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Previous cross-sectional studies have utilized scales to explore potential indications of the moderating effect of resilience on the relationship between stressful life events (SLEs) and mental health. However, there remains a notable dearth of psychometrically driven models in longitudinal resilience research, especially concerning the prognosis of individuals with affective disorders and/or anxiety. This study aimed to investigate whether baseline resilience capacity, measured by the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, could mitigate the impact of SLEs on depressive symptoms assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory-II among 66 outpatients with depression and/or anxiety disorders during a follow-up period ranging from 4–8 years. Hierarchical linear regression analysis revealed that baseline resilience capacity significantly moderated the effect of SLEs on depressive symptoms at the end point, but neither SLEs nor baseline resilience capacity was significantly correlated with depressive symptoms at the end point after controlling for potential confounders. Patients with higher levels of baseline resilience capacity showed fewer depressive symptoms in response to SLEs. These findings underscore the potential of resilience capacity as a promising target for therapeutic interventions.

Our goal was to determine PBDE levels in Taiwanese household dust and to examine the particle-size distribution of PBDEs in dust samples. Nine paired samples of floor and electronic dust were gathered from nine individual houses. Each sample was sieved with 100 (< 0.149 mm) and 200 (< 0.074 mm) meshes to obtain three fractionated samples (> 0.149, 0.074–0.149, and < 0.074 mm). Each house had 8 samples taken from it, including a pair of overall dust samples and 3 pairs of fractionated samples. Thirty PBDEs (BDE-7, 15, 17, 28, 47, 49, 66, 71, 77, 85, 99, 100, 119, 126, 138, 139, 140, 153, 154, 156, 183, 184, 191, 196, 197, 203, 206, 207, 208, and 209) in 72 dust samples were analyzed by high resolution gas chromatograph/ high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). The levels of S28PBDEs and PBDEs in electronic dust were not significantly higher than those in floor dust in the paired overall dust samples, or the three fractionated samples. In addition, the levels of S28PBDEs and PBDEs were not significantly different for these three particle-sizes of floor and electronic dust. Based on the results of the factor analysis, the patterns of the PBDE distributions in floor and electronic dust were also very similar. A significant correlation of S28PBDEs was shown in the paired samples of floor and electronic dust. For the three fractionated dust samples, we found that only the levels of PBDEs from di- to tetra- in floor dust were significantly correlated with those in electronic dust. This may be because the PBDE contaminants in floor and electronic dust might originate from the same exposure sources, particularly for lower brominated PBDE congeners. The toddlers (6-48 months) (median estimated PBDE daily intake from mean floor dust: 2.73 ng/kg b.w./day) possibly ingested more PBDEs in household dust compared to the adults (0.0414 ng/kg b.w./day) based on our results. Our sample size was too small to represent the level of PBDE contamination in house dust from southern Taiwan, and thus a larger scale study is encouraged. In conclusion, our findings suggest that it may be not necessary for household surveys of PBDEs to collect different meshes of dust.

The goal of this report is to evaluate brominated persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the indoor air and dust to further assess their health effects on thyroid hormones and neurodevelopment in infants, toddlers, and young children. This category of brominated POPs includes polybrmonated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), and polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PBDD/DFs). These organobromines are lipophilic compounds which resist physical and chemical degradation in the environment and biota, and so easily bioaccumulate in adipose tissue. Brominated POPs, particularly in brominated fire retardants (BFRs) such as PBDEs, HBCDs, and PBBs, are ubiquitous in indoor environments due to their inadvertent release from certain consumer products. Some of these organobromines have been recognized in some in-vitroand in-vivostudies to be neurotoxins and disrupt thyroid hormones, although the evidence from actual epidemiological studies is contradicted and inconsistent, especially for infants, toddlers, and young children, who are particularly vulnerable to these substances as they spend most of their time in the home. This report focuses on exposure to PBDEs, HBCDs, PBBs, and PBDD/DFs in the indoor dust and on the indoor aerosol, to explore their association with human health, particularly the disruption of thyroid hormones and neurodevelopment in early childhood.

The objective of this study was to examine the impact of low birth weight and preterm birth on a toddler's inattention and development, including cognitive, language, motor, social–emotional and adaptive behaviors. A total of 105 toddlers enrolled for the study; they were divided into four groups: 40 full-term and normal birth weight (NBW, birth weight greater than 2500 g) toddlers, 24 moderate birth weight (MLBW, birth weight between 2499 and 1500 g) toddlers, 20 very to extremely low birth weight (V-ELBW, 12 between 1000 and 1499 g and 8 lower than 1000 g) toddlers, and 21 term toddlers who were recruited from a clinic of developmental delay as the developmental delay at risk (DDR) group. The Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development—Third Edition (BSID-III) and Disruptive Behavior Rating Scale—Toddler were used. The findings were as follows: (1) DDR group performed worst in BSID-III; (2) although there were no statistical differences among the NBW, MLBW, and V-ELBW groups in BSID-III, the lower the birth weight, the lower the average performance, especially in language, adaptive social behavior, and adaptive practical behavior; and (3) comparing the inattention score, the DDR group was the poorest, normal and V-ELBW groups were the best, and MLBW group was in the middle. In conclusion, low birth weight and preterm delivery affected children's inattention and development of language, adaptive social behavior, and adaptive practical behavior.

