Longitudinal trajectories of food insecurity in childhood and their associations with mental health and functioning in adolescence

Importance Household food insecurity has been associated with mental health problems in children independently of family income and other confounders. It is unclear whether food insecurity during childhood is also associated with mental health and functioning during adolescence. Objective To evaluate longitudinal trajectories of household food insecurity during the first 13 years of life, characteristics associated with these trajectories, and the associations of the trajectories with externalizing, internalizing, substance use, and social adjustment problems at 15 years of age. Design, Setting, and Participants This cohort study included participants from the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development, a cohort of 2120 children born in Québec, Canada, in 1997 and 1998 and followed up annually or biannually from 5 months to 15 years of age (1998-2013). Data were analyzed from November 2020 to October 2021. Exposures When children were aged 1.5, 4, 8, 10, 12, and 13 years, mothers reported whether a family member experienced hunger because the family had run out of food or money to buy food in the past 12 months. Main Outcomes and Measures Group-based trajectory modeling was used to identify differential exposure to food insecurity from 1.5 to 13 years according to logit functions of age. At 15 years of age, adolescents completed validated questionnaires assessing externalizing, internalizing, substance use, and social adjustment problems. Associations between trajectories of food insecurity and outcomes were assessed using linear regressions. Results A total of 2032 individuals were included in the analyses of trajectories of food insecurity (1026 [50.5%] male) and 1441 in the analysis of the association with outcomes at 15 years of age (752 [52.2%] female). Two trajectories of food insecurity were identified between 1.5 and 13 years of age: high risk (73 children [3.6%]) and low risk (1959 children [96.4%]). At 5 months, the high-risk and low-risk groups differed in household characteristics including income insufficiency (58 [80.6%] vs 405 [21.0%]), single parenthood (21 [29.2%] vs 135 [6.9%]), and parental history of depression (mothers: 30 [43.5%] vs 411 [21.7%]; fathers: 12 [32.4%] vs 209 [13.5%]). The high-risk trajectory from 1.5 to 13 years of age was associated with cannabis use (β, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.12-0.81), peer bullying (β, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.08-0.77), and dropout potential (β, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.03-0.68) at 15 years of age after adjustment for sex, household income insufficiency, and parental mental health. Conclusions and Relevance In this cohort study, few children experienced a persistent high risk of food insecurity, which was associated with psychosocial problems later in adolescence after adjustment for confounders including low income. Early identification of risk for food insecurity may guide the delivery of tailored interventions to improve functioning in adolescence

Prenatal maternal stress was not associated with birthweight or gestational age at birth during COVID-19 restrictions in Australia : the BITTOC longitudinal cohort study

Background: Various forms of prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) have been reported to increase risk for preterm birth and low birthweight. However, the associations between specific components of stress – namely objective hardship and subjective distress - and birth outcomes are not well understood. Aims: Here, we aimed to determine the relationship between birthweight and gestational age at birth and specific prenatal factors (infant gender and COVID-19 pandemic-related objective hardship, subjective distress, change in diet), and to determine whether effects of hardship are moderated by maternal subjective distress, change in diet, or infant gender. Materials and methods: As part of the Birth in the Time of COVID (BITTOC study), women (N = 2285) who delivered in Australia during the pandemic were recruited online between August 2020 and February 2021. We assessed objective hardship and subjective distress related to the COVID pandemic and restrictions, and birth outcomes through questionnaires that were completed at recruitment and two months post-partum. Analyses included hierarchical multiple regressions. Results: No associations between maternal objective hardship or subjective distress and gestational age at birth or birthweight were identified. Lower birthweight was significantly associated with female gender (adjusted β = 0.083, P < 0.001) and with self-reported improvement in maternal diet (adjusted β = 0.059, P = 0.015). Conclusions: In a socioeconomically advantaged sample, neither objective hardship nor subjective distress related to COVID-19 were associated with birth outcomes. Further research is warranted to understand how other individual factors influence susceptibility to PNMS and how these findings are applicable to women with lower socioeconomic status

Age- and sex-specific associations between risk scores for schizophrenia and self-reported health in the general population

Purpose The health correlates of polygenic risk (PRS-SCZ) and exposome (ES-SCZ) scores for schizophrenia may vary depending on age and sex. We aimed to examine age- and sex-specific associations of PRS-SCZ and ES-SCZ with self-reported health in the general population. Methods Participants were from the population-based Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study–2 (NEMESIS-2). Mental and physical health were measured with the 36-item Short Form Survey 4 times between 2007 and 2018. The PRS-SCZ and ES-SCZ were respectively calculated from common genetic variants and exposures (cannabis use, winter birth, hearing impairment, and five childhood adversity categories). Moderation by age and sex was examined in linear mixed models. Results For PRS-SCZ and ES-SCZ analyses, we included 3099 and 6264 participants, respectively (age range 18–65 years; 55.7–56.1% female). Age and sex did not interact with PRS-SCZ. Age moderated the association between ES-SCZ and mental (interaction: p = 0.02) and physical health (p = 0.0007): at age 18, + 1.00 of ES-SCZ was associated with − 0.10 of mental health and − 0.08 of physical health, whereas at age 65, it was associated with − 0.21 and − 0.23, respectively (all units in standard deviations). Sex moderated the association between ES-SCZ and physical health (p < .0001): + 1.00 of ES-SCZ was associated with − 0.19 of physical health among female and − 0.11 among male individuals. Conclusion There were larger associations between higher ES-SCZ and poorer health among female and older individuals. Accounting for these interactions may increase ES-SCZ precision and help uncover populational determinants of environmental influences on health

