Randomized Controlled Comparison of Two Cognitive Behavioral Therapies for Obese Children: Mother versus Mother-Child Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

OpenAIRE

Munsch, Simone; Roth, Binia; Michael, Tanja; Meyer, Andrea Hans; Biedert, Esther; Roth, Sandra; Speck, Vanessa; Zumsteg, Urs; Isler, Emanuel; Margraf, Jürgen

2008-01-01

BACKGROUND: Parent-child treatments have been shown to be superior to child-focused treatments of childhood obesity. Yet until now, the comparative effectiveness of parent-only and parent-child approaches has been little studied. METHOD: Fifty-six obese children and their families were randomly assigned to a 16-session cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for the parents only or for a combined treatment of parents and children. Children's percent overweight, the body mass index of their mothers...

Comparison of Irrational Believes between Mothers of Severe or Profound Mentally Handicapped Children with Healthy Children Mothers

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Behrouz Hivadi

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Objective: The purpose of present research was the comparison of mothers irrational believes with severe or profound mentally handicapped child and mothers with normal child from 6 to14 years old in Tehran city. Materials & Methods: This study was an analytical, cross – sectional and comparative (case – control research. From mothers with severe or profound mentally handicapped child who had refered to Tehran welfare services centers, 80 mothers were selected by regular randomized sampling from two rehabilitation centers and 80 mothers with normal child were selected for peering with the group of testimonial from schools areas of east, west, south, north and center of Tehran, through multi - stage cluster sampling in for variables of: age of mothers, educational levels, the location of living and the number of children. They answered to questionnaire of irrational believes of jons (IBT. Analysis of data was done by descriptive and infringing statistics methods (Independent T test, U Mann Whitney, Chi-square and fisher. Results: The findings showed that: there are significantly differences in total irrational believes and irrational believes of blame proneness, frustration reactive, anxious over concern, problem avoiding and dependency, perfectionism between two groups of mothers (P<0/05. There was no significant difference in irrational believes between mothers who had mental handicap daughter and mothers who had mental handicap son (P=0/314. There was no significantly difference between two groups of mothers in four believes of demand for approval (P=0/737, high-self expectation (P=0/126, emotional irresponsibility (P=0/727, helplessness for change (p=0/283. Conclusion: Irrational believes and many its sub scales. In mothers of severe or profound mental handicap children were more than mothers with normal child. But believes of demand for approval, high self expectation, emotional irresponsibility, helplessness for change in mothers with

Randomized controlled trial of an online mother-daughter body image and well-being intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Diedrichs, Phillippa C; Atkinson, Melissa J; Garbett, Kirsty M; Williamson, Heidi; Halliwell, Emma; Rumsey, Nichola; Leckie, George; Sibley, Chris G; Barlow, Fiona Kate

2016-09-01

Poor body image is a public health issue. Mothers are a key influence on adolescent girls' body image. This study evaluated an accessible, scalable, low-intensity internet-based intervention delivered to mothers (Dove Self Esteem Project Website for Parents) on mothers' and their adolescent daughters' body image and psychosocial well-being. British mother-daughter dyads (N = 235) participated in a cluster randomized controlled trial (assessment-only control; mothers viewed the website without structured guidance [website-unstructured]; mothers viewed the website via a tailored pathway [website-tailored]). Dyads completed standardized self-report measures of body image, related risk factors, and psychosocial outcomes at baseline, 2 weeks post-exposure, 6-week, and 12-month follow-up. Dyadic models showed that relative to the control, mothers who viewed the website reported significantly higher self-esteem at post-exposure (website-tailored), higher weight esteem at 6-week follow-up (website-tailored), lower negative affect at 12-month follow-up (website-tailored), engaged in more self-reported conversations with their daughters about body image at post-exposure and 6-week follow-up, and were 3-4.66 times more likely to report seeking additional support for body image issues at post-exposure (website-tailored), 6-week, and 12-month (website-tailored) follow-up. Daughters whose mothers viewed the website had higher self-esteem and reduced negative affect at 6-week follow-up. There were no differences on daughters' body image, and risk factors among mothers or daughters, at post-exposure or follow-up. Tailoring website content appeared beneficial. This intervention offers a promising 'first-step' toward improving psychosocial well-being among mothers and daughters. In order to further optimize the intervention, future research to improve body image-related outcomes and to understand mechanisms for change would be beneficial. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all

