Effects of maternal sensitivity on low birth weight children's academic achievement : a test of differential susceptibility versus diathesis stress

Background: Differential Susceptibility Theory (DST) postulates that some children are more affected – for better and for worse – by developmental experiences, including parenting, than others. Low birth weight (LBW, 1,500–2,499 g) may not only be a predictor for neurodevelopmental impairment but also a marker for prenatally programmed susceptibility. The aim was to test if effects of sensitive parenting on LBW and very LBW (VLBW, <1,500 g) versus normal birth weight (NBW, ≥2,500 g) children's academic achievement are best explained by a differential susceptibility versus diathesis-stress model of person-X-environment interaction. Methods: Nine hundred and twenty-two children ranging from 600 g to 5,140 g birth weight were studied as part of a prospective, geographically defined, longitudinal investigation of neonatal at-risk children in South Germany (Bavarian Longitudinal Study). Sensitive parenting during a structured mother–child interaction task was observed and rated at age 6 years. Academic achievement was assessed with standardized mathematic, reading, and spelling/writing tests at age 8 years. Results: Maternal sensitivity positively predicted the academic achievement of both LBW (n = 283) and VLBW (n = 202) children. Confirmatory-comparative and model-fitting analysis (testing LBW vs. NBW and VLBW vs. NBW) indicated that LBW and VLBW children were more susceptible than NBW to the adverse effects of low-sensitive, but not beneficial effects of high-sensitive parenting. Conclusions: Findings proved more consistent with the diathesis stress than differential-susceptibility model of person-X-environment interaction: LBW and VLBW children's exposure to positive parenting predicted catch-up to their NBW peers, whereas exposure to negative parenting predicted much poorer functioning

Emergency medicine in Switzerland: an analysis of physician workforce, gender equality and academics.

BACKGROUND Globally, emergency medicine is continuously evolving and in numerous countries, societies and colleges help develop the specialty on a professional and academic level. However, there are countries, including Switzerland, where emergency medicine is not a fully recognised specialty and there is a historical gender gap. AIMS OF THE STUDY It was the aim of this study to investigate the trends and developments in Swiss emergency medicine in terms of physician workforce, gender equality and academic posts over time. METHODS In this observational longitudinal analysis, the number and gender distribution of Swiss Society of Emergency and Rescue Medicine (SSERM) members as well as SSERM-certified physicians were analysed in 2011, 2016 and 2021. Additionally, head and leading physicians of SSERM-certified emergency departments of category 1 and 2 were analysed in 2021 with special regard to gender distribution. Finally, an analysis of Swiss academic emergency medicine including Swiss academic tracks, professors in emergency medicine as well as committees, chairs and speakers of the annual SSERM conference was performed. RESULTS From 2011 to 2021, there was an increase in SSERM members of 52% and a growing proportion of women from 26% to 35%. Similarly, there was a rise of 66% in physicians certified in in-hospital and 79% certified in prehospital emergency medicine. The proportion of women increased by 153% and 131%, respectively. In the analysed emergency departments, 69% of all head physicians were men whereas 50% of senior consultants and consultants with extended responsibility were women in 2021. Concerning academics, emergency medicine was a mandatory subject at all Swiss universities offering a master's degree in medical studies in 2021. However, 11 Swiss universities reported only six full professors, of whom only one was a woman, and three associate professors in emergency medicine in 2021. The analysis of the annual SSERM conferences from 2016 to 2019 revealed that men outnumbered women at every conference in terms of committees, chairs and speakers. CONCLUSIONS The number of SSERM members and board-certified emergency physicians, women in particular, remarkably increased in 10 years. Equality appears to be within reach for clinical emergency physicians, but women continue to be underrepresented in academic positions, at scientific conferences and among professors. In Switzerland, academic emergency medicine appears to be lagging behind in view of the growing emergency physician and women workforce, which might complicate further progress in and development of Swiss emergency medicine on a scientific and professional level.

