Social Disadvantage and Child Emotional and Behavioural Problems: At HOME in the Netherlands

__Abstract__ Past research has repeatedly emphasised the important role of children's home environments in shaping their development. There is ample evidence that children who have limited access to age-appropriate learning materials in the home more often manifest behavioural problems. Poor physical conditions of the home, such as low housing quality, have been linked to children's emotional problems. The present thesis examines prospective associations of observed infants' home environments with emotional and behavioural problems. All studies included in this thesis were conducted within the context of the Generation R Study, a large population-based cohort from foetal life onward in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Spectral analysis of block structured nonlinear systems

It is a challenge to investigate if frequency domain methods can be used for the analysis or even synthesis of nonlinear dynamical systems. However, the effects of nonlinearities in the frequency domain are non-trivial. In this paper analytical tools and results to analyze nonlinear systems in the frequency domain are presented. First, an analytical relationship between the parameters defining the nonlinearity, the LTI dynamics and the output spectrum is derived. These results allow analytic derivation of the corresponding higher order sinusoidal input describing functions (HOSIDF). This in turn allows to develop novel identification algorithms for the HOSIDFs using identification experiments that apply broadband excitation signals, which significantly reduces the experimental burden previously associated with obtaining the HOSIDFs. Finally, two numerical examples are presented. These examples illustrate the use and efficiency of the theoretical results in the analysis of the effects of nonlinearities in the frequency domain and broadband identification of the HOSIDFs

Spectral analysis of block structured nonlinear systems

It is a challenge to investigate if frequency domain methods can be used for the analysis or even synthesis of nonlinear dynamical systems. However, the effects of nonlinearities in the frequency domain are non-trivial. In this paper analytical tools and results to analyze nonlinear systems in the frequency domain are presented. First, an analytical relationship between the parameters defining the nonlinearity, the LTI dynamics and the output spectrum is derived. These results allow analytic derivation of the corresponding higher order sinusoidal input describing functions (HOSIDF). This in turn allows to develop novel identification algorithms for the HOSIDFs using identification experiments that apply broadband excitation signals, which significantly reduces the experimental burden previously associated with obtaining the HOSIDFs. Finally, two numerical examples are presented. These examples illustrate the use and efficiency of the theoretical results in the analysis of the effects of nonlinearities in the frequency domain and broadband identification of the HOSIDFs

Developmental pathways from toddler difficult temperament to child generalized psychopathology and adult functioning

BACKGROUND: Early difficult temperament and child mental health problems are consistently associated with impaired functioning in adulthood. We examined three potential pathways between difficult temperament in toddlerhood (age 2) and depressive symptoms (ages 21-23) and well-being (age 23): i) direct - early difficult temperament directly associates with these outcomes, ii) mediated - these direct effects are also mediated by a general psychopathology factor in late childhood/early adolescence (GPF; ages 7, 10,and 13), and iii) moderated-mediated - these mediated effects are also moderated by negative (age 42 months) and positive (age 33 months) parenting behaviors. METHODS: The analytic sample included 1892 mother-child dyads (33.4% male children) from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Mothers reported on their child's difficult temperament, negative parenting, positive parenting, and child's mental health symptoms. In adulthood, participants reported their own depressive symptoms and well-being (i.e. mental well-being, life satisfaction, happiness). RESULTS: First, early difficult temperament associated directly and positively with depressive symptoms, but negatively with well-being in adulthood. Second, the GPF in late childhood/early adolescence mediated these direct associations. Third, the mediated pathways were not moderated by negative or positive parenting. LIMITATIONS: i) low risk community sample, ii) early risks are based on maternal reports. CONCLUSIONS: Temperament is a risk factor for impaired psychosocial functioning in adulthood, manifested through increased susceptibility to psychopathology in childhood/adolescence. Although more research is needed to test their generalizability, these findings suggest that targeting early difficult temperament may alleviate the risk for later mental health difficulties and may increase general well-being

Vasopressin and parental expressed emotion in the transition to fatherhood

In the last decades, parenting researchers increasingly focused on the role of fathers in child development. However, it is still largely unknown which factors contribute to fathers’ beliefs about their child, which may be crucial in the transition to fatherhood. In the current randomized within-subject experiment, the effect of nasal administration of vasopressin (AVP) on both Five Minute Speech Sample-based (FMSS) expressed emotion and emotional content or prosody was explored in 25 prospectivefathers. Moreover, we explored how the transition to fatherhood affected these FMSS-based parameters, using prenatal and early postnatal measurements. Analyses revealed that FMSS-based expressed emotion and emotional content were correlated, but not affected by prenatal AVP administration. However,child’s birth was associated with an increase in positivity and a decrease in emotional prosody, suggesting that the child’s birth is more influential with regard to paternal thoughts and feelings than prenatal AVP administration

Prenatal unhealthy diet, insulin-like growth factor 2 gene (IGF2) methylation, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in youth with early-onset conduct problems

Background: Conduct problems (CP) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are often comorbid and have each been linked to 'unhealthy diet'. Early-life diet also associates with DNA methylation of the insulin-like growth factor 2 gene (IGF2), involved in fetal and neural development. We investigated the degree to which prenatal high-fat and -sugar diet might relate to ADHD symptoms via IGF2 DNA methylation for early-onset persistent (EOP) versus low CP youth. Methods: Participants were 164 youth with EOP (n = 83) versus low (n = 81) CP drawn from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. We assessed if the interrelationships between high-fat and -sugar diet (prenatal, postnatal), IGF2 methylation (birth and age 7, collected from blood), and ADHD symptoms (age 7-13) differed for EOP versus low CP youth. Results: Prenatal 'unhealthy diet' was positively associated with IGF2 methylation at birth for both the EOP and low CP youth. For EOP only: (a) higher IGF2 methylation predicted ADHD symptoms; and (b) prenatal 'unhealthy diet' was associated with higher ADHD symptoms indirectly via higher IGF2 methylation. Conclusions: Preventing 'unhealthy diet' in pregnancy might reduce the risk of ADHD symptoms in EOP youth via lower offspring IGF2 methylation