Intergenerational transmission of psychopathology across three generations:the role of social support

Psychopathology runs in families and affects functioning of individuals and their family members. This study assessed the intergenerational transmission of psychopathology risk across three generations, and the extent to which social support factors may protect against this transmission from parents to their offspring. This study was embedded in Generation R, a multi-ethnic population-based cohort from fetal life onwards. Lifetime psychiatric disorders of grandparents were assessed with the Family Informant Schedule Criteria- updated for DSM-IV. Parental psychopathology was repeatedly measured by the Brief Symptom Inventory. Offspring psychopathology (ages 10 and 14) was assessed with the Brief Problem Monitor. Maternal and child social factors were assessed using questionnaire measures and a computerized peer nomination assessment. Our results show that the estimated additive interaction effect for the risk transmission of grandparental and pre- and postnatal parental psychopathology to offspring psychopathology was 23% (95% CI 19; 27). The joint effect of grandparental and parental psychopathology combined with maternal and child social support factors was 13% (95% CI 08; 17)], suggesting that social support factors diminished the intergenerational transmission of psychopathology from (grand)parents (G1 and G2) to offspring (G3). Transmission of psychopathology risk may have long-lasting developmental effects across generations. Social support factors reduced the vulnerability to the effects of psychopathology risk, underscoring the importance of the identification of buffering factors associated with good mental health in adolescents who are at high familial risk

Academic achievement of children with autistic symptoms compared to typically developing children

Children with autistic symptoms experience challenges in school settings, yet little is known about their academic profiles and the mechanisms underlying the association between autistic symptoms and academic achievement. This study examined the association between autistic symptoms and academic achievement in a population-based sample of children with and without (sub)clinical autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We also investigated potential sex differences and assessed if the association is mediated by vocabulary skills and behavior problems. Information was available for 2038 participants (48.3% boys), and autistic symptoms were assessed using the Social Responsiveness Scale (M = 6.8 years). Diagnosis of ASD was clinically confirmed in 28 children. Academic achievement was determined by a nationwide, standardized test assessed at the end of primary school (M = 11.8 years). Children with more autistic symptoms in early childhood had lower achievement scores in language, mathematics, and world orientation by the end of primary education. There were no sex differences. Furthermore, vocabulary skills and behavior problems partly mediated the association between autistic symptoms and academic achievement. Then, by using propensity matching technique, we compared 140 matched typically developing peers with 28 children diagnosed with ASD. These results indicated no differences in academic achievement between children diagnosed with ASD and their matched typically developing peers. We conclude that autistic symptoms associate with lower academic achievement but by carefully matching on background variables and potential confounders, the academic achievement of children with clinical ASD might not differ from that of their typically developing peers.</p

Relative age effects on academic achievement in the first ten years of formal schooling: A nationally representative longitudinal prospective study

The effects of school starting age and relative age effects (RAEs) have generated much interest from parents, teachers, policymakers, and educational researchers. Our 10-year longitudinal study is based on a nationally representative (N = 4,983) prospective sample from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. The primary outcomes are results from the high-stake, Australia-wide National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy tests in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9, controlling for demographic characteristics (gender, socioeconomic status, school type, and childhood cognition measured before the start of kindergarten). We evaluated how direct and mediated RAEs vary over the first 10 years of schooling for these longitudinal data. Results revealed significant RAEs in primary school years for both numeracy and literacy test outcomes. Effects were large in primary school years but declined in secondary school years. Although the direct effects of RAEs declined over time, there continued to be significant indirect effects over the whole 10-year period. RAEs in primary school had enduring effects that were mediated through the effects of earlier achievement. We juxtapose our results with previous RAE research on achievement and a range of other noncognitive outcomes where the RAEs are enduring into adolescence and even adulthood. We position our research within this broader research literature and discuss implications for educational policy, practice, theory, and future research

Television viewing through ages 2-5 years and bullying involvement in early elementary school

