Chemical and non-chemical stressors in a postpartum cohort through wristband and self report data: Links between increased chemical burden, economic, and racial stress.

Multiple external stressors are known to have adverse impacts on health and development. Certain groups are more vulnerable and/or more likely to be exposed toenvironmental, psychological, and social stressors simultaneously. Yet, few studies have examined combined exposure to environmental toxicants and psychosocial stress.

Maternal prenatal lead levels and neonatal brain volumes: Testing moderations by maternal depressive symptoms and family income.

There is considerable evidence that prenatal lead exposure is detrimental to child cognitive and socio-emotional development. Further evidence suggests that the effects of prenatal lead on developmental outcomes may be conditional upon exposure to social stressors, such as maternal depression and low socioeconomic status. However, no studies have examined associations between these co-occurring stressors during pregnancy and neonatal brain volumes.

Autism Prevalence and the Intersectionality of Assigned Sex at Birth, Race, and Ethnicity on Age of Diagnosis.

Purpose: An official autism diagnosis is required to access timely intervention and is associated with better long-term wellbeing and mental health. Certain demographic characteristics, such as being female or a racially or ethnically minoritized youth, have been associated with significant diagnostic lag. However, it remains unclear how assigned sex, race, and ethnicity interact with each other in predicting the prevalence and age of autism diagnosis.

Racial differences in the associations between adiposity, placental growth hormone and inflammatory cytokines in pregnant women.

Background: The prevalence of obesity among women of child-bearing age has contributed to an increased risk of pregnancy complications with a disproportional impact on women of lower socioeconomic status and among certain racial groups. In particular, socio-demographic and historical factors have resulted in higher rates of premature births and small-for-gestational age infants among Black women, which may be associated with placental function during pregnancy. The current study investigated the influence of maternal pre-pregnancy adiposity and race on the associations between inflammatory proteins, placental growth hormone (PGH), and infant birthweight.

Environmental Toxicants and the Developing Brain.

Early life represents the most rapid and foundational period of brain development and a time of vulnerability to environmental insults. Evidence indicates that greater exposure to ubiquitous toxicants like fine particulate matter (PM), manganese, and many phthalates is associated with altered developmental, physical health, and mental health trajectories across the lifespan. Whereas animal models offer evidence of their mechanistic effects on neurological development, there is little research that evaluates how these environmental toxicants are associated with human neurodevelopment using neuroimaging measures in infant and pediatric populations.

Testing a cascade model linking prenatal inflammation to child executive function.

Inflammation during pregnancy is beginning to be understood as a risk factor predicting poor infant health and neurodevelopmental outcomes. The long-term sequelae associated with exposure to prenatal inflammation are less well established. The current study examined associations between maternal inflammation during pregnancy, markers of infant neurodevelopment (general cognitive ability, negative affect, and sleep quality), and preschool executive function (EF) in a longitudinal sample of 40 African American mother-infant dyads.

Improvements in motor competence skills are associated with improvements in executive function and math problem-solving skills in early childhood.

Efforts to increase moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in school-age children are associated with improved health, cognitive, and academic outcomes. However, questions remain about whether similar benefits are observed in early childhood. We hypothesized that motor competence, not MVPA, would be related to improved cognitive and academic skill development in early childhood.

Between- and within-person contributions of simple reaction time to executive function skills in early childhood.

This study tested whether the bivariate association between simple reaction time (SRT) and executive function (EF) performance that has been observed in early childhood represented a between- and/or within-person association. Up to three repeated assessments (i.e.

Supporting informed clinical trial decisions: Results from a randomized controlled trial evaluating a digital decision support tool for those with intellectual disability.

Background: Informed consent requires that individuals understand the nature of the study, risks and benefits of participation. Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) have cognitive and adaptive impairments that may affect their ability to provide informed consent. New treatments and clinical trials for fragile X syndrome, the most commonly known inherited cause of ID, necessitate the development of methods to improve the informed consent process.

Using Repeated-Measures Data to Make Stronger Tests of the Association between Executive Function Skills and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptomatology in Early Childhood.

Theoretical models of Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have long implicated executive function (EF) skills as contributing to the etiology, maintenance, and changes in ADHD symptomatology over time. Although there is interest making within-person inferences (i.e.

Clinical models of telehealth in genetics: A regional telegenetics landscape.

