Urban environment during pregnancy, cognitive abilities, motor function, and externalizing and internalizing symptoms at 2-5 years old in 3 Canadian birth cohorts.

Background: More than 80% of the Canadian population lives in urban settings. Urban areas usually bring exposure to poorer air quality, less access to green spaces, and higher building density. These environmental factors may endanger child development.

Maternal cytokine profiles in second and early third trimester are not predictive of preterm birth.

Previous studies have investigated whether inflammatory cytokines in maternal circulation are associated with preterm birth. However, many have reported inconsistent results, and few have investigated cytokine trends through gestation, particularly with respect to subtypes of preterm birth. We explored levels of 15 inflammatory cytokines and growth factors in plasma and serum collected in the second (17-23 weeks, timepoint 1 (T1)) and third (28-32 weeks, timepoint 2 (T2)) trimesters with respect to subtypes of preterm birth: spontaneous preterm labour (sPTL), preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), and medically indicated preterm birth (mPTB).

The course of children's mental health symptoms during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with increases in child mental health problems, but the persistence of these changes in the post-pandemic era remains uncertain. Additionally, it is unclear whether changes in mental health problems during the pandemic exceed the anticipated increases as children age. This study controls for the linear effect of age in 1399 children, investigating the course of child-reported anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, and inattention symptoms during and after the pandemic, and identifies risk and protective factors that predict these mental health trajectories.

Pathways of Intergenerational Risk: Examining the Association Between Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences and Child Socio-Emotional and Behavioral Concerns at 8 Years of Age.

Support has been found for the intergenerational transmission of risk from maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to child outcomes. Less research has focused on longitudinal psychosocial pathways that account for this transmission. In the current study, path analysis examined mediating pathways (i.

Perceived Parental Distraction by Technology and Mental Health Among Emerging Adolescents.

Importance: The digital phenomenon termed technoference refers to interruptions in routine social interactions due to technology use. Technoference may negatively affect parents' attention to cues necessary for supporting children's mental health.

Objective: To explore whether there are directional prospective associations between perceived parental technoference and emerging adolescents' mental health symptoms (anxiety, depression, inattention, and hyperactivity).

Early childhood risk factors for later onset of pediatric chronic pain: a multi-method longitudinal study.

Background: Pediatric chronic pain (i.e., pain lasting ≥ 3 months) is prevalent, disabling, and costly.

Childcare use and the social-emotional and behavioural outcomes of late-preterm and early-term born children at age 5: An analysis of the All Our Families longitudinal cohort.

Objectives: Gestational age at birth (GA) shows an inverse gradient of risk with social-emotional and behavioural outcomes among children born late preterm (≥ 34 and < 37 weeks) and early term (≥ 37 and < 39 weeks). Childcare has the potential to influence this association. This study aimed to estimate the association between GA and social-emotional/behavioural problems among children born between ≥ 34 and < 41 weeks gestation, determine whether this association was modified by childcare use, and describe the relationship between childcare and behavioural and social-emotional functioning at age 5.

Maternal adverse childhood experiences, child resilience factors, and child mental health problems: A multi-wave study.

Background: Research suggests that maternal ACEs have intergenerational consequences for offspring mental health. However, very few studies have investigated moderators of this association.

Objectives: The objective of this longitudinal study was to examine whether child resilience factors moderated the association between maternal ACEs prior to age 18, and child-reported symptoms of anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, and inattention.

Impact of maternal depression and anxiety on immunization status of children: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Maternal depression and anxiety can have a detrimental impact on birth outcomes and healthy child development; there is limited knowledge on its influence on immunization schedule adherence. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine the impact of maternal depression and anxiety in the perinatal period on prolonged vaccine delay of childhood vaccines.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, we analyzed linked survey and administrative data of 2,762 pregnant women in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Stress and anxiety during pregnancy and length of gestation: a federated study using data from five Canadian and European birth cohorts.

While its etiology is not fully elucidated, preterm birth represents a major public health concern as it is the leading cause of child mortality and morbidity. Stress is one of the most common perinatal conditions and may increase the risk of preterm birth. In this paper we aimed to investigate the association of maternal perceived stress and anxiety with length of gestation.

Listening to the Voices of Mothers Who Participated in a Video Feedback Intervention for Postpartum Depression.

Postpartum depression (PPD) symptoms can negatively influence mother-infant interactions. Video-Feedback Interaction Guidance for Improving Interactions Between Depressed Mothers and their Infants (VID-KIDS) is a parenting intervention that allows mothers experiencing PPD symptoms to observe and improve their interactions with their infants. VID-KIDS has also positively influenced infants' stress (cortisol) patterns.

