The association between characteristics of fathering in infancy and depressive symptoms in adolescence:A UK birth cohort study

AbstractEvidence suggests that the quality of fathers’ parenting has an impact on psychological outcomes during adolescence, but less is known about which aspects of fathering have the strongest effects. This study, using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), considers which paternal attitudes towards and experiences of child care in infancy are most strongly associated with depressive symptoms in adolescence, and whether father effects are independent of maternal influence and other risk factors. Primary exposures were fathers’ attitudes to and experiences of child care at 8 weeks, 8 months and 21 months coded as continuous scores; the primary outcome was self-reported depressive symptoms at 16 years (Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire score ≥11). Multivariable logistic regression models showed reasonably strong evidence that parental reports indicating potential paternal abuse when children were toddlers were associated with a 22% increased odds of depressive symptoms at age 16 (odds ratio [OR] 1.22 [95% CI 1.11, 1.34] per SD). There was some evidence for an interaction with social class (p=0.04): for children living in higher social class households (professional, managerial and technical classes), an increase in the potential abuse scale increased the odds of depressive symptoms by 31% (OR 1.31 [1.13, 1.53] per SD), whereas there was no effect in the lower social class categories. The potential paternal abuse measure needs to be validated and research is needed on what circumstances predict anger and frustration with child care. Effective interventions are needed to help fathers cope better with parenting stress

Quantifying the efficacy of an automated facial coding software using videos of parents

IntroductionThis work explores the use of an automated facial coding software - FaceReader - as an alternative and/or complementary method to manual coding.MethodsWe used videos of parents (fathers, n = 36; mothers, n = 29) taken from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. The videos—obtained during real-life parent-infant interactions in the home—were coded both manually (using an existing coding scheme) and by FaceReader. We established a correspondence between the manual and automated coding categories - namely Positive, Neutral, Negative, and Surprise - before contingency tables were employed to examine the software’s detection rate and quantify the agreement between manual and automated coding. By employing binary logistic regression, we examined the predictive potential of FaceReader outputs in determining manually classified facial expressions. An interaction term was used to investigate the impact of gender on our models, seeking to estimate its influence on the predictive accuracy.ResultsWe found that the automated facial detection rate was low (25.2% for fathers, 24.6% for mothers) compared to manual coding, and discuss some potential explanations for this (e.g., poor lighting and facial occlusion). Our logistic regression analyses found that Surprise and Positive expressions had strong predictive capabilities, whilst Negative expressions performed poorly. Mothers’ faces were more important for predicting Positive and Neutral expressions, whilst fathers’ faces were more important in predicting Negative and Surprise expressions.DiscussionWe discuss the implications of our findings in the context of future automated facial coding studies, and we emphasise the need to consider gender-specific influences in automated facial coding research

Father absence and trajectories of offspring mental health across adolescence and young adulthood: findings from a UK-birth cohort

Background: High prevalence of parental separation and resulting biological father absence raises important questions regarding its impact on offspring mental health across the life course. We specifically examined whether these relationships vary by sex and the timing of exposure to father absence (early or middle childhood). Methods: This study is based on up to 8409 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Participants provided self-reports of depression (Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised) at age 24 years and depressive symptoms (Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire) between the ages of 10 and 24 years. Biological father absence in childhood was assessed through maternal questionnaires at regular intervals from birth to 10 years. We estimated the association between biological father absence and trajectories of depressive symptoms using multilevel growth-curve modelling. Results: Early but not middle childhood father absence was strongly associated with increased odds of offspring depression and greater depressive symptoms at age 24 years. Early childhood father absence was associated with higher trajectories of depressive symptoms during adolescence and early adulthood compared with father presence. Differences in the level of depressive symptoms between middle childhood father absent and father present groups narrowed into adulthood. Limitations: This study could be biased by attrition and residual confounding. Conclusions: We found evidence that father absence in childhood is persistently associated with offspring depression in adolescence and early adulthood. This relationship varies by sex and timing of father's departure, with early childhood father absence emerging as the strongest risk factor for adverse offspring mental health trajectories Further research is needed to identify mechanisms that could inform preventative interventions to reduce the risk of depression in children who experience father absence

