Neuropsychological outcomes at midlife following moderate to severe malnutrition in infancy.

Objective: To compare neuropsychological profiles of adults who had experienced an episode of moderate to severe protein-energy malnutrition confined to the first year of life with that of a healthy community comparison group.

Method: We assessed neuropsychological functioning in a cohort of Barbadian adults, all of whom had birth weight >2268 g. The previously malnourished group (N = 77, mean age = 38 years, 53% male) had been hospitalized during the first year of life for moderate to severe protein energy malnutrition and subsequently enrolled in a program providing nutrition education, home visits and subsidized foods to 12 years of age.

Correlates of parent-youth discordance about youth-witnessed violence: a brief report.

Studies have consistently demonstrated a lack of agreement between youth and parent reports regarding youth-witnessed violence (YWV). However, little empirical investigation has been conducted on the correlates of disagreement. Concordance between youth and parents about YWV was examined in 766 parent-youth dyads from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN).

Combined Individual Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Parent Training for Childhood Depression: 2-3-Year Follow-Up.

Fourteen children with significant depressive symptoms from an open clinical trial of Primary and Secondary Control Enhancement Training augmented with Caregiver-Child Relationship Enhancement Training, participated in a 2-3-year follow-up assessment. The results suggested that the significant decreases in depressive symptoms observed at post-treatment were maintained at 2-3-year follow-up. Mothers' reports of significant improvement of child psychosocial functioning were also maintained, providing social validation of the effects.

Diet quality is associated with circulating C-reactive protein but not irisin levels in humans.

Objective: Adherence to a healthy diet has been shown to decrease the incidence of obesity and associated comorbidities. C-reactive protein (CRP) is an established inflammatory marker and irisin was recently identified as a molecule which may play a role in energy regulation and obesity but whether diet alters irisin levels remains unknown. We aimed to investigate the association between circulating irisin, leptin, and CRP levels and dietary quantity and quality using the Alternate Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) and the Alternate Mediterranean Diet Score (aMED).

Detailed assessments of childhood adversity enhance prediction of central obesity independent of gender, race, adult psychosocial risk and health behaviors.

Objective: This study examined whether a novel indicator of overall childhood adversity, incorporating number of adversities, severity, and chronicity, predicted central obesity beyond contributions of "modifiable" risk factors including psychosocial characteristics and health behaviors in a diverse sample of midlife adults. The study also examined whether the overall adversity score (number of adversities × severity × chronicity) better predicted obesity compared to cumulative adversity (number of adversities), a more traditional assessment of childhood adversity.

Materials/methods: 210 Black/African Americans and White/European Americans, mean age=45.

Cross-Sectional Study of Unmet Mental Health Need in 5- to 7-Year Old Latino Children in the United States: Do Teachers and Parents Make a Difference in Service Utilization?

The aim of the study is to examine the rates of mental health service utilization in young Latino children of immigrants in relation to maternal and teacher reports of child mental health need. Specific knowledge is lacking about gaps in service utilization among young Latino children, the fastest growing and possibly the most underserved segment of the US child population. The associations of mental health service utilization (Service Assessment for Children and Adolescents) and mental health need (clinical levels of internalizing, externalizing, or total problems reported by mothers [Child Behavior Checklist] and teachers [Teacher's Report Form]) were examined in a community sample of young Latino children of immigrants ( = 228; mean age = 6) and compared across mothers' and teachers' responses.

Malnutrition in the first year of life and personality at age 40.

Background: Early childhood malnutrition is associated with cognitive and behavioral impairment during childhood and adolescence, but studies in adulthood are limited.

Methods: Using the NEO-PI-R personality inventory, we compared personality profiles at 37-43 years of age (M 40.3 years, SD 1.

MATERNAL DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN CHILDHOOD AND OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE IN ADULTHOOD.

We examined the role of maternal depressive symptoms reported during childhood as a predictor of an important personality trait, Openness to Experience (O), in middle adulthood. Participants were 95 adults (38 previously malnourished, 57 control, mean age 42.1 years) who had been followed longitudinally since childhood by the Barbados Nutrition Study.

Socioeconomic outcomes in adults malnourished in the first year of life: a 40-year study.

Objective: Lifelong functional, adaptive, and economic outcomes of moderate to severe infantile malnutrition are not well known. We assessed social status and income at midlife in a cohort of Barbadian adults, hospitalized for protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) during the first year of life, with good nutrition and health thereafter, in the context of a 40-year longitudinal case-control study. We also examined to what extent childhood IQ mediated any group differences.

Trajectories of maltreatment re-reports from ages 4 to 12:: evidence for persistent risk after early exposure.

This study identified trajectories of maltreatment re-reports between ages 4 and 12 for children first referred to Child Protective Services (CPS) for maltreatment prior to age 4 and either removed from the home or assessed by a CPS intake worker as moderately or highly likely to be abused/neglected in the future, absent intervention. Participants (n = 501) were children from the Southwest and Northwest sites of the Consortium for Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). During the 8-year follow-up period, 67% of children were re-reported.

Infant malnutrition predicts conduct problems in adolescents.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of conduct problems in a well-documented sample of Barbadian adolescents malnourished as infants and a demographic comparison group and to determine the extent to which cognitive impairment and environmental factors account for this association.

