Parental Incarceration: Recent Trends and Implications for Child Welfare

Using national survey data, we analyze 11-year trends in parental incarceration. Results indicate that children with incarcerated parents have become an increasingly large share of the foster care population since the mid-1980s and a notable share of U.S. children living with grandparent caregivers. Findings underscore the need to develop and implement specific child welfare and criminal justice policies for serving these families

Conducting Qualitative Research on Parental Incarceration: Personal Reflections on Challenges and Contributions

Methodological challenges of conducting research with protected populations using qualitative methods are abundant. Inmates and children are two vulnerable populations, requiring rigorous processes and permissions to gain access to individuals in these populations. Qualitative research requires intimate interactions and discussions of sensitive topics, posing challenges related to extracting information and creating emotional responses from researcher and participant. Drawing on interviews with incarcerated mothers and children with incarcerated parents, we discuss challenges and benefits of qualitative methodology for research on parental incarceration and offer suggestions for overcoming barriers to access, data collection, and publication

Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of premenstrual syndrome in a prospective cohort study

Background: Moderate to severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS) affects 8–20 percent of premenopausal women. Previous studies suggest that high dietary vitamin D intake may reduce risk. However, vitamin D status is influenced by both dietary vitamin D intake and sunlight exposure and the association of vitamin D status with PMS remains unclear. Methods: We assessed the relation of plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD), total calcium and parathyroid hormone levels with risk of PMS and specific menstrual symptoms in a case–control study nested within the prospective Nurses’ Health Study II. Cases were 401 women free from PMS at baseline who developed PMS during follow-up (1991–2005). Controls were women not experiencing PMS (1991–2005), matched 1:1 with cases on age and other factors. Timed luteal phase blood samples were collected between 1996 and 1999 from cases and controls. We used conditional logistic regression to model the relation of 25OHD levels with risk of PMS and individual menstrual symptoms. Results: In analyses of all cases and controls, 25OHD levels were not associated with risk of PMS. However, results differed when the timing of blood collection vs. PMS diagnosis was considered. Among cases who had already been diagnosed with PMS at the time of blood collection (n = 279), 25OHD levels were positively associated with PMS, with each 10 nmol/L change in 25OHD associated with a 13% higher risk. Among cases who developed PMS after blood collection (n = 123), 25OHD levels were unrelated to risk of PMS overall, but inversely related to risk of specific menstrual symptoms. For example, each 10 nmol/L increase was associated with a significant 21% lower risk of breast tenderness (P = 0.02). Total calcium or parathyroid hormone levels were unrelated to PMS. Conclusions: 25OHD levels were not associated with overall risk of PMS. The positive association observed among women already experiencing PMS at the time of 25OHD measurement is likely due to confounding by indication related to use of dietary supplements to treat menstrual symptoms. Results from prospective analyses, which were less likely influenced by this bias, suggest that higher 25OHD levels may be inversely related to the development of specific menstrual symptoms

The serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism moderates the continuity of behavioral inhibition in early childhood.

Persistently elevated behavioral inhibition (BI) in children is a marker of vulnerability to psychopathology. However, little research has considered the joint influences of caregiver and child factors that may moderate the continuity of BI in early childhood, particularly genetic variants that may serve as markers of biological plasticity, such as the serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR). We explored this issue in 371 preschoolers and their caregivers, examining whether parent characteristics (i.e., overinvolvement or anxiety disorder) and child 5-HTTLPR influenced the continuity of BI between ages 3 and 5. Measures were observational ratings of child BI, observational and questionnaire measures of parenting, and parent interviews for anxiety disorder history, and children were genotyped for the 5-HTTLPR. Parent factors did not moderate the association between age 3 and age 5 BI; however, child BI at age 3 interacted with children\u27s 5-HTTLPR variants to predict age 5 BI, such that children with at least one copy of the short allele exhibited less continuity of BI over time relative to children without this putative plasticity variant. Findings are consistent with previous work indicating the 5-HTTLPR short variant increases plasticity to contextual influences, thereby serving to decrease the continuity of BI in early childhood

