Intimate Partner Violence, Mental Health, and HPA Axis Functioning

Research results are mixed as to whether stress exerts its damaging effects via under- or over-production of diurnal cortisol. Facets of the stressor itself as well as the mental health sequelae that follow have been put forward as important considerations in determining levels of cortisol secretion. We hypothesized that the contradictory findings in the literature were the result of variable-oriented methods masking the presence of distinctive subgroups of individuals. Using person-oriented methods, we explored whether there were classes of women who exhibited unique profiles of cortisol secretion, stress, and mental health by assessing 182 community women, many of whom had experienced intimate partner violence. The best fitting model in a latent profile analysis had 5 groups, each with distinct profiles of intimate partner violence stress (pregnancy and postpartum), cortisol secretion [cortisol awakening response (CAR) and diurnal slope], and mental health (posttraumatic stress, depressive, and anxiety symptoms). These were a Physiologically Under-Responsive group, a Healthy group, a Problematic CAR group, a Highest Stress/Normal Diurnal Slope group, and a Moderate Psychopathology/Normal Diurnal Slope group. Except for the Healthy group, the specific patterns of stress, mental health symptoms, and cortisol secretion identified in the literature were not found. The profiles were validated using variables that, in prior research, had shown relationships with the variables used to constitute the profiles—three types of parenting (neglectful, sensitive, and harsh), antisocial behavior, and physical health. We concluded that there is heterogeneity in women’s responses to stress. Current theories focused on the under- or over-production of diurnal cortisol in relation to stress and mental health symptoms are simplistic and fail to account for the significant subgroups of women who show unique biological and psychological responses. best free football betting tips uk oddslot latest football accumulator predictions u

Recent publications from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative: Reviewing progress toward improved AD clinical trials

INTRODUCTION: The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) has continued development and standardization of methodologies for biomarkers and has provided an increased depth and breadth of data available to qualified researchers. This review summarizes the over 400 publications using ADNI data during 2014 and 2015. METHODS: We used standard searches to find publications using ADNI data. RESULTS: (1) Structural and functional changes, including subtle changes to hippocampal shape and texture, atrophy in areas outside of hippocampus, and disruption to functional networks, are detectable in presymptomatic subjects before hippocampal atrophy; (2) In subjects with abnormal β-amyloid deposition (Aβ+), biomarkers become abnormal in the order predicted by the amyloid cascade hypothesis; (3) Cognitive decline is more closely linked to tau than Aβ deposition; (4) Cerebrovascular risk factors may interact with Aβ to increase white-matter (WM) abnormalities which may accelerate Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression in conjunction with tau abnormalities; (5) Different patterns of atrophy are associated with impairment of memory and executive function and may underlie psychiatric symptoms; (6) Structural, functional, and metabolic network connectivities are disrupted as AD progresses. Models of prion-like spreading of Aβ pathology along WM tracts predict known patterns of cortical Aβ deposition and declines in glucose metabolism; (7) New AD risk and protective gene loci have been identified using biologically informed approaches; (8) Cognitively normal and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subjects are heterogeneous and include groups typified not only by "classic" AD pathology but also by normal biomarkers, accelerated decline, and suspected non-Alzheimer's pathology; (9) Selection of subjects at risk of imminent decline on the basis of one or more pathologies improves the power of clinical trials; (10) Sensitivity of cognitive outcome measures to early changes in cognition has been improved and surrogate outcome measures using longitudinal structural magnetic resonance imaging may further reduce clinical trial cost and duration; (11) Advances in machine learning techniques such as neural networks have improved diagnostic and prognostic accuracy especially in challenges involving MCI subjects; and (12) Network connectivity measures and genetic variants show promise in multimodal classification and some classifiers using single modalities are rivaling multimodal classifiers. DISCUSSION: Taken together, these studies fundamentally deepen our understanding of AD progression and its underlying genetic basis, which in turn informs and improves clinical trial desig

Exposure to intimate partner violence in utero and infant internalizing behaviors: Moderation by salivary cortisol-alpha amylase asymmetry

