI prevention knowledge. Results: Slightly more than one-third of the girls did not know that females are more susceptible to STI infections than males; and that having an STI increases the risk of contracting HIV. Almost half of the girls did not know if a man has an STI he will not have noticeable symptoms; and that most people who have AIDS look healthy. Logistic regression findings indicated that being older, having greater self-mastery, and being employed significantly predicted high STI knowledge. Conclusions: Health educators may especially target African American girls who are younger, unemployed, and experiencing low self-mastery for more tailored STI heath education.
Purpose: To identify the risk and protective factors for cigarette smoking and future intentions among racially/ethnically diverse preadolescent children.
Methods: We analyzed data from 5,119 fifth-grade children and their parents living in three U.S. metropolitan areas. Using the multivariate logistic regression models, we examined how cigarette smoking and intentions to smoke within 1 year are associated with (1) number of friends who smoke, (2) parental disapproval of smoking, (3) parental communication about not smoking, (4) performance in school, and (5) educational aspirations.
Results: Twenty-nine percent of the children were black, 44% were Hispanic, 22% were white, and 5% were of another race/ethnicity. Mean age was 11.1 years. The prevalence of ever smoking a cigarette among black, Hispanic, and white children was 9.8%, 5.6%, and 4.9%, respectively. In adjusted analyses, children were more likely to have smoked a cigarette if their friends smoked (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 5.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.8-6.9), they frequently had trouble with schoolwork (aOR 2.1, 95% CI 1.5-3.1), or their parents were not college graduates (aOR 2.0, 95% CI 1.2-3.5 for high school graduate). They were less likely to have smoked cigarettes if their parents disapproved of smoking (aOR.3, 95% CI.1-.6). Parental communication (aOR.1, 95% CI.0-.6) and disapproval (aOR.2, 95% CI.1-.7) had protective associations for future intentions among children who had ever and had never smoked, respectively.
Conclusions: Fifth-graders share many of the same risk factors for smoking identified in older adolescents, some of which are modifiable. Antismoking policies and programs should be designed for preadolescents as well as adolescents, and campaigns targeting parents should place greater emphasis on communication and expressed disapproval of smoking.
The role of deviant peers in adolescent antisocial behavior has been well documented, but less is known about individual differences in susceptibility to negative peer influence. This study examined whether specific temperament dimensions moderate the prospective relationship between peer deviance and delinquent behavior in early adolescence. Participants included 704 adolescents recruited from the community. At baseline, parents provided information on adolescents' temperament and youth reported on their own and their friends' delinquent behavior. Selfreports of adolescents' delinquent behavior were collected again 16 months later. Peer deviance was related to delinquent behavior over time more strongly for adolescents with low levels of task orientation, flexibility, and positive mood, compared to youth with high levels of task orientation, flexibility, and positive mood. Analyses of gender differences indicated that low flexibility increased susceptibility to negative peer influence only for males, but not females. General activity level and sleep rhythmicity did not moderate the effect of peer behavior on delinquency.
The goal of this Special Section is to explore the ways that investigation of reward function can shed light on the development and pathophysiology of psychopathology. Reward function provides a promising starting point for clinical affective neuroscience research because, thanks to the extensive literature on the neural mechanisms of addiction, the functional neuroanatomy, cellular mechanisms, and genetic contributions to reward circuitry have been well delineated (see Russo & Nestler, 2013, for details).