RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To test the associations between the timing and chronicity of maternal depression symptoms (MDS) and children's long-term verbal abilities. STUDY DESIGN: Participants were 1073 mother-child pairs from a population-based birth cohort in Canada. MDS were assessed at ages 5 months, 1.5, 3.5, and 5 years using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Verbal abilities were measured at 5, 6, and 10 years using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R). Multiple linear regression models were used to estimate the association between timing (early: 5 months and/or 1.5 years vs late 3.5 and/or 5 years) and chronicity (5 months, 1.5, 3.5, and 5 years) of exposure to elevated MDS and children's mean PPVT-R scores. RESULTS: Children exposed to chronic MDS had lower PPVT-R scores than children never exposed (mean difference = 9.04 [95% CI = 2.28-15.80]), exposed early (10.08 [3.33-16.86]) and exposed late (8.69 [1.85-15.53]). There were no significant differences between scores of children in the early compared with the late exposure group. We adjusted for mother-child interactions, family functioning, socioeconomic status, PPVT-R administration language, child's birth order, and maternal IQ, psychopathology, education, native language, age at birth of child, and parenting practices. Maternal IQ, (η2 = 0.028), native language (η2 = 0.009), and MDS (η2 = 0.007) were the main predictors of children's verbal abilities. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to chronic MDS in early childhood is associated with lower levels of verbal abilities in middle childhood. Further research is needed in larger community samples to test the association between MDS and children's long-term language skills.
Assuntos
Linguagem Infantil , Depressão , Mães/psicologia , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Doença Crônica , Depressão/diagnóstico , Depressão/psicologia , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Testes de Linguagem , Modelos Lineares , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Modelos Psicológicos , Relações Mãe-Filho/psicologia , Escalas de Graduação Psiquiátrica , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the predictive association between preschool childcare arrangements and overweight/obesity in childhood. STUDY DESIGN: Children were enrolled in a prospective birth cohort in Quebec, Canada (n = 1649). Information about childcare obtained via questionnaires to the mothers at ages 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, and 4 years was used to compute a main childcare arrangement exposure variable (center-based/family-based/care by a relative/nanny). Body mass index was derived from measured weights and heights at ages 4, 6, 7, 8, and 10 years and children were classified as overweight/obese versus normal weight. Generalized estimating equations were used to model the effect of main childcare arrangement (center-based/family-based/relative/nanny) (vs parental care) on overweight/obesity adjusting for several potential confounding factors. RESULTS: Compared with parental care, children who attended a center-based childcare (OR: 1.65, 95% CI: 1.13-2.41) or were cared for by a relative (OR: 1.50; 95% CI: 0.95-2.38, although with greater uncertainty) had higher odds of being overweight/obese in childhood (4-10 years). Analyses of number of hours additionally suggested that each increment of 5 hours spent in either center-based or relative childcare increased the odds of overweight/obesity in the first decade of life by 9%. Associations were not explained by a wide range of confounding factors, including socioeconomic position, breastfeeding, maternal employment, and maternal body mass index. CONCLUSION: Overweight/obesity was more frequently observed in children who received non-parental care in center-based settings or care by a relative other than the parent. "Obesogeonic" features of these childcare arrangements should be investigated in future studies.