Guided by the main tenets of contemporary models of the developmental origins of health and disease, this study evaluated whether individual differences in reactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) moderate the effect of prenatal exposure to trauma on internalizing and externalizing behaviors during infancy. Participants were a community sample of 182 mothers (M age=25years, 43% Caucasian, 33% Black/African American, 24% Biracial/Other) and their infants (59% girls; M age=11.8months). Each mother completed questionnaires that assessed IPV experienced during pregnancy and also reported on her infant's behavior problems. Infant saliva samples (later assayed for cortisol and sAA) were collected before and after a frustrating task (i.e., arm restraint). Results revealed that the association between in utero IPV and infant internalizing behaviors was most pronounced for infants with asymmetrical HPA-SNS (i.e., high-cortisol and low-sAA) reactivity to frustration, and least pronounced for infants with symmetrical HPA-SNS (i.e., low-cortisol and low-sAA or high-cortisol and high-sAA) reactivity to frustration. Higher levels of externalizing behavior, in contrast, were associated with higher levels of prenatal IPV but unrelated to either cortisol or sAA reactivity to stress. Findings replicate documented associations between maternal IPV exposure during pregnancy and offspring risk. Moreover, findings advance our understanding of individual differences in the developmental origins of health and disease and provide additional evidence that assessing multiple stress biomarkers contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of individual vulnerability to adversity

Mother–Child Language Style Predicts Internalizing Behaviors in Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence

Exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. IPV is thought to impair mothers’ ability to scaffold young children’s emotion regulation through coregulated interactions. Mother–child language style matching (LSM) is an index of coregulation that has yet to be examined in IPV-exposed samples. We hypothesized that LSM would mediate the association between IPV and children’s behavioral problems. Participants were 194 mother–child dyads. IPV was assessed annually when children were ages 1–4. LSM was derived from speech during a free-play interaction at age 4, and children’s behavior problems were assessed concurrently and again at age 10. Chronic IPV exposure in early life was associated with lower levels of mother–child LSM. LSM also mediated the association between IPV and later internalizing problems. These findings provide evidence that mother–child LSM may be a useful index of parent–child interaction quality in the context of IPV

Measuring Heart Rate Variability Using Facial Video

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) has become an important risk assessment tool when diagnosing illnesses related to heart health. HRV is typically measured with an electrocardiogram; however, there are multiple studies that use Photoplethysmography (PPG) instead. Measuring HRV with video is beneficial as a non-invasive, hands-free alternative and represents a more accessible approach. We developed a methodology to extract HRV from video based on face detection algorithms and color augmentation. We applied this methodology to 45 samples. Signals obtained from PPG and video recorded an average mean error of less than 1 bpm when measuring the heart rate of all subjects. Furthermore, utilizing PPG and video, we computed 61 variables related to HRV. We compared each of them with three correlation metrics (i.e., Kendall, Pearson, and Spearman), adjusting them for multiple comparisons with the Benjamini–Hochberg method to control the false discovery rate and to retrieve the q-value when considering statistical significance lower than 0.5. Using these methods, we found significant correlations for 38 variables (e.g., Heart Rate, 0.991; Mean NN Interval, 0.990; and NN Interval Count, 0.955) using time-domain, frequency-domain, and non-linear methods

Infant adrenocortical reactivity and behavioral functioning: relation to early exposure to maternal intimate partner violence

Prenatal stress negatively affects fetal development, which in turn may affect infant hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulation and behavioral functioning. We examined effects of exposure to a traumatic stressor in families [intimate partner violence (IPV)] on both infants' HPA axis reactivity to stress and their internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Infants (n = 182, 50% girls, x age = 11.77 months) were exposed to a laboratory challenge task designed to induce frustration and anger (i.e. arm restraint). Saliva samples were taken pre-task and 20 and 40 min post-task and then assayed for cortisol. Mothers reported on their pregnancy and postpartum IPV history, current mental health, substance use and their infants' behaviors. Structural equation modeling revealed that prenatal, but not postnatal, IPV was independently associated with infant cortisol reactivity and problem behavior. Maternal mental health predicted infant behavioral functioning but not infant HPA axis reactivity. These findings are consistent with the prenatal programing hypothesis; that is, early life stress affects later risk and vulnerability for altered physiological and behavioral regulation