Socioeconomic Associations with ADHD: Findings from a Mediation Analysis

This is a freely-available open access publication. Please cite the published version which is available via the DOI link in this record.BACKGROUND: Children from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds are at greater risk of a range of negative outcomes throughout their life course than their peers; however the specific mechanisms by which socioeconomic status relates to different health outcomes in childhood are as yet unclear. AIMS: The current study investigates the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage in childhood and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and investigates putative mediators of this association in a longitudinal population-based birth cohort in the UK. METHODS: Data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children was used (n = 8,132) to explore the relationship between different measures of socioeconomic status at birth-3 years and their association with a diagnosis of ADHD at age 7. A multiple mediation model was utilised to examine factors occurring between these ages that may mediate the association. RESULTS: Financial difficulties, housing tenure, maternal age at birth of child and marital status were significantly associated with an outcome of ADHD, such that families either living in financial difficulty, living in council housing, with younger or single mothers' were more likely to have a child with a research diagnosis of ADHD at age 7. Financial difficulties was the strongest predictor of ADHD (OR 2.23 95% CI 1.57-3.16). In the multiple mediation model, involvement in parenting at age 6 and presence of adversity at age 2-4 mediated 27.8% of the association. CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic disadvantage, conceptualised as reported difficulty in affording basic necessities (e.g. heating, food) has both direct and indirect impacts on a child's risk of ADHD. Lower levels of parent involvement mediates this association, as does presence of adversity; with children exposed to adversity and those with less involved parents being at an increased risk of having ADHD. This study highlights the importance of home and environmental factors as small but important contributors toward the aetiology of ADHD.Medical Research CouncilWellcome TrustESRC Secondary Data Analysis Initiativ

The predictors of persistent DSM-IV disorders in 3-year follow-ups of the British Child and Adolescent Mental Health Surveys 1999 and 2004.

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.BACKGROUND: The identification of the factors that influence the persistence of psychiatric disorder may assist practitioners to focus on young people who are particularly prone to poor outcomes, but population-based samples of sufficient size are rare. METHOD: This secondary analysis combined data from two large, population-based cross-sectional surveys in Great Britain (1999 and 2004) and their respective follow-ups (2002 and 2007), to study homotypic persistence among the 998 school-age children with psychiatric disorder at baseline. Psychiatric disorder was measured using the Development and Well-Being Assessment applying DSM-IV criteria. Factors relating to the child, family, and the severity and type of psychopathology at baseline were analysed using logistic regression. RESULTS: Approximately 50% of children with at least one psychiatric disorder were assigned the same diagnostic grouping at 3-year follow-up. Persistent attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and anxiety were predicted by poor peer relationship scores. Persistent conduct disorder was predicted by intellectual disability, rented housing, large family size, poor family function and by severer baseline psychopathology scores. CONCLUSIONS: Homotypic persistence was predicted by different factors for different groups of psychiatric disorders. Experimental research in clinical samples should explore whether these factors also influence response to interventions.Tamsin Ford was supported by a MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship while the bulk of this work was conducted, and Daniel Racey contributed while supported by a NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship. The initial surveys were funded by the English Departments of Health with contributions from their Scottish and Welsh counterparts, and data collection was led by the Office for National Statistics

Comparison of the Spinels Co3O4 and NiCo2O4 as Bifunctional Oxygen Catalysts in Alkaline Media

Data from experiments with both rotating disc electrodes (RDEs) and gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) are used to investigate the properties of the spinels, Co3O4 and NiCo2O4, as bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts. Emphasis is placed on catalyst compositions and electrode structures free of carbon. Oxygen evolution and reduction occur at surfaces where the transition metals are in different oxidation states but the surface can be repeatedly cycled between these two states without significant change. It is shown that carbon-free, NiCo2O4 catalysed GDEs can be fabricated using structures based on stainless steel cloth or nickel foam. Those based on nickel foam can be cycled extensively and allow both O2 evolution and reduction at current densities up to 100 mA cm−2.European Commission (Theme 2010.7.3.1) Energy Storage Systems for Power Distribution NetworksMinistry of National Education, Republic of Turke

Contrasting the EXAFS obtained under air and H-2 environments to reveal details of the surface structure of Pt-Sn nanoparticles