A multimodal corpus of speech to infant and adult listeners

An audio and video corpus of speech addressed to 28 11-month-olds is described. The corpus allows comparisons between adult speech directed towards infants, familiar adults and unfamiliar adult addressees, as well as of caregivers’ word teaching strategies across word classes. Summary data show that infant-directed speech differed more from speech to unfamiliar than familiar adults; that word teaching strategies for nominals versus verbs and adjectives differed; that mothers mostly addressed infants with multi-word utterances; and that infants’ vocabulary size was unrelated to speech rate, but correlated positively with predominance of continuous caregiver speech (not of isolated words) in the input

Modification of lymphocyte DNA damage by carotenoid supplementation in postmenopausal women

n/

Aggregation-triggering segments of SOD1 fibril formation support a common pathway for familial and sporadic ALS

ALS is a terminal disease of motor neurons that is characterized by accumulation of proteinaceous deposits in affected cells. Pathological deposition of mutated Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) accounts for ∼20% of the familial ALS (fALS) cases. However, understanding the molecular link between mutation and disease has been difficult, given that more than 140 different SOD1 mutants have been observed in fALS patients. In addition, the molecular origin of sporadic ALS (sALS) is unclear. By dissecting the amino acid sequence of SOD1, we identified four short segments with a high propensity for amyloid fibril formation. We find that fALS mutations in these segments do not reduce their propensity to form fibrils. The atomic structures of two fibril-forming segments from the C terminus, ^(101)DSVISLS^(107) and ^(147)GVIGIAQ^(153), reveal tightly packed β-sheets with steric zipper interfaces characteristic of the amyloid state. Based on these structures, we conclude that both C-terminal segments are likely to form aggregates if available for interaction. Proline substitutions in 101DSVISLS107 and ^(147)GVIGIAQ^(153) impaired nucleation and fibril growth of full-length protein, confirming that these segments participate in aggregate formation. Our hypothesis is that improper protein maturation and incompletely folded states that render these aggregation-prone segments available for interaction offer a common molecular pathway for sALS and fALS

The Relationship Between Fractures and DXA Measures of BMD in the Distal Femur of Children and Adolescents With Cerebral Palsy or Muscular Dystrophy

Children with limited or no ability to ambulate frequently sustain fragility fractures. Joint contractures, scoliosis, hip dysplasia, and metallic implants often prevent reliable measures of bone mineral density (BMD) in the proximal femur and lumbar spine, where BMD is commonly measured. Further, the relevance of lumbar spine BMD to fracture risk in this population is questionable. In an effort to obtain bone density measures that are both technically feasible and clinically relevant, a technique was developed involving dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measures of the distal femur projected in the lateral plane. The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that these new measures of BMD correlate with fractures in children with limited or no ability to ambulate. The relationship between distal femur BMD Z-scores and fracture history was assessed in a cross-sectional study of 619 children aged 6 to 18 years with muscular dystrophy or moderate to severe cerebral palsy compiled from eight centers. There was a strong correlation between fracture history and BMD Z-scores in the distal femur; 35% to 42% of those with BMD Z-scores less than −5 had fractured compared with 13% to 15% of those with BMD Z-scores greater than −1. Risk ratios were 1.06 to 1.15 (95% confidence interval 1.04–1.22), meaning a 6% to 15% increased risk of fracture with each 1.0 decrease in BMD Z-score. In clinical practice, DXA measure of BMD in the distal femur is the technique of choice for the assessment of children with impaired mobility. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Researc

Insights Into Child Abuse and Neglect: Findings From The Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation

The Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation (MLSRA) is a landmark prospective, longitudinal study of human development focused on a sample of mothers experiencing poverty and their firstborn children. Although the MLSRA pioneered a number of important topics in the area of social and emotional development, it began with the more specific goal of examining the antecedents of child maltreatment. From that foundation and for more than 40 years, the study has produced a significant body of research on the origins, sequelae, and measurement of childhood abuse and neglect. The principal objectives of this report are to document the early history of the MLSRA and its contributions to the study of child maltreatment and to review and summarize results from the recently updated childhood abuse and neglect coding of the cohort, with particular emphasis on findings related to adult adjustment. While doing so, we highlight key themes and contributions from Dr Dante Cicchetti\u27s body of research and developmental psychopathology perspective to the MLSRA, a project launched during his tenure as a graduate student at the University of Minnesota