Opposing influences of prenatal and postnatal weight gain on adrenarche in normal boys and girls

Associations between low birth weight and higher adrenal androgen secretion before puberty have yet only been reported in case-control studies in girls. We examined the influence of birth weight and early postnatal weight gain on overnight-fasting adrenal androgen and cortisol levels in 770 children from a large normal United Kingdom birth cohort at age 8 yr. In univariate analyses, adrenal androgen levels were inversely related to birth weight SD score in each sex [ dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in boys: regression coefficient (B) = - 2.5 mug/dl/SD; 95% confidence interval (CI), - 4.7 to - 0.2; in girls: B = - 3.8 mug/dl/SD; 95% CI, - 6.2 to - 1.4; androstenedione in boys: B = - 0.15 nmol/liter/SD, 95% CI, - 0.25 to - 0.6; in girls: B = - 0.13 nmol/liter/SD; 95% CI, - 0.24 to - 0.02). In multivariate analyses, both lower birth weight and larger current body weight predicted higher adrenal androgen levels ( P < 0.005 for all comparisons). Allowing for current weight, children who showed rapid postnatal weight gain between 0 and 3 yr had higher dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate ( P = 0.002) and androstenedione ( P = 0.004) levels at 8 yr. In contrast, cortisol levels were unrelated to birth weight or current body size. In summary, the relationship between lower birth weight and higher childhood adrenal androgen levels was continuous throughout the range of normal birth weights, and was similar in boys and girls. Adrenal androgen levels were highest in small infants who gained weight rapidly during early childhood. We suggest that higher adrenal androgen secretion could contribute to links between early growth and adult disease risks, possibly by enhancing insulin resistance and central fat deposition

JAMMU AND KASHMIR BURUSHASKI: LANGUAGE, LANGUAGE CONTACT, AND CHANGE Committee:

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Configurations of mother-child and father-child attachment as predictors of internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems: An individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis

An unsettled question in attachment theory and research is the extent to which children's attachment patterns with mothers and fathers jointly predict developmental outcomes. In this study, we used individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis to assess whether early attachment networks with mothers and fathers are associated with children's internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. Following a pre-registered protocol, data from 9 studies and 1,097 children (mean age: 28.67 months) with attachment classifications to both mothers and fathers were included in analyses. We used a linear mixed effects analysis to assess differences in children's internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems as assessed via the average of both maternal and paternal reports based on whether children had two, one, or no insecure (or disorganized) attachments. Results indicated that children with an insecure attachment relationship with one or both parents were at higher risk for elevated internalizing behavioral problems compared with children who were securely attached to both parents. Children whose attachment relationships with both parents were classified as disorganized had more externalizing behavioral problems compared to children with either one or no disorganized attachment relationship with their parents. Across attachment classification networks and behavioral problems, findings suggest (a) an increased vulnerability to behavioral problems when children have insecure or disorganized attachment to both parents, and (b) that mother-child and father-child attachment relationships may not differ in the roles they play in children's development of internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems