The Impact of Maternal Depression and Parent–Child Interactions on Risk of Parasitic Infections in Early Childhood: A Prospective Cohort in Benin

Objectives: Maternal depression occurs in 13–20% of women from low-income countries, which is associated with negative child health outcomes, including diarrheal disease. However, few studies have investigated its impact on child risk of infectious disease. We studied the impacts of maternal depressive symptoms and parent–child interactions, independently, on the risk of Plasmodium falciparum malaria and soil-transmitted helminth infection in Beninese children. Methods: Our population included mothers and children enrolled in a clinical trial during pregnancy (MiPPAD) in Benin. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) assessed maternal depressive symptoms and the home observation measurement of the environment (HOME) assessed parent–child interactions. Blood and stool sample analyses diagnosed child malaria and helminth infection at 12, 18, and 24 months. Negative binomial and Poisson regression models with robust variance tested associations. Results: Of the 302 mother–child pairs, 39 (12.9%) mothers had depressive symptoms. Median number of malaria episodes per child was 3 (0–14) and 29.1% children had at least one helminth infection. Higher EPDS scores were associated with lower HOME scores; relative risk (RR) 0.97 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.95, 0.99), particularly with lower acceptance, involvement, and variety subscales; RR 0.92 (95% CI 0.85, 0.99), RR 0.82 (95% CI 0.77, 0.88), RR 0.93 (95% CI 0.88, 0.99), respectively. However, neither exposure was associated with risk of parasitic infection in children. Conclusions for Practice: Maternal depressive symptoms are associated with poor parent–child interactions, particularly acceptance of behavior, involvement with children, and variety of interactions, but these exposures do not independently impact risk of parasitic infection in children

The Employment of Mothers and the Outcomes of their Pregnancies: An Australian Study

One of the more dramatic structural changes in a number of western industrial societies has involved the increased participation of women in the paid labour force. Little is known about the health consequences of this change. This paper reports the findings of a prospective longitudinal study of 8,556 pregnant women who were interviewed on three occasions; early in their pregnancy, shortly after the birth of the baby and some six months later. Additional data were derived from the medical record of the delivery. The findings suggest that employed women and housewives differ in their health behaviour (e.g. number of missed appointments, attendance at antenatal classes, smoking) and emotional health in pregnancy, but that there are no significant differences between employed women and housewives in their physical health or pregnancy outcomes. Although none of the differences was statistically significant, virtually all of the indices of outcome were slightly more favourable for the housewives than for the employed women

Reproductive health. Psychological distress of new Spanish mothers

Background: The birth of a child usually brings about important changes in the life of women and many mothers experience psychological distress at this time. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of social factors and living conditions on new mothers' psychological distress one year after childbirth. In particular, sociodemographic characteristics of the mother, job characteristics, quality of marital life, perinatal factors and the baby's health were considered. Methods: The study population were primiparous or secundiparous women who had a child in the main regional public hospital of Valencia (Spain) and who had performed paid work during pregnancy, Information was collected by means of a questionnaire sent by post one year after childbirth. For hundred and ninety-eight women were included in the data analysis after excluding 30 women who revealed previous psychiatric history. The outcome variable (psychological distress of mothers one year after childbirth) was assessed using the 12 item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), The explanatory variables were variables related to characteristics of marital life, the baby's health, job conditions, perinatal conditions and sociodemographic characteristics of the mother, Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted, Results: The percentage of cases with a GHQ-12 score higher than 3 was 29.7, The probability of psychological distress of mothers one year after childbirth was higher among those women who reported that the relationship with their partner was fair/poor/very poor (adjusted OR 5.2 and 95% CI: 2.5-10.7), among those who argued with their partner over the shareout of domestic chores and childcare (adjusted OR 2.6 and 95% CI: 1.6-4.2), among those whose child had been sick over the past year (adjusted OR 1.9 and 95% CI: 1.1-3.5) and among those who had important financial problems (adjusted OR 2.2 and 95% CI: 1.3-3.7), No statistically significant association was found with factors related to perinatal conditions and job conditions, Conclusions: The psychological distress of mothers during the first year of life of their child is related to quality of marital life, the child's health and the existence of important financial problems

Sexual harassment and menstrual disorders among Italian university women: A cross-sectional observational study

Aims: Menstrual disorders and sexual harassment are common among young women and interfere with their life and activities. We aimed to describe the association of sexual harassment and menstrual disorders among female university students. Methods: This cross-sectional, observational study examined the association between sexual harassment and menstrual disorders in a sample of 349 university students in Italy. Students answered an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive bivariate analyses and logistic regression analyses were performed. Main outcome measures were associations between levels of exposure to sexual harassment (none, levels 1 and 2) and five menstrual disorders (premenstrual symptoms, heavy bleeding, pain, irregular cycles, and amenorrhea). Results: Among the women interviewed (mean age 20.4 \ub1 1.45 years), 146 (41.8%) had experienced sexual harassment in the previous 12 months: 91 (26.1%) level 1 and 55 (15.7%) level 2. The frequency of premenstrual symptoms was 31.9% (n=110); heavy bleeding, 35.3% (n=124); pain, 51.4% (n=181); irregular cycles, 55.5% (n=195); and amenorrhea, 6.7% (n=23). After adjustment for age, place of birth, being in a couple relationship and receiving hormone therapy, the frequency of menstrual disorders, except for amenorrhea, was increased with sexual harassment, with a regular gradient from no harassment to level 2 harassment. Introducing factors of depression, specific gynaecological problems and lifetime sexual violence did not change the results. For instance, the adjusted odds ratios of premenstrual symptoms were 2.10 [1.19\u20133.68] for women with level 1 harassment and 3.58 [1.83\u20137.03] for women with level 2 compared with women without harassment exposure. Conclusions: Sexual harassment is related to the prevalence of menstrual disorders. Healthcare providers should encourage dialogue with patients and address the issue of sexual violence or harassment