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Background: Racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities persist in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which are partly attributed to minoritized women being trauma-exposed, while also contending with harmful contextual stressors. However, few have used analytic strategies that capture the interplay of these experiences and their relation to PTSD. The current study used a person-centered statistical approach to examine heterogeneity in trauma and contextual stress exposure, and their associations with PTSD and underlying symptom dimensions, in a diverse sample of low-income postpartum women. Methods: Using a community-based sample of Black, Hispanic/Latina, and White postpartum women recruited from five U.S. regions (n = 1577), a latent class analysis generated profiles of past-year exposure to traumatic events and contextual stress at one month postpartum. Regression analyses then examined associations between class membership and PTSD symptom severity at six months postpartum as a function of race/ethnicity. Results: A four-class solution best fit the data, yielding High Contextual Stress, Injury/Illness, Violence Exposure, and Low Trauma/Contextual Stress classes. Compared to the Low Trauma/Contextual Stress class, membership in any of the other classes was associated with greater symptom severity across nearly all PTSD symptom dimensions (all ps < 0.05). Additionally, constellations of exposures were differentially linked to total PTSD symptom severity, reexperiencing, and numbing PTSD symptoms across racial/ethnic groups (ps < 0.05). Conclusions: A person-centered approach to trauma and contextual stress exposure can capture heterogeneity of experiences in diverse, low-income women. Moreover, racially/ethnically patterned links between traumatic or stressful exposures and PTSD symptom dimensions have implications for screening and intervention in the perinatal period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public programs have been charged with implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) to improve outcomes for children with autism. However, research indicates that scale-up of EBPs poses challenges. This study identifies perceived variables linked to effective statewide scale-up of EBPs in special education by exploring implementation climate and leadership across special education organization types (e.g., schools, districts, and regional consortiums). A simultaneous QUAL + QUAN mixed methods design was employed with the primary function of convergence and triangulation. Data were drawn from focus groups with 30 special educators and a statewide survey completed by 656 school personnel in one U.S. state. In general, perceptions of implementation climate and leadership are weak in special education organizations, with strengths at regional levels focused on special education and increased challenges at the school and district levels. Implications for practice and future research are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prenatal health disparities exist for African Americans and low socioeconomic status (SES) individuals when compared to non-Hispanic Whites and people of higher SES, particularly in cardio-metabolic diseases. Furthermore, having had a pregnancy-specific cardio-metabolic disease, e.g. preeclampsia, increases risk for future cardio-metabolic disease. Although these factors (race, SES and pregnancy cardio-metabolic disease) are interrelated, studies have rarely considered their combined effect on postpartum cardio-metabolic risk. The purpose of this study was to assess whether SES, race/ethnicity, and prenatal cardio-metabolic disease interact in the prediction of postpartum cardio-metabolic risk. Methods: A sample of 1,753 low-income women of African American, Latina, non-Hispanic White race/ethnicity was recruited after a birth in 5 US sites. Household income was used to categorize poverty status as Poor (< Federal Poverty Level; FPL), near poor (100–200% FPL), or low/middle income (> 200% FPL). Three prenatal cardio-metabolic disease diagnoses (preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes) were identified from medical records. Four biomarkers (mean arterial pressure, glycosylated haemoglobin, total cholesterol:HDL ratio, and waist-hip ratio) were collected at 6 and 12 months postpartum, and combined into an average postpartum cardio-metabolic risk index. Maternal age, pre-pregnancy body mass index, parity, health behaviors and employment status were covariates. Results: Analyses revealed interactions of race/ethnicity, poverty status, and prenatal cardio-metabolic diseases in the prediction of postpartum cardio-metabolic risk. African American women had higher postpartum cardio-metabolic risk, which was exacerbated following a prenatal cardio-metabolic disease. Low/middle income African American women had higher cardio-metabolic risk compared to poor African American, and all Latina and White women. Conclusions: African American women, and especially those who experienced pregnancy complications, emerged as vulnerable, and greater household income did not appear to confer protection against worse postpartum cardio-metabolic risk for this group. These results highlight the complex interplay between socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity with respect to understanding health disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early paternal involvement in infant care is beneficial to child and maternal health, and possibly for paternal mental health. