Fish consumption and depression: the Northern Finland 1966 birth cohort study.

Background: Since low fish consumption and omega-3 fatty acids have recently been linked with depression, we investigated by means of a large, general population database, whether a low fish consumption is associated with increased risk of developing depression.

Methods: The Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort was followed up prospectively from pregnancy up to the age of 31 years. The data on HSCL-25 depression subscale, doctor-diagnosed life-time depression and fish consumption (during the previous 6 months) of cohort members were obtained by postal questionnaires at the age of 31.

Age at menarche and depression at the age of 31 years: findings from the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Study.

Objective: Early age at menarche has been found to be associated with higher oestrogen levels among girls around the onset of puberty and in early adulthood. The role of oestrogen in depression is not clear, although it affects serotonergic functions in the central nervous system (CNS). We wanted to test the hypothesis that age at menarche is associated with depression in young adulthood.

Comparison of hospital-treated personality disorders and personality disorders in a general population sample.

The distribution of personality disorders (PDs) was explored in hospital-treated subjects and in a population subsample. This study forms a part of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort study. Hospital case records of psychiatric treatment periods of all cohort members (n=11,017) were reviewed and re-checked against DSM-III-R criteria.

The persistence of developmental markers in childhood and adolescence and risk for schizophrenic psychoses in adult life. A 34-year follow-up of the Northern Finland 1966 birth cohort.

Childhood precursors of schizophrenia include multiple abnormalities of development. Continuities between early and subsequent deviance are poorly characterised. We studied associations among premorbid developmental deviance using data at ages 1 year (learning to stand, walk, and speak, attainment of bladder and bowel control) and 16 years (success at school).

Serum lipids in schizophrenia and other functional psychoses: a general population northern Finland 1966 birth cohort survey.

Objective: To compare fasting serum lipid concentrations of subjects with schizophrenia with a comparison group.

Method: The study sample consists of 5654 members of the northern Finland 1966 birth cohort who participated in the field study with blood samples after overnight fasting and clinical examination in 1997-98. Total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides (TG) and glucose were analyzed.

Hyperlipidemia in persons using antipsychotic medication: a general population-based birth cohort study.

Background: Shortly after phenothiazines were introduced, they were found to elevate serum triglyceride and total cholesterol levels. During the past decade, an increasing body of literature has also documented this effect in atypical antipsychotics. Previous studies of antipsychotic-associated hyperlipidemias are based on clinical samples, mostly from case series.

Childhood central nervous system infections and risk for schizophrenia.

Central nervous system (CNS) viral infections have been suggested to increase the risk of schizophrenia, although most of the evidence is indirect and comes from rather few studies on exposure to various infections in general. In the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort the association between schizophrenia and other psychoses and childhood CNS infections has been analysed, and in this paper we present the follow-up results up to the end of 1994 and 1997. Data regarding the infections were collected prospectively between 1966-1980 and data on psychoses from 1982.

Vitamin D supplementation during the first year of life and risk of schizophrenia: a Finnish birth cohort study.

Objective: Based on clues from epidemiology and animal experiments, low vitamin D during early life has been proposed as a risk factor for schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to explore the association between the use of vitamin D supplements during the first year of life and risk of developing schizophrenia.

Method: Subjects were drawn from the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (n=9,114).

Somatization disorder in young adult population.

Somatization is a widespread problem in health care. We estimated the occurrence of Somatization Disorder (SD) using three different case-finding methods in a general population cohort. The sample consists of 1,598 subjects born in 1966.

Seasonal variation in postnatal depression.

Background: We evaluated the occurrence of postnatal depression in general and during different seasons as part of a larger longitudinal mother-child follow-up study.

Method: One hundred and eighty-five mothers, from the maternity wards of University Hospital of Oulu, Finland, completed a self-rating depression scale, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) twice: first at hospital 2-7 days after delivery and the second time at home 4 months after the delivery. Different psychosocial variables were mapped out to avoid any confounding factors.

Atopy and depression: results from the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Study.

Several studies have suggested an association between IgE-mediated atopic allergies and depression. The present study extends our understanding about putative gender differences of this association and provides further epidemiological evidence for our previous finding that the association between atopy and depression may be characteristic for females only. In order to clearly determine the presence of atopic disorders and depression, we used more valid tools than had been employed earlier and we had access to a database (the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort), in which individuals were followed up prospectively until the age of 31 years.