The Effectiveness of Life Skills Training on the MotherـChild Relationship in Mothers of Children with Hearing Problems

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خلیل کاکاوندی

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of present study was to investigate the effect of life skills training on the mother-child relationship in mothers of children with hearing problems. The study’s procedure was experimental with pretest-posttest design employing a control group. The participants include 36 mothers of children with hearing problems in Shiraz who were selected by an available sampling method and assigned into experimental and control group, randomly; hence, each group included 18 mothers. Both groups had undergone a pre-test. The experimental group received life skills training in 12 sessions while the control group did not. After the intervention period the post-test was administered for both groups. The Roth mother-child relationship strategies scale (1961 was employed to assess the mother-child relationship strategies. The data analyses by ANCOVA showed that there was a significant effect in the mean score of mother-child relationship in mothers of children with hearing problems in the experimental group (p<0/0001 and increased the acceptance of child and reduced the overprotection, the overindulgence and the child rejection among the mothers of experimental group. Therefore, life skills training program construction and employment are highly recommendable to improve mother-child relationship strategies among mothers of children with hearing problems.

47 CFR 1.1602 - Designation for random selection.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Designation for random selection. 1.1602 Section 1.1602 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Random Selection Procedures for Mass Media Services General Procedures § 1.1602 Designation for random selection...

47 CFR 1.1603 - Conduct of random selection.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Conduct of random selection. 1.1603 Section 1.1603 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Random Selection Procedures for Mass Media Services General Procedures § 1.1603 Conduct of random selection. The...

Associations of obesogenic behaviors in mothers and obese children participating in a randomized trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Sonneville, Kendrin R; Rifas-Shiman, Sheryl L; Kleinman, Ken P; Gortmaker, Steven L; Gillman, Matthew W; Taveras, Elsie M

2012-07-01

Relatively little research has assessed the association between obesogenic behaviors in parents and their children. The objective of the present analysis was to examine cross-sectional associations in television (TV)/video viewing, sugar-sweetened beverage intake, and fast food intake between mothers and their preschool aged children. We studied baseline data among 428 participants in High Five for Kids, a randomized controlled trial of behavior change among overweight and obese children of ages 2-6.9 years. The main exposures were whether mothers viewed TV/videos beverages, and ate fast food food beverages (73%), while few mothers viewed food goal (68%), but not the goals for sugar-sweetened beverages (31%) or TV/video viewing (13%). In adjusted models, the odds ratios for a child meeting the goal were 3.2 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7, 6.2) for TV/video viewing, 5.8 (95% CI 2.8, 12.0) for sugar-sweetened beverage intake, and 17.5 (95% CI 9.8, 31.2) for fast food intake if their mothers met the goal for the same behavior. Obesogenic behaviors of mothers and preschool aged children were strongly associated. Our findings lend support to obesity prevention strategies that target parental behavior and the family environment.

Testing the efficacy of Circle of Security–Parenting programme with Danish at risk career mothers: a pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haugaard, Karin; Jensen De Lopez, Kristine

as a mother, enhancing maternal sensitivity and mentalising among mothers who rapport challenges with their motherhood in a low – risk sample. The project uses mixed-method including a randomized controlled trail design as well as qualitative interviews. Participants were randomly assigned to either COS-P (n...... on the Parental Stress Scale and the Self Compassion Scale did not show effects of the COS-P. Effects sizes were also small. We await a larger sample size in order to verify these preliminary results....... intervention by questionnaires and qualitative interviews. Preliminary results from three parent questionnaires are reported here and show no effect of COS-P on the Parent Confidence Scale, which might be due to ceiling effects. However, the mothers that scored lowest showed largest improvements. Responses...

Selective Use of the Mother Tongue to Enhance Students’ English Learning Processes...Beyond the Same Assumptions

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Luis Fernando Cuartas Alvarez

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This article reports the results of an action-research project that examines enhancing students’ English learning processes through the selective use of their mother tongues with the aim of overcoming their reluctant attitudes toward learning English in the classroom. This study involves forty ninth-graders from an all-girls public school in Medellin, Colombia. The data gathered included field notes, questionnaires, and participants’ focus group interviews. The findings show that the mother tongue plays an important role in students’ English learning processes by fostering students’ affective, motivational, cognitive, and attitudinal aspects. Thus, the mother tongue serves as the foothold for further advances in learning English when used selectively.

