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Objective: The aim of the study was to explore depressive, anxiety, and mental-health related somatic symptoms among young breast-cancer survivors by considering symptoms before and after cancer onset. Materials and Methods: The study sample included females from the prospective Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. Symptoms were assessed with the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 at the age of 31 and 46 years. We studied both subscales of depressive, anxiety, and somatic symptoms and single symptoms in secondary analyses. Results: Thirty-one cases and 3.077 controls were included. Females diagnosed with breast cancer 3-8 years before the 46-year follow-up had increased depressive (p = 0.005) and somatic symptoms (p = 0.028) at the 46-year follow-up compared with the 31-year follow-up. This was not observed among those diagnosed <3 or >8 years before or among controls. Females diagnosed with breast cancer reported more lack of strength or energy compared with controls at the 46-year follow-up (p = 0.047). Among females who did not report feeling that the future is hopeless at the 31-year follow-up, significantly more females diagnosed with breast cancer reported this feeling at the 46-year follow-up compared with controls (p = 0.006). Conclusion: Depressive and somatic symptoms increased significantly among young females at 3-8 years after breast-cancer diagnosis compared with the time before the cancer diagnosis. Psychosocial measures of support for breast-cancer survivors should be provided over the long-term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of ADHD and ODD symptoms in adolescence with occupational outcomes and incomes in adulthood within the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (NFBC1986). Method: ADHD symptoms were evaluated at ages 15 to 16 years using the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD symptoms and Normal Behaviors (SWAN) scale. ODD symptoms were assessed using a 7-point scale, like the SWAN assessment. Results: Symptoms of ADHD and ADHD + ODD were associated with elevated rates of unemployment, increased sick days, and lower annual incomes compared to controls for both sexes. Symptoms of ODD were associated with higher unemployment and more sick days for males, although these associations did not reach statistical significance in their association with annual incomes. Conclusion: Symptoms of ADHD were associated with adverse occupational outcomes and lower incomes. Furthermore, symptoms of ODD were associated with occupational outcomes but not with incomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aimsPrenatal exposure to maternal cigarette smoking (PEMCS) is associated with a higher probability of substance use in adolescence. We explore if externalizing behavior mediates this relationship, while controlling for a number of potential covariates of this mediation process.MethodsWe used data obtained in two geographically distinct community samples of adolescents. The first (cross-sectional) sample consisted of 996 adolescents (12-18 years of age) recruited from the Saguenay Youth Study (SYS) in Canada (47% with PEMCS). The second (longitudinal) sample consisted of 1141 adolescents (49% with PEMCS) from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort (NFBC1986). In both samples, externalizing behavior and substance use were assessed during adolescence. In the NFBC1986 cohort, externalizing behavior was also assessed in childhood.ResultsIn both populations, PEMCS is associated with a higher likelihood of adolescent drug experimentation. In the NFBC1986 cohort, exposed (versus non-exposed) adolescents experiment with an extra 1.27 [B = 0.24, 95% confidence intervals (CI) = 0.15, 0.33 P

We studied the association between participation in the longitudinal follow-up study and cardiometabolic disorders in two longitudinal studies which started prospectively in the antenatal period: the Northern Finland Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966) and the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (NFBC1986). Both birth cohorts have been followed up since birth with multiple follow-ups including questionnaires, and clinical examinations. The NFBC studies were compared to comparison cohorts of individuals who were born in the same area as the study cohorts, but in different years. The data for the comparison cohort were obtained from registers. The cumulative incidence rates of hospital-treated cardiometabolic disorders were calculated for study and comparison cohorts covering the age of 7–50 years in NFBC1966 and the age of 0–29 years in NFBC1986. Cardiometabolic-related causes of death were analysed in NFBC1966 and the comparison cohort from the age of 0–50 years. The analysed cardiometabolic disorders were diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, hyperlipidaemia, obesity, hypertension, and cerebrovascular disorders. The risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was calculated by sex. In NFBC1966, no differences in cumulative incidences of cardiometabolic disorders or cardiometabolic-related deaths compared to the comparison cohort were found. Male members of NFBC1986 had decreased risk of obesity (RR: 0.45, 95% CI: 0.27–0.75) and any cardiometabolic disorders (RR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.59–0.95) compared to the comparison cohort. The results suggest that participation in the NFBC1986 may have a weak positive health effect among men. Agreement to follow-up studies focusing on diet, substance use, and physical activity, may slightly decrease the incident risk of cardiometabolic disorders in the study population. Even mild interventions, such as follow-up studies in the prospective follow-up studies, might affect participants' behaviour and consequently the incidence of cardiometabolic disorders The fact that follow-up itself might affect the study population in terms of risk factors, has to be taken into account when estimating the representativeness of the followed population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several psychological symptoms in adolescence associate with later development of psychosis. However, it is unclear which symptoms specifically predict psychotic disorders rather than psychiatric disorders in general. We conducted a prospective study comparing how specific adolescent psychotic‐like symptoms, predicted psychotic and non‐psychotic hospital‐treated psychiatric disorders in the population‐based Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (NFBC1986). Methods: At age 15–16 years, 6632 members of the NFBC1986 completed the PROD‐screen questionnaire. New hospital‐treated mental disorders of the NFBC1986 participants were detected between age 17 and 30 years from the Finnish Care Register for Health Care. Multiple covariates were used in the analysis. Results: During the follow‐up, 1.1% of the participants developed a psychotic and 3.2% a non‐psychotic psychiatric disorder. Three symptoms were specifically associated with onset of psychosis compared to non‐psychotic psychiatric disorders: 'Difficulty in controlling one's speech, behaviour or facial expression while communicating' (adjusted OR 4.00; 95% CI 1.66–9.92), 'Difficulties in understanding written text or heard speech' (OR 2.25; 1.12–4.51), and 'Difficulty or uncertainty in making contact with other people' (OR 2.20; 1.03–4.67). Of these, the first one remained statistically significant after Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first general‐population‐based prospective study exploring psychiatric symptoms predicting the onset of hospital‐treated first‐episode psychosis in comparison to non‐psychotic disorders. We found three symptoms related with difficulties in social interaction which predicted onset of psychosis. This is a novel finding and should be replicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Rates of parental separation have increased dramatically in recent decades. We evaluated the association of individuals' childhood family structure with their somatic health over 46 years of follow-up. Methods: Data were drawn from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort, an ongoing project in which 12,058 participants born in 1966 have been followed from their 24th gestational week. Based on information supplied at age 14 years, family structure was categorised as 'single-parent family' and 'two-parent family'. The anthropometric information, data from blood samples and medical history were collected from postal questionnaires and clinical examinations routinely performed at the ages of 31 and 46 years. Results: The study population comprised a total of 10,895 individuals; 85% (n =9253) were offspring of two-parent families and 15% (n =1642) of single-parent families. Type 2 diabetes (P =0.032) or prediabetes (P =0.007), psychoactive drug problems (P <0.001) and sexually transmitted diseases (P <0.001) were more common in the single-parent family group than in the participants from two-parent families. In addition, among men back diseases (P =0.002), and among women hypertension (P =0.003) and ovary infection (P =0.024) were more frequent in individuals affected by parental death than in those from two-parent families. Conclusions : Our results indicate the association of childhood family structure with offspring morbidity during 46 years' follow-up. The lifetime morbidity was observed to be higher among offspring from a single-parent family compared to two-parent family offspring. Public and scientific concern about the consequences of parental separation on the offspring' health exist, therefore support from healthcare professionals and society is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]