Prospective longitudinal associations between adverse childhood experiences and adult mental health outcomes:Systematic review and meta-analysis

Research suggests a strong, dose–response relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and poor adult mental health outcomes. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to systematically investigate the existence and strength of prospective associations between ACEs and adult mental health outcomes: anxiety, depression, psychotic-like experiences, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), self-harm, and suicidality. We searched 12 electronic databases for publications after 1990. A narrative synthesis of included studies and random-effects meta-analyses with moderation were completed for all outcomes, excluding self-harm. In total, 62 studies from 15 countries were included. Most studies were from the United States; 95% of publications (N = 59) came from high-income countries (HICs) and 5% (N = 3) from upper-middle-income countries. Pooled associations between ACEs and adult mental illness were strongest for PTSD (OR = 2.26; 95% CI [1.75, 2.77]), followed by anxiety (OR = 1.78; 95% CI [1.45, 2.11]), depression (OR = 1.61; 95% CI [1.45, 1.76]), psychotic-like experiences (OR = 1.34; 95% CI [1.13, 1.54]), and suicidality (OR = 1.28; 95% CI [1.13, 1.43]). Moderation analyses suggested ACEs with a violence or maltreatment component were significant risk factors for adult depression compared to household ACEs, and that study location was a significant moderator in the depression, anxiety, and PTSD models. Further moderation effects will be discussed. Findings confirm ACEs are a significant risk factor for mental ill-health in adulthood. Our review highlights the urgent need for research exploring associations between ACEs measured in childhood and adult mental illness outside of HIC settings.</p

The associations between maternal adverse childhood experiences, substance use during pregnancy and poor infant outcomes:A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Research suggests that maternal exposure to childhood adversity is associated with substance use during pregnancy and poor infant outcomes (i.e., premature birth, low birth weight). However, to date, no systematic review has synthesised the effect of ACEs on these three outcomes.Method: The framework for this review will be adapted from the guidelines laid out in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement. The electronic databases to be searched will include: PubMed, SCOPUS, PsycInfo, Web of Science, and CINAHL and will be carried out by one reviewer. Studies that fit the pre-specified eligibility criteria will be screened, assessed, and extracted independently by two reviewers with discrepancies to be resolved by a third reviewer. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) for cross-sectional and cohort studies will be used to critically evaluate the methodological quality of the selected studies. If a sufficient number of studies are found to be comparable, a meta-analysis will be conducted using a random effects model.Discussion: This review will provide supporting evidence on the body of literature exploring the long-term and intergenerational consequences of adverse childhood experiences. The results of the review can help inform policies and interventions related to maternal health as well as early childhood development. The gaps identified in the review can also help inform recommendations for future research

Child-centred Indicators for Violence Prevention: Summary Report on a Living Lab in the City of Valenzuela, Philippines

In 2015, world leaders made a commitment to end all forms of violence against children by 2030, as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To achieve the aspirations of the SDG global targets, Governments set targets, taking into account national circumstances, to reduce children’s risk and be responsive to local contexts. Prevention and response efforts need to be grounded in the best available evidence to achieve measurable reductions in violence, and if the needs of children are to be foregrounded, strategies to end violence must respect not only children’s protection rights but also their participation rights. Moreover, it is critical that the processes for monitoring and measuring impacts centre children’s needs, aspirations and experiences. If children themselves report that violence is reducing in their personal lives, in their communities and in their countries, we will know that efforts to address violence, abuse and neglect are succeeding. This report describes a project undertaken in collaboration with End Violence, the City of Valenzuela, the Young and Resilient Research Centre and other partners to develop child-centred indicators for violence prevention in the City of Valenzuela in greater Manila, Philippines. Child and adult stakeholders worked together in a series of 14 participatory workshops to creatively explore children’s experiences and perceptions of violence, to map their aspirations for change, to ideate strategies for addressing violence in their communities, and to develop child-centred indicators against which violence reduction can be measured. This project found that children’s perspectives are a vital resource for efforts to localise INSPIRE strategies and that the deployment of child-centred indicators usefully augments and complements the INSPIRE measurement framework. Beyond the City of Valenzuela, there is opportunity to scale the use of these child-centred indicators to other parts of the Philippines and globally. The report also offers reflections on the key strengths and limitations of the Living Lab process for engaging a wide range of stakeholders, including children themselves, in the project of ending violence against children