PERCEPTION ABOUT BOTTLE FEEDING AMONG MOTHERS IN SELECTED HEALTH CARE SETTINGS IN ABA SOUTH LGA, ABIA STATE, NIGERIA

OpenAIRE

Achema.G.; Chigbo.R

2011-01-01

The study determined the perception of bottle feeding among mothers attending child welfare clinic in selected health centers in Aba South LGA. It also ascertained the knowledge of mothers about the breast feeding and factors responsible for chosen bottle feeding. A descriptive research design was adopted for the study where a total survey of 45 mothers who were selected systematically from the centers were interviewed as a method of data collection. The findings of the study showed that 93% ...

A Randomized Control Study of Responsive Teaching with Young Turkish Children and Their Mothers

Science.gov (United States)

Karaaslan, Ozcan; Diken, Ibrahim H.; Mahoney, Gerald

2013-01-01

A randomized control study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of responsive teaching (RT) with a sample of 19 Turkish preschool-age children with disabilities and their mothers over a 6-months period. RT is an early intervention curriculum that attempts to promote children's development by encouraging parents to engage in highly…

A 2-Year Integrated Agriculture and Nutrition Program Targeted to Mothers of Young Children in Burkina Faso Reduces Underweight among Mothers and Increases Their Empowerment: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Olney, Deanna K; Bliznashka, Lilia; Pedehombga, Abdoulaye; Dillon, Andrew; Ruel, Marie T; Heckert, Jessica

2016-05-01

Recent evidence demonstrates the benefits of integrated agriculture and nutrition programs for children's health and nutrition outcomes. These programs may also improve mothers' nutrition and empowerment outcomes. However, evidence from rigorous evaluations is scarce. We examined impacts of Helen Keller International's 2-y enhanced-homestead food production (E-HFP) program in Burkina Faso on the secondary impact measures of mothers' nutrition and empowerment. We used a cluster-randomized controlled trial whereby 55 villages with 1767 mothers of young children were randomly assigned to 3 groups: 1) control, 2) E-HFP with the behavior change communication (BCC) strategy implemented by older women leaders, or 3) E-HFP with BCC implemented by health committee members. Data for the treatment groups were pooled for this analysis because no differences were found between the 2 groups in key mothers' outcomes. We used difference-in-differences (DID) estimates to assess impacts on mothers' dietary intake, diversity, body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)), prevalence of underweight (BMI empowerment. The E-HFP program significantly increased mothers' intake of fruit (DID = 15.8 percentage points; P = 0.02) and marginally increased their intake of meat/poultry (DID = 7.5 percentage points; P = 0.08) and dietary diversity (DID = 0.3 points; P = 0.08). The prevalence of underweight was significantly reduced among mothers in treatment compared with control villages by 8.7 percentage points (P empowerment score (DID = 3.13 points out of 37 possible points; P empowerment: meeting with women (DID = 1.21 points out of 5 possible points; P empowerment outcomes. These positive impacts benefit the mothers themselves and may also improve their ability to care for their children. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01825226. © 2016 American Society for Nutrition.

Sexual self-esteem in mothers of normal and mentally-retarded children.

Science.gov (United States)

Tavakolizadeh, Jahanshir; Amiri, Mostafa; Nejad, Fahimeh Rastgoo

2017-06-01

Sexual self-esteem is negatively influenced by the stressful experiences in lifetime. This study compared the sexual self-esteem and its components in mothers with normal and mentally-retarded children in Qaen city, in 2014. A total of 120 mothers were selected and assigned into two groups of 60 samples based on convenient sampling method and randomized multiple stage sampling. Both groups completed sexual self-esteem questionnaire. The data were analyzed employing t-test through SPSS software version15. The results showed that the rate of sexual self-esteem in mothers of mentally-retarded children decreased significantly compared with that of mothers with normal children (pself-esteem including skill and experience, attractiveness, control, moral judgment, and adaptiveness in mothers of mentally-retarded children were significantly less than those of mothers with normal children (p self-esteem, especially the sexual one, be taught to mothers of mentally-retarded children by specialists.

Knowledge of mothers about natural and substitute feeding and activities of La Leche League International

OpenAIRE

Pajnič, Manca; Hoyer, Silvestra

2015-01-01

The article presents the research work carried out in 1998 and covering 30 randomly selected mothers which children between six and 12 months of age. The aims were to find out about the awareness of mothers about the knowledge of mothers about natural and substitute feeding, and to find out whether the producers of artificial food propagate their products through health system. The article presents the world greatest non-governemental organization La Leche League International which has been ...