Sensory processing sensitivity in adolescents reporting chronic pain: an exploratory study

Pediatric: Research Paper Sensory processing sensitivity in adolescents reporting chronic pain: an exploratory study Koechlin, Helena,b,*; Donado, Carolinab; Locher, Cosimac,d; Kossowsky, Joeb; Lionetti, Francescae,f; Pluess, Michaelf Introduction: Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) describes a genetically influenced trait characterized by greater depth of information processing, lower sensory threshold, and ease of overstimulation. It is hypothesized that SPS plays a crucial role in the context of chronic pain. Objectives: This exploratory study examined SPS as a correlate of pain intensity and pain-related disability in a sample of adolescents reporting chronic pain. Methods: Adolescents reporting chronic pain were contacted through social media and through specialized pain clinics. Participants completed online questionnaires on their levels of SPS, pain features, emotion regulation, and quality of life. A series of analysis of variances (ANOVAs) were calculated to detect differences between 3 SPS groups (ie, high, medium, and low sensitivity) regarding emotion regulation, quality of life, and pain features. Multiple linear regressions were conducted to predict pain intensity, pain-related disability, and quality of life. Results: In total, 103 participants completed the survey (68.9% female, Mage 17.9). Back pain was the most frequently reported pain location. Proportion of highly sensitive individuals was large (45.68%). The ANOVA revealed significant differences between sensitivity groups related to quality-of-life subscales, namely, for physical (F(2, 100) = 7.42, P < 0.001), emotional (F(2, 100) = 6.11, P < 0.001), and school functioning (F(2, 100) = 3.75, P = 0.03). High sensitivity was not predictive of pain but of health-related quality of life. Conclusions: Our results indicate that SPS is an important and prevalent characteristic to consider in the context of chronic pain in adolescents, specifically regarding the quality of life

Individual differences in sensitivity to the early environment as a function of amygdala and hippocampus volumes: An exploratory analysis in 12-year-old boys

Children differ in their response to environmental exposures, with some being more sensitive to contextual factors than others. According to theory, such variability is the result of individual differences in neurobiological sensitivity to environmental features, with some individuals generally more affected by both negative and/or positive experiences. In this exploratory study we tested whether left and right amygdala and hippocampus volumes (corrected for total brain size) account for individual differences in response to environmental influences in a sample of 62 boys. Cumulative general environmental quality, ranging from low to high, was measured across the first 9 years and child behavior was reported by teachers when boys were 12–13 years old. According to analyses, only the left amygdala volume – not any of the other brain volumes – emerged as an important brain region for sensitivity to positive environmental aspects. Boys with a larger left amygdala benefited significantly more from higher environmental quality than boys with a smaller left amygdala whilst not being more vulnerable to lower quality. Besides providing preliminary evidence for differences in environmental sensitivity due to brain structure, the results also point to the left amygdala as having a specific role regarding the response to environmental influences

Environmental sensitivity in children: development of the highly sensitive child scale and identification of sensitivity groups

A large number of studies document that children differ in the degree they are shaped by their developmental context with some being more sensitive to environmental influences than others. Multiple theories suggest that Environmental Sensitivity is a common trait predicting the response to negative as well as positive exposures. However, most research to date relied on more or less proximal markers of Environmental Sensitivity. In this paper we introduce a new questionnaire—the Highly Sensitive Child (HSC) scale—as a promising self-report measure of Environmental Sensitivity. After describing the development of the short 12-item HSC scale for children and adolescents, we report on the psychometric properties of the scale, including confirmatory factor analysis and test-retest reliability. After considering bivariate and multivariate associations with well-established temperament and personality traits, we apply Latent Class Analysis to test for the existence of hypothesised sensitivity groups. Analyses are conducted across five studies featuring four different UK-based samples ranging in age from 8-19 years and with a total sample size of N = 3,581. Results suggest the 12-item HSC scale is a psychometrically robust measure that performs well in both children and adolescents. Besides being relatively independent from other common traits, the Latent Class Analysis suggests that there are three distinct groups with different levels of Environmental Sensitivity—low (approx. 25-35%), medium (approx. 41-47%), and high (20-35%). Finally, we provide exploratory cut-off scores for the categorisation of children into these different groups which may be useful for both researchers and practitioners

Environmental sensitivity in children: development of the highly sensitive child scale and identification of sensitivity groups

A large number of studies document that children differ in the degree they are shaped by their developmental context with some being more sensitive to environmental influences than others. Multiple theories suggest that Environmental Sensitivity is a common trait predicting the response to negative as well as positive exposures. However, most research to date relied on more or less proximal markers of Environmental Sensitivity. In this paper we introduce a new questionnaire—the Highly Sensitive Child (HSC) scale—as a promising self-report measure of Environmental Sensitivity. After describing the development of the short 12-item HSC scale for children and adolescents, we report on the psychometric properties of the scale, including confirmatory factor analysis and test-retest reliability. After considering bivariate and multivariate associations with well-established temperament and personality traits, we apply Latent Class Analysis to test for the existence of hypothesised sensitivity groups. Analyses are conducted across five studies featuring four different UK-based samples ranging in age from 8-19 years and with a total sample size of N = 3,581. Results suggest the 12-item HSC scale is a psychometrically robust measure that performs well in both children and adolescents. Besides being relatively independent from other common traits, the Latent Class Analysis suggests that there are three distinct groups with different levels of Environmental Sensitivity—low (approx. 25-35%), medium (approx. 41-47%), and high (20-35%). Finally, we provide exploratory cut-off scores for the categorisation of children into these different groups which may be useful for both researchers and practitioners