BACKGROUND: High television exposure time at young age has been described as a potential risk factor for developing behavioral problems. However, less is known about the effects of preschool television on subsequent bullying involvement. We examined the association between television viewing time through ages 2-5 and bullying involvement in the first grades of elementary school. We hypothesized that high television exposure increases the risk of bullying involvement. METHOD: TV viewing time was assessed repeatedly in early childhood using parental report. To combine these repeated assessments we used latent class analysis. Four exposure classes were identified and labeled “low”, “mid-low”, “mid-high” and “high”. Bullying involvement was assessed by teacher questionnaire (n = 3423, mean age 6.8 years). Additionally, peer/self-report of bullying involvement was obtained using a peer nomination procedure (n = 1176, mean age 7.6 years). We examined child risk of being a bully, victim or a bully-victim (compared to being uninvolved in bullying). RESULTS: High television exposure class was associated with elevated risks of bullying and victimization. Also, in both teacher- and child-reported data, children in the high television exposure class were more likely to be a bully-victim (OR = 2.11, 95% CI: 1.42-3.13 and OR = 3.68, 95% CI: 1.75-7.74 respectively). However, all univariate effect estimates attenuated and were no longer statistically significant once adjusted for maternal and child covariates. CONCLUSIONS: The association between television viewing time through ages 2-5 and bullying involvement in early elementary school is confounded by maternal and child socio-demographic characteristics

Children's Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms Predict Lower Diet Quality but Not Vice Versa:Results from Bidirectional Analyses in a Population-Based Cohort

BACKGROUND: As an adjuvant for medication, dietary changes focused on specific nutrients have been proposed to prevent or reduce attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. However, whether an overall healthy dietary pattern is associated with ADHD symptom severity during childhood remains unclear. Furthermore, it is not clear what the direction of this association is. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to examine the association between dietary patterns and ADHD symptoms in school-aged children. In addition, we aimed to identify the temporal direction of this association-that is, whether dietary patterns predict ADHD symptoms or vice versa. METHODS: We analyzed data from 3680 children participating in the Generation R Study, a prospective cohort in Rotterdam, Netherlands. ADHD symptoms were assessed with parent-report questionnaires at ages 6 and 10 y using the Child Behavior Checklist. Dietary intake was assessed at the age of 8 y with a validated food-frequency questionnaire. We computed a diet quality score reflecting adherence to dietary guidelines. We examined bidirectional associations of diet quality with ADHD symptom scores using multivariable linear regression analysis and cross-lagged modeling. RESULTS: Linear regressions showed that more ADHD symptoms at age 6 y were associated with a lower diet quality score at age 8 y (SD score = -0.08; 95% CI: -0.11, -0.05) but that diet quality at age 8 y was not associated with ADHD symptoms at age 10 y. Cross-lagged models confirmed a unidirectional relation from ADHD symptoms to diet quality but not vice versa. Associations did not differ by overweight status or between boys and girls. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that children with more ADHD symptoms may be at higher risk of an unhealthy diet but that overall diet quality does not affect ADHD risk

Prevalence and Characterization of Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder in a Paediatric Population

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Poverty from fetal life onward and child brain morphology

Poverty is a risk factor for impaired child development, an association possibly mediated by brain morphology. Previous studies lacked prospective poverty assessments during pregnancy and did not stratify by majority/minority status. We investigated the association of household poverty from fetal life forward with brain morphological differences at age 10 years, in 2166 mother–child dyads. Overall, the results showed no associations between any poverty exposure early in life and brain volumes. However, there was the evidence of timing effects: children exposed to poverty in utero had smaller amygdala volumes (B =  − 0.18, 95%CI − 0.30; − 0.07, p(FDR-adjusted) = 0.009). There were also differences in associations by majority/minority status (cerebral white matter: p for interaction = 0.04). Dutch children exposed to childhood poverty showed smaller cerebral white matter volumes than their control (B =  − 0.26, 95%CI − 0.45; − 0.06, p(FDR-adjusted) = 0.035). This association was not observed in the minority population (B =  − 0.05, 95%CI − 0.23; 0.12, p(FDR-adjusted) = 0.542). The smaller cerebral white matter volume mediated the association between childhood poverty and poorer school performance in Dutch children. Our findings point to the importance of poverty exposure in the fetal period and suggest different mechanisms and vulnerabilities across majority/minority groups

A Longitudinal Study of Stress During Pregnancy, Children’s Sleep and Polygenic Risk for Poor Sleep in the General Pediatric Population

