Parents' postnatal depressive symptoms and their children's academic attainment at 16 years: Pathways of risk transmission

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.The aim of the study was to examine whether parents’ increased postnatal depressive symptoms predicted children’s academic attainment over time, and whether the parent-child relationship, children’s prior academic attainment and mental health mediated this association. We conducted secondary analyses on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children data (12,607 mothers, 9,456 fathers). Each parent completed the Edinburgh-Postnatal Depression Scale at 8 weeks after the child’s birth (predictor) and a questionnaire about the mother-child and father-child relationship at 7 years and 1 month (mediator). The children’s mental health problems were assessed with the teacher version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at 10-11 years (mediator). We used data on the children’s academic attainment on UK Key Stage 1 (5-7 years; mediator) and Key Stage 4 (General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE)16 years) (outcome). We adjusted for the parents’ education, and child gender and cognitive ability. The results revealed that parents’ depressive symptoms at 8 weeks predicted lower academic performance in children at 16 years. Mothers’ postnatal depressive symptoms had an indirect effect through children’s mental health problems on academic outcomes at 16 years via negative mother-child relationship, and prior academic attainment. There was a significant negative indirect effect of fathers’ postnatal depressive symptoms on academic attainment at 16 years via negative father-child relationship on child mental health. The findings suggest that the family environment (parental mental health and parent-child relationship) and children’s mental health should be potential targets for support programmes for children of depressed parents.Medical Research Council (MRC)Wellcome Trus

Evaluating susceptibility of karst dolines (sinkholes) for collapse in Sango, Tennessee, USA

Dolines or sinkholes are earth depressions that develop in soluble rocks complexes such as limestone, dolomite, gypsum, anhydrite, and halite; dolines appear in a variety of shapes from nearly circular to complex structures with highly curved perimeters. The occurrence of dolines in the studied karst area is not random; they are the results of geomorphic, hydrologic and chemical processes that have caused partial subsidence, even total collapse of the land surface, when voids and caves are present in the bedrock and the regolith arch overbridging these voids is unstable. In the study area, the majority of collapses occur in the regolith (bedrock cover) that bridges voids in the bedrock. Because these collapsing dolines can damage property and cause even the loss of lives, there is a need to develop methods for evaluating karst hazards; such methods can be used by planners and practitioners for urban and economic development, especially in regions with a growing population. The purpose of this project is threefold: 1) to develop a karst feature database, 2) to investigate critical indicators associated with doline collapse, and 3) to design a doline susceptibility model for potential doline collapse based on external morphometric data. The study revealed the presence of short range spatial dependence in the distribution of the dolines’ morphometric parameters such as circularity, geographic orientation of the main doline axes and the length-to-width doline ratios; therefore, geostatistics can be used to spatially evaluate the susceptibility of the karst area for doline collapse using the probability of occurrence of these critical parameters. The partial susceptibility estimates were combined into final spatial probabilities enabling the identification of areas where undetected dolines may cause significant hazards

Association of maternal and paternal depression in the postnatal period With Offspring Depression at Age 18 Years

Importance Paternal depression during the postnatal period has been associated with adverse child outcomes. Family environment has been reported as a pathway for risk transmission from fathers to children. The influence of paternal depression during the postnatal period on offspring depression remains to be clarified. Objective To investigate the association between paternal depression in the postnatal period and offspring depression and explore potential mediating and moderating factors that influence any association between paternal and offspring depression. Design, Setting, and Participants This prospective study of a UK community-based birth cohort (the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) of parents and their adolescent offspring investigated associations between paternal depression during the postnatal period and offspring depression at age 18 years. We tested a hypothesized moderator (ie, sex) and conducted path analysis to examine hypothesized mediators (ie, depression in the other parent, couple conflict, and paternal involvement and emotional problems, conduct problems, and hyperactivity in offspring at age 3.5 years) of the associations between both paternal and maternal depression and offspring depression. Data collection for the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children began in 1991 and is ongoing. Data analysis for this study was conducted from June 2015 to September 2018. Results A total of 3176 father-offspring pairs were analyzed; of the children, 1764 were girls (55.5%) and 1412 (44.5%) were boys. Paternal mean (SD) age at delivery was 29.6 (9.6) years. The offspring of fathers who had depression during the postnatal period were at increased risk of experiencing depression symptoms at age 18 years (β = 0.053 [95% CI, 0.02-0.09]). The association is mediated by maternal depression at 8 months after birth (β = 0.011 [95% CI, 0.0008-0.02]; 21% [0.011/0.053]) and conduct problems at 42 months after birth (β = 0.004; [95% CI , −0.00004 to 0.009]; 7.5% [0.004/0.053]). Couple conflict and paternal involvement do not mediate this association. The increased risk is seen in girls but not boys (interaction β = 0.095; P = .01). Conclusions and Relevance The association between paternal depression in the postnatal period and depression in girls at age 18 years is partially explained by maternal depression. Couple conflict and paternal involvement were not found to play a role in the risk of transmission; this contrasts with the role that couple conflict was found to play in the risk of childhood behavior problems. Conduct problems in childhood appear to be a pathway for risk transmission between paternal depression and subsequent depression in offspring at age 18 years.</p