Association of autistic traits with depression from childhood to age 18 years

Importance Population-based studies following trajectories of depression in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) from childhood into early adulthood are rare. The role of genetic confounding and of potential environmental intermediaries, such as bullying, in any associations is unclear. Objectives To compare trajectories of depressive symptoms from ages 10 to 18 years for children with or without ASD and autistic traits, to assess associations between ASD and autistic traits and an International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) depression diagnosis at age 18 years, and to explore the importance of genetic confounding and bullying. Design, Setting, and Participants Longitudinal study of participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children birth cohort in Bristol, United Kingdom, followed up through age 18 years. Data analysis was conducted from January to November 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) at 6 time points between ages 10 and 18 years. An ICD-10 depression diagnosis at 18 years was established using the Clinical Interview Schedule–Revised. Exposures were ASD diagnosis and 4 dichotomized autistic traits (social communication, coherence, repetitive behavior, and sociability). An autism polygenic risk score was derived using the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium autism discovery genome-wide association study summary data. Bullying was assessed at ages 8, 10, and 13 years. Results The maximum sample with complete data was 6091 for the trajectory analysis (48.8% male) and 3168 for analysis of depression diagnosis at age 18 years (44.4% male). Children with ASD and autistic traits had higher average SMFQ depressive symptom scores than the general population at age 10 years (eg, for social communication 5.55 [95% CI, 5.16-5.95] vs 3.73 [95% CI, 3.61-3.85], for ASD 7.31 [95% CI, 6.22-8.40] vs 3.94 [95% CI, 3.83-4.05], remaining elevated in an upward trajectory until age 18 years (eg, for social communication 7.65 [95% CI, 6.92-8.37] vs 6.50 [95% CI, 6.29-6.71], for ASD 7.66 [95% CI, 5.96-9.35] vs 6.62 [95% CI, 6.43-6.81]). Social communication impairments were associated with depression at age 18 years (adjusted relative risk, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.05-2.70), and bullying explained a substantial proportion of this risk. There was no evidence of confounding by the autism polygenic risk score. Analysis in larger samples using multiple imputation led to similar but more precise results. Conclusions and Relevance Children with ASD and ASD traits have higher depressive symptom scores than the general population by age 10 years, which persist to age 18 years, particularly in the context of bullying. Social communication impairments are an important autistic trait in relation to depression. Bullying, as an environmental intermediary, could be a target for interventions

The phonon theory of liquid thermodynamics

Heat capacity of matter is considered to be its most important property because it holds information about system's degrees of freedom as well as the regime in which the system operates, classical or quantum. Heat capacity is well understood in gases and solids but not in the third state of matter, liquids, and is not discussed in physics textbooks as a result. The perceived difficulty is that interactions in a liquid are both strong and system-specific, implying that the energy strongly depends on the liquid type and that, therefore, liquid energy can not be calculated in general form. Here, we develop a phonon theory of liquids where this problem is avoided. The theory covers both classical and quantum regimes. We demonstrate good agreement of calculated and experimental heat capacity of 21 liquids, including noble, metallic, molecular and hydrogen-bonded network liquids in a wide range of temperature and pressure.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Association Between Autism Spectrum Disorders With or Without Intellectual Disability and Depression in Young Adulthood

ImportanceDepression is a frequently occurring mental disorder and may be common in adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but there is a lack of longitudinal population-based studies examining this association. Whether any increased risk of depression in ASD has a shared familial basis and whether it differs by co-occurring intellectual disability is not well known.ObjectivesTo examine whether individuals with ASD are more likely to be diagnosed as having depression in adulthood than the general population and their nonautistic siblings and to investigate whether these risks differ by the presence or absence of intellectual disability.Design, setting, and participantsPopulation-based cohort study with a nested sibling comparison. The Stockholm Youth Cohort is a total population record linkage study that includes all children and young people (age range, 0-17 years) who were ever resident in Stockholm County, Sweden, between January 2001 and December 2011 (n = 735 096). Data analysis was conducted between January 5 and November 30, 2017, in Stockholm County, Sweden.Main outcomes and measuresClinical diagnosis of depressive disorders was identified using the Stockholm County Adult Psychiatric Outpatient Register and the Swedish National Patient Register.ResultsParticipants were 223 842 individuals followed up to age 27 years by 2011, of whom 4073 had diagnosed ASD (mean [SD] age, 21.5 [2.7] years; 65.9% male; 2927 without intellectual disability and 1146 with intellectual disability) and 219 769 had no ASD (mean [SD] age, 22.1 [2.8] years; 50.9% male). By age 27 years, 19.8% (n = 808) of individuals diagnosed having ASD had a diagnosis of depression compared with 6.0% (n = 13 114) of the general population (adjusted relative risk [RR], 3.64; 95% CI, 3.41-3.88). The risk of a depression diagnosis was higher in ASD without intellectual disability (adjusted RR, 4.28; 95% CI, 4.00-4.58) than in ASD with intellectual disability (adjusted RR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.51-2.17). Nonautistic full-siblings (adjusted RR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.23-1.53) and half-siblings (adjusted RR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.23-1.64) of individuals with ASD also had a higher risk of depression than the general population. Compared with their nonautistic full-siblings, individuals with ASD had more than a 2-fold risk of a depression diagnosis (adjusted odds ratio, 2.50; 95% CI, 1.91-3.27) in young adulthood.Conclusions and relevanceAccording to this study's results, ASD, particularly ASD without intellectual disability, is associated with depression by young adulthood compared with the general population. It appears that this association is unlikely to be explained by shared familial liability. Future research to identify modifiable pathways between ASD and depression may assist in the development of preventive interventions

Family composition and age at menarche: findings from the international Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Study

