Accelerometer-derived sleep metrics in adolescents reveal shared genetic influences with obesity and stress in a Brazilian birth cohort study.

We aimed to test the association between sleep-related polygenic scores (PGSs) and accelerometer-based sleep metrics among Brazilian adolescents and to evaluate potential mechanisms underlying the association through the enrichment of obesity, and cortisol pathway-specific polygenic scores (PRSet). Utilizing data from The 2004 Pelotas (Brazil) Birth Cohort, sleep time window and sleep efficiency were measured at the 11-year-old follow-up using ActiGraph accelerometers. Three sleep PGSs were developed based on the most recent genome-wide association study of accelerometer-based sleep measures.

Hair cortisol measurement: A systematic review of current practices and a proposed checklist for reporting standards.

Summarising hair cortisol concentration (HCC) methodology may provide much-needed data toward protocol standardisation to maximise future comparability of findings across studies. We searched five electronic databases, reviewing 11,716 publications focused on protocols previously used to measure hair cortisol. Our aim was to determine the frequency with which each procedure was reported in the literature.

Mental health from childhood to adolescence predicts excessive weight and body composition at 18 years.

Objective: To investigate the association of mental health in childhood and adolescence with four outcomes at 18 years: ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption, body mass index (BMI), excessive weight (EW), and body composition, including fat mass (FM) and fat free mass (FFM) in kg, FM index (FMI) and FFM index (FFMI) in kg/m.

Methods: Cohort study in which The Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA) (6 and 11 years) and the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) (18 years) provided information on internalizing (INT), externalizing (EXT) and any mental disorder (ANY). The exposure was classified in: "never", "at 6 and/or 11 years", "at 18 years only" and "at 6, 11, and 18 years".

Gender Division of Housework and Intimate Partner Violence Among Mothers of Toddlers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from the 2019 Rio Grande (Brazil) Birth Cohort.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we evaluated the association between gender division of housework and intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization in a population-based cohort of mothers. We collected data on psychological, physical, and sexual IPV using an adapted version of the World Health Organization Violence Against Women instrument and division of housework using a validated questionnaire. We used logistic regression to calculate adjusted odds ratios.

Insomnia Polygenic Component on Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder: Exploring this Association Using Genomic Data from Brazilian Families.

 Insomnia is highly prevalent among individuals with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, the biological mechanisms shared between both conditions is still elusive. We aimed to investigate whether insomnia's genomic component is able to predict ADHD in childhood and adolescence.

Accelerometer-based sleep metrics and gut microbiota during adolescence: Association findings from a Brazilian population-based birth cohort.

Background: Sleep and gut microbiota are emerging putative risk factors for several physical, mental, and cognitive conditions. Sleep deprivation has been shown to be linked with unhealthy microbiome environments in animal studies. However, in humans, the results are mixed.

Evaluation of genomic factors and early childhood stimulation on intelligence in children from a Brazilian birth cohort: The primary role of independent factors.

Background: Childhood cognitive abilities are a predictor of health outcomes and adult income potential. Identifying factors associated with childhood intelligence and their interactions is essential in behavioral research. We assessed the impact of genetic variants and early child stimulation (ECS) on child intelligence and examined their possible interaction as potential modifiers of IQ in a population-based longitudinal study.

The association between maternal fears about their infant/ toddler during the COVID-19 pandemic and depression and anxiety: a birth cohort study.

Objective: To assess the association between maternal fears about their infant/toddler and depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: In 2019, all mothers who gave birth in hospitals in Rio Grande, RS, Brazil were asked to respond to a standardized questionnaire (baseline). We followed them between May-June 2020 (first follow-up point), August-December 2020 (second follow-up point), and from October 2021 to March 2022 (third follow-up point), and asked them if they were: (1) afraid that their infant/toddler would become infected with COVID or get sick (yes/no), (2) afraid that they would contaminate their own child with COVID, and/or (3) worried about the pandemic's effects on their child's future.

Sleep and its association with depressive and anxiety symptoms during the last weeks of pregnancy: A population-based study.

Objective: To evaluate the association between sleep characteristics and depressive and anxiety symptoms during the immediate postpartum period.

Methods: People who had hospital births during 2019 in the municipality of Rio Grande (southern Brazil) were assessed with a standardized questionnaire concerning sociodemographic (eg, age and self-reported skin color) and health-related variables (eg, parity and stillbirth) (n = 2314) 24-48 hours after birth. We used the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire to assess sleep latency, inertia, duration, and chronotype; the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale for depressive symptoms; and the General Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale to evaluate anxiety symptoms.

Combining cash transfers and cognitive behavioral therapy to reduce antisocial behavior in young men: A mediation analysis of a randomized controlled trial in Liberia.

Background: Interventions that combine cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with unconditional cash transfers (UCT) reduce the risk of antisocial behavior (ASB), but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. In this paper, we test the role of psychological and cognitive mechanisms in explaining this effect. We assessed the mediating role of executive function, self-control, and time preferences.

The contribution of whole-exome sequencing to intellectual disability diagnosis and knowledge of underlying molecular mechanisms: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Whole-exome sequencing (WES) is useful for molecular diagnosis, family genetic counseling, and prognosis of intellectual disability (ID). However, ID molecular diagnosis ascertainment based on WES is highly dependent on de novo mutations (DNMs) and variants of uncertain significance (VUS). The quantification of DNM frequency in ID molecular diagnosis ascertainment and the biological mechanisms common to genes with VUS may provide objective information about WES use in ID diagnosis and etiology.

