Advertising and Young People's Critical Reasoning Abilities: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Young people are exposed to an abundance of advertising for unhealthy products (eg, unhealthy foods, tobacco, alcohol). Because of their developing cognition, children may not be able to understand the intent of advertising. However, advertising restrictions often assume that adolescents have critical reasoning capacity and can resist the effects of advertising. This review seeks to assess whether the evidence supports this assumption. METHODS: Ten databases were searched in December 2020. Inclusion criteria were participants aged 6 to 17 years, any advertising exposure, objectively measured understanding or attitudinal outcome, a comparison, control, and between-group comparison. This study included all languages and excluded studies published pre-2010. Two reviewers independently extracted data and assessed study quality. RESULTS: Thirty-eight articles were included. Meta-analysis of 9 studies with attitudinal outcomes indicated that unhealthy product advertising generated more positive brand or product attitudes compared with neutral or no advertising control in all ages. There were significant effects for digital and nondigital advertising formats. We found greater understanding did not protect against the impact of advertising on brand or product attitudes. Limitations include the inability to meta-analyze the impact of advertising on understanding or the influence of age. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence shows that the attitudes of young people were influenced by advertising. Critical reasoning abilities did not appear to be fully developed during adolescence and not found to be protective against the impact of advertising. Policymakers should ensure regulations to restrict marketing of unhealthy commodities protects adolescents as well as younger children

Characterization of Puberty in an Australian Population-Based Cohort Study

Purpose: Current knowledge of the characteristics of puberty beyond age at menarche and thelarche is limited, particularly within population-based cohorts. Secular trends and concerns of the health effects of early puberty reinforce the value of contemporary studies characterizing the timing, tempo, duration, and synchronicity of puberty. // Methods: The Childhood to Adolescence Transition Study is a unique Australian cohort of individuals followed annually from late childhood to late adolescence, with up to eight assessments of pubertal stage from 9 to 19 years of age (N = 1,183; 636 females). At each assessment, females reported their Tanner Stage of breast and pubic hair development, while males reported on genital/pubic hair development. Nonlinear mixed-effects models characterized pubertal trajectories and were used to derive each individual’s estimates of timing, tempo, and synchronicity. Parametric survival models were used to estimate the overall duration of puberty. // Results: Timing of mid-puberty (Tanner Stage 3) ranged from 12.5 to 13.5 years, with females developing approximately 6 months before males. Pubertal tempo (at mid-puberty) was similar across sex (between half and one Tanner Stage per year), but the overall duration of puberty was slightly shorter in males. Most females exhibited asynchronous changes of breast and pubic hair development. // Discussion: Estimates of pubertal timing and tempo are consistent with reports of cohorts from two or more decades ago, suggesting stabilization of certain pubertal characteristics in predominantly White populations. However, our understanding of the duration of puberty and individual differences in pubertal characteristics (e.g., synchronicity of physical changes) remains limited

Children and Young People with Long COVID—Comparing Those Seen in Post-COVID Services with a Non-Hospitalised National Cohort: A Descriptive Study

Background: Post-COVID services have been set up in England to treat children with ongoing symptoms of Long COVID. To date, the characteristics of children seeking treatment from these services has not been described. / Purpose: (1) to describe the characteristics of children aged 11–17 referred to the Pan-London Post-COVID service and (2) to compare characteristics of these children with those taking part in the United Kingdom’s largest research study of Long COVID in children (CLoCk). / Design: Data from 95 children seeking treatment from the Post-COVID service between May 2021 and August 2022 were included in the study. Their demographic characteristics, symptom burden and the impact of infection are described and compared to children from CLoCk. / Results: A high proportion of children from the Post-COVID service and CLoCk reported experiencing health problems prior to the pandemic. Almost all Post-COVID service children met the research Delphi definition of Long COVID (94.6%), having multiple symptoms that impacted their lives. Symptoms were notably more severe than the participants in CLoCk. / Conclusions: This study describes the characteristics of children seeking treatment for Long COVID compared to those identified in the largest longitudinal observational study to date. Post-COVID service children have more symptoms and are more severely affected by their symptoms following infection with COVID-19 than children in the CLoCk study. Research to understand predisposing factors for severity and prognostic indicators is essential to prevent this debilitating condition. Evaluation of short- and long-term outcomes of interventions by clinical services can help direct future therapy for this group

Children and Young People with Long COVID:comparing those seen in Post-COVID services with a non-hospitalised national cohort: a descriptive study

