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PurposeThe purpose of the current study, The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Health in Early and Adult Life (SHINE), was to build on the landmark Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD), a longitudinal birth cohort initiated in 1991, by conducting a health-focused follow-up of the now adult participants. This effort has produced an invaluable resource for the pursuit of life course research examining links between early life risk and resilience factors and adulthood health and disease risk.ParticipantsOf the 927 NICHD SECCYD participants available for recruitment in the current study, 705 (76.1%) participated in the study. Participants were between 26 and 31 years and living in diverse geographic locations throughout the USA.Findings to dateIn descriptive analyses, the sample exhibited risk on health status indicators, especially related to obesity, hypertension and diabetes. Of particular concern, the prevalence of hypertension (29.4%) and diabetes (25.8%) exceeded national estimates in similar-age individuals. Health behaviour indicators generally tracked with the parameters of poor health status, showing a pattern of poor diet, low activity and disrupted sleep. The juxtaposition of the sample's relatively young age (mean=28.6 years) and high educational status (55.6% college educated or greater) with its poor health status is noteworthy, suggesting a dissociation between health and factors that are typically health protective. This is consistent with observed population health trends, which show a worsening of cardiometabolic health status in younger generations of Americans.Future plansThe current study, SHINE, lays the groundwork for future analyses in which the uniquely robust measures collected as a part of the original NICHD SECCYD will be leveraged to pinpoint specific early life risk and resilience factors as well as the correlates and potential mechanisms accounting for variability in health and disease risk indicators in young adulthood.

ContextPrepubertal obesity is a well-established predictor of earlier pubertal onset, which is itself a risk factor for poor health and well-being. Identifying specific patterns of weight gain in early life may help explain differential risk for earlier pubertal onset.ObjectiveThe objective of the study was to examine patterns of weight gain across infancy and early childhood in relation to pubertal onset outcomes.Design setting and participantsParticipants were 426 girls in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, a longitudinal birth cohort of children and their families followed between birth and adolescence.Main outcome measuresThree pubertal onset outcomes were examined, including age at menarche and ages at Tanner stage II for dimensions of breast and pubic hair development.ResultsIn infancy (birth to 15 months), greater percent weight gain and higher birthweight predicted earlier pubertal onset for all outcomes (Ps < 0.05). In early childhood (24 months to grade 1), body mass index (BMI) trajectories reflecting BMI values that were persistently high or changed from low to high over time (vs BMI values that were stable at median or low levels), predicted younger ages at menarche and the onset of breast (Ps < 0.05), but not pubic hair (Ps > 0.05), development. All associations were independent of breastfeeding, maternal menarcheal age, and race/ethnicity.ConclusionsDistinct patterns of early life weight gain predict differential risk for earlier onset puberty. Focusing on these patterns for earlier and more targeted intervention may help lessen life course linkages between prepubertal obesity, accelerated pubertal development, and negative postpubertal outcomes.

ObjectiveTo identify early life adversity (ELA) risk factors for earlier pubertal timing, itself a risk factor for poor cardiometabolic health, and to determine whether such ELA-related risk may be mediated by pre-pubertal body mass index (BMI).MethodsSubjects included 426 female participants in a prospective birth cohort study, the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Survival analysis models were fit to examine ELA exposures, representing childhood socioeconomic status (SES), maternal sensitivity, mother-child attachment, and negative life events, along with child health indicators and covariates, in relation to pubertal timing outcomes, including age at menarche and ages at Tanner stage II for breast and pubic hair development.ResultsHigher childhood SES emerged as an independent predictor of older age at menarche, showing each one standard deviation increase in childhood SES corresponded to a 1.3% increase in age at menarche (factor change = 1.013; 1.003-1.022; p < .01), but did not predict breast or pubic hair development (ps > .05). In mediation analyses, indirect (mediated) effects of mother-child attachment on the pubertal timing outcomes, via pre-pubertal BMI, were all statistically significant (ps < .05).ConclusionsHigher childhood SES predicted directly, and secure (vs. insecure) mother-child attachment predicted indirectly (via pre-pubertal BMI), later pubertal timing, suggesting these factors may protect girls from earlier pubertal development. By extension, clinical implications are that intervention strategies designed to lessen ELA- and pre-pubertal obesity-related risk may be effective in remediating life course pathways linking ELA, accelerated pubertal development, and cardiometabolic risk.

