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Adolescents / Family Influences / Publications / Trauma — No Comments
09
Mar 20

Is sexual abuse a unique predictor of sexual risk behaviors, pregnancy, and motherhood in adolescence?

This study tested sexual abuse as a unique predictor of subsequent adolescent sexual behaviors, pregnancy, and motherhood when in company with other types of maltreatment (physical abuse, neglect) and alternative behavioral, family, and contextual risk factors in a prospective, longitudinal study of maltreated (n = 275) and comparison (n = 239) nulliparous females aged 14-19 years old assessed annually through 19 years old. Hierarchical regression was used to disentangle risk factors that account for the associations of maltreatment type on risky sexual behaviors at 19 years old, adolescent pregnancy, and adolescent motherhood. Findings indicate that sexual and physical abuse remain significant predictors of risky sexual behaviors, and that sexual abuse remains a significant predictor of adolescent motherhood when alternative explanatory variables are controlled.

CITATION: Noll, J. G., Guastaferro, K., Beal, S. J., Schreier, H. M. C., Barnes, J., Reader, J.M., & Font, S. A. (2019). Is sexual abuse a unique predictor of sexual risk behaviors, pregnancy, and motherhood in adolescence? Journal of Research on Adolescence, 29(4), 967-983.

Family Influences / Publications — No Comments
09
Mar 20

Prospective relations between prenatal maternal cortisol and child health

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate prospective, longitudinal associations between maternal prenatal cortisol response to an interpersonal stressor and child health for the subsequent 3 years.

METHODS: One hundred twenty-three women expecting their first child provided salivary cortisol samples between 12 and 32 weeks of gestation (M (SD) = 22.4 (4.9) weeks) before and after a videotaped couple conflict discussion with their partner. Mothers reported on overall child health and several indicators of child illness (sick doctor visits, fevers, ear, and respiratory infections) when children were 6 months (n = 114), 1 (n = 116), and 3 (n = 105) years old. Associations between maternal prenatal cortisol reactivity and recovery and later child health at each of the three time points were analyzed using longitudinal regression models.

RESULTS: Greater cortisol reactivity in response to the couple conflict discussion was associated with maternal self-report of better overall child health (p = .016, 95% CI = 0.06-1.30, Cohen’s f = 0.045) across the study period. Greater cortisol reactivity was also associated with lower incidence rate ratios for maternal reports of sick doctor visits (incidence rate ratio 95% CI = 0.25-0.83, p = .006), fevers (95% CI = 0.25-0.73, p = .002), ear infections (95% CI = 0.25-0.58, p < .001), and respiratory infections (95% CI = 0.08-1.11, p = .073). Cortisol recovery was unrelated to study outcomes (all p’s > 0.05). Maternal prenatal depressive symptoms moderated the association between cortisol reactivity and overall child health (p = .034, 95% CI = 0.07-1.87 for interaction term) but no other health outcomes (p’s > 0.05). Among women with lower depressive symptoms, cortisol reactivity was not associated with overall child health; among women with higher levels of depressive symptoms, greater cortisol reactivity was associated with better overall child health.

CONCLUSIONS: This study provides longitudinal evidence that greater maternal cortisol reactivity to a salient interpersonal stressor during pregnancy is associated with fewer child health problems and better maternal report of overall child health during infancy and into early childhood.

CITATION: Roettger, M. E., Schreier, H. M. C., Feinberg, M. E., & Jones, D. E. (2019). Prospective relations between prenatal maternal cortisol and child health. Psychosomatic Medicine, 81(6), 557-565.

Family Influences / Publications — No Comments
03
Oct 18

Aspects of the parent–child relationship and parent metabolic outcomes

Much is known about the effect of parent–child relationships on child health; less is known about how parent–child relationships influence parent health. To assess the association between aspects of the parent–child relationship and parent metabolic outcomes, and whether these associations are moderated by parent gender. Five metabolic outcomes (systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, total cholesterol and glycated hemoglobin) were assessed among 261 parents (45.83 ± 5.50 years) of an adolescent child (14.57 ± 1.072 years). Parents completed questionnaires assessing their child’s hassles and the quality of their days with their child. Parents’ perceptions of their child’s hassles were associated with parent heart rate (B = 2.954, SE = 1.267, p = 0.021) and cholesterol (B = 0.028, SE = 0.011, p = 0.010), such that greater perceived child hassles were associated with higher heart rate and cholesterol levels, on average. These associations were not moderated by parent gender (all ps [ 0.30). Parent report of their day with their child was not associ- ated with parent metabolic outcomes (all ps [ 0.20). Par- ent gender moderated the association between parent report of their day with their child and parent systolic blood pressure (B = 13.861, SE = 6.200, p = 0.026), such that less positive reports were associated with higher blood pressure readings among fathers, but not mothers. This study suggests that parent metabolic health may in part be influenced by aspects of the parent–child relationship.

CITATION: Jones, E.J., Chen, E., Levine, C.S., Lam, P.H., Liu, V.Y., & Schreier, H.M.C. (2019). Aspects of the parent-child relationship and parent metabolic outcomes. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 42(2), 204-216.

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