Background: Post-COVID services have been set up in England to treat children with ongoing symptoms of Long COVID. To date, the characteristics of children seeking treatment from these services has not been described.Purpose: (1) To describe the characteristics of children aged 11-17 referred to the Pan London Post-COVID service and (2) To compare characteristics of these children with those taking part in the UK’s largest research study of Long COVID in children (CLoCk).Design: Data from 95 children seeking treatment from the Post-COVID service between May 2021 and August 2022 were included in the study. Their demographic characteristics, symptom burden and the impact of infection are described and compared to children from CLoCk.Results: A high proportion of children from the Post-COVID service and CLoCk reported experiencing health problems prior to the pan-demic. Almost all Post-COVID service children met the research Delphi definition of Long COVID (94.6%), having multiple symptoms that impacted their lives. Symptoms were notably more severe than the participants in CLoCk.Conclusions: This study describes the characteristics of children seeking treatment for Long COVID compared to those identified in the largest longitudinal observational study to date. Post-COVID service children have more symptoms and are more severely affected by their symptoms following infection with COVID-19 than children in the CLoCk study. Research to understand predisposing factors for severity and prognostic indicators is essential to prevent this debilitating condition. Evaluation of short and long-term outcomes of interventions by clinical services can help direct future therapy for this group.<br/

Retrospective Risk-Taking Questionnaire

<p>Retrospective questionnaire measures</p> <p>This questionnaire was created to retrospectively assess the sensation seeking, risk-taking, and impulsive behaviors in a longitudinal neuroimaging (MRI) cohort. As no behavioral markers of risk-taking were collected from participants concomitantly with the MRI data, we collected retrospective information of these behaviors using this written questionnaire.</p> <p>Participants were mailed this two-part questionnaire in 2013 to self-assess retrospectively their behaviors during adolescence. The first part of the questionnaire included three questions relating to the individual’s general recall of their own teenage behavior: i) How old were you when you engaged in the most risky behavior? ii) Compared to your peers, how much risky behavior did you engage in as a teenager? iii) Please describe the types of risky behaviors you engaged in as a teenager. Risky behavior was defined in the questionnaire as ‘behavior that is unsafe or might result in negative consequences.’ The second part of the questionnaire included adaptations of the following measures: Sensation-seeking Scale (SSS), Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events (CARE) Questionnaire, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), and Behavioral Inhibition System/Behavioral Approach System Scales.</p

What are we measuring in developmental structural MRI?

<p>Poster presented at 2013 Flux Congress</p> <p> </p> <p>Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has given us the unprecedented capability to measure the developing human brain. This technique has paved the way for longitudinal studies exploring brain development across the entire life span. Results from these studies have given us a glimpse of the remarkably extended development of our brain, converging with evidence from anatomical and histological studies. But what are we measuring in developmental structural MRI studies? In this presentation, we attempt to unpack how developmental changes in brain structure during childhood and adolescence relate to co-occurring physical changes, and explore possible explanations for what these measurements represent in terms of cellular processes and organization. We utilize longitudinal structural MRI data to describe the developmental changes in brain structure as they relate to other physical measures such as height, weight, and pubertal stage, and consider the impact of accounting for regional brain volumes or total intracranial volume. In addition, we review and discuss the possible cellular and organizational changes that could be reflected in developmental structural MRI studies.</p

The effects of puberty on white matter development in boys

Neuroimaging studies demonstrate considerable changes in white matter volume and microstructure during adolescence. Most studies have focused on age-related effects, whilst puberty-related changes are not well understood. Using diffusion tensor imaging and tract-based spatial statistics, we investigated the effects of pubertal status on white matter mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) in 61 males aged 12.7–16.0 years. Participants were grouped into early-mid puberty (≤Tanner Stage 3 in pubic hair and gonadal development; n = 22) and late-post puberty (≥Tanner Stage 4 in pubic hair or gonadal development; n = 39). Salivary levels of pubertal hormones (testosterone, DHEA and oestradiol) were also measured. Pubertal stage was significantly related to MD in diverse white matter regions. No relationship was observed between pubertal status and FA. Regression modelling of MD in the significant regions demonstrated that an interaction model incorporating puberty, age and puberty × age best explained our findings. In addition, testosterone was correlated with MD in these pubertally significant regions. No relationship was observed between oestradiol or DHEA and MD. In conclusion, pubertal status was significantly related to MD, but not FA, and this relationship cannot be explained by changes in chronological age alone

Understanding the Role of Puberty in Structural and Functional Development of the Adolescent Brain

Over the past two decades, there has been a tremendous increase in our understanding of structural and functional brain development in adolescence. However, understanding the role of puberty in this process has received much less attention. This review examines this relationship by summarizing recent research studies where the role of puberty was investigated in relation to brain structure, connectivity, and task-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The studies together suggest that puberty may contribute to adolescent neural reorganization and maturational advancement, and sex differences also emerge in puberty. The current body of work shows some mixed results regarding impact and exact direction of pubertal influence. We discuss several limitations of current studies and propose future directions on how to move the field forward