Determinants of maternal antenatal state-anxiety in mid-pregnancy: Role of maternal feelings about the pregnancy.

Background: The current state of research into antenatal anxiety is lacking in a comprehensive understanding of determinants. This study aims to expand knowledge in this area, with the main objective being to determine potential determinants of maternal antenatal state-anxiety.

Methods: Data used for this cross-sectional study were obtained from the Prenatal Health Project: a population cohort study of 2357 women in London, Ontario.

Association between trajectories of maternal depression and subsequent psychological functioning in youth with and without chronic physical illness.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine if the presence of youth chronic illness moderates the association between trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms and psychological functioning in youths.

Methods: Data came from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (N = 11,813). Using the 12-item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), symptom trajectories were estimated by latent class growth modeling over 3 measurement occasions (when their children were 10-11, 12-13, and 14-15 years).

Family Structure and Children's Socioeconomic Attainment: A Canadian Sample.

With the proliferation of different family forms in many western countries over the last few decades, research investigating the influence of family structure on children's socioeconomic status attainment has expanded dramatically, especially in the United States. The purpose of this study was to estimate the relative influence of family structure, maternal resources, and family mental health on predicting socioeconomic attainment in young adulthood. Data for this study were derived from a case-comparison, three-wave panel study of single-parent, and two-parent families living in London, Ontario, with interviews conducted in 1993 (wave 1), 1994 (wave 2), and between 2005 and 2008 (wave 3).

Have infant gross motor abilities changed in 20 years? A re-evaluation of the Alberta Infant Motor Scale normative values.

Aim: To compare the original normative data of the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) (n=2202) collected 20 years ago with a contemporary sample of Canadian infants.

Method: This was a cross-sectional cohort study of 650 Canadian infants (338 males, 312 females; mean age 30.9 wks [SD 15.

Socioeconomic status and cumulative disadvantage processes across the life course: implications for health outcomes.

Given the complexity surrounding various interactions among health determinants and the challenge of being able to adequately describe the dynamic processes through which health determinants have their effects, the purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual overview demonstrating the effects of socioeconomic status and cumulative disadvantage on producing health disparities across the life course. The idea underlying cumulative disadvantage is that socioeconomic-based health inequalities will increase across the life course, mostly because of differential exposure to risk factors and access to protective resources. The advantage of life course sociology is its consideration of early life experiences, and the social and historical context of their occurrences, as important contingencies in producing these systematic socioeconomic differences in health gradients.

Prevalence and trajectories of depressive symptoms in mothers of children with newly diagnosed epilepsy.

Purpose: To examine the prevalence, trajectories, and predictors of depressive symptoms (DS) in mothers of children with new-onset epilepsy.

Methods: A sample of 339 mothers was analyzed from the health-related quality of life in children with epilepsy study assessed four times during the first 24 months after diagnosis. Mothers' DS were measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale.

Incorporating children's lives into a life course perspective on stress and mental health.

Emerging themes in demography, developmental medicine, and psychiatry suggest that a comprehensive understanding of mental health across the life course requires that we incorporate the lives of children into our research. If we can learn more about the ways in which the stress process unfolds for children, we will gain important insights into the factors that influence initial set points of trajectories of mental health over the life course. This will simultaneously extend the scope of the stress process paradigm and elaborate the life course perspective on mental health.

Higher zinc intake buffers the impact of stress on depressive symptoms in pregnancy.

Prenatal depression is a public health concern. This study's objectives are to model associations involving dietary zinc intake, psychosocial stress, and sociodemographic factors as they interrelate in the development of depressive symptoms in a cohort of pregnant women from London, Ontario (Prenatal Health Project). We hypothesized that (1) psychosocial stress is intermediate in the causal pathway between sociodemographic factors and zinc intake and that (2) zinc intake serves as a partial mediator between sociodemographic factors, psychosocial stress, and the development of depressive symptoms.

The impact of maternal depressive symptoms on health-related quality of life in children with epilepsy: a prospective study of family environment as mediators and moderators.

