Ain’t We Women? Assessing the Place of Women of Color in Campaign Training Programs

While descriptive representatives enhance democratic legitimacy and deliver substantive results to their constituents, women remain underrepresented in American politics. Recent literature regarding electoral politics has concluded that this is because women do not run for office. Scholars identify many reasons for this candidacy gap including the lack of an institutional support structure and barriers on the campaign trail. In this thesis, I argue that women of color face additional barriers not addressed by traditional literature. I use in-depth interviews with the founder of a campaign training program, and a review of their recruitment and training materials, to examine how the efforts of such organizations are influenced by the candidacies of women of color. I find that any attempts to increase the number of women in office must account for the unique, and intersectional, experiences of women of color. This research will guide other political organizations as they look to recruit and train a diverse group of candidates for office

Disgust sensitivity in early pregnancy as a response to high pathogen risk

IntroductionConsidered a part of the behavioral immune system (BIS), disgust sensitivity is expected to be adjusting as a response to the actual level of the environmental health risks.MethodsIn this preregistered study, we tested the hypothesis that disgust sensitivity would be higher during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period in pregnant women. In this between-subject study with a longitudinal trend design, we administered the Disgust Scale-Revised to 200 pregnant women before the pandemic and to 350 pregnant women during the pandemic.ResultsWe found a small but significant effect of the pandemic on disgust sensitivity, such that higher disgust sensitivity was found in women pregnant during the pandemic. This effect was stronger in primiparae, however, the interaction between parity and the pandemic period was not significant. Disgust sensitivity decreased with age. No differences in terms of nausea and vomiting were found between the women pregnant before and during the pandemic.DiscussionOur findings indicate that although BIS is presumed to function as a complex mechanism to prevent health-threatening behaviors, its activation in pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic is rather weak

REVIEW ARTICLES Mood Disorders And Their Pharmacological Treatment During Pregnancy: Is the Future Child Affected?

ABSTRACT: Nearly half the US population will meet criteria for a neuropsychiatric disorder at some point in their lives, and 1 in 17 has a seriously debilitating illness. Although not all affected adults had an identified disorder as a child, increasingly these psychopathologies are conceptualized as the late-stage culmination of aberrant developmental processes shaped by a complex interplay of genes and experience, including experiences in utero. Decades of studies with pregnant animals demonstrate that stress-elicited perturbations in maternal biology affect offspring neurodevelopment. Studies of stress in pregnant women largely mirror these findings. Pregnant women with anxiety and/or depression experience greater life stress, and illness-related alterations in their neurobiology, with a potential to impact fetal neurobehavioral development via associated changes in the intrauterine environment and/or pharmacologic interventions. This article critically reviews findings on child development (including fetal neurobehavior) related to maternal depression, anxiety, and pharmacological treatments, primarily selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). The hypothesis under review is that, in addition to genetics and characteristics of the postnatal environment, the familial transmission of risk for neuropsychiatric disorders involves a "third path"-prenatal exposure to psychiatric illness and its treatment. (Pediatr Res 69: 3R-10R, 2011) D epression and/or anxiety will affect nearly half the US population at some point in their lifetimes (1); women are twice as likely as men to suffer from these disorders (2), and the childbearing years are coincident with the greatest risk period (1). Recent studies indicate that 10% of pregnant women meet criteria for major depression, and as many as 18% have some depressive symptoms (3,4). Anxiety symptoms affect ϳ13% of pregnant women (4). Recent reports show that psychopharmacological treatment during pregnancy has dramatically increased, largely driven by the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) (5,6), with one study indicating that fully 10% of pregnancies in some populations involve exposure to antidepressant medication (7). The current focus to "re think mental illness" as disorders of brain circuits that are the late-stage culmination of aberrant developmental processes shaped by a complex interplay of genes and experience, including prenatal experience (8), has particular relevance for the susceptibility to future psychopathology that in utero exposure to these maternal disorders, and their treatments, may confer. Studies have consistently shown that maternal psychiatric disorders in the postpartum period, and later in development, have a negative impact on child neuropsychiatric outcomes (9,10). Accumulating evidences suggest that maternal psychiatric symptoms during pregnancy also contribute to placing the future child at risk for neuropsychiatric disorders. In addition, the medications used to treat depression and anxiety also may affect neurobehavioral development. In what follows, we review the most recent evidence suggesting that prenatal exposure to psychiatric illness and its treatment may be a "third path" by which familial transmission of risk for neuropsychiatric disorders occurs. Specifically, the following research findings are discussed: maternal prenatal depression and anxiety and children's increased risk for psychopathology; maternal prenatal mood symptoms and at-risk infant temperament and perinatal profile, maternal prenatal mood symptoms and variation in fetal neurobehavior; use of the common psychotropic medications for depression and anxiety, SSRIs, during pregnancy and neonatal adaptation syndrome (NAS), neonatal neurobehavioral toxicity, and neurodevelopmental outcomes in humans and animal models. Although these studies are largely correlational, possible pathways for the effects are discussed, including 1) the maternal hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HAP) axis, 2), placental functioning, and 3) uterine blood flow, with down stream effects potentially influencing synaptogenesis, neurotransmitter function, and receptor expression in the developing brain (11). To provide perspective for this emerging data, studies are critiqued with respect to methodological approaches, in particular, the challenging issue of accounting for postnatal environmental influences and whether an underlying psychiatric disease was controlled for when identifying medication effects. Depression and Anxiety Symptoms During Pregnancy and Child Neuropsychiatric Outcomes Pregnant women's experience of a range of traumatic, as well as chronic and common life stressors, is associated with significant deviations in children's neurodevelopment, includ- Abbreviations: CRH, corticotrophin-releasing hormone; HR, heart rate; SSRI, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor; UBF, uterine blood flow 0031-3998/11/6905-0003R PEDIATRIC RESEARC

