Urban Stressors and Child Asthma: An Examination of Child and Caregiver Models

The purpose of the present study was to examine how low-income, racial and ethnic minority, urban families experience and manage their child’s asthma. The rationale for this study stems from existing literature on asthma disparities and documented predictors of increased asthma morbidity and mortality. In particular, this study considered how specific types of stress may disproportionately impact low-income, racial and ethnic minority, urban families that have a child with asthma. This study aimed to determine associations between urban stressors (stressful life events, perceived discrimination, subjective socioeconomic status) and child asthma outcomes (emergency department visits, school days missed, asthma control), and considered depressive symptoms and asthma self-efficacy as mediators in these associations. Analyses were conducted in a sample of 97 urban caregivers and their children in Richmond, Virginia. Findings revealed that neighborhood stress was significantly associated with asthma control. Stressful life events were significantly associated with school days missed. Perceived discrimination and subjective SES were not significantly related to any child asthma outcomes. Bootstrapping procedures demonstrated that child depressive symptoms mediated the relation between neighborhood stress and asthma control. Child asthma self-efficacy did not significantly mediate associations between neighborhood stress and any child outcomes. Caregiver depressive symptoms and caregiver asthma self-efficacy did not significantly mediate any associations between caregiver-reported urban stressors and child asthma outcomes. Results from the present study suggest that urban stressors, especially neighborhood stress and stressful life events, are important to consider in the context of child asthma management and subsequent health outcomes. Exposure to urban stressors may further contribute to pediatric asthma disparities because they are disproportionately experienced by low-income, racial and ethnic minority, urban families. Each urban stressor that was related to a child outcome was associated with a particular asthma outcome. Specifically, child-reported neighborhood stress was related to asthma control. Caregiver-reported stressful life events were associated with school days missed. These findings suggest that exposure to specific types of stress may impact asthma management differently. Future research should, therefore, explore the impact and contribution of specific stressors in greater depth. Further, child depressive symptoms significantly mediated the relation between neighborhood stress and asthma control, although caregiver depressive symptoms did not significantly mediate any associations between urban stressors and child asthma outcomes. Additionally, both child and caregiver depressive symptoms were significantly associated with multiple urban stressors and child asthma outcomes. Depressive symptoms may, therefore, be important to target in future research as possible explanatory variables or variables that contribute to stress appraisals and child asthma outcomes

Preservation and bias in the Cambrian fossil record

Paleontology views deep time ecosystems through a taphonomic lens, biased and restricted by the controls enacted on each fossil deposit by various environmental factors, and including chemical and biological variables. Human-induced bias has recently been acknowledged as an additional layer of complexity, contributing further inconsistencies of our understanding of metazoan diversity in deep time. The Cambrian Haiyan Lagerstatte of Yunnan, China, examined in Chapter 2, preserves an exceptionally diverse biota, with many of its soft-bodied and biomineralized organisms being preserved via pervasive pyritization with associated carbon films. The exceptional pyritization of many soft-bodied organisms--which otherwise may not have been preserved--shows that this ecosystem is an exceptional repository of Cambrian biodiversity, but there remains uncertainty in the regional application of this mode of preservation. On the other hand, the biotas of the Marjum, Wheeler, Weeks formations and Spence Shale Lagerstatte of the western U.S. show significant discrepancies in the diversity of each deposit when the published taxonomic record of these Lagerstatten is compared to the taxonomic record of those formations deposited in publicly available collections. As detailed in Chapter 1, this shows that, while the diversity of deep time ecosystems may be conserved and well-represented in some cases, the published representation of those ecosystems is inherently flawed.Includes bibliographical references

Examining the Relations Between the Mental Health and Physical Health of Caregivers of MS in a Mexican Sample

Evidence suggests that caregiver health affects patient health. Consistent with the Biopsychosocial Model, mental health (anxiety, depression, satisfaction with life, self-esteem), physical health (bodily pain, general health, performance in physical role, physical functioning), burden, and social support were examined in the present study to understand the relations between these variables and the overall health of 81 caregivers of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Mexico. The relation between mental health and physical health was significant. Canonical correlations revealed that depression and general health emerged as primary variables and these were entered into a series of analyses with burden and social support as potential moderating variables. No significant moderations were detected. Hierarchical multiple regressions showed significant relations between demographic and physical health variables, and three mental health outcomes: anxiety, depression, and self-esteem. Further research should consider the relations between mental health and physical health in the context of Latino culture

Deficiencias funcionales en pacientes con lesiones de la médula espinal y la salud mental del cuidador: Un estudio exploratorio en una muestra colombiana

Limited literature has examined the connections between caregiver mental health and the physical and psychosocial functioning of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) in Latin America, despite the dearth of services and unique needs of this population. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationships between caregiver mental health (anxiety, burden, depression, satisfaction with life, and self-esteem) and SCI physical and psychosocial functional impairments in a Colombian sample. Forty SCI caregivers were recruited from Neiva, Colombia and completed measures of SCI impairments and their own mental health. Greater SCI impairments, and caregiver stress due to those impairments, were associated with higher caregiver depression and anxiety, although only patient psychosocial functional impairments and related caregiver stress were uniquely associated with caregiver depression. Due to the collectivist nature of and the importance of family in many Latino cultures, mental health interventions for family members who provide care for an individual with SCI having greater psychosocial impairments may be particularly important.Poca literatura ha examinado las relaciones entre salud mental del cuidador y funcionamiento físico y psicosocial de las personas con traumatismo de médula espinal en América Latina, a pesar de la escasez de servicios y necesidades únicas de esta población. El propósito del presente estudio fue examinar las relaciones entre la salud mental del cuidador (ansiedad, sobrecarga, depresión,  satisfacción con la vida y autoestima) y las discapacidades físicas y psicosociales de personas con traumatismo de médula espinal en una muestra colombiana. Cuarenta cuidadores de personas con traumatismo de médula espinal fueron reclutados en Neiva, Colombia, quienes completaron medidas de discapacidad del traumatismo de medula espinal y de su propia salud mental. Mayores niveles de discapacidad en personas con traumatismo de medula espinal y niveles de estrés del cuidador debido a esas discapacidades, fueron asociadas con mayores niveles de depresión y ansiedad en el cuidador, aunque sólo las discapacidades psicosociales de los pacientes y el estrés relacionado con el cuidador fueron asociados con la depresión en el cuidador. Debido a la naturaleza colectivista y la importancia de la familia en la mayoría de las culturas latinas, las intervenciones centradas en la salud mental de los familiares que cuidan de personas con traumatismo de la medula espinal pueden ser particularmente importantes