The timing of maternal depressive symptoms and child cognitive development: a longitudinal study.

Background: Maternal depression is known to be associated with impairments in child cognitive development, although the effect of timing of exposure to maternal depression is unclear. Methods: Data collected for the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a longitudinal study beginning in pregnancy, included self-report measures of maternal depression the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, completed on 6 occasions up to 3 years of age, and IQ of the index child (WISC) measured at aged 8 years. We used these data to assign women to 8 groups according to whether depression occurred in the antenatal, postnatal, preschool period, any combination of these times, or not at all. We compared a model comprising all patterns of depression (saturated model) with models nested within this to test whether there is a relationship between depression and child cognitive development and, if so, whether there is a sensitive period. We then investigated the relationship with child IQ for each model, following adjustment for confounders. Results: Six thousand seven hundred and thirty-five of 13,615 children from singleton births (49.5%, of eligible core sample) attended a research clinic at 8 years and completed a WISC with a score ≥ 70. A total of 5,029 mothers of these children had completed mood assessments over the 3 time periods. In unadjusted analyses, all three sensitive period models were as good as the saturated model, as was an accumulation model. Of the sensitive period models, only that for antenatal exposure was a consistently better fit than the accumulation model. After multiple imputation for missing data (to n = 6,735), there was no effect of postnatal depression on child IQ independent of depression at other times [-0.19 IQ points, 95% confidence interval (CI) -1.5 to 1.1 points]. There was an effect of antenatal depression (-3.19 IQ points, 95% CI: -4.33 to -2.06) which attenuated following adjustment (-0.64 IQ points, 95% CI: -1.68 to 0.40). Conclusions: The postnatal period is not a sensitive one for the effect of maternal depression on child cognitive development. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

Surface Energy in Cold Asymmetrical Fermion Superfluids

We derive the energy of the surface between the normal and superfluid components of a mixed phase of a system composed of two particle species with different densities. The surface energy is obtained by the integration of the free energy density in the interface between the two phases. We show that the mixed phase remains as the favored ground state over the gapless phase in weak coupling. We find that the surface energy effects emerge only at strong coupling.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, typos corrected, published versio

Parental depression and child outcomes--is marital conflict the missing link?

BACKGROUND: Both maternal and paternal depression during the perinatal period are associated with adverse effects on child outcomes. Attention has started to focus on the mechanisms mediating these relationships. Marital conflict may play a role in this context. METHODS: In a large cohort study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (n = 14,541 pregnancies), we aimed to (i) investigate the relative influences of parental postnatal depression and marital conflict on child outcomes and to attempt to determine the pathway(s) of risk; (ii) investigate the impact of two types of antenatal stress (parental depression and marital conflict) on child outcomes; and (iii) determine the relative contributions of antenatal and postnatal risk. Parents completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and a marital conflict scale during the second trimester and at 8 months postnatally. Child outcomes were assessed at 42 months using the Rutter revised pre-school scales. RESULTS: Marital conflict partially mediated the relationship between postnatal depression in both mothers and fathers and child outcomes, and acted as an independent risk for adverse outcomes. Parental depression (maternal and paternal) and marital conflict in the antenatal period were both associated with adverse effects which persisted even when postnatal stresses were taken into account. CONCLUSIONS: These findings, if replicated, suggest that screening and intervention programmes targeted at parental depression and marital problems should be considered antenatally, as well as postnatally

A global simulation for laser driven MeV electrons in 50μm50\mu m-diameter fast ignition targets

The results from 2.5-dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations for the interaction of a picosecond-long ignition laser pulse with a plasma pellet of 50-$\mu m$ diameter and 40 critical density are presented. The high density pellet is surrounded by an underdense corona and is isolated by a vacuum region from the simulation box boundary. The laser pulse is shown to filament and create density channels on the laser-plasma interface. The density channels increase the laser absorption efficiency and help generate an energetic electron distribution with a large angular spread. The combined distribution of the forward-going energetic electrons and the induced return electrons is marginally unstable to the current filament instability. The ions play an important role in neutralizing the space charges induced by the the temperature disparity between different electron groups. No global coalescing of the current filaments resulted from the instability is observed, consistent with the observed large angular spread of the energetic electrons.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Physics of Plasmas (May 2006

Which children and young people are excluded from school? Findings from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) - poster abstract

