Background: Overweight and obesity among children under the age of 5 have become a public health problem. The worldwide prevalence is 4.9% and 6.0%, whereas in Peru it is 7.4% and 1.9%, respectively. The causes of these problems are multifactorial and must be studied to prevent the multiple consequences on children's health. Methods: Secondary data analysis of the 2016 Demographic and Family Health Survey (DHS). The sample size was 7935 children and their mothers. The dependent variable was childhood overweight/obesity, measured according to the Z-score of the BMI >2 standard deviation (SD), while the main independent variable consisted of the maternal depressive symptoms (DS) (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score >10 points). The software STATA/MP 14.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results: The prevalence of overweight/obesity among children aged 0-5 years was 4.5% and the prevalence of moderate and severe maternal DS was 7.1%. No maternal depressive symptoms were found to be associated with the outcome [adjusted PR = 1.36 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.59-3.09 p = 0.47]. An association was found between socioeconomic status (SES) Q3 (adjusted PR = 3.86 95% CI = 1.9-7.6 p < 0.0001), Q4 (adjusted PR = 5.53 95% CI = 2.76-11.1 p < 0.0001), Q5 (adjusted PR = 6.9 95% CI = 3.24-14.7 p = < 0.0001), maternal BMI (adjusted PR = 1.06 95% CI = 1.03-1.08 p < 0.0001), and cesarean delivery (adjusted PR = 1.42 95% CI = 1.01-1.99 p = 0.042). Conclusions: No association was found between maternal depressive symptoms and overweight/obesity among children aged 0-5 years. The upper SES quintiles, maternal BMI, and cesarean delivery were associated with the outcome. / Revisión por pares

No description available.

Ph.D., Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011 / Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a preventable cause of intellectual delay. Highly prevalent in South Africa, it has become a public health concern. Effective screening measures to identify women at risk of producing a FASD child is therefore important. This study postulated that a distinctive maternal profile may exist for mothers with FASD infants compared to a comparison group. Consequently, the study investigated the occurrence of maternal depression and its potential association with maternal risk factors and infant development respectively; differences in the profiles of mothers; as well as developmental differences in FASD and No FASD groups of children. An ex-post facto design was implemented, where the sample comprised of dyads that completed initial (infants 9-18 months) and follow-up (children 18-45 months) assessments. Severity of maternal depression (measured on the Beck Depression Inventory); maternal current mood states (measured on the Profile of Mood States) and infant developmental differences (measured with the Griffiths Mental Developmental Scales) were assessed. The results showed no distinct patterns in maternal depression in the FASD versus the No FASD groups; maternal depression was not significantly correlated with infant development; infants with FASD showed impaired overall development, with especially poor social adjustment; and all infants (FASD and No FASD) performed lower than the expected developmental norms. Maternal alcohol use was the only significant covariate associated with infant development. Identifying the predictors of high risk behaviour during pregnancy is complex, where prenatal alcohol exposure cannot be viewed in isolation from contextual factors, as limited resources, historical factors, cultural/community knowledge, a lack of stimulation and malnutrition prevail in many areas of South Africa. Profiling maternal predisposition to prenatal alcohol use is essential in reducing the incidence of FASD in South Africa and implementing social skills intervention programs could aid the long-term adjustment of FASD infants.

No description available.

Overweight and obesity among children and youth in the United States is a serious public health concern. The longitudinal relationships between maternal depression and childhood overweight and obesity were examined using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD). A national cohort of 1,384 children was followed from birth to adolescence and longitudinal data collected on multiple variables, including child weight and height, maternal depression, maternal influence, and family context. Maternal Depression was assessed by the Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and defined as a score of 16 or greater. Overweight and obesity were defined according to the recommended BMI age- and sex-specific percentiles. Maternal depression was assessed when the child was 1 month old, 36 months, and in grade 1. Overweight and obesity status was assessed at 36 months, grade 1, grade 3, and grade 6. The effect of changes or persistence in the pattern of maternal depression for different childhood age points on the development of childhood overweight and obesity was evaluated. A variety of statistical methods were used including t-test, ANOVA, multiple linear regression, multiple logistic regression, and generalized estimation equation (GEE). Results: After adjustment for confounding, compared with mothers with no depression at child's age of 1 month, 36 months, and in grade 1, mothers with depression at 1 or 2 of those time points had a 45% higher risk for childhood overweight and obesity at grade 3 (OR= 1.45, 95% CI= 1.01-2.07). For mothers with depression at all 3 time points, there was an even greater increase in risk at grade 3 (OR= 2.25, 95% CI= 1.05-4.84) and grade 6 (OR= 3.36, 95% CI= 1.46-7.77). Conclusion: Maternal depression is associated with childhood overweight and obesity. Child overweight and obesity intervention efforts may benefit from identifying strategies to improve maternal mental health status, including depression.