Methods: Behavioral symptoms were assessed using a 76-item self-report scale in 56 Barbadian youth (11-17 years of age) with histories of protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) limited to the first year of life and 60 healthy classmates. Group comparisons were carried out by longitudinal and cross-sectional multiple regression analyses at 3 time points in childhood and adolescence.

Infant malnutrition is associated with persisting attention deficits in middle adulthood.

Infantile malnutrition is known to be associated with cognitive and behavioral impairment during childhood and adolescence. Data pertaining to longer-term effects on behavioral outcomes in adulthood are limited. In this study, we report associations between infantile malnutrition and attention problems in adults at midlife.

Early malnutrition predicts parent reports of externalizing behaviors at ages 9-17.

Objective: To determine whether externalizing behaviors are more prevalent in youth who have experienced an episode of malnutrition in the first year of life than in healthy comparison youth.

Method: Parents of previously malnourished youth and a matched healthy comparison group completed a behavior rating scale when the youth were 9-15 years of age and again, 2 years later, when they were 11-17 years of age. Longitudinal multiple regression analysis was applied to evaluate group differences adjusted for baseline age, sex, household standard of living, and maternal depressive symptoms.

Combining individual cognitive behaviour therapy and caregiver-child sessions for childhood depression: an open trial.

The objective was to obtain preliminary evidence on the feasibility and efficacy of combining individual cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) with complimentary caregiver-child sessions for depressed youths. Fifteen children participated in an open clinical trial. Treatment included 16 CBT sessions combined with seven caregiver/caregiver-child sessions over 12 weeks.

Kernels vs. Ears, and Other Questions for a Science of Treatment Dissemination.

Combining intervention diffusion with change in clinical practice and public policy is an ambitious agenda. The impressive effort in Hawaii can be instructive, highlighting questions for a science of treatment dissemination. Among these questions, some of the most important are the following: (a) Who should be targeted for change? (e.

Language, culture, and adaptation in immigrant children.

In this article the authors discuss first why it is crucial, from a clinical and public health perspective, to better understand the development as well as risk and protection processes for the mental health of immigrant children. The authors then shift focus to the main tenet of this article, namely, that specific aspects of the dual language development of immigrant children are highly relevant to their mental health and adaptation. This argument is illustrated with empirical studies on Latino immigrant children, as they represent the majority of immigrant children in America and as a way of exemplifying the risks and circumstances that are potentially shared by other immigrant groups.

A multitrait-multimethod analysis of the construct validity of child anxiety disorders in a clinical sample.

The present study examines the construct validity of separation anxiety disorder (SAD), social phobia (SoP), panic disorder (PD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in a clinical sample of children. Participants were 174 children, 6 to 17 years old (94 boys) who had undergone a diagnostic evaluation at a university hospital based clinic. Parent and child ratings of symptom severity were assessed using the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC).

Early childhood malnutrition predicts depressive symptoms at ages 11-17.

Background: We examined the prevalence of depressive symptoms in Barbadian youth with histories of infantile malnutrition and in a healthy comparison group and the extent to which the effect of malnutrition was mediated/moderated by maternal depression.

Methods: Depressive symptoms were assessed using a 20-item scale administered to youths (11-17 years of age) who had experienced an episode of protein-energy malnutrition (marasmus or kwashiorkor) during the first year of life and in a comparison group of healthy youths without a history of malnutrition. Their mothers completed the same questionnaire on the same test on three occasions when their children were 5-17 years of age at 2-5-year intervals.

The effects of parental depression and parenting practices on depressive symptoms and metabolic control in urban youth with insulin dependent diabetes.

Objective: Examine relationships between parental depressive symptoms, affective and instrumental parenting practices, youth depressive symptoms and glycemic control in a diverse, urban sample of adolescents with diabetes.

Methods: Sixty-one parents and youth aged 10-17 completed self-report questionnaires. HbA1c assays were obtained to assess metabolic control.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy versus usual clinical care for youth depression: an initial test of transportability to community clinics and clinicians.

Community clinic therapists were randomized to (a) brief training and supervision in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for youth depression or (b) usual care (UC). The therapists treated 57 youths (56% girls), ages 8-15, of whom 33% were Caucasian, 26% were African American, and 26% were Latino/Latina. Most youths were from low-income families and all had Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.

Continuity and Change from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood: Adolescence-limited vs. Life-course-persistent Profound Ego Development Arrests.

Participants ( = 36) with consistent Pre-conformist ego development levels during multiple adolescent assessments were studied to determine whether and how their ego levels had changed at age 25. Those ( = 12) whose ego levels remained at the Pre-conformist level were assigned to trajectory group; those ( = 24) whose ego levels reached the Conformist or Post-conformist level at age 25 were assigned to an trajectory group. Analysis of predictors and age 25 correlates of group membership revealed that selected age 14 family interaction behaviors differentiated the two groups.

Testing a gender additive model: the role of body image in adolescent depression.

Despite consistent evidence that adolescent girls are at greater risk of developing depression than adolescent boys, risk factor models that account for this difference have been elusive. The objective of this research was to examine risk factors proposed by the gender additive model of depression that attempts to partially explain the increased prevalence of depression in adolescent girls. The theory suggests that body image and eating related variables predict depression for girls, but not for boys, above and beyond the variance accounted for by other well-known risk factors, some of which were examined in the current study.