Micronutrient Dietary Intake in Latina Pregnant Adolescents and Its Association with Level of Depression, Stress, and Social Support

Adolescent pregnant women are at greater risk for nutritional deficits, stress, and depression than their adult counterparts, and these risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes are likely interrelated. This study evaluated the prevalence of nutritional deficits in pregnant teenagers and assessed the associations among micronutrient dietary intake, stress, and depression. One hundred and eight pregnant Latina adolescents completed an Automated Self-Administered 24-hour dietary recall (ASA24) in the 2nd trimester. Stress was measured using the Perceived Stress Scale and the Prenatal Distress Questionnaire. Depressive symptoms were evaluated with the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale. Social support satisfaction was measured using the Social Support Questionnaire. More than 50% of pregnant teenagers had an inadequate intake (excluding dietary supplement) of folate, vitamin A, vitamin E, iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous. Additionally, >20% of participants had an inadequate intake of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin C, copper, and selenium. Prenatal supplement inclusion improved dietary intake for most micronutrients except for calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous, (>50% below the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR)) and for copper and selenium (>20% below the EAR). Higher depressive symptoms were associated with higher energy, carbohydrates, and fats, and lower magnesium intake. Higher social support satisfaction was positively associated with dietary intake of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, vitamin C, vitamin E, iron, and zinc. The findings suggest that mood and dietary factors are associated and should be considered together for health interventions during adolescent pregnancy for the young woman and her future child

Associations Between Mode of Birth and Neuropsychological Development in Children Aged 4 Years: Results from a Birth Cohort Study

The aim of this prospective longitudinal study was to examine the association between Cesarean section (CS) and child development and behavior. The sample consisted of 256 children who were born at term without serious perinatal pathologies. Their development and behavior was assessed at the age of four using Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3), Children’s Behavior Questionnaire and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. Multivariate linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between CS and child outcomes. CS was associated with better scores in the Problem Solving domain of the ASQ in the whole sample. After stratifying by child sex, the positive association between CS and the Problem Solving domain was significant in boys, while no association was found in girls. Girls were rated less optimally in the Gross Motor domain of the ASQ when born via CS. Mode of birth was not associated with behavioral outcomes

Mandatory Identification Bar Checks: How Bouncers Are Doing Their Job

The behavior of bouncers at on site establishments that served alcohol was observed. Our aim was to better understand how bouncers went about their job when the bar had a mandatory policy to check identification of all customers. Utilizing an ethnographic decision model, we found that bouncers were significantly more likely to card customers that were more casually dressed than others, those who were in their 30s, and those in mixed racial groups. We posit that bouncers who failed to ask for identification did so because they appeared to know customers, they appeared to be of age, or they took a break and no one was checking for identification at the door. We found that bouncers presented a commanding presence by their dress and demeanor. Bouncers, we posit, function in three primary roles: customer relations, state law management, and establishment rule enforcer