Serotonin transporter gene as a predictor of stress generation in depression.

Research suggests that a polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter promoter (5-HTTLPR) interacts with stressful life events to predict depressive onset, with short (s) allele presence associated with greater susceptibility to stressors. However, this research has not considered that depressed individuals often actively generate stressful contexts. Furthermore, little is known about the genetic basis of stress generation.

Association of breastfeeding and adolescents' psychopathology: a large prospective study.

Purpose: There is little known about the association between breastfeeding and long-term child psychopathology. This study aimed to examine the impact of breastfeeding on child mental health and problem behavior at 14 years and whether this association is confounded by other variables.

Subjects And Methods: Data were from a pre-birth prospective study that included mothers and their children followed up from pregnancy to 14 years of the child's age in Brisbane, Australia.

Sleepless nights: the effect of socioeconomic status, physical activity, and lifestyle factors on sleep quality in a large cohort of Australian women.

The aims of this study were to examine: (1) the association between sociodemographic and lifestyle factors and sleep quality in a population-based cohort of Australian women and (2) possible influence of reproductive status and mental and physical health factors on these associations. Data on 3,655 women (mean age = 46.6 years, range 34.

Pre-trauma verbal ability at five years of age and the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder in adult males and females.

Previous studies have shown that high cognitive ability, measured in childhood and prior to the experience of traumatic events, is protective of PTSD development. Our aim was to test if the association between pre-trauma verbal ability ascertained at 5 years with DSM-IV lifetime post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at 21 years was subject to effect modification by gender, trauma type or prior behaviour problems. Using a prospective birth cohort of young Australians, we found that both trauma type and behaviour problems did not change the association between cognitive ability and PTSD.

Evaluating the impact of community-based treatment options on methamphetamine use: findings from the Methamphetamine Treatment Evaluation Study (MATES).

Aims: To evaluate the impact of community-based drug treatment on methamphetamine use using inverse probability of treatment-weighted (IPTW) estimators to derive treatment effects.

Design: A longitudinal prospective cohort study with follow-ups at 3 months, 1 year and 3 years. Treatment effects were derived by comparing groups at follow-up.

Young adults' gambling and its association with mental health and substance use problems.

Objective: To examine the socio-demographic characteristics of young adults' gambling and its association with mental health and substance use behaviour.

Methods: The study is based on 3,512 young adults (1648 males) for whom data from the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) were available on self-report gambling, gambling expenditure, Achenbach's Young Adult Self Report and substance use at the 21-year follow-up of the MUSP. The participants' age ranged between 18.

Physical activity and intelligence: a causal exploration.

Background: Studies involving animals and older adults suggest that physical activity (PA) might lead to improved cognitive ability in general, and enhanced intelligence scores (IQ) in particular. However, there are few studies involving young persons and none controlling for the possibility that those with better cognitive skills are more likely to engage in PA.

Methods: Data are from the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy.

Childhood and adolescent psychopathology and subsequent tobacco smoking in young adults: findings from an Australian birth cohort.

Aims: To examine whether child and adolescent psychopathology predicts subsequent tobacco use at 14 and 21 years of age.

Design: Prospective birth cohort study.

Setting: Data are taken from the Mater Misericordiae Hospital and University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy and its outcomes (MUSP), a prospective longitudinal study which recruited women at their first antenatal visit in Brisbane, Australia.

Birth outcomes associated with cannabis use before and during pregnancy.

Introduction: This study aimed to examine the association between cannabis use before and during pregnancy and birth outcomes.

Results: Overall, 26.3% of women reported previous use of cannabis and 2.

Coaction of stress and serotonin transporter genotype in predicting aggression at the transition to adulthood.

Despite consistent evidence that serotonin functioning affects stress reactivity and vulnerability to aggression, research on serotonin gene-stress interactions (G × E) in the development of aggression remains limited. The present study investigated variation in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) as a moderator of the stress-aggression association at the transition to adulthood. Multiple informants and multiple measures were used to assess aggression in a cohort of 381 Australian youth (61% female, 93% Caucasian) interviewed at ages 15 and 20.

Comparison of body mass index and triceps skinfold at 5 years and young adult body mass index, waist circumference and blood pressure.

Aim: To examine which measure of obesity at 5 years, body mass index (BMI) or triceps skinfold thickness, is most strongly associated with 21-year risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), including BMI, waist circumference (WC), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP).

Methods: Longitudinal birth cohort study with BMI and triceps skinfold measurements at age 5, and BMI, WC and blood pressure at 21 years. Overweight and obesity at 5 years were determined according to Cole-International Obesity Task Force standards, at 21, by World Health Organization definitions.

Intergenerational transmission and continuity of stress and depression: depressed women and their offspring in 20 years of follow-up.

Background: Children of depressed mothers not only have higher risk of depression, but also may experience both elevated and continuing exposure to stressful experiences. The study tested hypotheses of the intergenerational transmission of stress and depression and examined the role of early childhood adversity and maternal depression in the interplay between youth depression and stress over 20 years.

Method: In a longitudinal community study of 705 families selected for history or absence of maternal depression, mothers and youth were studied from pregnancy to age 5 years and at youth ages 15 and 20 years.

Associations of maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and excess pregnancy weight gains with adverse pregnancy outcomes and length of hospital stay.

Background: It is relatively less known whether pre-pregnancy obesity and excess gestational weight gain (GWG) are associated with caesarean delivery, pregnancy complications, preterm birth, birth and placenta weights and increased length of postnatal hospital stay.