Poster abstract presented at Spring Meeting for Clinician Scientists in Training 2015BACKGROUND: School exclusion is a disciplinary method used to remove a child from the school environment. It is known to affect certain groups disproportionately, including boys, some ethnic minorities, children in care, children in poverty, and children with special educational needs. Population-based studies on wider characteristics of excluded pupils are scarce. The aim of this study was to describe factors associated with school exclusion in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), focussing on neurodevelopment and mental health. METHODS: ALSPAC is a prospective population-based British birth cohort study, with the initial sample consisting of 14 541 pregnancies. The study has data for whether a child has been permanently excluded from school up to the age of 8 years as reported by parents and also permanent and fixed period exclusions in the preceding 12 months as reported by parents and young people at age 16 years. Upstream risk factors were assessed for associations with exclusion on univariable analysis. The association with social communication difficulties was investigated with multivariable logistic regression. FINDINGS: Data for exclusions up to the age of 8 years were available for 8245 ALSPAC participants and 4482 participants for exclusion at age 16 years. 53 pupils (0·6%) were excluded from school by age 8 years, and 390 (8·7%) at age 16 years. The odds of exclusion by 8 years and at 16 years were increased with male sex (p=0·001 and p<0·0001, respectively), low family income (p=0·014 and p<0·0001), family adversity (p<0·0001 for both), maternal psychopathology (p=0·013 and p=0·004), low intelligence quotient (p=0·041 and p<0·0001), mental health difficulties (p<0·0001 for both), psychiatric disorder (p<0·0001 for both), social communication difficulties (p<0·0001 for both), antisocial activities (p=0·004 and p<0·0001), bullying or being bullied (p=0·005 and p<0·0001), low educational attainment (p<0·0001 for both), and increased special educational needs (p<0·0001 for both). On multivariable analysis, having social communication difficulties above a clinical threshold on the Social Communication Disorders Checklist was strongly associated with exclusion by 8 years (odds ratio 7·4, 95% CI 3·6-15·4) and at 16 years (2·3, 1·5-3·5), after adjustment for relevant confounders. INTERPRETATION: Although cohort attrition and small numbers of exclusions at 8 years are limitations, this study suggests that school exclusion is associated with numerous risk factors identifiable at or before primary school entry. Child health professionals have an important role in the holistic assessment of children who are excluded, or who are at risk of school exclusion. There is particular need to ensure that mental health and neurodevelopmental difficulties are appropriately recognised and supported. FUNDING: National Institute for Health Research Academic Clinical Fellowship

Fusing Quantitative Requirements Analysis with Model-based Systems Engineering

A vision is presented for fusing quantitative requirements analysis with model-based systems engineering. This vision draws upon and combines emergent themes in the engineering milieu. “Requirements engineering” provides means to explicitly represent requirements (both functional and non-functional) as constraints and preferences on acceptable solutions, and emphasizes early-lifecycle review, analysis and verification of design and development plans. “Design by shopping” emphasizes revealing the space of options available from which to choose (without presuming that all selection criteria have previously been elicited), and provides means to make understandable the range of choices and their ramifications. “Model-based engineering” emphasizes the goal of utilizing a formal representation of all aspects of system design, from development through operations, and provides powerful tool suites that support the practical application of these principles. A first step prototype towards this vision is described, embodying the key capabilities. Illustrations, implications, further challenges and opportunities are outlined

The role of early childhood psychological factors in determining risk for enuresis at school age in a UK cohort

There is evidence for a link between psychological factors and bedwetting, but the direction of this association is unclear. Using data on 8769 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, we examined whether difficult temperament (Toddler Temperament Scale at 24 months; Emotionality Activity Sociability Questionnaire at 38 months) and psychological problems (Revised Rutter Parent Scale for Preschool Children at 42 months) are linked to bedwetting at school age. We examined the association between these risk factors and different patterns of bedwetting from 4 to 9 years using multinomial regression. Difficult temperament and psychological problems in early childhood were associated with increased odds of bedwetting at 4–9 years. The strongest associations were most often found for the pattern of bedwetting that was both frequent (at least twice a week) and persistent (up to age 9) e.g. the temperament traits of ‘adaptability’ and ‘mood’ were associated with a 33 % increase (95 % confidence interval = 1.14–1.55) and a 27 % increase (1.10–1.47) respectively in the odds of persistent and frequent bedwetting per one standard deviation increase in risk score. Early behaviour problems (e.g. conduct problems [1.43 (1.25, 1.63)] and hyperactivity [1.29 (1.11, 1.50), p < 0.001]) were also associated with frequent and persistent bedwetting, but there was less evidence that early emotional difficulties were risk factors for bedwetting. Adjustment for confounders did not alter these conclusions. The presence of difficult temperament and behaviour problems in early childhood might help to identify children who will continue to experience bedwetting at school age. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00787-015-0756-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users