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between fathers' involvement in early infant parenting and their depressive symptoms during the infant's first year in a sample of 881 low-income Black, Hispanic, and White fathers recruited from five sites in the United States (urban, mixed urban/suburban, rural). Home interviews at 1 month after birth assessed three concepts based on prior research and community input: (1) time spent with the infant, (2) parenting self-efficacy, (3) material support for the baby. Paternal depressive symptoms at 1, 6, and 12 months after the birth of a child were assessed with the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale. Generalized estimating equations tested whether the three indicators of father involvement at 1 month after birth predicted lower subsequent paternal depressive symptoms controlling for social and demographic variables. For fathers, greater time spent with the infant, parenting self-efficacy, and material support were all significantly associated with lower paternal depressive symptoms during the first year. When risk of depression (scores > 9) was examined, only parenting self-efficacy among fathers was associated with higher likelihood of clinical depression. Findings have implications for future research on mechanisms linking paternal involvement and paternal mental health, and for possible paid paternal leave policies in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black women and Latinas have more symptoms of depression and anxiety during pregnancy than do their non‐Latina White counterparts. Although effective interventions targeting internalizing disorders in pregnancy are available, they are primarily tested with White women. This article reviews randomized controlled trials and non‐randomized studies to better understand the effectiveness of psychological interventions for anxiety and depression during pregnancy in Latinas and Black women. Additionally, this review summarizes important characteristics of interventions such as intervention format, treatment modality, and the use of cultural adaptations. Literature searches of relevant research citation databases produced 68 studies; 13 of which were included in the final review. Most studies were excluded because their samples were not majority Latina or Black women or because they did not test an intervention. Of the included studies, three interventions outperformed a control group condition and showed statistically significant reductions in depressive symptoms. An additional two studies showed reductions in depressive symptoms from pretreatment to post‐treatment using non‐controlled designs. The remaining eight studies (seven randomized and one non‐randomized) did not show significant intervention effects. Cognitive behavioral therapy was the modality with most evidence for reducing depressive symptoms in pregnant Black and Latina women. No intervention was found to reduce anxiety symptoms, although only two of the 13 measured anxiety as an outcome. Five studies made cultural adaptations to their treatment protocols. Future studies should strive to better understand the importance of cultural modifications to improve engagement and clinical outcomes with pregnant women receiving treatment for anxiety and depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intimate partner relationship quality during the child-bearing years has implications for maternal health. The purpose of this study was to test whether partner satisfaction, partner conflict, and their interaction predicted maternal cardio-metabolic health at 12-months postpartum. Women were recruited in 5 U.S. sites. Partner conflict and satisfaction were measured at 6-months postpartum, and cardio-metabolic indicators (blood pressure, waist-hip ratio, glycosylated hemoglobin, total cholesterol:HDL ratio) were assessed at 6- and 12-months. Cardio-metabolic indices were scored continuously (CM risk) and using clinical risk cutoffs (CM scores). A significant conflict-by-satisfaction interaction emerged for the CM risk, b(SE) = .043 (.016), p = .006, and CM scores, b(SE)= .089 (.028), p = .002, such that when partner satisfaction was low, low partner conflict was associated with poorer postpartum cardio-metabolic health. This is the first study to examine close relationships and cardio-metabolic health during the child-bearing years, an issue warranting further attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health disparities are large and persistent gaps in the rates of disease and death between racial/ethnic and socioeconomic status subgroups in the population. Stress is a major pathway hypothesized to explain such disparities. The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development formed a community/research collaborative—the Community Child Health Network—to investigate disparities in maternal and child health in five high-risk communities. Using community participation methods, we enrolled a large cohort of African American/Black, Latino/Hispanic, and non-Hispanic/White mothers and fathers of newborns at the time of birth and followed them over 2 years. A majority had household incomes near or below the federal poverty level. Home interviews yielded detailed information regarding multiple types of stress such as major life events and many forms of chronic stress including racism. Several forms of stress varied markedly by racial/ethnic group and income, with decreasing stress as income increased among Caucasians but not among African Americans; other forms of stress varied by race/ethnicity or poverty alone. We conclude that greater sophistication in studying the many forms of stress and community partnership is necessary to uncover the mechanisms underlying health disparities in poor and ethnic-minority families and to implement community health interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Land cover change caused by humans represents a major threat to the long term viability of natural areas. It is important to accurately classify and map existing natural areas so that this threat can be fully assessed within a given landscape. Availability of free orthorectified Landsat images through the U.S. Geological Survey provides a potentially valuable tool to evaluate human impacts to natural landscapes. We performed a supervised classification of multi-seasonal Landsat images to test the limits of using these images for mapping mixed landscapes at regional to local scales and to assess land cover changes within the Oak Openings region of Northwestern Ohio. Overall accuracy of our 15-class land cover map was 60% and 69% using traditional and fuzzy set analysis respectively. Overall map accuracy improved to 72% and 79% for traditional and fuzzy set analysis respectively using a more broadly defined 7-class land cover map. Accuracy of individual classes varied considerably, although classes made up of larger patches typically achieved greater