The Role of Verbal Competence and Multiple Risk on the Internalizing Behavior Problems of Costa Rican Youth

This longitudinal study examined internalizing behavior problems (anxiety/depression) in early adolescence in relation to adversity in early childhood and child verbal competence. We hypothesized that verbal competence would act as a protective factor in the face of early adversity, that is, high verbal IQ would predict relatively lower internalizing problems in early adolescence primarily for those children who experienced the greatest adversity. The sample was based on 191 Costa Rican children and their mothers, who were recruited in infancy from an urban community and assessed again at 5 and 11–14 years. Families were generally lower-middle to working class. A total of 165 children (94 boys) participated in the early adolescent follow-up (mean age = 12.3 years). Internalizing problems were based on maternal report (Spanish Child Behavior Checklist). Our cumulative risk index (CRI)_of adversity in early childhood consisted of home environment quality (HOME score), socioeconomic status, maternal depressed mood (CESD), and maternal IQ. Controlling for the effects of age, gender, internalizing problems at 5 years, and verbal IQ at 5 years, there was a significant interaction between early adversity and verbal IQ at age 11–14 years in predicting internalizing problems in early adolescence. Youth with high verbal IQ had comparable levels of internalizing problems regardless of high or low adversity in early childhood. In contrast, youth with low verbal IQ received higher internalizing problem ratings if they experienced high adversity early in life. The results raise the possibility that interventions to improve verbal competence might help lower the risk of internalizing problems in the face of early adversity.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75135/1/annals.1376.034.pd

Hippocampus specific iron deficiency alters competition and cooperation between developing memory systems

Iron deficiency (ID) is the most common gestational micronutrient deficiency in the world, targets the fetal hippocampus and striatum and results in long-term behavioral abnormalities. These structures primarily mediate spatial and procedural memory, respectively, in the rodent but have interconnections that result in competition or cooperation during cognitive tasks. We determined whether ID-induced impairment of one alters the function of the other by genetically inducing a 40% reduction of hippocampus iron content in late fetal life in mice and measuring dorsal striatal gene expression and metabolism and the behavioral balance between the two memory systems in adulthood. Slc11a2hipp/hipp mice had similar striatum iron content, but 18% lower glucose and 44% lower lactate levels, a 30% higher phosphocreatine:creatine ratio, and reduced iron transporter gene expression compared to wild type (WT) littermates, implying reduced striatal metabolic function. Slc11a2hipp/hipp mice had longer mean escape times on a cued task paradigm implying impaired procedural memory. Nevertheless, when hippocampal and striatal memory systems were placed in competition using a Morris Water Maze task that alternates spatial navigation and visual cued responses during training, and forces a choice between hippocampal and striatal strategies during probe trials, Slc11a2hipp/hipp mice used the hippocampus-dependent response less often (25%) and the visual cued response more often (75%) compared to WT littermates that used both strategies approximately equally. Hippocampal ID not only reduces spatial recognition memory performance but also affects systems that support procedural memory, suggesting an altered balance between memory systems

Identifying a Window of Vulnerability during Fetal Development in a Maternal Iron Restriction Model

It is well acknowledged from observations in humans that iron deficiency during pregnancy can be associated with a number of developmental problems in the newborn and developing child. Due to the obvious limitations of human studies, the stage during gestation at which maternal iron deficiency causes an apparent impairment in the offspring remains elusive. In order to begin to understand the time window(s) during pregnancy that is/are especially susceptible to suboptimal iron levels, which may result in negative effects on the development of the fetus, we developed a rat model in which we were able to manipulate and monitor the dietary iron intake during specific stages of pregnancy and analyzed the developing fetuses. We established four different dietary-feeding protocols that were designed to render the fetuses iron deficient at different gestational stages. Based on a functional analysis that employed Auditory Brainstem Response measurements, we found that maternal iron restriction initiated prior to conception and during the first trimester were associated with profound changes in the developing fetus compared to iron restriction initiated later in pregnancy. We also showed that the presence of iron deficiency anemia, low body weight, and changes in core body temperature were not defining factors in the establishment of neural impairment in the rodent offspring

Household chaos - links with parenting and child behaviour

Background: The study aimed to confirm previous findings showing links between household chaos and parenting in addition to examining whether household chaos was predictive of children's behaviour over and above parenting. In addition, we investigated whether household chaos acts as a moderator between parenting and children's behaviour. Method: The sample consisted of 118 working‐ and middle‐class two‐parent English families with two children aged 4–8. Parents provided reports of the parent–child relationship, the level of chaos in their home and the children's problematic behaviour. The children also provided reports of parent–child relationships via a puppet interview. Results: The results confirmed the links between household chaos and parenting, and indicated that household chaos is predictive of children's problem behaviour over and above parenting. In addition, in a minority of cases, household chaos played a moderating role between parenting and children's behaviour in that it exacerbated the effect of poorer quality parenting on children's behaviour. Conclusions: Household chaos is able to work in an additive way and predict children's problem behaviour over and above parenting, and is particularly potent when in combination with less positive/more negative parenting

Longitudinal Evaluation of Externalizing and Internalizing Behavior Problems Following Iron Deficiency in Infancy

Objective This study examined externalizing and internalizing behavior problem trajectories as a function of both iron status in infancy and infant characteristics. Methods A sample of 185 healthy Costa Rican children who either had chronic, severe iron deficiency or good iron status in infancy were followed for 19 years. Results Mother ratings of externalizing and internalizing problems from age 5 to 11–14 years were higher for the chronic iron deficiency group compared with those with the good iron status. Iron deficiency in infancy predicted persisting externalizing problems over this time period, especially for those with low physical activity in infancy. Beyond adolescence, youth in the chronic iron deficiency group did not report more problems than those in the good iron group. Conclusions These findings underscore the importance of considering infant iron status along with early behavioral characteristics to better identify those children at greatest risk for persisting long-term behavior problems