Individual Differences in Adolescents’ Civic Engagement: The Role of Civic Discussions with Parents and Environmental Sensitivity

The main goal of the current study was to examine the direct and moderating effects of civic dis-cussions with parents and environmental sensitivity using both the total score and its specific di-mensions (i.e., Aesthetic Sensitivity, AES; Ease of Excitation, EOE; Low Sensitivity Threshold, LST) on youth civic engagement (attitudes and behaviours). The empirical analysis relied on a ques-tionnaire-based survey conducted on a sample of 438 adolescents (30% males), aged between 14 and 18 years (M = 16.50, SD = 1.36). We used a structural equation model (SEM) with latent vari-ables and the latent moderated structural equation (LMS) method to test our hypotheses. Our re-sults showed that civic discussions with parents were positively and significantly associated with general environmental sensitivity and with AES and predicted both civic attitudes and civic be-haviours; EOE was negatively and significantly related to civic behaviours; AES was positively and significantly related to civic attitudes; and LST was not significantly related to either civic attitudes or behaviours. Contrary to our expectations, environmental sensitivity did not moderate the rela-tionship between civic discussions with parents and civic engagement. Our study further high-lights the relevance that parents have in shaping their children’s civic engagement and makes a novel contribution regarding how differences in perceiving and processing environmental stimuli can affect beliefs and behaviours toward community issues among young individual

Childhood conscientiousness predicts the social gradient of smoking in adulthood: a life course analysis.

The social gradient in smoking is well known, with higher rates among those in less advantaged socioeconomic position. Some recent research has reported that personality characteristics partly explain this gradient. However, the majority of existing work is limited by cross-sectional designs unsuitable to determine whether differences in conscientiousness are a predictor or a product of social inequalities. Adopting a life course perspective, we investigated in the current paper the influence of conscientiousness in early and mid-life on the social gradient in smoking and the role of potential confounding factors in a large longitudinal cohort study

First look at the five-factor model personality facet associations with sensory processing sensitivity

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Improving mental health and psychosocial wellbeing in humanitarian settings: Reflections on research funded through R2HC

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterMajor knowledge gaps remain concerning the most effective ways to address mental health and psychosocial needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises. The Research for Health in Humanitarian Crisis (R2HC) program aims to strengthen humanitarian health practice and policy through research. As a significant portion of R2HC’s research has focused on mental health and psychosocial support interventions, the program has been interested in strengthening a community of practice in this field. Following a meeting between grantees, we set out to provide an overview of the R2HC portfolio, and draw lessons learned. In this paper, we discuss the mental health and psychosocial support-focused research projects funded by R2HC; review the implications of initial findings from this research portfolio; and highlight four remaining knowledge gaps in this field. Between 2014 and 2019, R2HC funded 18 academic-practitioner partnerships focused on mental health and psychosocial support, comprising 38% of the overall portfolio (18 of 48 projects) at a value of approximately 7.2 million GBP. All projects have focused on evaluating the impact of interventions. In line with consensus-based recommendations to consider a wide range of mental health and psychosocial needs in humanitarian settings, research projects have evaluated diverse interventions. Findings so far have both challenged and confirmed widely-held assumptions about the effectiveness of mental health and psychosocial interventions in humanitarian settings. They point to the importance of building effective, sustained, and diverse partnerships between scholars, humanitarian practitioners, and funders, to ensure long-term program improvements and appropriate evidence-informed decision making. Further research needs to fill knowledge gaps regarding how to: scale-up interventions that have been found to be effective (e.g., questions related to integration across sectors, adaptation of interventions across different contexts, and optimal care systems); address neglected mental health conditions and populations (e.g., elderly, people with disabilities, sexual minorities, people with severe, pre-existing mental disorders); build on available local resources and supports (e.g., how to build on traditional, religious healing and community-wide social support practices); and ensure equity, quality, fidelity, and sustainability for interventions in real-world contexts (e.g., answering questions about how interventions from controlled studies can be transferred to more representative humanitarian contexts).All studies described here were funded by Elrha’s Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC) Programme, which aims to improve health outcomes by strengthening the evidence base for public health interventions in humanitarian crises.14pubpu