Methods: We used a population-based cohort of 6632 women who gave birth in Brisbane, Australia, between 1981 and 1983. The independent associations of pre-pregnancy obesity, GWG and institute of medicine (IOM) categories of combined pre-pregnancy BMI and GWG with outcomes were examined using multivariable regression (for continuous outcomes) and multivariable multinomial regression (for categorical outcomes) models.

Diagnosis and treatment of hypertension 21 years after a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy.

Background: Women with a history of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are known to be at increased risk of subsequent hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

Aims: In this study, we aimed to assess whether the long-term follow-up, diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in these women is adequate.

Methods: Prospective study of 2112 women who were part of a Birth Cohort Study - The Mater University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy, who received antenatal care at a major public hospital in Brisbane between 1981 and 1983 and were followed up at 21 years.

The association between birth weight and anxiety disorders in young adults.

Recent evidence has linked birth weight to later behaviour/mental disorders, yet studies have hitherto neglected to investigate the relationship between birth weight and adult anxiety disorders. Prospectively collected data from 2210 mother/offspring pairs of the Mater University Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) birth cohort was used to test for associations between birth weight z-score and four major groupings of DSM-IV anxiety disorders. Birth weight z-score was linearly and inversely associated with lifetime diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorders at 21 years, with those falling within the smallest birth weight quintile group at almost two-fold increased odds (OR=1.

Childhood social withdrawal, interpersonal impairment, and young adult depression: a mediational model.

Building on interpersonal theories of depression, the current study sought to explore whether early childhood social withdrawal serves as a risk factor for depressive symptoms and diagnoses in young adulthood. The researchers hypothesized that social impairment at age 15 would mediate the association between social withdrawal at age 5 and depression by age 20. This mediational model was tested in a community sample of 702 Australian youth followed from mother's pregnancy to youth age 20.

Longitudinal analysis of maternal risk factors for childhood sexual abuse: early attitudes and behaviours, socioeconomic status, and mental health.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine whether maternal factors such as socioeconomic status (SES), attitudes towards the baby, and mental health at 6 months or earlier, are associated with non-penetrative and penetrative childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in her offspring.

Methods: This was a prospective birth cohort study followed up to 21 years. Set in one of two obstetric hospitals in Brisbane, Australia, the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) involves a prospective birth cohort from a population based sample of 7223 singletons whose mothers were enrolled between 1981 and 1984 at the first antenatal visit.

Speech concerns at 5 years and adult educational and mental health outcomes.

Aim: To determine if parent-reported speech concerns at 5 years predict poorer educational and mental health outcomes at 21 years independent of social context and child's receptive language, behaviour and motor concerns at 5 years. To determine if these adult outcomes are mediated by school performance at 14 years.

Methods:   Information on speech concerns at 5- and 21-year outcomes was available for 3193 participants from a birth cohort of 7223 infants.

Does hypertensive disorder of pregnancy predict offspring blood pressure at 21 years? Evidence from a birth cohort study.

Although few studies found that the offspring of women who experienced preeclampsia have higher blood pressure (BP) at childhood and adolescence, no study has observed whether this association exists for adult offspring. To examine whether maternal hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (HDP) predicts adult offspring BP. We followed a sub-sample of 2608 mother-offspring pairs for 21 years from an original cohort of 7223 singleton infants whose mothers gave birth in Brisbane, Australia between 1981 and 1983.

School performance and alcohol use problems in early adulthood: a longitudinal study.

There is inconsistent evidence about the association between school performance and subsequent use of alcohol and alcohol problems in adolescents and young adults. This study examines whether school performance at 14 years is associated with drinking problems in early adulthood; and whether this association is explained by family and individual factors in childhood and adolescence. Data were from a 21-year follow-up of 3,478 Australian young adults from birth to the age of 21 years when data on use of alcohol were collected.

Interactions between the COMT Val108/158Met polymorphism and maternal prenatal smoking predict aggressive behavior outcomes.

The purpose of the current study is to examine the moderating influence of the catechol O methyltransferase gene (COMT) on the maternal prenatal smoking/offspring externalizing disorder relationship. The sample consisted of 430 young adults born between 1981 and 1984 at the Mater Misericordiae Mother's Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, as well as their mothers and peers. Mothers reported their prenatal smoking status during pregnancy, and genetic data was obtained from the youth at a later follow-up in adulthood.

AOD treatment agencies: does religious affiliation influence service delivery?

Introduction And Aims: Religious organisations have been involved in delivering alcohol and other drug (AOD) services since Australian colonial times and are a familiar presence in the AOD sector. However, there is concern in some sectors that AOD services delivered by religious organisations might be influenced by religious ideology, at the expense of evidence-based service provision.

Design And Methods: A national, cross-sectional survey of non-government AOD agencies was undertaken using a mailed questionnaire.

Illicit drug use before and during pregnancy at a tertiary maternity hospital 2000-2006.

Introduction And Aims: To study the prevalence of use of illicit drugs by women of reproductive age before and during pregnancy and the changes in rates of illicit drug use in pregnancy over recent years.

Design And Methods: All pregnant women attending the public antenatal clinic over a 7 year period (2000-2006) were routinely interviewed about their use of illicit drugs by a midwife at the antenatal booking visit.

Measurements: Records for 25,049 women, who self-reported previous and current use of cannabis, amphetamines, ecstasy and heroin, were included in the study.