The objective of this study was to examine the impact of low birth weight and preterm birth on a toddler's inattention and development, including cognitive, language, motor, social–emotional and adaptive behaviors. A total of 105 toddlers enrolled for the study; they were divided into four groups: 40 full‐term and normal birth weight (NBW, birth weight greater than 2500 g) toddlers, 24 moderate birth weight (MLBW, birth weight between 2499 and 1500 g) toddlers, 20 very to extremely low birth weight (V‐ELBW, 12 between 1000 and 1499 g and 8 lower than 1000 g) toddlers, and 21 term toddlers who were recruited from a clinic of developmental delay as the developmental delay at risk (DDR) group. The Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development—Third Edition (BSID‐III) and Disruptive Behavior Rating Scale—Toddler were used. The findings were as follows: (1) DDR group performed worst in BSID‐III; (2) although there were no statistical differences among the NBW, MLBW, and V‐ELBW groups in BSID‐III, the lower the birth weight, the lower the average performance, especially in language, adaptive social behavior, and adaptive practical behavior; and (3) comparing the inattention score, the DDR group was the poorest, normal and V‐ELBW groups were the best, and MLBW group was in the middle. In conclusion, low birth weight and preterm delivery affected children's inattention and development of language, adaptive social behavior, and adaptive practical behavior.

In vivo studies have demonstrated that prenatal or neonatal exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) causes developmental neurotoxicity. However, there is a lack of human data. Our hypothesis was that PBDEs would result in lower infant neurodevelopment scores. This is a post hoc analysis of previous studies. Fourteen PBDEs in 70 breast milk were analyzed using a high-resolution gas chromatograph/high-resolution mass spectrometer. Infant neurodevelopment at the age of 8–12 mo was determined using the Bayley Scales of Infants and Toddlers Development, third edition (Bayley-III). The median of S14PBDEs (the sum of 14 PBDE congeners) was 2.92 ng/g lipid. The S14PBDE concentrations were not correlated with Bayley-III scores on cognitive, language, motor, social-emotional, or adaptive behavior scales. A significantly inverse association between brominated diphenyl ether (BDE)-209 and the cognitive scale was found after multivariate stepwise linear regression analyses (B = -0.007, adjusted R = -0.224, p = 0.032). In contrast, the language scale was positively correlated with BDE-196 (B = 0.096, adjusted R = 0.315, p = 0.002). Our results are consistent with most in vivo studies, suggesting that prenatal or postnatal exposure to BDE-209 potentially delays the neurological development.

In vivostudies have demonstrated that prenatal or neonatal exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) causes developmental neurotoxicity. However, there is a lack of human data. Our hypothesis was that PBDEs would result in lower infant neurodevelopment scores. This is a post hoc analysis of previous studies. Fourteen PBDEs in 70 breast milk were analyzed using a high-resolution gas chromatograph/high-resolution mass spectrometer. Infant neurodevelopment at the age of 8–12 mo was determined using the Bayley Scales of Infants and Toddlers Development, third edition (Bayley-III). The median of 14PBDEs (the sum of 14 PBDE congeners) was 2.92 ng/g lipid. The 14PBDE concentrations were not correlated with Bayley-III scores on cognitive, language, motor, social-emotional, or adaptive behavior scales. A significantly inverse association between brominated diphenyl ether (BDE)-209 and the cognitive scale was found after multivariate stepwise linear regression analyses (B−0.007, adjusted R−0.224, p0.032). In contrast, the language scale was positively correlated with BDE-196 (B0.096, adjusted R0.315, p0.002). Our results are consistent with most in vivostudies, suggesting that prenatal or postnatal exposure to BDE-209 potentially delays the neurological development.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a behavioral parent therapy (BPT) program in children with attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using multidimensional evaluations, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Teacher Report Form (TRF). Between 2001 and 2005, the parents of 21 preschool children with ADHD were divided into six groups and participated in a series of 11 BPT sessions. Before and after BPT, the parents completed the CBCL, and the teachers completed the TRF. The behavioral and emotional problems of the children showed improvement after the BPT sessions, specifically for the following categories: internalizing problems, anxious/depressed syndromes, somatic complaints, externalizing problems, rule‐breaking behaviors, aggressive behaviors, social problems, thought problems, and attention problems. In the DSM‐oriented scale of the CBCL, affective problems, anxiety problems, somatic problems, ADHD problems, oppositional defiant disorder problems, and conduct disorder problems showed significant improvements. On the DSM scale of the TRF, Inattention syndrome improved significantly after the BPT sessions, while other syndromes showed non‐significant changes. We conclude that the BPT program significantly improved the children's behavioral problems at home and inattention problems at school.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a behavioral parent therapy (BPT) program in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using multidimensional evaluations, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Teacher Report Form (TRF). Between 2001 and 2005, the parents of 21 preschool children with ADHD were divided into six groups and participated in a series of 11 BPT sessions. Before and after BPT, the parents completed the CBCL, and the teachers completed the TRF. The behavioral and emotional problems of the children showed improvement after the BPT sessions, specifically for the following categories: internalizing problems, anxious/depressed syndromes, somatic complaints, externalizing problems, rule-breaking behaviors, aggressive behaviors, social problems, thought problems, and attention problems. In the DSM-oriented scale of the CBCL, affective problems, anxiety problems, somatic problems, ADHD problems, oppositional defiant disorder problems, and conduct disorder problems showed significant improvements. On the DSM scale of the TRF, Inattention syndrome improved significantly after the BPT sessions, while other syndromes showed non-significant changes. We conclude that the BPT program significantly improved the children's behavioral problems at home and inattention problems at school.