This research was funded by The University of St Andrews and NHS Health Scotland.Background Early menarche has been associated with father absence, stepfather presence and adverse health consequences in later life. This article assesses the association of different family compositions with the age at menarche. Pathways are explored which may explain any association between family characteristics and pubertal timing. Methods Cross-sectional, international data on the age at menarche, family structure and covariates (age, psychosomatic complaints, media consumption, physical activity) were collected from the 2009–2010 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey. The sample focuses on 15-year old girls comprising 36,175 individuals across 40 countries in Europe and North America (N = 21,075 for age at menarche). The study examined the association of different family characteristics with age at menarche. Regression and path analyses were applied incorporating multilevel techniques to adjust for the nested nature of data within countries. Results Living with mother (Cohen’s d = .12), father (d = .08), brothers (d = .04) and sisters (d = .06) are independently associated with later age at menarche. Living in a foster home (d = −.16), with ‘someone else’ (d = −.11), stepmother (d = −.10) or stepfather (d = −.06) was associated with earlier menarche. Path models show that up to 89% of these effects can be explained through lifestyle and psychological variables. Conclusions Earlier menarche is reported amongst those with living conditions other than a family consisting of two biological parents. This can partly be explained by girls’ higher Body Mass Index in these families which is a biological determinant of early menarche. Lower physical activity and elevated psychosomatic complaints were also more often found in girls in these family environments.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Autistic Traits and Suicidal Thoughts, Plans, and Self-Harm in Late Adolescence:Population-Based Cohort Study

AbstractImportanceThere have been recent concerns about a higher incidence of mortality by suicide in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To our knowledge, no large cohort studies have examined which features of autism may lead to suicidal ideation and behaviour, and whether there are any potential modifiable mechanisms.ObjectiveTo examine the hypothesis that ASD diagnosis and traits in childhood are associated with suicidal thoughts, plans and self-harm at 16 years, and that any of the observed associations are explained by depression in adolescence at 12 years.Design, setting and participantsProspective investigation of associations between ASD diagnosis and autistic traits with suicidal ideation and behaviour and a potential risk pathway via depression in early adolescence in 5,031 members of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.Main outcomes and measuresHistory of self-harm with and without suicidal intent, suicidal thoughts and plans at 16 years assessed using a detailed self-report questionnaire. Exposures were ASD diagnosis and four measures (the coherence subscale of the Children’s Communication Checklist, the Social and Communication Disorders Checklist, a repetitive behaviour measure, and the sociability temperament subscale of the Emotionality, Activity and Sociability scale) dichotomised to represent the autism trait groups. Depressive symptoms in early adolescence were measured by the Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire at 12 years.ResultsChildren with impaired social communication had a higher risk of self-harm with suicidal intent (RR 2.10, 95% CI 1.28, 3.34), suicidal thoughts (1.42 times (95% CI 1.06, 1.91) and suicidal plans (RR 1.95, 95% CI 1.09, 3.47) by the age of 16 years as compared to those without. There was no evidence for an association between ASD diagnosis and the outcomes although these analyses were imprecise due to small numbers. There was also no evidence of an association between other autism trait measures and the outcomes. Approximately 32% of the total estimated association between social communication impairment and self-harm was explained by depressive symptoms at age 12 years.ConclusionsImpairments in social communication are important in relation to suicidality. Early identification and management of depression may be a preventative mechanism and future research identifying other modifiable mechanisms may lead to preventative action or interventions against suicidal behaviour in this high-risk group.</jats:sec

Maternal postnatal depression and offspring depression at age 24 years in a UK-birth cohort: the mediating role of maternal nurturing behaviours concerning feeding, crying and sleeping

Background: Maternal postnatal depression (PND) is a risk factor for offspring depression in adulthood. However, few longitudinal studies have examined the role of maternal nurturing parenting behaviours in the association between maternal PND and offspring depression in adulthood. Methods: We examined pathways from maternal PND measured using self-reported Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale at 8 weeks to offspring ICD-10 depression diagnosed using the Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised computerised assessment at 24 years through maternal-reported nurturing behaviours concerning feeding, sleeping and crying measured from pregnancy to age 3 years 6 months in 5,881 members of the UK-based birth cohort study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Results: The fully adjusted model revealed an indirect effect from PND to adult offspring depression through the combination of all parenting factors (probit regression coefficient [B]=0.038, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.005, 0.071); however, there was no evidence of a direct effect from early maternal PND to offspring depression once the indirect effect via parenting factors was accounted for (B=0.009, 95%CI -0.075, 0.093). Specificity analyses revealed indirect effects through maternal worries about feeding (B=0.019, 95%CI 0.003, 0.035, p=0.010) and maternal perceptions and responses to crying (B=0.018, 95%CI 0.004, 0.032, p=0.012). Conclusions: The adverse impact of maternal PND on offspring depression in early adulthood was explained by maternal nurturing behaviours concerning feeding, crying and sleeping in early childhood. Residual confounding and measurement error likely limit reliable conclusions. If found causal, interventions providing support to reduce worries around maternal nurturing behaviours and treating depression could reduce adverse outcomes in adult offspring of depressed mothers