Factors associated with emotional and behavioural problems among school age children of breast cancer patients

To identify factors linked with emotional and behavioural problems in school age (6- to 17-year-old) children of women with breast cancer. Reports of children's emotional and behavioural problems were obtained from patient mothers, their healthy partners, the children's teacher and adolescents using the Child Behaviour Checklist and Mental Health subscale of the Child Health Questionnaire. Parents reported on their own level of depression and, for patients only, their quality of life. Family functioning was assessed using the Family Assessment Device and Cohesion subscale of the Family Environment Scale. Using a cross-sectional within groups design, assessments were obtained (N=107 families) where the patients were 3–36 months postdiagnosis. Risk of problems in children were linked with low levels of family cohesion, low affective responsiveness and parental over-involvement as reported by both child and mother. Adolescents reported family communication issues, which were associated with externalising behaviour problems. Maternal depression was related to child internalising problems, particularly in girls. Whether the mother was currently on or off chemotherapy was not associated with child problems nor was time since cancer diagnosis. These findings held across child age. Where mothers have early stage breast cancer, a substantial minority of their school-aged children have emotional and behavioural problems. Such cases are characterised by the existence of maternal depression and poor family communication, rather than by the mother's treatment status or time since diagnosis. Targeted treatments, which focus on maternal depression and family communication may benefit the children and, through improved relationships, enhance the patients' quality of life

Tea plants and air pollutants

The major tea-growing regions of the world are located in Asia, where tea contributes substantially to their economy. It is known how the rapid development of the economy, twinned to global change, has created in many districts of industrialized countries critical levels of air pollution. Abiotic stresses may affect plant growth, quality, and distribution. This is particularly important for specialty crops such as tea, where functional quality is determined by phytonutrients, secondary metabolites, and bioactive components that play a pivotal role in plant defense and acclimation/adaptation/resilience to environmental stresses. Stress conditions such as drought, heat, light extremes, salinity, and toxic metals in the substrate have been the subject of intense researches, and the sensitivity of tea plants to these constraints has been tested by the scientific community through field and controlled experiments. Tea plants present high leaf surface areas, and exchange with atmosphere is elevated. However, little is known about the way air pollution affects tea responses and how this species is able to counteract this insult. In this chapter, the existing literature reporting the effects of air pollution on the tea plant is reviewed with the aim to examine physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses found in this species. To the best of our knowledge, only the impacts of few air pollutants have been somehow assessed on tea plants, and several responses are still poorly understood. Thus, more research on the impact of air pollution on tea plants is needed. This is of pivotal importance also because commercial tea samples may contain significant quantities of contaminants, which may be transferred to the consumer. No doubt that health national/international bodies should pay more attention to this issue and adopt safe standards of pollution content in the commodities of one of the world’s most popular beverages, highly appreciated also by young people because of its pleasant aroma, flavor, and potential positive effect on mood