accuracy. Human-dominated land cover classes currently occupy 73% of the Oak Openings region while < 3% of the region remains covered by native savannas, prairies, and barrens. Currently 10% of the region is permanently protected, including nearly all remnant savannas and wet prairies > 1 ha. Our findings highlight the utility of using Landsat images to evaluate mixed-use landscapes at regional scales but demonstrate the limitations of using these images at local scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal psychosocial stress is an important risk factor for preterm birth, but support interventions have largely been unsuccessful. The objective of this study is to assess how support during pregnancy influences preterm birth risk and possibly ameliorates the effects of chronic stress, life event stress, or pregnancy anxiety in pregnant women. We examined 1,027 singleton preterm births and 1,282 full-term normal weight controls from a population-based retrospective case–control study of Los Angeles County, California women giving birth in 2003, a mostly Latina population (both US-born and immigrant). We used logistic regression to assess whether support from the baby’s father during pregnancy influences birth outcomes and effects of chronic stress, pregnancy anxiety, and life event stress. Adjusted odds of preterm birth decreased with better support (OR 0.73 [95%CI 0.52, 1.01]). Chronic stress (OR 1.46 [95%CI 1.11, 1.92]), low confidence of a normal birth (OR 1.57 [95% CI 1.17, 2.12]), and fearing for the baby’s health (OR 1.67 [95%CI 1.30, 2.14]) increased preterm birth risk, but life events showed no association. Our data also suggested that paternal support may modify the effect of chronic stress on the risk of preterm birth, such that among mothers lacking support, those with moderate-to-high stress were at increased odds of delivering preterm (OR 2.15 [95%CI 0.92, 5.03]), but women with greater support had no increased risk with moderate-to-high chronic stress (OR 1.13 [95%CI 0.94, 1.35]). Paternal support may moderate the effects of chronic stress on the risk of preterm delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite well-documented ethnic and socio-economic disparities, our understanding of child, maternal and family health is based disproportionately on White middle-class populations in the United States. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development funded the Community Child Health Network (CCHN) in 2004, a partnership of five academic institutions and community organizations, to collaborate in the design and conduct of a study to foster new understandings of these disparities. Reported here are findings from a pilot study conducted at one site to inform CCHN regarding community views of stress, coping resources, family and health. Mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative) interviews were conducted with 54 adult participants recruited from public healthcare clinics to obtain both their self-reports and their reports of their communities' perspectives. Findings include the pervasiveness of experiences of racism and gender differences in support seeking and coping behavior. There was little recognition of some common health conditions, such as low birth weight and preterm birth, which disproportionately affect poor and minority communities. Many indicators of strength and resilience in individuals, families, and the communities at large emerged in these interviews. Communities were described as valuing achievement and upward mobility. Participants also indicated an intuitive understanding of effective parenting and of the roles of nature (genetics) and nurture (environment and behavior) in determining child health. The results inform intervention and stress research in underrepresented communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preterm birth (PTB) is of epidemic proportions in the United States, particularly among African Americans. Its consequences range from risk of infant mortality to lifelong disease and disability. Stress is a contributor to preterm labor and delivery. This article summarizes research on stress as a risk factor for PTB. As is evident in considering the complex mechanisms, psychological science has much to contribute to addressing this important health issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the association of familialism, a cultural value that emphasizes close family relationships, with social support, stress, pregnancy anxiety, and infant birth weight. Foreign-born Latina (n = 31), U.S.-born Latina (n = 68), and European American (n = 166) women living in the United States participated in a prospective study of pregnancy in which they completed measures of familialism, social support, stress, and pregnancy anxiety during their second trimester. As expected, Latinas scored higher on familialism than European Americans. Familialism was positively correlated with social support and negatively correlated with stress and pregnancy anxiety in the overall sample. As predicted, however, the associations of familialism with social support and stress were significantly stronger among Latinas than European Americans. Moreover, higher social support was associated with higher infant birth weight among foreign-born Latinas only. Implications of cultural values for relationships and health are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the public land acquisition and ecological restoration at the Oak Openings region in Northwest Ohio. According to the author, a central principle of conservation biology is maintaining the areas of healthy habitat for sustaining species and ecosystem diversity. With the support of area residents, Metroparks placed a $23 million land acquisition levy on the November 2002 Lucas County ballot. Part of the acquired land has already received ecological restoration treatments while additional treatment areas are also being proposed.

Examines received social support in gay men at risk of HIV and AIDS. Distinctions between types of social support; Administration of 24-item inventory reflecting the distinctions; Corroboration of the assumption that social support is a highly differentiated construct; Discussion of implications for the study of support in men at risk.

