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Background: Half of US women will experience intimate partner violence (IPV), and nearly all children in families experiencing such violence will be exposed. The negative effects of IPV exposure on children's mental and physical health are well-documented; however, less is known about effects on children's sleep health, a key marker of well-being., Objective: This study examines the associations of early childhood exposure to maternal experiences of IPV with sleep health in adolescence, focusing on multiple dimensions of sleep health and differences by child sex., Participants and Setting: We rely on data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a population-based study following 5000 children in large US cities, from birth to age 15. Analyses are based on 2687 adolescents interviewed at the year-15 follow-up., Methods: Early childhood exposure to IPV is based on mothers' reports of her experiences of IPV from the child's birth to age 5. Adolescent sleep health is measured using 6 items approximating the BEARS sleep problem scale, at age 15. We estimate multivariate linear regression models to examine associations of early childhood IPV exposure with adolescent sleep health and stratify models by child sex., Results: Early childhood IPV exposure is associated with worse overall sleep health (β = 0.08; p < 0.001) and multiple dimensions of poor sleep health in adolescence. Associations are notably stronger among girls than boys., Conclusions: The strong and lasting associations of early childhood exposure to IPV with adolescents' sleep health, particularly among girls, has important consequences for addressing adolescent health disparities., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Emerging evidence supports the protective effects of higher childhood socioeconomic status (cSES) on cognition over the life course. However, less understood is if higher cSES confers benefits equally across intersecting social positions. Guided by a situational intersectionality perspective and the theory of Minority Diminished Returns (MDR), this study examined the extent to which associations between cSES and cognition in young adulthood are jointly moderated by racialized identity and region of childhood residence., Methods: Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), we used multilevel modeling to test associations between cSES and delayed recall and working memory 14 years later when participants were ages 25-34. Further, we examined the influence of racialized identity and region of childhood residence on these associations., Results: Higher cSES was associated with higher delayed recall and working memory scores across social positions. However, the strength of the association between higher cSES and working memory differed across racialized subgroups and region of childhood residence. We found a statistically significant three-way interaction between cSES, race and region of childhood residence. Of particular important, a small yet statistically robust association was found in all groups, but was especially strong among White Southerners and especially weak among Black participants from the South., Conclusions: This study contributes to a growing body of research indicating that the protective effects of higher cSES on cognition are not universal across subgroups of intersecting social positions, consistent with the theory of MDR. These findings provide evidence for the importance of considering the role of systemic racism across geographic contexts as part of initiatives to promote equity in life course cognitive aging and brain health., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Black students' school experiences are important for their mental health. The current study explored the link between school connectedness in middle childhood and depressive symptoms and aggressive behaviors among Black adolescents. Participants were Black youth (M age  = 9.36 years, SD = 0.38 at time 1), (M age  = 15.59 years, SD = 0.60 at time 2), and 50.2% female. The findings demonstrated a significant association between school connectedness assessed at age nine and reduced depressive symptoms and aggressive behaviors reported at age fifteen. Notably, gender moderated the relationship between school connectedness and depressive symptoms, with a stronger association found for girls. These results offer valuable insights into how early perceptions of school connectedness impact the mental health of Black adolescents as they grow older. These findings also indicate that girls might be more attuned to the social and emotional aspects of their schools. These findings validate the significance of a sense of connection to school with mental health outcomes among Black adolescents and indicate the possibility of school connectedness interventions to enhance their overall well-being., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Activities of daily living (ADL) limitations and cognitive impairment have been identified as key risk factors for depression among older adults. However, little has been done to compare the strength of these relationships. The current study describes the prevalence and compares the independent and joint associations of ADL and cognitive limitations with depression among older adults in the US. Analyses are based on a sample of 30,923 observations on 13,545 unique respondents from three waves (2012, 2014, and 2016) of the Health and Retirement Study. Linear and logistic multivariate regression models with random and individual fixed effects were estimated. Findings indicate that both cognitive and ADL limitations are associated with depression; however, across all models, ADL limitations have a much stronger association. Further, in our most rigorous models, having both limitations is not significantly different from having just ADL, and not cognitive, limitations.