Understanding the surface structure of bimetallic nanoparticles is crucial for heterogeneous catalysis. Although surface contraction has been established in monometallic systems, less is known for bimetallic systems, especially of nanoparticles. In this work, the bond length contraction on the surface of bimetallic nanoparticles is revealed by XAS in H2 at room temperature on dealloyed Pt–Sn nanoparticles, where most Sn atoms were oxidized and segregated to the surface when measured in air. The average Sn–Pt bond length is found to be ∼0.09 Å shorter than observed in the bulk. To ascertain the effect of the Sn location on the decrease of the average bond length, Pt–Sn samples with lower surface-to-bulk Sn ratios than the dealloyed Pt–Sn were studied. The structural information specifically from the surface was extracted from the averaged XAS results using an improved fitting model combining the data measured in H2 and in air. Two samples prepared so as to ensure the absence of Sn in the bulk were also studied in the same fashion. The bond length of surface Sn–Pt and the corresponding coordination number obtained in this study show a nearly linear correlation, the origin of which is discussed and attributed to the poor overlap between the Sn 5p orbitals and the available orbitals of the Pt surface atoms

Educational practitioners’ perceptions of ADHD. A qualitative study of views of the home lives of children with ADHD in the UK

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley / NASEN via the DOI in this record.There is little research exploring educational practitioners’ experiences of working with children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The current study aimed to understand educational practitioners’ beliefs concerning the home lives of children with ADHD, and how their perception of home lives affects children’s behaviour in school. Forty two practitioners from Primary, Secondary and pupil referral schools participated in focus groups or interviews. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes arising from the data. Three themes emerged relevant to beliefs about the home lives of children with ADHD: inconsistency, psychosocial adversity and isolation. Educational practitioners relate their experiences of working with children to what they believe occurs at home. We make recommendations for strategies school practitioners can use when working with children with ADHD based on these findings.This study was conducted as part of a PhD studentship funded by the University of Exeter Medical School. Preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South West Peninsula (PenCLAHRC)

Prioritising Targets for School-Based ADHD Interventions: A Delphi Survey

AbstractMany studies have investigated the effectiveness of school-based ADHD interventions at modifying different social, emotional and behavioural target outcomes. However, there is a lack of evidence about which targets stakeholders perceive to be most important. This study sought to obtain consensus on which outcomes are perceived to be most important. A total of 114 people with ADHD, educational professionals, parents of children with ADHD, clinicians and researchers participated in a Delphi survey with 3 rounds. The importance of 52 intervention targets was rated on a scale from 0 to 8 (8 being extremely important). Consensus was reached if &gt;70% of a stakeholder group rated a target as between 6–8 and &lt;15% rated it as 0–2. Targets were dropped from subsequent rounds if more than 50% of stakeholder groups rated it as 0–5. Targets that all four stakeholder groups reached consensus on in any round were automatically included in our final outcome set. Comments were analysed using Thematic Analysis. All four stakeholder groups reached consensus on the importance of seven targets: ability to pay attention, conflict with teachers and peers, executive functioning, global functioning and quality of life, inattention symptoms, organisation skills and self-esteem. Four overarching themes were identified: Complexity of ADHD, Relationships, School Context, and What ADHD means to me. School-based ADHD interventions should target outcomes identified as most important to those who stand to benefit from such interventions. Some outcomes prioritised by our participants have not yet been targeted in school-based ADHD interventions. Implications of our findings for intervention and research design are discussed.</jats:p