Race as a determinant of prenatal depressive symptoms: analysis of data from the 'All Our Families' study.

Objectives: Prenatal depression is a serious maternal-child health concern. Risk factors and health consequences appear more prevalent in Indigenous communities and ethnic minority groups; however, research on these populations is limited. We examined the following questions: (A) How do pregnant Indigenous women, ethnic minority women, and White women compare on levels of depressive symptoms and possible clinical depression, and on major risk and protective factors? (B) Is non-dominant (non-White) race associated with higher depressive symptoms and possible clinical depression? (C) What factors mediate and moderate the relationship between race and depression?

Design: Data were from the study ( = 3354 pregnant women from Alberta, Canada).

Teaching by texting to promote positive health behaviours in pregnancy: a protocol for a randomised controlled trial of SmartMom.

Introduction: Prenatal education is associated with positive health behaviours, including optimal weight gain, attendance at prenatal care, acceptance of routine screening tests, smoking cessation, decreased alcohol consumption and breast feeding. Adoption of these behaviours has been associated with reduced rates of caesarean birth, preterm birth and low birth weight. Barriers to prenatal class attendance faced by parents in Canada include geography, socioeconomic status, age, education, and, among Indigenous peoples and other equity-deserving groups, stigma.

Early childhood trajectories of domain-specific developmental delay and gestational age at birth: An analysis of the All Our Families cohort.

Objective: To describe developmental domain-specific trajectories from ages 1 through 5 years and to estimate the association of trajectory group membership with gestational age for children born between ≥34 and <41 weeks gestation.

Methods: Using data from the All Our Families cohort, trajectories of the domain-specific Ages & Stages Questionnaire scores were identified and described using group-based trajectory modeling for children born ≥34 and <41 weeks of gestation (n = 2664). The trajectory groups association with gestational age was estimated using multinomial logistic regression.

Association between childhood adversities and premature and potentially avoidable mortality in adulthood: a population-based study.

Background: The association of childhood adversities with mortality has rarely been explored, and even less studied is the question of whether any excess mortality may be potentially preventable. This study examined the association between specific childhood adversities and premature and potentially avoidable mortality (PPAM) in adulthood in a representative sample of the general population. Also, we examined whether the associations were potentially mediated by various adult socioeconomic, psychosocial, and behavioral factors.

Small for gestational age preterm infants and later adiposity and height: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Overweight and obesity and their consequent morbidities are important worldwide health problems. Some research suggests excess adiposity origins may begin in fetal life, but unknown is whether this applies to infants born preterm.

Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the association between small for gestational age (SGA) birth and later adiposity and height among those born preterm.

Risk for Developmental Delay Among Infants Born During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: Attempts by governments around the world to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 have substantially altered the early rearing environment, raising concerns about potential negative consequences for babies born during this time. The objective of this study was to determine whether infants born during the COVID-19 pandemic were at greater risk of screening positive for developmental delay compared with infants born before the pandemic.

Methods: Participants were from 2 longitudinal cohorts.

Association of illness perceptions and exclusive breastfeeding intentions among pregnant women with chronic conditions: A community-based pregnancy cohort study.

Objective: We examined whether changes in illness perceptions from preconception to pregnancy were associated with intentions to exclusively breastfeed to 6 months postpartum among women with chronic physical health conditions.

Methods: We analyzed self-reported cross-sectional questionnaire data collected in the third trimester from 361 women with chronic conditions enrolled in a community-based cohort study (Alberta, Canada). For individual and total illness perceptions, measured with the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, women were classified using change scores (preconception minus pregnancy) into one of the following groups: "worsening," "improving," or "stable" in pregnancy.

Changes and predictors of maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Longitudinal changes in maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms and predictors of symptom variation among a group of middle-to-upper income Canadian women (n = 2152) were examined prior to the pandemic (2017-2019) and at three pandemic timepoints (May-July 2020, March-April 2021, November-December 2021). Mean maternal depression and anxiety scores were elevated throughout the pandemic. Pre-pandemic depressive symptoms were associated with greater increases in depressive symptoms.

Childhood adversities and rate of adulthood all-cause hospitalization in the general population: A retrospective cohort study.

Objective: The study examined the association between specific childhood adversities and rate of all-cause hospitalization in adulthood in a large sample of the general population and assessed whether adult socioeconomic and health-related factors mediate those associations.

Methods: We used linked data available from Statistics Canada i.e.