Detecting risk for depression and anxiety symptoms among older bereaved women using text-based analysis in the Nurses' Health Study II.

We analyzed free-text narratives about recent bereavement experiences from 1,997 women aged 55-73 years (M = 65.9, SD = 4.4) enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study II to identify associations between text characteristics and post-bereavement mental health.

No association of posttraumatic stress disorder with epigenetic aging in women at mid-life: A longitudinal cohort study.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with mortality and increased risk of diseases of aging, but underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We examine associations of PTSD with one potential pathway, accelerated epigenetic aging. In a longitudinal cohort of trauma-exposed middle-aged women (n = 831, n observations = 1,516), we examined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between PTSD, with and without comorbid depression, and epigenetic aging measured by six clocks at two time points approximately 13.

Prior resilience to trauma & coping during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background And Objective: This study examined the potential influence of pre-pandemic psychological resilience on use of approach or avoidant coping styles and strategies to manage stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized that higher resilience would be associated with more approach coping and less avoidant coping.

Design And Methods: Longitudinal cohort data were from the Nurses' Health Study II, including 13,143 female current and former healthcare professionals with pre-pandemic lifetime trauma.

Prepandemic Resilience to Trauma and COVID-19 Infection in Older Women.

Objective: Prior work suggests that psychological resilience to trauma may protect not only mental but also physical health. This study examined the relationship of prepandemic psychological resilience to lifetime trauma with self-reported COVID-19 infection and symptoms during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Data are from 18,670 longitudinal cohort participants in the Nurses' Health Study II.

Post-traumatic stress disorder symptom remission and cognition in a large cohort of civilian women.

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with cognitive impairments. It is unclear whether problems persist after PTSD symptoms remit.

Methods: Data came from 12 270 trauma-exposed women in the Nurses' Health Study II.

Metabolomic profiles of chronic distress are associated with cardiovascular disease risk and inflammation-related risk factors.

Background: Chronic psychological distress is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and investigators have posited inflammatory factors may be centrally involved in these relationships. However, mechanistic evidence and molecular underpinnings of these processes remain unclear, and data are particularly sparse among women. This study examined if a metabolite profile linked with distress was associated with increased CVD risk and inflammation-related risk factors.

Bereavement, Memorial Attendance, and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Longitudinal Results from the Nurses' Health Study.

Background: Mortality increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many bereaved individuals were not able to gather to memorialize their loved ones, yet it is unknown if this contributed to worsening mental health.

Objective: Examine the association of bereavement in the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic with subsequent psychological distress and the role of memorial attendance in reducing psychological distress among the bereaved.

Intimate Partner Violence, Mental Health Symptoms, and Modifiable Health Factors in Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the US.

Importance: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence and severity of intimate partner violence (IPV) increased. Associations between IPV and mental health symptoms and modifiable health factors early in the pandemic have yet to be explored.

Objective: To prospectively investigate the association of IPV with greater risk of mental health symptoms and adverse health factors during the COVID-19 pandemic in 3 cohorts of female participants.

Psychological distress and metabolomic markers: A systematic review of posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and subclinical distress.

Psychological distress can be conceptualized as an umbrella term encompassing symptoms of depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or stress more generally. A systematic review of metabolomic markers associated with distress has the potential to reveal underlying molecular mechanisms linking distress to adverse health outcomes. The current systematic review extends prior reviews of clinical depressive disorders by synthesizing 39 existing studies that examined metabolomic markers for PTSD, anxiety disorders, and subclinical psychological distress in biological specimens.

Pre-pandemic resilience to trauma and mental health outcomes during COVID-19.

Purpose: The stress-sensitization hypothesis posits that individuals with prior trauma are at elevated risk for poor mental health when faced with subsequent stressors. Little work has examined whether those who have demonstrated psychological resilience to prior trauma would show either increased resilience or vulnerability to subsequent stressors. We examined pre-pandemic psychological resilience to lifetime trauma in relation to mental health outcomes amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a major societal stressor.

Trauma, psychological distress and markers of systemic inflammation among US women: A longitudinal study.

Background: Prior evidence links posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, separately, with chronic inflammation. However, whether effects are similar across each independently or potentiated when both are present is understudied. We evaluated combined measures of PTSD and depression in relation to inflammatory biomarker concentrations.

Association of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder With Accelerated Cognitive Decline in Middle-aged Women.