Our overall objectives are to make data linkage a more feasible and frequently used approach by easing the burden on data controllers posed by data assembly for complex linkage projects. By moving towards data linkage as a more expected and standard approach, policy relevant research into a variety of outcomes can be conducted. The approach to this has been to create a new secure data linkage infrastructure, and to formulate research projects which will use the linked research data delivered by the infrastructure. A suite of information governance documents have also been developed for the data to be held in the secure infrastructure. Holding the data in a de-identified format on behalf of the data controller in a dedicated area for linkage projects means that the data controller only needs to be involved in the approvals process for the project, and a team of experts who operate the infrastructure can assemble the data. The results have been that there are several datasets pertaining to Education in Scotland being held within the infrastructure, with more in the pipeline. The data is held in such a way that there are no personal identifiers present in the same location as the variables which are typically of research interest; the stored data is split into three parts and shared across two partner organisations. This separation of functions approach assures data controllers and the public that the data poses extremely minimal privacy risk while in storage, but can be assembled into products which are very useful for approved research in the public interest. In conclusion, the new methodology for data linkage developed by this approach is hoped to save time, money and lives. A dedicated secure environment for data linkage will ensure the security and privacy of stored data while providing capacity for complex, rich research data to be brought together.

Introduction Evidence from previous pandemics, and the current COVID-19 pandemic, has found that risk of infection/severity of disease is disproportionately higher for ethnic minority groups, and those in lower socioeconomic positions. It is imperative that interventions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are targeted towards high-risk populations. We will investigate the associations between social characteristics (such as ethnicity, occupation and socioeconomic position) and COVID-19 outcomes and the extent to which characteristics/risk factors might explain observed relationships in Scotland.The primary objective of this study is to describe the epidemiology of COVID-19 by social factors. Secondary objectives are to (1) examine receipt of treatment and prevention of COVID-19 by social factors; (2) quantify ethnic/social differences in adverse COVID-19 outcomes; (3) explore potential mediators of relationships between social factors and SARS-CoV-2 infection/COVID-19 prognosis; (4) examine whether occupational COVID-19 differences differ by other social factors and (5) assess quality of ethnicity coding within National Health Service datasets.Methods and analysis We will use a national cohort comprising the adult population of Scotland who completed the 2011 Census and were living in Scotland on 31 March 2020 (~4.3 million people). Census data will be linked to the Early Assessment of Vaccine and Anti-Viral Effectiveness II cohort consisting of primary/secondary care, laboratory data and death records. Sensitivity/specificity and positive/negative predictive values will be used to assess coding quality of ethnicity. Descriptive statistics will be used to examine differences in treatment and prevention of COVID-19. Poisson/Cox regression analyses and mediation techniques will examine ethnic and social differences, and drivers of inequalities in COVID-19. Effect modification (on additive and multiplicative scales) between key variables (such as ethnicity and occupation) will be assessed.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval was obtained from the National Research Ethics Committee, South East Scotland 02. We will present findings of this study at international conferences, in peer-reviewed journals and to policy-makers.

Influenza viruses are constantly evolving and are therefore monitored worldwide in the hope to reduce the burden of disease by annual updates to vaccine recommendations. We conducted genomic sequencing of 110 influenza A and 30 influenza B viruses from specimens collected between October 2023 and February 2024 in Arizona, USA. We identified mutations in the hemagglutinin (HA) antigenic sites as well as the neuraminidase (NA) gene in our samples. We also found no unique HA and NA mutations in vaccinated yet influenza-infected individuals. Real-time genomic sequencing surveillance is important to ensure influenza vaccine effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic in the United States have been exacerbated by pre‐existing inequities in resources and opportunities, leaving the most vulnerable to face a multitude of hardships. The goal of the current study was to characterise COVID‐19–related stressful life events in specific life domains and to identify the sociodemographic characteristics of individuals who are more likely to experience such events. Participants (n = 372, 57% female) in a follow‐up study of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development completed the Epidemic‐Pandemic Impacts Inventory (June–August 2020) to assess COVID‐19–related stressors. Sociodemographic factors (gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status and wealth) were examined simultaneously as predictors of the number of stressful life events in separate categories of work/finances, home life, social activity, health and healthcare, adjusted for covariates (household size, community COVID‐19 transmission risk). In negative binomial regression analyses, being female (vs. male) predicted a 31%, 64%, 13% and 94% increase in the number of stressful life events in domains of work/finances, home life, social activity and healthcare, respectively, whereas each one standard deviation increase in wealth predicted a 17%, 16% and 21% reduction in the number of stressful life events in domains of work/finances, COVID‐19 infection and healthcare, respectively. Findings highlight the pronounced and far‐reaching impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on women as well as the unique role wealth may play in lessening such impacts. This new knowledge may be leveraged to develop intervention and policy‐related strategies to remediate impacts of COVID‐19–related stressors on those most vulnerable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell phone usage increases accidents by 43 percent according to the American Drivers Association (2008). This experimental study conducted on forty, conveniently selected, African-American students, focused on determining the influence [...]