Purpose: To examine the impact of maternal depressive symptoms (DS) on health-related quality of life (HRQL) in children with new-onset epilepsy and to identify family factors that moderate and mediate this relationship during the first 24 months after epilepsy diagnosis.

Methods: A sample of 339 mother-child dyads recruited from pediatric neurologists across Canada in the Health-related Quality of Life in Children with Epilepsy Study. Mothers' and neurologists' reports were collected at four times during the 24-month follow-up.

Do depressive symptoms affect mothers' reports of child outcomes in children with new-onset epilepsy?

Purpose: To test whether elevated levels of depressive symptoms affect reports of child outcomes in a sample of mothers of children with new-onset epilepsy.

Methods: A sample of 339 mothers from the Health-related Quality of Life in Children with Epilepsy Study was used in the analysis. Mothers' depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D).

Genotype-environment interaction and sociology: contributions and complexities.

Genotype-environment interaction (G x E) refers to situations in which genetic effects connected to a phenotype are dependent upon variability in the environment, or when genes modify an organism's sensitivity to particular environmental features. Using a typology suggested in the G x E literature, we provide an overview of recent papers that show how social context can trigger a genetic vulnerability, compensate for a genetic vulnerability, control behaviors for which a genetic vulnerability exists, and improve adaptation via proximal causes. We argue that to improve their understanding of social structure, sociologists can take advantage of research in behavior genetics by assessing the impact of within-group variance of various health outcomes and complex human behaviors that are explainable by genotype, environment and their interaction.

Depressive symptoms during pregnancy in relation to fish consumption and intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

An inverse association between depression and the n-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), primarily obtained from fish consumption, is observed in both observational and experimental research and is biologically plausible. Study objectives were to examine whether prenatal depressive symptoms were associated with lower intakes of fish or EPA+DHA. Pregnant women (n = 2394) completed a telephone interview between 10 and 22 weeks' gestation in London, Ontario, 2002-05.

Fish consumption among pregnant women in London, Ontario: associations with socio-demographic and health and lifestyle factors.

Background: Intake of fish and omega-3 fatty acids is inversely related to adverse health outcomes; however, these relationships may be confounded by socio-economic status and health behaviours. This study's purpose was to describe the socio-demographic, health and lifestyle correlates of fish consumption among pregnant women.

Methods: Pregnant women (n=2394) completed a telephone interview between 10-22 weeks' gestation (London, Ontario, 2002-5) containing questions on socio-demographic, health and lifestyle variables; dietary intake was measured using a 106-item validated food-frequency questionnaire.

Family structure, stress, and psychological distress: a demonstration of the impact of differential exposure.

In this article, we evaluate the relative power of differential exposure and differential vulnerability to stressors to account for variations in psychological distress between single and married mothers. The data for this assessment are derived from a longitudinal survey of 518 single mothers and 502 married mothers living in London, Ontario, Canada. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses clearly reveal that the higher levels of psychological distress experienced by single mothers compared to married mothers are almost entirely related to their greater exposure to stress and strain rather than to any group differences in vulnerability to stressful experiences.

Family structure, gender, and health in the context of the life course.

We estimate the effects of single parenthood on parental health and determine whether such effects are similar for all single parents or whether there are variations by gender among young, middle-aged, and older adults. The results of our analyses of the Canadian National Population Health Survey (NPHS) reveal that single parenthood is associated with elevated psychological distress and alcohol consumption among women, especially among those who are in younger age groups. Although we find no such differences among men, there is some indication of elevated distress among younger fathers.

Status variations in stress exposure: implications for the interpretation of research on race, socioeconomic status, and gender.

Life events checklists have been the predominant method for estimating variations in stress exposure. It is unknown, however, whether such inventories are equally meaningful for estimating differences in exposure between men and women, African Americans and whites, and those in lower and higher socioeconomic categories. In this paper, we employ a wider range of measures of stress--recent life events, chronic stressors, lifetime major events, and discrimination stress--to examine the extent to which these dimensions collectively yield conclusions about status variations in stress exposure that are similar to or different from estimates based only on a life events checklist.