Presence of atopy in first-degree relatives as a predictor of a female proband's depression: results from the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort.

Background: Recent investigations suggest a common genetic rather than environmental cause to explain the association between IgE-mediated atopic allergies and depression.

Objective: Taking into account psychosocial confounding factors, we investigated separately and at the epidemiologic level the effects of maternal, paternal, and sibling atopy on the cumulative incidence of a child's depression.

Methods: We used an unselected, genetically homogenous, general population birth cohort of 12,058 live-born children in Finland.

The Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 in screening DSM-III-R axis-I disorders.

Simple screening questionnaires for major psychiatric disorders are needed for epidemiological research and clinical work. We describe the characteristics of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) as a screening instrument in a two-phase epidemiological survey using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID) as a diagnostic tool. The material consisted of 1609 subjects aged 31 years who were asked to participate in a health survey.

Criminality in the offspring of antenatally depressed mothers: a 33-year follow-up of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort.

Background: No epidemiological studies have been reported on the association between mothers' antenatal depression and criminality in their offspring.

Methods: The material consists of a general population cohort of 12059 children born in 1966 in Northern Finland and followed to the end of 1998. Mothers were asked at midgestation by a nurse at the antenatal clinic if they felt themselves to be depressed.

Ability to speak at the age of 1 year and alexithymia 30 years later.

Objective: We studied the association between speech development in the first year of life and alexithymia in young adulthood.

Methods: The study forms a part of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort. The original material consisted of all liveborn children in the provinces of Lapland and Oulu in Finland with an expected delivery date during 1966.

Low educational performance is associated with drunk driving: a 31-year follow-up of the northern Finland 1966 birth cohort.

Aims: We studied the relationship between drunk driving offences, school performance and adult educational achievements.

Methods: Data from the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort were linked with official criminality files and National Education registers. The cohort members were studied prospectively covering the period from pregnancy to 31 years of age.

Social situation of expectant mothers and alexithymia 31 years later in their offspring: a prospective study.

Objective: We studied the association between alexithymia in adulthood and social situation of the child's family at the time of the child's birth.

Methods: The study forms part of the prospective Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Project. The original material consisted of all 12,058 live-born children in the provinces of Lapland and Oulu in Finland with an expected delivery date during 1966.

Association between skin test diagnosed atopy and professionally diagnosed depression: a Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort study.

Background: Several studies have suggested an association between IgE-mediated atopic allergies and depression, although thus far no epidemiologic evidence involving a large, unselected, general-population sample and valid methods in diagnosing atopy support this putative association.

Methods: We used the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort, which was followed prospectively to age 31. Of the total cohort, 5428 individuals underwent skin tests for three of the most common allergens (i.

Family type and criminal behaviour of male offspring: the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Study.

Background: Unstable family environment during childhood is known to predispose to juvenile delinquency.

Aims: This study explored whether childhood family structure is associated with violent behaviour of adult offspring.

Methods: We used a large, unselected general population birth cohort (n = 5589 males) linked with the national crime registers (up to the age of 32 years).

Predictors of female criminality: findings from the Northern Finland 1966 birth cohort.

Objective: Females still commit fewer criminal offenses than males, but the percentage of female offending has been increasing during the past few decades. Thus there is a need for original studies into the perinatal contribution to the etiology of female offending.

Method: A large, prospectively collected birth cohort database of female members (N = 5,056) was available.

Psychometric properties of the Finnish 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale.

The aim of this study was to examine the factor structure and the validity of the Finnish version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). As part of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Project, the TAS-20 was presented to a sample of 5034 31-year old persons. A confirmatory factor analysis showed that the three-factor model, earlier established with the original TAS-20, was in agreement with the Finnish version of the scale.

Association of symptoms of TMD and orofacial pain with alexithymia: an epidemiological study of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort.

Alexithymia is a term denoting a deficit in the ability to differentiate emotional from physical states and to identify and describe one's feelings, as well as a preference for external oriented thinking. Alexithymia has been linked with various somatic and psychosomatic diseases, especially with chronic pain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between alexithymia and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) as well as oro-lingual and dental pain, in a large representative population sample of young adults.