Smoking Cessation during Pregnancy and Relapse after Childbirth: The Impact of the Grandmother's Smoking Status

Objectives Smoking during pregnancy can result in negative effects in exposed children. It is well established that the smoking status of husbands is a major predictor of smoking among pregnant women. It was investigated whether the smoking status of the women's parents and parents-in-law has an impact on smoking cessation during pregnancy and relapse after birth above the smoking status of the husband. Method An initial sample of 458 women and their husbands was assessed prospectively during a 17-month period after birth regarding smoking habits. Five months after birth the women and their husbands reported the smoking status of their own parents. Results Smoking during pregnancy was related to the smoking status of the women's husband and mother. Women with a husband and mother who smoke were more likely to continue smoking. Relapse after smoking cessation during pregnancy was related to the smoking status of the husband and the mother-in-law. The smoking status of the women's father and father-in-law was not related to smoking cessation or relapse. Conclusion The smoking status of the pregnant women's mothers and mothers-in-law is related to fetal and newborn's nicotine exposure. The findings suggest benefits of taking the smoking status of pregnant women's mothers and mothers-in-law into account in smoking prevention programs for pregnant women and mothers with infant

The Course of Subjective Sleep Quality in Middle and Old Adulthood and Its Relation to Physical Health

Objectives. Older adults more often complain about sleep disturbances compared with younger adults. However, it is not clear whether there is still a decline of sleep quality after age 60 and whether changes in sleep quality in old age are mere reflections of impaired physical health or whether they represent a normative age-dependent development. Method. Subjective sleep quality and perceived physical health were assessed in a large sample of 14,179 participants (52.7% women; age range 18-85) from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study across four yearly measurement time points. Results. Subjective sleep quality linearly declined from young adulthood until age 60. After age 60, a transient increase in subjective sleep quality occurred that coincides with retirement. After age 66, subjective sleep quality appears to decrease again. Physical health prospectively predicted subjective sleep quality and vice versa. These relations were similar for participants aged over and under 60. Discussion. Around retirement, a transient increase in subjective sleep quality appears to occur, which might reflect a decrease in work-related distress. Perceived physical health appears to be important for subjective sleep quality in old adults but not more important than at younger ag

Media use and insomnia after terror attacks in France

Direct exposure to traumatic events often precipitates sleep disorders. Sleep disturbance has also been observed amongst those indirectly exposed to trauma, via mass media. However, previous work has focused on traditional media use, rather than contemporary social media. We tested associations between both traditional and social media consumption and insomnia symptoms following 2015 terror attacks in Paris France, controlling for location and post-traumatic symptomology. 1878 respondents, selected to represent the national French population, completed an internet survey a month after the Bataclan attacks (response rate 72%). Respondents indicated different media use, post-traumatic stress and insomnia. Controlling for demographics, location and PTSD, insomnia was associated with both traditional (β 0.10, P = .001) and social media use (β 0.12, P = .001). Associations between social media and insomnia were independent of traditional media use. Interventions targeted at social media may be particularly important following mass trauma

Habituation as parameter for prediction of mental development in healthy preterm infants : an electrophysiological pilot study

The aim of this prospective pilot study was to evaluate the predictive value of discrimination and habituation, which was measured by mismatch negativity in 17 healthy very preterm (mean gestational age: 27.4 weeks; range 25.0 – 31.3) and 16 term (mean gestational age 40.3 weeks; range 37.9 – 41.7) born infants at term equivalent age. Developmental outcome was measured by Bayley Scales of Infant Development-I in 13 preterm and 13 term born children at a mean age of 21.7 months (±2.18) and 18.5 months (±1.9) respectively. No differences in amplitude and latency of the mismatch negativity were found between both groups at term equivalent age. Within the preterm group habituation capacity was positively correlated with the Mental Developmental Index MDI (r=0.654; p=0.008) and Performance Developmental Index (r=0.482; p=0.048) at 21 months. Early learning capability, as measured by habituation, may be associated with a better prognosis for early mental development in healthy preterm infants

Midwives’ engagement in smoking- and alcohol-prevention in prenatal care before and after the introduction of practice guidelines in Switzerland : comparison of survey findings from 2008 and 2018

Background: Evidence suggests that cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy negatively impacts fetal health. Health agencies across countries have developed specific guidelines for health professionals in perinatal care to strengthen their role in smoking and alcohol use prevention. One such example is the “Guideline on Screening and Counselling for prevention of cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption before, during, and after pregnancy” introduced by the Swiss Midwives Association in 2011. The current study assesses the changes in midwives’ engagement in smoking and alcohol use prevention before (2008) and after the introduction of the Guideline (2018). Further, the current study examines differences across regions (German vs. French speaking regions), graduation years (before and after the introduction of the Guideline) and different work settings (hospital vs. self-employed). Methods: Survey data were collected in 2008 (n = 366) and in 2018 (n = 459). Differences in how midwives engaged in smoking and alcohol use prevention between 2008 and 2018 were assessed with chi-square tests, as were differences across German and French speaking regions, graduation years (before and after the introduction of the Guideline) and across different work settings (working in hospitals or as self-employed). Results: An increase in midwives’ awareness of the risks of consuming even small quantities of cigarettes and alcohol for the unborn child between 2008 and 2018 is evident. Explaining the risks to pregnant women who smoke or use alcohol remained the most frequently reported prevention strategy. However, engagement with more extensive smoking and alcohol use preventive strategies across the whole course of pregnancy, such as assisting women in the elaboration of a plan to stop smoking/alcohol use, remained limited. Conclusions: Seven years after its introduction, the effectiveness of the Guideline in increasing midwives’ engagement in smoking and alcohol use prevention appears limited despite midwives’ increased awareness