Knowledge and perceptions of HIV/AIDS and mother to child transmission among antenatal mothers at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching hospital, Nnewi.

Science.gov (United States)

Igwegbe, A O; Ilika, A L

2005-12-01

Knowledge of HIV/AIDS by pregnant mothers is very important in the prevention of mother to child transmission. This study evaluates the knowledge and perceptions of HIV/AIDS and mother to child transmission among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at a University Teaching Hospital. Pre-tested questionnaires were interviewer administered to 312 pregnant women randomly selected at the antenatal clinic of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi. The level of awareness of HIV/AIDS among antenatal mothers was very high (99%) and the main sources of information were radio (44.7%), television (38.8%), and print media (34.0%). Though majority (94.2%) was aware HIV infection can coexist with pregnancy, only 76.9% were aware of mother to child transmission. Transplacental (46.1%), breastfeeding (31.7%), and vaginal delivery (16.3%) were the commonly identified routes of vertical transmission. Surprisingly, eighteen respondents (5.8%) indicated that caesarean section is a possible route of vertical transmission. Though the percentage of HIV/AIDS knowledge is high, the level of knowledge and perceptions of mother to child transmission is inadequate. This suggests the need to scale up health education about mother to child transmission in our health facilities.

Decreasing harsh discipline in mothers at risk for maltreatment: a randomized control trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira, Mariana; Negrão, Mariana; Soares, Isabel; Mesman, Judi

2014-01-01

This study tested the effectiveness of the attachment-based program Video-feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD; F. Juffer, M.J. Bakermans-Kranenburg, & M.H. van IJzendoorn, 2008) in decreasing harsh discipline of 43 mothers and their 1- to 4-year-old-children from severely deprived families. Based on previous studies, parenting stress was tested as a potential moderator of intervention effects on harsh discipline. Using a randomized control design, maternal harsh discipline was observed during home visits at the pretest and posttest, and mothers filled in questionnaires at both assessments. The VIPP-SD proved to be effective in decreasing maternal harsh discipline, but only for mothers who experienced higher levels of parenting stress at intake. These findings provide support for the program's ability to improve parenting in families who are most at risk for harsh parenting and for potentially maltreating child-parent interactions. The results are discussed in terms of the VIPP-SD elements most relevant to decreasing harsh discipline, and the challenges of parenting interventions in severely deprived populations. © 2014 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

Infant-mother attachment can be improved through group intervention: a preliminary evaluation in Spain in a non-randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Torres, Bárbara; Alonso-Arbiol, Itziar; Cantero, María José; Abubakar, Amina

2011-11-01

The quality of infant-mother attachment has been linked to competence in different domains of child development. Research indicates that early intervention can enhance the quality of infant-mother attachment, though its efficacy in a group format has yet to be evaluated. The current study is aimed at examining the usefulness of a group intervention in enhancing infant-mother attachment. An intervention aimed at addressing aspects such as maternal responsivity, sensitivity and childrearing behaviour was developed by the researchers and experienced psychologists. The intervention spanned a period of 14 months starting from the third quarter of pregnancy. The intervention was evaluated among 24 mothers from the Basque region of Spain. The sample consisted of children of both genders in a similar proportion: 45.8% were boys and 54.2% were girls. The children in this sample were full-term born and did not present symptoms of any serious pre- or postnatal complications. The intervention had a statistically non-significant medium effect. Infants whose mothers had received the intervention showed higher rates of secure attachment compared to children from the control group, as assessed by the Strange Situation observation procedure. A potentially significant confounding variable, maternal attachment, was balanced across the intervention and comparison groups. We can tentatively point out that a group intervention may enhance the quality of infant-mother attachment. Nevertheless, because the study design was not randomized, the results of this study remain preliminary and need replication in a full randomized controlled trial designed study.

Knowledge, beliefs and experiences of a cross section of mothers in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... experiences of a cross-section of mothers in Port Harcourt about teething. Methods: The study was conducted using a structured, anonymous open and close-ended questionnaire distributed among randomly selected female staff of University of Port Harcourt as instrument for data collection. The data was analyzed using ...