Researcher access to mental health data: results from an online consultation

This is the final versionMany scientists and researchers use information from hundreds or thousands of people to understand more about health and wellbeing, and to improve treatments and support for those with health problems. This information, or data, is collected in many ways and is kept secure by organisations or individuals known as ‘data controllers’. Their job is to manage the processes that allow bona fide researchers access to these data in a way that respects the privacy and confidentiality of the people the data refers to. Since the new data protection regulations (GDPR) introduced in the UK in 2018, we have heard that researchers and scientists are finding it more difficult to access the health data they need to do important scientific research. In order to collect more information about whether people are having problems with accessing data, and to understand more about what problems people were having, we conducted a short online consultation or survey asking about data access. We advertised the consultation by saying that MQ Mental Health Research (a charity that aims to improve mental health via research) and NHS Digital were interested in hearing about how the data access process could be improved, so it is possible that participants tended to be those who had faced difficulties. Sixty-three people took part in the survey, which was available for just over one month in late 2019. Eleven of them had not yet tried to get access to data, but said they were expecting problems if they were to try. Sixteen people were currently trying to access data, and 36 had successfully accessed data. The 52 people who had tried to, or had accessed, data reported a wide range of problems with their applications. Often each person experienced multiple problems. The application process has lasted between 2 and 70 months (median 12 months), bearing in mind that some of these were not yet completed. There were two common issues. Firstly, the process of application was lengthy and complicated, and not clearly explained. Secondly, researchers reported getting different advice from different people within the same organisation on the same procedures. In addition, some people reported difficulty finding a person who was senior enough in their own institution to sign off the forms. Our recommendations for data controllers, research organisations, and individual researchers following this consultation are shown in Box 1. Our consultation suggests that data access processes need to be clearer and more streamlined and applied in the same way across different data controllers. This would help to ensure that people seeking to access data get consistent advice and consistent responses. We recommend that timelines for the application process, as well as the time between application approval and data provision, are shortened. We need a better balance between data security and privacy on the one hand, and the availability of data to provide evidence for policy and practice in line with the open science movement on the other. This is particularly true where research stands to directly benefit individuals or societies. Those we consulted had a lot of suggestions for specific amendments 4 to parts of the existing process, which were underpinned by frustration and confusion with the process as a whole. Our findings highlight the need for rapid improvement and we recommend actions for all stakeholders within the next 12 months. Given that many other countries routinely publish studies using recent epidemiological data, failure to improve data access processes will clearly result in the UK lagging behind in the international scientific field

Support induced charge transfer effects on electrochemical characteristics of Pt nanoparticle electrocatalysts

The electrokinetic properties of Pt nanoparticles supported on Carbon (Pt/C) and Boron Carbide-Graphite composite (Pt/BC) are compared over a wide potential range. The influence of the support on the electronic state of Pt was investigated via in-situ X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy. Pt d-band filling, determined from XANES white line analysis, was lower and nearly constant between 0.4 and 0.95V vs. RHE for Pt/BC, indicating more positively charged particles in the double layer region and a delay in the onset of oxide formation by about 0.2V compared to the Pt/C catalyst, which showed a marked increase in d-band vacancies above 0.8V vs. RHE. Moreover, δμ analysis of the XANES data indicated a lack of sub-surface oxygen for the Pt/BC catalyst compared to the Pt/C catalyst above 0.9V vs. RHE. Additional anion adsorption on the Pt/BC in the double layer region, detected by CO displacement, was also confirmed by XANES analysis of the d-band occupancy. The H 2 oxidation activities of electrodes with low catalyst loadings were assessed under high mass transport conditions using the floating electrode methodology. The metal-support interaction between the Pt and BC support improved the maximum hydrogen oxidation current density by 1.4 times when compared to Pt/C

Molecular identification of adenoviruses associated with respiratory infection in Egypt from 2003 to 2010.

BACKGROUND: Human adenoviruses of species B, C, and E (HAdV-B, -C, -E) are frequent causative agents of acute respiratory infections worldwide. As part of a surveillance program aimed at identifying the etiology of influenza-like illness (ILI) in Egypt, we characterized 105 adenovirus isolates from clinical samples collected between 2003 and 2010. METHODS: Identification of the isolates as HAdV was accomplished by an immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and confirmed by a set of species and type specific polymerase chain reactions (PCR). RESULTS: Of the 105 isolates, 42% were identified as belonging to HAdV-B, 60% as HAdV-C, and 1% as HAdV-E. We identified a total of six co-infections by PCR, of which five were HAdV-B/HAdV-C co-infections, and one was a co-infection of two HAdV-C types: HAdV-5/HAdV-6. Molecular typing by PCR enabled the identification of eight genotypes of human adenoviruses; HAdV-3 (n = 22), HAdV-7 (n = 14), HAdV-11 (n = 8), HAdV-1 (n = 22), HAdV-2 (20), HAdV-5 (n = 15), HAdV-6 (n = 3) and HAdV-4 (n = 1). The most abundant species in the characterized collection of isolates was HAdV-C, which is concordant with existing data for worldwide epidemiology of HAdV respiratory infections. CONCLUSIONS: We identified three species, HAdV-B, -C and -E, among patients with ILI over the course of 7 years in Egypt, with at least eight diverse types circulating