Maternal well-being and its association to risk of developmental problems in children at school entry

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Children at highest risk of developmental problems benefit from early identification and intervention. Investigating factors affecting child development at the time of transition to school may reveal opportunities to tailor early intervention programs for the greatest effectiveness, social benefit and economic gain. The primary objective of this study was to identify child and maternal factors associated with children who screened at risk of developmental problems at school entry.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An existing cohort of 791 mothers who had been followed since early pregnancy was mailed a questionnaire when the children were aged four to six years. The questionnaire included a screening tool for developmental problems, an assessment of the child's social competence, health care utilization and referrals, and maternal factors, including physical health, mental health, social support, parenting morale and sense of competence, and parenting support/resources.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 491 mothers (62%) who responded, 15% had children who were screened at high risk of developmental problems. Based on a logistic regression model, independent predictors of screening at high risk for developmental problems at age 5 were male gender (OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.3, 4.1), maternal history of abuse at pregnancy (OR: 2.4; 95% CI: 1.3, 4.4), and poor parenting morale when the child was 3 years old (OR: 3.9; 95% CI: 2.1, 7.3). A child with all of these risk factors had a 35% predicted probability of screening at high risk of developmental problems, which was reduced to 13% if maternal factors were favourable.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Risk factors for developmental problems at school entry are related to maternal well being and history of abuse, which can be identified in the prenatal period or when children are preschool age.</p

Expressions 1981

Expressions contains selected work from the 1981 Creative Writing Contest entrants, Campus Chronicle Photography Contest entrants, and Commercial Art students at Des Moines Area Community College. Design , typography and the layout was done by Journalism students .https://openspace.dmacc.edu/expressions/1003/thumbnail.jp

Maternal mental health predicts risk of developmental problems at 3 years of age: follow up of a community based trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Undetected and untreated developmental problems can have a significant economic and social impact on society. Intervention to ameliorate potential developmental problems requires early identification of children at risk of future learning and behaviour difficulties. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of risk for developmental problems among preschool children born to medically low risk women and identify factors that influence outcomes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Mothers who had participated in a prenatal trial were followed up three years post partum to answer a telephone questionnaire. Questions were related to child health and development, child care, medical care, mother's lifestyle, well-being, and parenting style. The main outcome measure was risk for developmental problems using the Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 791 children, 11% were screened by the PEDS to be at high risk for developmental problems at age three. Of these, 43% had previously been referred for assessment. Children most likely to have been referred were those born preterm. Risk factors for delay included: male gender, history of ear infections, a low income environment, and a mother with poor emotional health and a history of abuse. A child with these risk factors was predicted to have a 53% chance of screening at high risk for developmental problems. This predicted probability was reduced to 19% if the child had a mother with good emotional health and no history of abuse.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Over 10% of children were identified as high risk for developmental problems by the screening, and more than half of those had not received a specialist referral. Risk factors for problems included prenatal and perinatal maternal and child factors. Assessment of maternal health and effective screening of child development may increase detection of children at high risk who would benefit from early intervention.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN64070727</p

Study flowchart mapping eligibility, recruitment, and completion of mothers who participated in the follow up study

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Maternal mental health predicts risk of developmental problems at 3 years of age: follow up of a community based trial"</p><p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/8/16</p><p>BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2008;8():16-16.</p><p>Published online 6 May 2008</p><p>PMCID:PMC2396150.</p><p></p

Nonlinear dynamics underlying sensory processing dysfunction in schizophrenia

Natural systems, including the brain, often seem chaotic, since they are typically driven by complex nonlinear dynamical processes. Disruption in the fluid coordination of multiple brain regions contributes to impairments in information processing and the constellation of symptoms observed in neuropsychiatric disorders. Schizophrenia (SZ), one of the most debilitating mental illnesses, is thought to arise, in part, from such a network dysfunction, leading to impaired auditory information processing as well as cognitive and psychosocial deficits. Current approaches to neurophysiologic biomarker analyses predominantly rely on linear methods and may, therefore, fail to capture the wealth of information contained in whole EEG signals, including nonlinear dynamics. In this study, delay differential analysis (DDA), a nonlinear method based on embedding theory from theoretical physics, was applied to EEG recordings from 877 SZ patients and 753 nonpsychiatric comparison subjects (NCSs) who underwent mismatch negativity (MMN) testing via their participation in the Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia (COGS-2) study. DDA revealed significant nonlinear dynamical architecture related to auditory information processing in both groups. Importantly, significant DDA changes preceded those observed with traditional linear methods. Marked abnormalities in both linear and nonlinear features were detected in SZ patients. These results illustrate the benefits of nonlinear analysis of brain signals and underscore the need for future studies to investigate the relationship between DDA features and pathophysiology of information processing

It Is Time To Take A Stand For Medical Research And Against Terrorism Targeting Medical Scientists

Terrorists are attacking scientists who are attempting to alleviate human suffering. We need a concerted public effort to eliminate these acts, particularly the harassment of scientists studying nonhuman primates. This need is highlighted by the attacks upon the home of our friend and colleague, the noted medical scientist, Dr. Edythe London, professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences and of molecular and medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Her work exemplifies the unique role of research involving nonhuman primates in enabling the results of research in simple systems (oocytes, cell culture) and lower organisms to be applied to human diseases. The importance of Dr. London’s research was highlighted in a public letter issued on February 8, 2008 from the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Elias Zerhouni, who stated, “her work is a prime example of NIH’s efforts … to develop effective treatments for people suffering from addiction—a disease that devastates individuals, families, communities, and costs society more than half a trillion dollars annually in health and crime-related costs and losses in productivity.