Weak states and the commons: Fisheries and economic development in the Gaspé Peninsula circa 1830

The inefficiencies of common property fisheries are well-known to economists. To avoid over-exploitation, they propose multiple forms of government solution such as taxes, quotas and the enforcement of property rights regimes designed to avoid over-harvesting. But can efficient arrangements also exist under statelessness, or in the presence of weak states? One such example is the Gaspé Peninsula (in the Canadian province of Quebec) during the first half of the nineteenth century. There, a single firm (the Charles Robin Company) came to dominate the market and was able to restrict entry effectively. In this paper, we explain that it was able to do so by reducing the prices on imported goods that it would give to local fishermen in exchange for a part of their catch. This had the effect of deterring fishermen from contracting with other merchants as well as deterring other merchants from entering the market. It also made the region richer than most regions of Canada at the time, contrary to what historians have depicted. We take this as an example of the ability to deal with commons problems in the presence of weak states

Exploration toward the synthesis of aliphatic SF5-containing compounds using the Kolbe reaction

The preparation of aliphatic SF5-compounds (i.e., RCH2CH2SF5 where R is functionalized alkyl chain) using a Kolbe-based reaction was explored. In this electrochemical approach, 2-(pentafluoro-λ6-sulfanyl)acetic acid, used as the “SF5CH2” source, is reacted with a aliphatic carboxylic acid. A total of 9 examples of unsymmetrical coupling between 2-(pentafluoro-λ6-sulfanyl)acetic acid and a range of aliphatic carboxylic acid was achieved with NMR yields ranging from 15% to 66% (up to 62% isolated yield). Even if the method leads to modest yields, it represents one of the very few strategies to rapidly access aliphatic SF5-containing compounds

Positive cognitive appraisal “buffers” the long-term effect of peritraumatic distress on maternal anxiety: the Queensland Flood Study

Background: Limited research has evaluated distinct aspects of disaster experience as predictors of affective symptoms. In this study, we examined the extent to which maternal depression and anxiety over time were predicted by (1) objective hardship from a flood during pregnancy, (2) peritraumatic distress and (3) cognitive appraisal of the flood's consequences. Methods: Data were drawn from the 2011 Queensland Flood Study, a prospective, longitudinal study of pregnancy (n = 183). Mothers’ disaster experience was measured within 1 year after the flood. Their levels of depression, anxiety and stress were measured at 16 months, 30 months, 4 years and 6 years after childbirth. Linear mixed models were employed to evaluate symptom trajectories. Results: There were no time-dependent effects of disaster-related variables. Objective hardship did not predict outcomes. Peritraumatic distress significantly predicted depression and anxiety symptoms when cognitive appraisal was negative. Conversely, when cognitive appraisal was neutral or positive, the effect of peritraumatic distress was “buffered”. For anxiety, but not depression, this interaction survived Bonferroni correction. Neutral/ positive cognitive appraisal similarly moderated the effect of peritraumatic dissociation. Limitations: The generalizability of our findings is limited by overall low levels of depression and anxiety, along with a predominantly Caucasian, higher socioeconomic status sample. Potential confounders such as pre-disaster anxiety were not controlled for. Conclusion: In line with previous evidence, this study supports the predictive validity of peritraumatic distress for post-disaster depression and anxiety. Our findings suggest that cognitive appraisal could be a relevant target for interventions aimed at fostering maternal resilience

Climate change and Indigenous mental health in the Circumpolar North : a systematic review to inform clinical practice

Climate change is disproportionally impacting the Circumpolar North, with particular impacts among Indigenous populations. Environmental changes are felt in many aspects of daily life of Northern communities, including both physical and mental health. Thus, health institutions from around the Arctic must meet emerging needs, while the phenomenon remains marginal to their southern counterparts. In this systematic review, we aimed to review current scientific knowledge on the mental health impacts of climate change in Indigenous Peoples across the Circumpolar North. Seven databases were searched. Original peer-reviewed research articles were included if they addressed links between climate change and mental health in Arctic or Subarctic Indigenous Populations. After extraction, data were synthesized using thematic analysis. Of the 26 articles that met inclusion criteria, 16 focused on Canadian Inuit communities and 21 were exclusively qualitative. Being on the land was identified as a central determinant of wellbeing. Immediate impacts of climate change on mental health were felt through restricted mobility and disrupted livelihoods. Effects on mental health were further felt through changes in culture and identity, food insecurity, interpersonal stress and conflicts, and housing problems. Various ways in how communities and individuals are coping with these effects were reported. Understanding climate-related pathways of mental health risks in the Arctic is crucial to better identify vulnerable groups and to foster resilience. Clinicians can play a role in recognizing and providing support for patients affected by these disruptions. Policies sensitive to the climate–mental health relationship must be advocated for

Experimental and numerical study of the evolution of stored and dissipated energies in a medium carbon steel under cyclic loading

Lien vers la version éditeur: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167663613000288To obtain robust estimations of the fatigue limit from energy-based fatigue criteria, constitutive laws must include a correct description of the energy balance when modeling the cyclic behavior. The present paper aims at providing a better understanding of the evolution of the energy balance at both microscopic and macroscopic scales in a medium carbon steel. First, an experimental procedure is used to estimate the amount of energy which is either stored in the material or dissipated into heat at a macroscopic scale. The energy balance is observed to be very dependent on the stress amplitude and the number of loading cycles. A model is then developed to investigate the energy balance at a microscopic scale. From the simulation results, both the stored energy and dissipated energy fields are found to be strongly scattered. The dispersion is mostly explained by the crystallographic orientation distribution and the two-phased microstructure