We identified in-frame fusion transcripts of KIF5B (the kinesin family 5B gene) and the RET oncogene, which are present in 1-2% of lung adenocarcinomas (LADCs) from people from Japan and the United States, using whole-transcriptome sequencing. The KIF5B-RET fusion leads to aberrant activation of RET kinase and is considered to be a new driver mutation of LADC because it segregates from mutations or fusions in EGFR, KRAS, HER2 and ALK, and a RET tyrosine kinase inhibitor, vandetanib, suppresses the fusion-induced anchorage-independent growth activity of NIH3T3 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People of color in the United States disproportionately bear the burden of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Pregnant women of color are at particular risk, as perinatal PTSD is associated with adverse maternal and child health. However, PTSD is a heterogeneous disorder comprising discrete symptom dimensions. Adopting a dimensional understanding of PTSD could aid in identifying women at-risk for the consequences of posttraumatic psychopathology and guide treatment selection. In a large sample of Latina, Black, and non-Hispanic White postpartum women in the United States (N = 1663), we examined racial and ethnic differences in the factors of the dysphoric arousal model—a leading dimensional model of PTSD. This model is characterized by five symptom dimensions: re-experiencing, avoidance, numbing, dysphoric arousal, and anxious arousal. Past-year trauma in this sample was common, afflicting nearly 70% of women. In unadjusted models, women of color exhibited more severe PTSD symptom levels across dimensions except for dysphoric arousal, with Black mothers particularly affected. In models adjusted for age, education, and poverty, Black women continued to report elevated symptoms of avoidance and, relative to Latina mothers, re-experiencing symptoms. In contrast, White women reported more dysphoric arousal symptoms relative to women of color. Illuminating differential patterns of symptom dimensions across racial and ethnic groups is critical to PTSD assessment and treatment and may shed light on disparities. Perinatal healthcare may be an important opportunity for posttraumatic symptom screening, and greater understanding of racial and ethnic variation in posttraumatic symptom dimensions can guide targeted intervention selection for perinatal women. • We examined racial and ethnic differences in five PTSD symptom dimensions. • Severity of the dimensions varied across Black, Latina, and White postpartum women. • We observed group differences in both unadjusted and adjusted models. • Black women demonstrated greatest severity of avoidance symptoms. • White women reported the highest level of dysphoric arousal symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We evaluated early life stress (ELS) and maternal inflammation during pregnancy. • Mothers with higher ELS had elevated pro-inflammatory transcription factor activity. • Findings suggest ELS causes maternal gestational pro-inflammatory phenotype. • Inflammation may underlie cross-generational effects of ELS. • This may contribute to poor health following ELS in individuals and their offspring. Early life stress (ELS) is common in the United States and worldwide, and contributes to the development of psychopathology in individuals with these experiences and their offspring. A growing body of research suggests that early life stress may contribute to adverse health partly through modulation of immune (and particularly inflammatory) responses. Therefore, increased maternal prenatal inflammation has been proposed as a mechanistic pathway by which the observed cross-generational effects of parental early life stress on child neuropsychiatric outcomes may be exerted. We examined associations between early life stress and molecular markers of inflammation (specifically pro-inflammatory gene expression and receptor-mediated transcription factor activity) and a commonly studied circulating marker of inflammation (C-Reactive Protein) in a diverse group of women in or near their third trimester of pregnancy, covarying for age, race/ethnicity, BMI, concurrent infection, concurrent perceived stress, and per capita household income. Mothers who experienced higher levels of early life stress had significantly increased pro-inflammatory (NF-κB) and decreased anti-viral (IRF) transcription factor activity. Transcripts that were up or down regulated in mothers with high ELS were preferentially derived from both CD16+ and CD16- monocytes. Early life stress was not associated with elevated CRP. Taken together, these findings provide preliminary evidence for an association between ELS and a pro-inflammatory transcriptional phenotype during pregnancy that may serve as a mechanistic pathway for cross-generational transmission of the effects of early life stress on mental and physical health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilience resources are associated with positive mental and physical health outcomes. However, we know little about protective factors in low-income or racially or ethnically diverse populations of men. This study examined socioeconomic status and racial/ethnic differences in resilience resources among low-income Black, Latino, and White fathers of infants. The Community Child Health Network conducted a cohort study of mothers and fathers in five sites across the U.S. A sample of fathers who identified as Black, Latino/Hispanic, or non-Hispanic White were recruited and interviewed at home on three occasions during the first year of parenting (n = 597). Several resilience resources were assessed: mastery, self-esteem, dispositional optimism, approach-oriented coping style, positive affect, social support, and spirituality. The first five resources were interrelated and scored as a composite. Multivariate analyses adjusted for covariates indicated that Black fathers had higher scores on the resilience resources composite compared to White and Latino fathers. Black fathers were also highest in spirituality, followed by Latino fathers who were higher than White fathers. There were significant interactions between race/ethnicity with income and education in predicting optimism, spirituality, and self-esteem. Higher education was associated with higher scores on the resilience resources composite and spirituality in Black fathers, and higher education was associated with higher self-esteem in Black and Latino fathers. Higher income was associated with higher optimism in White fathers. These results indicate that levels of individual resilience factors are patterned by income, education, and race/ethnicity in low-income fathers, with many possible implications for research and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]