ADHD in childhood predicts BMI and body composition measurements over time in a population-based birth cohort.

Background/objectives: Obesity has been reported as an attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) comorbidity. So far, few studies have aimed to explore the potential causal relationship between ADHD and obesity, as well as used other measures of body composition like fat-free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM) as measures of obesity. This study aimed to test the association between ADHD and body composition (body mass index [BMI] and others) and to evaluate the potential causal relationship with obesity.

Stress-related genetic components in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Effects of the SERPINA6 and SERPINA1 genetic markers in a family-based brazilian sample.

SERPINA6 and SERPINA1 were recently identified as the main genes associated with plasma cortisol concentration in humans. Although dysregulation in the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis has been observed in Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the molecular mechanisms underlying this relationship are still unclear. Evaluation of the SERPINA6/SERPINA1 gene cluster in ADHD may provide relevant information to uncover them.

A WhatsApp-Based Intervention to Improve Maternal Social Support and Maternal-Child Health in Southern Brazil: The Text-Message Intervention to Enhance Social Support (TIES) Feasibility Study.

Participatory learning and action cycles with women's groups have been recommended by the WHO to promote maternal and newborn health, but few studies have tested its feasibility and acceptability in mobile health (mHealth) interventions among mothers of toddlers. This was a mixed-method feasibility assessment of an 8-week WhatsApp-based maternal support group for mothers of toddlers (12-18 months of age) enrolled in a birth cohort study in Southern Brazil. Daily messages and weekly activities were sent by moderators to promote maternal-child outcomes: child nutrition, child sleep, nurturing care, and maternal psychosocial well-being (assessed pre- and post-intervention via self-reported questionnaire).

The effects of persistent sleep disturbances during early childhood over adolescent ADHD, and the mediating effect of attention-related executive functions: Data from the 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort.

Objective: Investigate effects of persistent sleep disturbances during early childhood over ADHD during the adolescence, and the potential attention-related executive functions mediating this effect.

Methods: We used data from the 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort. Children's Sleep disturbances were reported by their mothers at 12, 24, and 48 months of age, whereas the Test-of-Everyday-Attention-for-Children (TEA-Ch) and the Development and Well Being Assessment (DAWBA) were applied at 11 years of age to evaluate attention-related executive functions and ADHD, respectively.

Sleep-related traits and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder comorbidity: Shared genetic risk factors, molecular mechanisms, and causal effects.

Objectives: To evaluate the shared genetic components, common pathways and causal relationship between ADHD and sleep-related phenotypes.

Methods: We used the largest genome-wide association summary statistics available for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and various sleep-related phenotypes (insomnia, napping, daytime dozing, snoring, ease getting up, daytime sleepiness, sleep duration and chronotype). We estimated the genomic correlation using cross-trait linkage disequilibrium score regression (LDSR) and investigated the potential common mechanisms using gene-based cross-trait metanalyses and functional enrichment analyses.

Maternal mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the 2019 Rio Grande birth cohort.

Objective: To describe and compare measures of maternal depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in a Brazilian birth cohort.

Methods: All hospital births occurring in the municipality of Rio Grande (southern Brazil) during 2019 were identified. Mothers were invited to complete a standardized questionnaire on sociodemographic and health-related characteristics.

Genetic variants in miRNAs differentially expressed during brain development and their relevance to psychiatric disorders susceptibility.

Objectives: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important regulatory role in the expression of genes involved in brain functions during development. Genetic variants in miRNA genes may impact their regulatory function and lead to psychiatric disorders. To evaluate the role of genetic variants in genes of miRNAs differentially expressed during neurodevelopment on autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia (SCZ), and major depressive disorder (MDD).

Short and long sleep duration and associated factors in pre-adolescence and early adulthood: evidence from the 1993 Pelotas birth cohort study.

Objective: The objective of the present study was to investigate the associated factors with short and long sleep duration at ages 11 (pre-adolescence) and 22 years old (early adulthood).

Methods: Participants of the 1993 Pelotas birth cohort with self-reported sleep records at 11 (n = 4442) and 22 (n = 3800) years were included. The total sleep time duration was categorised as short (<9 h for 11 years and <7 h for 22 years), long (>11 for 11 years and >9 for 22 years) and recommended according to the National Sleep Foundation criteria.

How sex differences in schooling and income contribute to sex differences in depression, anxiety and common mental disorders: The mental health sex-gap in a birth cohort from Brazil.

Background: Reasons for the higher rates of depression, anxiety and common mental disorders among women are unclear. We investigated the mediating effect of schooling and personal income and the effect modification of maternal schooling and family income at baseline.

Methods: In 1982, the maternity hospitals of Pelotas (Southern Brazil) were daily visits and those livebirths whose family lived in the urban area of the city were examined and their mothers interviewed.

Depression in the elderly of a rural region in Southern Brazil.

The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of depression and its associated factors in elderly residents of the rural area of Rio Grande/RS. In this cross-sectional population-based study performed with 994 elderly (≥ 60 years), whose sampling was based on the 2010 Demographic Census, the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) was used for Major Depressive Episode (EDM) screening. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed using logistic regression.

[Factors associated with sleep disorders in university students].

The objective was to investigate sleep disorders and associated sociodemographic and behavioral factors. A census of university students was carried out. Questions extracted from the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire investigated: insufficient sleep duration (< 6 hours/day for < 65 years and < 5 hours/day for other ages), long latency (> 30 minutes), low self-rated sleep quality, nocturnal awakenings (involuntary, in the middle of the night), and daytime sleepiness (difficulty concentrating).