The Effectiveness of Group Coping Skills Ttraining on Reducing Stress of Mothers with Disabled Children

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Shirin Valizadeh

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the Effectiveness of group Coping Skills training on reducing stress of mothers with mentally retarded children's. Methods: The research method was quasi experimental with pre-test and post-test design with a control group. Population of the study was all of the mothers of mentally retarded children's that referred to welfare organization centers in Tehran. The sample was 44 mothers of mentally retarded children's that randomly selected from participations that had inclusion criteria. They were placed randomly in case group (22 mothers and control group (22 mothers. Case group received 12 session’s of coping skills training, while control group didn’t receive any intervention. Results: The results showed that case group had significantly decreased in stress level after intervention than control group (P<0.001. Discussion: Results of this study indicated that coping skills training for decreasing stress level of mothers with mentally retarded children's is effective. Based on the results, coping skills training can be considered an effective program for prevention of stress and promoting coping skills in mothers with mentally retarded children's.

Understanding how education/support groups help lone mothers

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Cameron Ruth

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Lone-mother led families are at increased risk of psychosocial disadvantage, social isolation and mental health morbidity. Community-based programs are more accessible for families seeking assistance. We examine the experiences of eight lone mothers participating in a larger randomized controlled trial (RCT of a community-based education/support group program using mixed methods. Methods A purposeful sample of eight mothers participating in the intervention arm of an RCT of community-based support/education groups was selected for the qualitative study. Individual interviews asked mothers about themselves and their relationships with their children before and after the group. Interviews were taped, transcribed and content analysis was used to code and interpret the data. Quantitative data collected in the RCT were used to describe these mothers. Results Mothers participating in the RCT and qualitative study experienced multiple difficulties, including financial and mood problems. These mothers reported that before participating in the group, they had shared experiences of social isolation, stigma, a sense of failure, poor relationships with their children and difficulties with financial management. After the group, mothers identified improved self-esteem, support from other mothers, improved parenting skills and improved communication with their children as outcomes of group participation. Conclusions The qualitative data revealed mothers' perceptions of specific areas that improved by participating in the group. The utility of complementary information provided by qualitative and quantitative methods in understanding program impact, as well as the need for broader assistance is noted.

Understanding how education/support groups help lone mothers.

Science.gov (United States)

Lipman, Ellen L; Kenny, Meghan; Jack, Susan; Cameron, Ruth; Secord, Margaret; Byrne, Carolyn

2010-01-04

Lone-mother led families are at increased risk of psychosocial disadvantage, social isolation and mental health morbidity. Community-based programs are more accessible for families seeking assistance. We examine the experiences of eight lone mothers participating in a larger randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a community-based education/support group program using mixed methods. A purposeful sample of eight mothers participating in the intervention arm of an RCT of community-based support/education groups was selected for the qualitative study. Individual interviews asked mothers about themselves and their relationships with their children before and after the group. Interviews were taped, transcribed and content analysis was used to code and interpret the data. Quantitative data collected in the RCT were used to describe these mothers. Mothers participating in the RCT and qualitative study experienced multiple difficulties, including financial and mood problems. These mothers reported that before participating in the group, they had shared experiences of social isolation, stigma, a sense of failure, poor relationships with their children and difficulties with financial management. After the group, mothers identified improved self-esteem, support from other mothers, improved parenting skills and improved communication with their children as outcomes of group participation. The qualitative data revealed mothers' perceptions of specific areas that improved by participating in the group. The utility of complementary information provided by qualitative and quantitative methods in understanding program impact, as well as the need for broader assistance is noted.

Associations of obesogenic behaviors in mothers and obese children participating in a randomized trial

OpenAIRE

Sonneville, Kendrin R.; Rifas-Shiman, Sheryl L.; Kleinman, Ken; Gortmaker, Steven; Gillman, Matthew W.; Taveras, Elsie M.

2012-01-01

Relatively little research has assessed the association between obesogenic behaviors in parents and their children. The objective of the present analysis was to examine cross-sectional associations in television (TV)/video viewing, sugar-sweetened beverage intake, and fast food intake between mothers and their pre-school aged children. We studied baseline data among 428 participants in High Five for Kids, a randomized controlled trial of behavior change among overweight and obese children age...

A Comparative Analysis for Selection of Appropriate Mother Wavelet for Detection of Stationary Disturbances

Science.gov (United States)

Kamble, Saurabh Prakash; Thawkar, Shashank; Gaikwad, Vinayak G.; Kothari, D. P.