Measuring Antenatal Depressive Symptoms Across the World: A Validation and Cross-Country Invariance Analysis of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) in Eight Diverse Low-Resource Settings

Measures that produce valid and reliable antenatal depressive symptom scores in low-resource country contexts are important for efforts to illuminate risk factors, outcomes, and effective interventions in these contexts. Establishing the psychometric comparability of scores across countries also facilitates analyses of similarities and differences across contexts. To date, however, few studies have evaluated the psychometric properties and comparability of the most widely used antenatal depressive symptom measures across diverse cultural, political, and social contexts. To address this gap, we used data from the Evidence for Better Lives Study—Foundational Research (EBLS-FR) project to examine the internal consistency reliability, nomological network validity, and cross-country measurement invariance of the nine-item version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) in antenatal samples across eight low-resource contexts. We found that the PHQ-9 scores had good internal consistency across all eight countries. Correlations between PHQ-9 scores and constructs conceptually associated with depression were generally consistent, with a few exceptions. In measurement invariance analyses, only partial metric invariance held and only across four of the countries. Our results suggest that the PHQ-9 yields internally consistent scores when administered in culturally diverse antenatal populations; however, the meaning of the scores may vary. Thus, interpretation of PHQ-9 scores should consider local meanings of symptoms of depression to ensure that context-specific conceptualizations and manifestations of antenatal depressive symptoms are adequately reflecte

Measuring antenatal depressive symptoms across the world:A validation and cross-country invariance analysis of the patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) in eight diverse low-resource settings

Measures that produce valid and reliable antenatal depressive symptom scores in low-resource country contexts are important for efforts to illuminate risk factors, outcomes, and effective interventions in these contexts. Establishing the psychometric comparability of scores across countries also facilitates analyses of similarities and differences across contexts. To date, however, few studies have evaluated the psychometric properties and comparability of the most widely used antenatal depressive symptom measures across diverse cultural, political, and social contexts. To address this gap, we used data from the Evidence for Better Lives Study—Foundational Research (EBLS-FR) project to examine the internal consistency reliability, nomological network validity, and cross-country measurement invariance of the nine-item version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) in antenatal samples across eight low-resource contexts. We found that the PHQ-9 scores had good internal consistency across all eight countries. Correlations between PHQ-9 scores and constructs conceptually associated with depression were generally consistent, with a few exceptions. In measurement invariance analyses, only partial metric invariance held and only across four of the countries. Our results suggest that the PHQ-9 yields internally consistent scores when administered in culturally diverse antenatal populations; however, the meaning of the scores may vary. Thus, interpretation of PHQ-9 scores should consider local meanings of symptoms of depression to ensure that context-specific conceptualizations and manifestations of antenatal depressive symptoms are adequately reflected.</p

Choriorefinal Disease Patterns in Congenic Mice following Intraocular Inoculation with HSV-1

The von Szily method of uniocular intracameral inoculation of herpes simplex virus has recently been adapted to a murine model of HSV-1-mediated chorioretinitis. 1 &apos; 2 Studies to date have shown that following the inoculation of HSV-1 into the anterior chamber of one eye of a BALB/c mouse, the virus travels via neuronal pathways to gain access to the contralateral eye, producing a necrotizing chorioretinitis with relative ipsilateral retinal sparing. Intravitreal injection of virus, in contrast, produces both ipsilateral and contralateral chorioretinitis. 3 While the exact mechanism(s) responsible for these observations are not entirely known, a unique set of acquired, HSV-specific cellular immune responses develops following inoculation and is implicated in the pathogenesis of the von Szily model. &quot; 6 Specifically,

Distribution of \u3cem\u3eCotesia rubecula\u3c/em\u3e (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and Its Displacement of \u3cem\u3eCotesia glomerata\u3c/em\u3e in Eastern North America

A survey was conducted from May to Oct of 2011 of the parasitoid community of the imported cabbageworm, Pieris rapae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), in cole crops in part of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. The findings of our survey indicate that Cotesia rubecula (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) now occurs as far west as North Dakota and has become the dominant parasitoid of P. rapae in the northeastern and north central United States and adjacent parts of southeastern Canada, where it has displaced the previously common parasitoid Cotesia glomerata (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Cotesia glomerata remains the dominant parasitoid in the mid-Atlantic states, from Virginia to North Carolina and westward to southern Illinois, below latitude N 38° 48′. This pattern suggests that the released populations of C. rubecula presently have a lower latitudinal limit south of which they are not adapted