Background and Objective: Studies have confirmed that income inequality is associated with compromised health and well-being. However, much less is known about the effects of county-level income inequality on risk of perpetrating child maltreatment, particularly for distinct types of child maltreatment. By utilizing recent national data over 10 years (2009-2018), our study explored the associations of county-level income inequality (i.e., Gini index and income quantile ratios) with child maltreatment rates, including both overall and specific types of maltreatment rates (i.e., physical, psychological, and sexual abuse and neglect) in the US., Participants and Setting: We utilized data from approximately 902 US counties by linking the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System with the American Community Survey., Methods: Ordinary Least Squares regression models were estimated to examine the relationship between county-level income inequality and child maltreatment rates and the moderating role of poverty rates., Results: Higher scores on county-level Gini index were significantly associated with higher overall child maltreatment rates and neglect, after controlling for county-level characteristics. Income quantile ratios were significantly associated with overall child maltreatment, physical abuse, and neglect. We also found significant interaction effects between income inequality and poverty rates in the associations with physical and psychological abuse rates, suggesting that the effects of inequality were exacerbated by county-level poverty., Conclusions: Given the tremendous increases in inequality in the US over recent decades, this research sheds light on the mechanisms through which inequality impacts parents' caregiving abilities in highly unequal counties., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Extensive research has documented the importance of neighborhood contextual factors in shaping maltreatment risk. Evidence is limited about the role of economic inequality within neighborhoods, which has increased substantially in the US over the past decade., Objective: This study examines the relationship between neighborhood-level inequality and child maltreatment risk, paying particular attention to the cross-level interactions between neighborhood inequality and family income., Participants and Setting: A population-based cohort of 4,898 children born in large US cities was sampled in 1998-2000 and followed up at ages 1, 3, 5, and 9., Method: A set of regression models was analyzed to estimate the associations of family income, neighborhood inequality (operationalized as terciles of the Gini coefficient), and the interaction of these with child maltreatment risk, operationalized as physical abuse, psychological abuse, neglect, CPS involvement, and spanking., Results: Low-income was associated with higher risks of neglect and CPS involvement, but not physical abuse, psychological abuse, or spanking. Among low-income families, higher neighborhood inequality was associated with lower likelihood of spanking. Among higher-income families, higher neighborhood inequality levels were associated with higher risks of physical abuse, yet lower risks of psychological abuse., Conclusion: Our findings align with previous studies showing mixed results on the relationship between neighborhood inequality and health outcomes. Those results may suggest that the effect of low-income itself is more important than the neighborhood context. Further research is needed to identify the determinants of inequality at the neighborhood level and the underlying mechanisms of its association with child maltreatment risks., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To examine associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and teen behavior outcomes and whether the presence of disability moderates this relationship., Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of population-based data from the Fragile Families & Child Wellbeing Study urban birth cohort. Disability status included physical/developmental/behavioral conditions (ages 1-5) using mother-reported child health conditions and cognitive disability (age 9), measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), an assessment of receptive vocabulary. We investigated whether either disability type moderates the relationship between ACEs occurring between ages 5 to 9 and behavior outcomes at age 15, specifically, standardized scales of caregiver-reported externalizing and youth-reported internalizing and delinquent behaviors. Associations were examined using multivariate linear regression models, including interaction effects of ACEs with low PPVT score and disability conditions to assess for potential moderation., Results: Of the 3038 children included, 15% had a cognitive disability and 24% had a disabling health condition. The presence of 2 or more ACEs (compared to none) is associated with more externalizing (by 0.34 standard deviations [SD]), internalizing (0.18 SD), and delinquent (0.18 SD) behaviors. Cognitive disability exacerbates this association for externalizing behaviors and delinquent behaviors while other disabling health conditions do not., Conclusions: ACEs were associated with more behavior problems among urban youth. Cognitive disability, but not other disabling health conditions, compounded this association for externalizing and delinquent behaviors, indicating these children may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of trauma and adversity. Targeted assessment and resources for youth with cognitive disability are critical., (Copyright © 2021 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Using a longitudinal population-based sample ( n = 4,234), this study explored the association of intimate partner violence (IPV) with material hardship. We found that women who experienced IPV are substantially more likely to experience material hardship, even after controlling for a comprehensive set of static and time-varying characteristics, including material hardship at the prior wave and individual fixed effects. Associations were strongest for experiences of physical abuse (the least prevalent type of IPV) and controlling abuse (the most prevalent type of IPV) but were weaker for emotional abuse. Results suggest that IPV increases the probability of material hardship by 10-25%.