Temporal associations between objectively measured physical activity and depressive symptoms: An experience sampling study

BackgroundThis study aimed to examine the relationship between the timing of physical activity and within-individual differences in depressive symptoms, positive affect, and negative affect in individuals with different baseline levels of depressive symptoms.MethodsExperience sampling methodology (ESM) was used to measure real-time depressive symptoms, positive affect, and negative affect in a convenience sample of 78 healthy adults (aged M = 25.46 years, SD = 6.18; 57 females) five times per day for 14 days. We measured physical activity throughout the 14 days by using activity sensors. Baseline levels of depressive symptoms were assessed with the PHQ-9 to build subgroups with low vs. mild-moderate depressive symptoms.ResultsPhysical activity predicted decreased depressive symptom levels, negative affect, and increased positive affect. Associations were stronger for individuals with higher baseline levels of depressive symptoms and for physical activity between 0 and 30 min compared to physical activity between 30 and 180 min before the mood rating. Conversely, levels of depressive symptoms, positive and negative affect did not predict physical activity.LimitationsThe convenience sample may not have been representative of the general population or people with depression. Accelerometers may not have detected some types of physical activities such as bicycling. Causality could not be inferred because of the observational study design.ConclusionIndividuals with higher levels of depressive symptoms may benefit from physical activity. While the effects were strongest for physical activity immediately before the mood ratings, the effects were in the same direction for up to 3 h before the mood ratings

Postpartum depressive symptoms in the first 17months after childbirth: the impact of an emotionally supportive partnership

Objectives: This study investigates the impact on different postpartum depressive trajectories (i.e., "non depressive symptoms”, "stable depressive symptoms”, "deterioration” and "improvement”) from 5-17months after childbirth exerted by emotional support that mothers receive from their partners and emotional support they provide to their partners. Methods: Postpartum depressive symptoms were assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale 5 and 17months after delivery in a sample of 293 mothers. Emotional support received from the partners was assessed among both mothers and partners. Results: The initial level and the change in emotional support that mothers received from their partners were related to different trajectories of postpartum depressive symptoms. Mothers who were living in a partnership with low reciprocal emotional support showed a significantly higher risk of suffering from "stable depressive symptoms” than mothers who were living in a partnership with high reciprocal emotional support. Conclusions: An increased risk of persistent depressive symptoms beyond the early postpartum period was observed in mothers with poor reciprocal emotional support in the partnership. Further research is needed for a better understanding of the mothers persistent depressive symptoms after childbirth associated with reciprocity of emotional support in the partnershi

The role of the context of physical activity on its association with affective well-being : an experience sampling study in young adults

Physical activity and being outdoors both improve affective well-being. However, little is known about the synergistic effects between them and the influences of contextual factors such as the life domain of physical activity (work-, chores-, leisure, or sports-related) or the type of the outdoor environment (green space, blue space, or city area) on mood. This study investigates the synergistic effects of physical activity and being outdoors as well as the potential role of contextual factors on mood. A total of 158 individuals aged 18−25 years (133 females) participated in a 14-day experience sampling study. Participants received seven prompts per day and answered questions about their physical activity, contextual factors, and affective well-being. Physical activity and being outdoors were associated with concurrent higher levels of positive and lower levels of negative affect compared to being physically inactive or being indoors, respectively. However, no synergistic effects were found. Being outdoors in a city area was associated with a less positive and more negative affect than being in nature. Work- and chores-related physical activity was associated with less positive affect and more negative affect compared to sports- or leisure-related physical activity. To foster positive affect, people should schedule leisure-related physical activity in nature

Association of birth weight centiles and gestational age with cognitive performance at age 5 years

ImportanceBirth weight percentiles (BWPs) are often dichotomized at the 10th percentile and show statistically significant association with later cognitive performance, for both preterm and term-born children. However, research testing nonlinear associations between BWPs and cognitive performance is scarce.ObjectiveTo investigate culturally invariant, nonlinear associations of BWPs and gestational age with later cognitive performance.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsIn this cohort study, participants with valid neonatal and cognitive data were combined from 4 observational cohorts, including the Millennium Cohort Study, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Child and Young Adult cohort, Growing Up in Ireland, and the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, with children born between 2000 and 2002, 1980 and 2010, 2007 and 2008, and 2003 and 2004, respectively. Neonatal data were parent reported before age 1 year. At approximately 5 years of age, multiple cognitive tests were performed. Follow-up at 5 years of age was the predominant focus. Data were analyzed July 17, 2023.ExposureThe parent-reported neonatal data were used to calculate BWPs according to the Fenton growth chart.Main Outcome and MeasureScores for IQ were created from multiple measures of cognition, which were z standardized separately within each cohort.ResultsOf 30 643 participants (50.8% male), 7.5% were born preterm (before 37 weeks gestation) and 92.5% were term born (between 37 and 42 weeks gestation). In the pooled data using multivariate adaptive regression splines, IQ linearly increased by 4.2 points as BWPs increased from the first to the 69th percentile before completely plateauing. For gestational age, IQ linearly increased by 1.3 points per week up until 32 weeks, with the association reducing to 0.3 points per week after 32 weeks. The association of BWP with IQ was not moderated by gestational age. For term-born infants, the estimated IQ score was only clinically meaningfully lower than average when birth weight was below the third percentile. Consistent results were found when instead using multivariable regression where gestational age and BWPs were categorized into groups.Conclusions and RelevanceIn this cohort study, lower BWPs and gestational age were independently associated with lower IQ. For term-born infants, a cutoff of the third percentile would be more appropriate than the traditionally used 10th percentile when the aim is estimating meaningful cognitive differences