Importance: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been hypothesized to lead to impaired cognitive function. However, no large-scale studies have assessed whether PTSD is prospectively associated with cognitive decline in middle-aged adults.

Objective: To assess the association between PTSD and decline in cognitive function over time.

The association of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and head injury with mid-life cognitive function in civilian women.

Background: Despite evidence linking posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and head injury, separately, with worse cognitive performance, investigations of their combined effects on cognition are limited in civilian women.

Methods: The Cogstate Brief Battery assessment was administered in 10,681 women from the Nurses' Health Study II cohort, mean age 64.9 years (SD = 4.

Trauma, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Treatment Among Middle-Aged and Older Women in the Nurses' Health Study II.

Objective: Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common among women and associated with negative health outcomes across the life course. Relatively few studies, however, have examined the epidemiology of trauma, PTSD, and treatment among middle-aged and older civilian women, who are at elevated risk for adverse health outcomes. We aimed to characterize trauma, PTSD, and trauma-related treatment prevalence and correlates in a large cohort of middle-aged and older women.

Plasma metabolomic profiles associated with chronic distress in women.

Several forms of chronic distress including anxiety and depression are associated with adverse cardiometabolic outcomes. Metabolic alterations may underlie these associations. Whether these forms of distress are associated with metabolic alterations even after accounting for comorbid conditions and other factors remains unclear.

Genetic Influences on Longitudinal Trajectories of Cortical Thickness and Surface Area during the First 2 Years of Life.

Genetic influences on cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA) are known to vary across the life span. Little is known about the extent to which genetic factors influence CT and SA in infancy and toddlerhood. We performed the first longitudinal assessment of genetic influences on variation in CT and SA in 501 twins who were aged 0-2 years.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Likelihood of Hormone Therapy Use among Women in the Nurses' Health Study II: A 26-Year Prospective Analysis.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with higher risk of certain chronic diseases, including ovarian cancer, but underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Although prior work has linked menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) use with elevated ovarian cancer risk, little research considers PTSD to likelihood of MHT use. We examined whether PTSD was prospectively associated with greater likelihood of initiating MHT use over 26 years.

Individual Variation of Human Cortical Structure Is Established in the First Year of Life.

Background: Individual differences in cortical gray matter (GM) structure are associated with cognitive function and psychiatric disorders with developmental origins. Identifying when individual differences in cortical structure are established in childhood is critical for understanding the timing of abnormal cortical development associated with neuropsychiatric disorders.

Methods: We studied the development of cortical GM and white matter volume, cortical thickness, and surface area using structural magnetic resonance imaging in two unique cohorts of singleton (121 male and 131 female) and twin (99 male and 83 female) children imaged longitudinally from birth to 6 years.

Cortical Structure and Cognition in Infants and Toddlers.

Cortical structure has been consistently related to cognitive abilities in children and adults, yet we know little about how the cortex develops to support emergent cognition in infancy and toddlerhood when cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA) are maturing rapidly. In this report, we assessed how regional and global measures of CT and SA in a sample (N = 487) of healthy neonates, 1-year-olds, and 2-year-olds related to motor, language, visual reception, and general cognitive ability. We report novel findings that thicker cortices at ages 1 and 2 and larger SA at birth, age 1, and age 2 confer a cognitive advantage in infancy and toddlerhood.

Environmental Influences on Infant Cortical Thickness and Surface Area.

Cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA) vary widely between individuals and are associated with intellectual ability and risk for various psychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions. Factors influencing this variability remain poorly understood, but the radial unit hypothesis, as well as the more recent supragranular cortex expansion hypothesis, suggests that prenatal and perinatal influences may be particularly important. In this report, we examine the impact of 17 major demographic and obstetric history variables on interindividual variation in CT and SA in a unique sample of 805 neonates who received MRI scans of the brain around 2 weeks of age.

HFPRM: Hierarchical Functional Principal Regression Model for Diffusion Tensor Image Bundle Statistics.

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides a unique approach to understand the geometric structure of brain fiber bundles and to delineate the diffusion properties across subjects and time. It can be used to identify structural connectivity abnormalities and helps to diagnose brain-related disorders. The aim of this paper is to develop a novel, robust, and efficient dimensional reduction and regression framework, called hierarchical functional principal regression model (HFPRM), to effectively correlate high-dimensional fiber bundle statistics with a set of predictors of interest, such as age, diagnosis status, and genetic markers.