2017-12-01

Detection of disturbances is the first step of mitigation. Power electronics plays a crucial role in modern power system which makes system operation efficient but it also bring stationary disturbances in the power system and added impurities to the supply. It happens because of the non-linear loads used in modern day power system which inject disturbances like harmonic disturbances, flickers, sag etc. in power grid. These impurities can damage equipments so it is necessary to mitigate these impurities present in the supply very quickly. So, digital signal processing techniques are incorporated for detection purpose. Signal processing techniques like fast Fourier transform, short-time Fourier transform, Wavelet transform etc. are widely used for the detection of disturbances. Among all, wavelet transform is widely used because of its better detection capabilities. But, which mother wavelet has to use for detection is still a mystery. Depending upon the periodicity, the disturbances are classified as stationary and non-stationary disturbances. This paper presents the importance of selection of mother wavelet for analyzing stationary disturbances using discrete wavelet transform. Signals with stationary disturbances of various frequencies are generated using MATLAB. The analysis of these signals is done using various mother wavelets like Daubechies and bi-orthogonal wavelets and the measured root mean square value of stationary disturbance is obtained. The measured value obtained by discrete wavelet transform is compared with the exact RMS value of the frequency component and the percentage differences are presented which helps to select optimum mother wavelet.

Mother-infant attachment styles as a predictor of aggression

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Rozita Amani

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background & aim: Aggression is a phenomenon that causes irreversible damage to a community. Psychodynamic theory suggests that aggression is rooted in early relationships with family members, especially mother. According to this theory, infant-mother relationship is a major predictor of an individual’s behavior from childhood to adulthood. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between mother-infant attachment styles and aggression. Methods:This study was conducted on 150 university students (75 female, 75 male randomly selected from Bu-Ali Sina University in Hamadan, Iran. Data were collected via demographic questionnaires, Persian version of Adult Attachment Inventory (AAS (Hazen and Shaver and Ahvaz Aggression Inventory (AAI. Data analysis was performed using Pearson correlation and regression analysis. Results: According to our findings, secure mother-infantattachment had a significant negative correlation with aggression. In addition, ambivalent mother-infantattachment had a significant positive correlation with aggression, while avoidant attachment style had no significant correlation with aggression. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, secure attachment of mother with infant could reduce aggression during adulthood. On the other hand, ambivalent attachment between mother and infant could clearly increase the risk of aggression. Therefore, it is recommended to train different attachment styles to pregnant women  through related workshops during pregnancy in order to prevent ambivalent mother-infant attachment.

Selectivity and sparseness in randomly connected balanced networks.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cengiz Pehlevan

Full Text Available Neurons in sensory cortex show stimulus selectivity and sparse population response, even in cases where no strong functionally specific structure in connectivity can be detected. This raises the question whether selectivity and sparseness can be generated and maintained in randomly connected networks. We consider a recurrent network of excitatory and inhibitory spiking neurons with random connectivity, driven by random projections from an input layer of stimulus selective neurons. In this architecture, the stimulus-to-stimulus and neuron-to-neuron modulation of total synaptic input is weak compared to the mean input. Surprisingly, we show that in the balanced state the network can still support high stimulus selectivity and sparse population response. In the balanced state, strong synapses amplify the variation in synaptic input and recurrent inhibition cancels the mean. Functional specificity in connectivity emerges due to the inhomogeneity caused by the generative statistical rule used to build the network. We further elucidate the mechanism behind and evaluate the effects of model parameters on population sparseness and stimulus selectivity. Network response to mixtures of stimuli is investigated. It is shown that a balanced state with unselective inhibition can be achieved with densely connected input to inhibitory population. Balanced networks exhibit the "paradoxical" effect: an increase in excitatory drive to inhibition leads to decreased inhibitory population firing rate. We compare and contrast selectivity and sparseness generated by the balanced network to randomly connected unbalanced networks. Finally, we discuss our results in light of experiments.

Testing, Selection, and Implementation of Random Number Generators

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Collins, Joseph C

2008-01-01

An exhaustive evaluation of state-of-the-art random number generators with several well-known suites of tests provides the basis for selection of suitable random number generators for use in stochastic simulations...