The use of live video consultations in genetics has been shown to improve patient access with high satisfaction; however, little is known about the current landscape of clinical telehealth models in the field of genetics (i.e., telegenetics).

Decisional Capacity for Informed Consent in Males and Females with Fragile X Syndrome.

Although informed consent is critical for all research, there is increased ethical responsibility as individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) become the focus of more clinical trials. This study examined decisional capacity for informed consent to clinical trials in individuals with fragile X syndrome (FXS). Participants were 152 adolescents and adults (80 males, 72 females) with FXS who completed a measure of decisional capacity and a comprehensive battery of neurocognitive and psychiatric measures.

Testing longitudinal associations between executive function and academic achievement.

Children with higher levels of executive function (EF) skills consistently demonstrate higher levels of academic achievement. Despite the consistency of these associations, fundamental questions remain about whether efforts to improve an individual child's EF skills result in corresponding improvements in his or her academic performance. In the absence of experimental evidence, developmentalists have used repeated measures designs to test the nature, magnitude, and direction of the associations between EF skills and academic achievement.

Mindfulness and Acceptance as Potential Protective Factors for Mothers of Children With Fragile X Syndrome.

Women with an premutation may be at increased genetic risk for stress vulnerability. This increased vulnerability, when combined with stressful parenting that can result from raising children with fragile X syndrome (FXS), may result in negative physical and emotional outcomes. Mindfulness and acceptance have been found to be protective factors for parents of children with similar behavioral challenges, but these traits have not previously been explored among mothers with a child with FXS.

Health care for individuals with fragile X Syndrome: Understanding access and quality.

Background: Previous research suggests that individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) may experience challenges accessing quality health care.

Objective/hypothesis: This study explored parent perceptions of access and quality of health care services for children with fragile X syndrome (FXS), the leading hereditary cause of intellectual/developmental disabilities.

Methods: Nearly 600 primary caregivers of at least one child with FXS completed an online survey on access, barriers, and quality of health care for their family member with FXS (N = 731).

Sensory Difficulties in Children With an FMR1 Premutation.

Abnormal sensory processing is one of the core characteristics of the fragile X phenotype. Studies of young children with fragile X syndrome (FXS) and the FMR1 premutation have shown sensory challenges as early as infancy and into early childhood. This study sought to examine differences in sensory difficulties in children with an FMR1 premutation compared with children with FXS and typically developing children.

A comparison of functional academic and daily living skills in males with fragile X syndrome with and without autism.

Background: Adaptive behaviors, such as functional academic and daily living skills, are critical for independence in adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. However, little is known about these skills in fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common form of inherited intellectual disability.

Aims: The purposes of this study were to describe the functional academic and daily living skills of males diagnosed with FXS across different age groups and compare skill attainment by autism status and other common co-occurring conditions.

Attendance at Fragile X Specialty Clinics: Facilitators and Barriers.

The objectives were to describe the demographic characteristics of children with Fragile X syndrome (FXS) and to determine predictors of attendance at Fragile X (FX) clinics. Findings from the Community Support Network (CSN) and Our Fragile X World (OFXW) samples showed that children who attended FX Clinics were mostly male, high-school aged or younger, and white, non-Hispanic. Using logistic regression models, awareness about FX Clinic services, guardian education, and income (CSN), and child age, family income, and total number of co-occurring conditions (OFXW) were predictors of clinic attendance.

Maternal medical conditions during pregnancy and gross motor development up to age 24 months in the Upstate KIDS study.

Aim: We examined whether children of mothers with a medical condition diagnosed before or during pregnancy took longer to achieve gross motor milestones up to age 24 months.

Method: We obtained information on medical conditions using self-reports, birth certificates, and hospital records in 4909 mothers participating in Upstate KIDS, a population-based birth cohort. Mothers reported on their children's motor milestone achievement at 4, 8, 12, 18, and 24 months of age.

Maternal prepregnancy obesity and achievement of infant motor developmental milestones in the upstate KIDS study.

Objective: Maternal prepregnancy obesity is associated with several poor infant health outcomes; however, studies that investigated motor development have been inconsistent. Thus, maternal prepregnancy weight status and infants' gross motor development were examined.

Methods: Participants consisted of 4,901 mother-infant pairs from the Upstate KIDS study, a longitudinal cohort in New York.