Pregnancy and postpartum antidepressant use moderates the effects of sleep on depression.

This study examined the course of antidepressant use, sleep quality, and depression severity from pregnancy through 6-month postpartum in women with and without a depressive disorder during pregnancy. Women (N = 215) were interviewed during pregnancy, 1- and 6-month postpartum. Mixed linear models were used to examine the longitudinal course and inter-relationships for the time-varying variables of antidepressant use, subjective sleep quality, and depression severity.

Infants' early visual attention and social engagement as developmental precursors to joint attention.

This study examined infants' early visual attention (at 1 month of age) and social engagement (4 months) as predictors of their later joint attention (12 and 18 months). The sample (n = 325), drawn from the Maternal Lifestyle Study, a longitudinal multicenter project conducted at 4 centers of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network, included high-risk (cocaine-exposed) and matched noncocaine-exposed infants. Hierarchical regressions revealed that infants' attention orienting at 1 month significantly predicted more frequent initiating joint attention at 12 (but not 18) months of age.

Maternal and infant affect at 4 months predicts performance and verbal IQ at 4 and 7 years in a diverse population.

Using existing longitudinal data from 570 infants in the Maternal Lifestyle Study, we explored the predictive value of maternal and infant affect and maternal vocalizations during 2 minutes of face-to-face interactions at 4 months on IQ scores at 4.5 and 7 years. After controlling for demographic factors, maternal depression, and prenatal drug exposure, maternal positive affect and maternal positive vocalizations emerged as predictors of both verbal and performance IQ at 4.

The Roles of Maternal Depression, Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Treatment, and Concomitant Benzodiazepine Use on Infant Neurobehavioral Functioning Over the First Postnatal Month.

Objective: The purpose of this article was to systematically compare the developmental trajectory of neurobehavior over the first postnatal month for infants with prenatal exposure to pharmacologically untreated maternal depression, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (collectively: SSRIs), SSRIs with concomitant benzodiazepines (SSRI plus benzodiazepine), and no maternal depression or drug treatment (no exposure).

Method: Women (N=184) were assessed at two prenatal time points to determine psychiatric diagnoses, symptom severity, and prenatal medication usage. Infants were examined with a structured neurobehavioral assessment (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioral Scale) at multiple time points across the first postnatal month.

Poor actigraphic and self-reported sleep patterns predict delinquency and daytime impairment among at-risk adolescents.

Objective: To evaluate associations between actigraphic sleep patterns, subjective sleep quality, and daytime functioning (ie, sleepiness, symptoms of depression, and delinquency and other conduct problems) in at-risk adolescents.

Design: Prospective, observational cohort study.

Setting: Providence, RI, predominantly home and school and 2 visits to the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk.

Parasympathetic response profiles related to social functioning in young children with autistic disorder.

Psychophysiology studies of heart rate and heart rate variability can be employed to study regulatory processes in children with autism. The objective of this study was to test for differences in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; a measure of heart rate variability) and to examine the relationship between physiologic responses and measures of social behavior. Participants included 2- to 6-year-old children with Autistic Disorder and children without autism.

Maintaining participation and momentum in longitudinal research involving high-risk families.

Purpose: The purpose of the current study was to identify and describe strategies available to optimize retention of a high-risk research cohort and assist in the recovery of study participants following participant dropout.

Design And Methods: The Maternal Lifestyle Study (MLS), which investigated the effects of prenatal substance exposure (cocaine or opiates) on child outcome, is a prospective longitudinal follow-up study that extended from birth through 15 years of age. Retention strategies to maximize participation and factors that might negatively impact compliance were examined over the course of five follow-up phases.

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Children Born Premature: A Case Study and Illustration of Vagal Tone as a Physiological Measure of Treatment Outcome.

Evidence-based psychosocial interventions for externalizing behavior problems in children born premature have not been reported in the literature. This single-case study describes Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) with a 23-month-old child born at 29 weeks gestation weighing 1,020 grams, who presented with significant externalizing behavior problems. Treatment outcome was assessed using standard measures of maternal and child functioning and observational measures of the parent-child interaction, as well as a physiological measure of heart rate variability (i.

After family treatment drug court: maternal, infant, and permanency outcomes.

This study reports on maternal functioning, infant developmental, and permanency outcomes for 52 families following maternal participation in a family treatment drug court (FTDC) for perinatal substance users. Although the majority of families experienced positive child welfare outcomes, over time, maternal functioning deteriorated and infant developmental concerns were identified. Even when promising interventions like FTDC are used, long-term needs of families affected by perinatal substance use need to be considered and addressed.

Longitudinal study of maternal report of sleep problems in children with prenatal exposure to cocaine and other drugs.

Sleep data were collected by maternal report in a prospective longitudinal follow up of cocaine-exposed and unexposed children. There were 139 participants: 23 with no prenatal drug exposure, 55 exposed to cocaine alone or in combination with other drugs, and 61 exposed to drugs other than cocaine. Characteristics differed between exposure groups including birth size, caretaker changes, maternal socioeconomic status, and postnatal drug use.

The effect of parenting stress on child behavior problems in high-risk children with prenatal drug exposure.

Objective: To examine the relationship between early parenting stress and later child behavior in a high-risk sample and measure the effect of drug exposure on the relationship between parenting stress and child behavior.

Methods: A subset of child-caregiver dyads (n=607) were selected from the Maternal Lifestyle Study (MLS), which is a large sample of children (n=1,388) with prenatal cocaine exposure and a comparison sample unexposed to cocaine. Of the 607 dyads, 221 were prenatally exposed to cocaine and 386 were unexposed to cocaine.

Infant colic and maternal depression.

The combined impact of infant colic and maternal depression on infant, parent, and family difficulties was examined. The sample included 93 consecutive patients seen at an outpatient Colic Clinic. Most mothers had private insurance and completed high school.

The role of early parenting in children's development of executive processes.

Using structural modeling, we examined the influence of mothers' verbal input that provided information about associations between objects and actions (scaffolding) at 3 and 4 years of age on children's 6-year executive processing skills. Executive processing skills were measured by search retrieval and independent goal-directed play tasks. A set of 4-year basic skills (language, memory, nonverbal problem solving) considered to be prerequisites for executive processing also were included.