A Mediation Analysis of Mothers' Dietary Intake: The Entre Familia: Reflejos de Salud Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Horton, Lucy A; Ayala, Guadalupe X; Slymen, Donald J; Ibarra, Leticia; Hernandez, Erika; Parada, Humberto; Rock, Cheryl L; Arredondo, Elva M; Elder, John P

2017-12-01

Examine intervention effects among mothers involved in a healthy eating randomized controlled trial. Furthermore, examine the mediating roles of individual and familial influences on observed outcomes. Between 2009 and 2011, 361 families were recruited; half were assigned to an 11-session community health worker-delivered family-based intervention targeting Spanish-speaking Latino families in Imperial County, California. The intervention was delivered over a 4-month period. Home visits and telephone calls were delivered approximately weekly, with tapering near the end of the intervention to promote independence from the promotora. In this article, mothers' self-reported dietary intake was the primary outcome. Evaluation measures were taken at baseline, 4 months, and 10 months. Daily servings of fruits were higher among intervention versus control mothers (mean = 1.86 vs. mean = 1.47; effect size [ES] = 0.22) at 10 months post-baseline. Mothers in the intervention versus control condition also reported consuming a lower percent energy from fat (mean = 30.0% vs. 31.0%; ES = 0.30) and a higher diet quality (mean = 2.93 vs. mean = 2.67; ES = 0.29). Mediators of improvements were behavioral strategies to increase fiber and lower fat intake, family support for vegetable purchasing, and decreased unhealthy eating behaviors and perceived family barriers to healthy eating. Family-based behavioral interventions are effective for changing the skills and family system needed to improve diet among Latina mothers. Health care providers and other practitioners are encouraged to target skill development and fostering a socially supportive environment.

ENERGY CONSUMPTION, THE DISTRIBUTION OF MACRONUTRIENTS AND BMI IN MOTHERS AND THEIR MEXICAN SCHOOLCHILDREN.

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda-Ríos, L Lizette; Vásquez-Garibay, Edgar M; Romero-Velarde, Enrique; Nuño-Cosío, M Eugenia; Campos-Barrera, Liliana R

2015-12-01

to identify the association between the percentage of adequacy of energy and protein and the distribution of macronutrients and sugar in the diets of mothers and schoolchildren with their respective BMI. in a cross-sectional study, 174 5-12-year-old schoolchildren and their mothers were randomly selected. BMI was measured, and 24-hour dietary surveys were administered on weekdays and weekends. The associations between the dietetic indicators in the mothers and their children and the BMI of the mothers and their children were assessed. The chi-square test, linear regression and odds ratio were used for analysis. excessive energy consumption in the mothers increased the risk of excessive energy consumption in their daughters by 11-fold (p=0.04). Maternal lipid intake was associated with the consumption of lipids in their sons and daughters (p. Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

The Effects of Massage by Mothers on Mother-Infant Attachment.

Science.gov (United States)

Shoghi, Mahnaz; Sohrabi, Soroor; Rasouli, Mahboobe

2017-11-04

Context • Transferring a newborn to the intensive care unit due to a premature birth is a major obstacle in the establishment of emotional attachment between a mother and her child. Researchers believe that the formation and continuation of such an attachment have a profound effect on the child's mental development and behavior in the coming years of life. Not all studies have agreed, however, that skin contact alone, such as massage provides, can improve attachment. Objective • The aim of this study was to determine the effects on maternal attachment behaviors of infants hospitalized in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of massage provided by mothers for their premature neonates. Design • The research team designed a randomized, controlled trial. Setting • The study took place at the Hazrat Ali Asghar Hospital of the Iran University of Medical Sciences (Tehran, Iran). Participants • Participants were 40 mothers and 40 newborns admitted to the NICU at the hospital. Intervention • The study divided participants randomly into a massage (intervention) group and a control group receiving no massages. Mothers in the intervention group trained by watching educational videos and practicing the massage on infant manikins. Subsequently, the intervention group massaged its infants according to a 5-d program, in which each neonate received a 15-min massage session per day. Outcome Measures • Mother-infant attachment behaviors were assessed in both groups 4 times. The maternal attachment scale was used for data collection. Results • According to the statistical analyses, the between-groups difference was not significant at baseline (P > .05). The study showed a statistically significant difference between baseline and postintervention in the mean frequencies of maternal attachment behaviors for both groups (P attachment between the intervention and control groups (P = .000). Conclusion • Massage given to premature neonates by their mothers on a daily

Impact of a brief intervention on physical activity and social cognitive determinants among working mothers: a randomized trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Mailey, Emily L; McAuley, Edward