This study examined maternal depression status from month 1 to 36 after birth using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Maternal depression was assessed with the Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. The prevalence of maternal depression was highest at 1 month, decreased at 6 months, and then kept fairly stable to 36 months. The prevalence was higher in blacks than other races, in 18-24 than 25-46 years old, and in single mothers than non-single mothers. Mothers with better physical health, social support, or employed had a lower prevalence than their counterparts. Mothers in poverty, receiving public assistance, or who had more parental stress had a higher prevalence. Social support and parental stress had a statistically significant relationship with maternal depression even after adjusting for other variables. In conclusion, this longitudinal study found that several maternal, child, and family factors were associated with maternal depression.

Depression is recognized as a disabling and impairing condition, impacting mood, cognitions, and daily functioning (APA, 2013; WHO, 2017). Women are more likely to develop depression than men (Gutierrez-Lobos et al., 2002; Noble, 2005). The perinatal period is a sensitive time when mothers are vulnerable to developing depression (Noble, 2005; Schiller et al., 2015). Further, postpartum depression is a risk factor for negative outcomes for both mother and child (Goodman & Gotlib, 1999), including child cognitive development (Grace et al., 2003). The onset and course of depression involves a variety of biopsychosocial components that are often accounted for in research on maternal depression (Billings & Moos, 1993; Cummings & Davies, 1994; Nobel, 2005). Examining the severity, chronicity, and time of onset of maternal depression reveals specific patterns or trajectories for the mother’s experience; these trajectories can provide better understanding of maternal depression and its impact on child development (Brennan et al., 2000). Maternal depression is prevalent yet under-studied and under-identified in low-middle income countries (LMICs), with most research of postpartum depression centering Western and English-speaking families (Gelaye et al.,2016; Halbreich &Karkun, 2006). To better understand and treat maternal depression across cultures, research is needed in diverse locations with culturally sensitive methods. The purpose of the present study is to identify trajectories of maternal depression in diverse, international locations including LMICs. The MAL-ED Study involves eight study sites (Dhaka, Bangladesh (BGD); Fortaleza, Brazil (BRF); Vellore, India; (INV), Bhaktapur, Nepal (NEB); Loreto, Peru (PEL); Naushahro Feroze, Pakistan (PKN); Venda, South Africa (Dzimauli Community, SAV); and Haydom, Tanzania (TZH)) and incorporates several health-related factors pertaining to mothers and children (Murray-Kolb et al., 2014). The present study included five of the eight international sites. Maternal depression, as measured by the Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ; Beusenberg & Orley, 1994), was assessed across the first two years postpartum, allowing for longitudinal analysis of trajectory using latent class growth analysis (LCGA). Maternal depression trajectories differed across the five sites, but demonstrated a general pattern of high, moderate, and low symptoms for the total sample. Path models were used to determine if there was a relationship between maternal depression trajectories and child cognitive development as measured by the Bayley Scales for Infant and Toddler Development, 3rd Edition (BSID-III, Bayley, 2009) for the total sample. To address the influence of contextual factors, the Home Observation for the Measurement of the Environment (HOME; Caldwell & Bradley, 1984, 2003) was incorporated in analysis as a mediator. However, the mediation analysis was not statistically significant and maternal depression trajectory was not a strong predictor of child cognitive development with the total sample. The results indicated that better home environment predicted improved cognitive scores, regardless of maternal depression trajectories. The present study provided evidence that maternal depression trajectories varied based on cultural group. Although maternal depression trajectories did not predict child cognitive development with the total sample, future research can explore trajectories in each location and relationships with other variables. Additionally, further investigation of how the home environment impacts child cognitive development in the five different locations can be informative for providing services to children and their families. / School Psychology

No description available.

No description available.

Created in 1965, Head Start is the longest running national school readiness program in the United States. Head Start was developed to improve children's social and academic readiness for kindergarten and to reduce the academic achievement gap between impoverished and more affluent children. However, questions about the effectiveness of Head Start have trouble the program since its inception. Head Start children often experience considerably more sociocontextual risk, specifically in the form of more economic disadvantage, maternal psychological distress, and dangerous neighborhoods. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the extent to which attending Head Start buffers children from some of the harmful effects of sociocontextual risk on their acquisition of academic and social school readiness skills. Socio-contextual risk factors were largely unrelated to the school readiness skills. Only mothers' reports of anxiety were significantly associated with slower rates of increase in children's PPVT scores, suggesting that mothers who are more anxious have children who are not developing receptive vocabulary scores as quickly as children whose mothers have fewer anxiety symptoms. Head Start did not buffer the impact of socio-contextual risk on children's attainment of school readiness skills. A secondary goal of the present study was to validate mothers' reports of neighborhood danger with interviewer impressions of neighborhood safety and objective crime reports. Interviewer impressions correlated significantly with mothers' reports of neighborhood danger and official crime statistics. Interestingly, official crime statistics were not correlated with mothers' reports of neighborhood danger, but were correlated with interviewer impressions. Interviewers may provide a valuable objective perspective of characteristics of the neighborhood. This sample was not intended to explore the effects of natural disasters on household structures, maternal psychopathology, or children's academic development. However, results clearly highlighted the need to empirically consider the specific challenges associated with lowincome families after a natural disaster. Study implications and promising directions for future research are discussed.