Early life stress is robustly associated with poor sleep across life. Preliminary studies suggest that these associations may begin already in utero. Here, we study the longitudinal associations of prenatal psychosocial stress with sleep across childhood, and assess whether prenatal stress interacts with genetic liability for poor sleep. The study is embedded in the Generation R population-based birth cohort. Caregivers reported on prenatal psychosocial stress (life events, contextual, parental or interpersonal stressors) and on children’s sleep at ages 2 months, 1.5, 2, 3 and 6 years. The study sample consisted of 4,930 children; polygenic risk scores for sleep traits were available in 2,063. Prenatal stress was consistently associated with more sleep problems across assessments. Effect sizes ranged from small (B = 0.21, 95%CI: 0.14;0.27) at 2 months to medium (B = 0.45, 95%CI: 0.38;0.53) at 2 years. Prenatal stress was moreover associated with shorter sleep duration at 2 months (Bhrs = -0.22, 95%CI: -0.32;-0.12) and at 2 years (Bhrs = -0.04, 95%CI -0.07; -0.001), but not at 3 years (Bhrs = 0.02, 95%CI: -0.02;0.06). Prenatal negative life events interacted with polygenic risk for insomnia to exacerbate sleep problems at 6 years (Binteraction = 0.07, 95%CI: 0.02;0.13). Psychosocial stress during pregnancy has negative associations with children’s sleep that persist across childhood, and are exacerbated by genetic liability for insomnia. Associations with sleep duration were more pronounced in infancy and seem to attenuate with age. These findings highlight the role of the prenatal environment for developing sleep regulation, and could inform early intervention programs targeting sleep in children from high-risk pregnancies.</p

Prospective associations between early childhood parental feeding practices and eating disorder symptoms and disordered eating behaviors in adolescence

OBJECTIVE: Nonresponsive parental feeding practices are associated with poorer appetite self-regulation in children. It is unknown whether this relationship extends beyond childhood to be prospectively associated with the onset of eating disorder (ED) symptoms in adolescence. This exploratory study therefore investigated prospective associations between early childhood parental feeding practices and adolescent ED symptoms and disordered eating behaviors. METHODS: Data were from two population-based cohorts with harmonized measures: Generation R (Netherlands; n = 4900) and Gemini (UK; n = 2094). Parents self-reported their pressure to eat, restriction and instrumental feeding (i.e., using food as a reward) at child age 4-5 years. Adolescents self-reported their compensatory behaviors (e.g., fasting, purging), binge-eating symptoms, restrained eating, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating at 12-14 years. Associations between feeding practices and ED symptoms were examined separately in each cohort using generalized linear models. RESULTS: In Gemini, pressure to eat in early childhood was associated with adolescents engaging in compensatory behaviors. In Generation R, parental restriction was associated with adolescents engaging in compensatory behaviors, restrained eating, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating. Instrumental feeding was associated with uncontrolled eating and emotional eating in Generation R. DISCUSSION: Nonresponsive parental feeding practices were associated with a greater frequency of specific ED symptoms and disordered eating in adolescence, although effect sizes were small and findings were inconsistent between cohorts. Potentially, the cultural and developmental context in which child-parent feeding interactions occur is important for ED symptoms. Further replication studies are required to better understand parents' role in the development and maintenance of ED-related symptoms. PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE: Prospective research examining how early childhood parental feeding practices might contribute to adolescent ED symptoms is limited. In two population-based cohorts, nonresponsive feeding practices (restriction, instrumental feeding, pressure to eat) predicted increased frequency of some ED symptoms and disordered eating behaviors in adolescence, although associations were small and further replication is required. Findings support the promotion of responsive feeding practices, which may benefit young children's developing relationship with food

Childhood obesity's influence on socioeconomic disparities in young adolescents’ mental health

Purpose: We investigated whether socioeconomic inequalities in young adolescents’ mental health are partially due to the unequal distribution of childhood obesity across socioeconomic positions (SEP), i.e. differential exposure, or due to the effect of obesity on mental health being more detrimental among certain SEPs, i.e. differential impact. Methods: We studied 4660 participants of the Generation R study, a population-based study in the Netherlands. SEP was estimated by mother's education and household income at age five of the child. We estimated the contribution of the mediating and moderating effects of high body fat percentage to the disparity in mental health. This was done through a four-way decomposition using marginal structural models with inverse probability of treatment weighting. Results: Comparing children with the least to most educated mothers and the lowest to highest household income, the total disparity in emotional problems was 0.98 points (95%CI:0.35–1.63) and 1.68 points (95%CI:1.13–2.19), respectively. Of these total disparities in emotional problems, 0.50 points (95%CI:0.15–0.85) and 0.24 points (95%CI:0.09–0.46) were due to the differential exposure to obesity. Obesity did not contribute to disparities in behavioural problems. Conclusion: Addressing the heightened obesity prevalence among children in low SEP families may reduce inequalities in emotional problems in early adolescence.</p