2014-04-01

Working mothers exhibit high levels of inactivity, and theory-based interventions to bolster physical activity within this population are needed. This study examined the effectiveness of a brief social cognitive theory-based intervention designed to increase physical activity among working mothers. Participants (N = 141) were randomly assigned to an intervention only, intervention plus follow-up support, or waitlist control condition. The intervention consisted of two group-based workshop sessions designed to teach behavior modification strategies using social cognitive theory. Data were collected at baseline, immediately post-intervention, and 6-month follow-up. Results showed intervention participants exhibited short-term increases in physical activity, which were partially maintained 6 months later. Improvements in physical activity were mediated by increases in self-regulation and self-efficacy. This study provides some support for the effectiveness of a brief intervention to increase physical activity among working mothers. Future programs should explore alternative support mechanisms which may lead to more effective maintenance of initial behavior changes.

The State of Deterministic Thinking among Mothers of Autistic Children

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Mehrnoush Esbati

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavior education on decreasing deterministic thinking in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders. Methods: Participants were 24 mothers of autistic children who were referred to counseling centers of Tehran and their children’s disorder had been diagnosed at least by a psychiatrist and a counselor. They were randomly selected and assigned into control and experimental groups. Measurement tool was Deterministic Thinking Questionnaire and both groups answered it before and after education and the answers were analyzed by analysis of covariance. Results: The results indicated that cognitive-behavior education decreased deterministic thinking among mothers of autistic children, it decreased four sub scale of deterministic thinking: interaction with others, absolute thinking, prediction of future, and negative events (P<0.05 as well. Discussions: By learning cognitive and behavioral techniques, parents of children with autism can reach higher level of psychological well-being and it is likely that these cognitive-behavioral skills would have a positive impact on general life satisfaction of mothers of children with autism.

Delaying second births among adolescent mothers: a randomized, controlled trial of a home-based mentoring program.

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Black, Maureen M; Bentley, Margaret E; Papas, Mia A; Oberlander, Sarah; Teti, Laureen O; McNary, Scot; Le, Katherine; O'Connell, Melissa

2006-10-01

Rates of rapid second births among low-income black adolescent mothers range from 20% to 50%. Most efforts to prevent rapid second births have been unsuccessful. There were 4 objectives: (1) to examine whether a home-based mentoring intervention was effective in preventing second births within 2 years of the adolescent mother's first delivery; (2) to examine whether greater intervention participation increased the likelihood of preventing a second birth; (3) to examine whether second births were better predicted from a risk practice perspective or a family formation perspective, based on information collected at delivery; and (4) to examine how risk practices or family formation over the first 2 years of parenthood were related to a second birth. We conducted a randomized, controlled trial of a home-based intervention curriculum, based on social cognitive theory, and focused on interpersonal negotiation skills, adolescent development, and parenting. The curriculum was delivered biweekly until the infant's first birthday by college-educated, black, single mothers who served as mentors, presenting themselves as "big sisters." The control group received usual care. Follow-up evaluations were conducted in the homes 6, 13, and 24 months after recruitment. Participants were recruited from urban hospitals at delivery and were 181 first time, black adolescent mothers ( or = 2 intervention visits increased the odds of not having a second infant more than threefold. Only 1 mother who completed > or = 6 visits had a second infant. At delivery of their first infant, mothers who had a second infant were slightly older (16.7 vs 16.2 years) and were more likely to have been arrested (30% vs 14%). There were no differences in baseline contraceptive use or other measures of risk or family formation. At 24 months, mothers who had a second infant reported high self-esteem, positive life events, and romantic involvement and residence with the first infant's father. At 24 months, there

Personal child and mother carbon monoxide exposures and kitchen levels: methods and results from a randomized trial of woodfired chimney cookstoves in Guatemala (RESPIRE).

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Smith, Kirk R; McCracken, John P; Thompson, Lisa; Edwards, Rufus; Shields, Kyra N; Canuz, Eduardo; Bruce, Nigel

2010-07-01

During the first randomized intervention trial (RESPIRE: Randomized Exposure Study of Pollution Indoors and Respiratory Effects) in air pollution epidemiology, we pioneered application of passive carbon monoxide (CO) diffusion tubes to measure long-term personal exposures to woodsmoke. Here we report on the protocols and validations of the method, trends in personal exposure for mothers and their young children, and the efficacy of the introduced improved chimney stove in reducing personal exposures and kitchen concentrations. Passive diffusion tubes originally developed for industrial hygiene applications were deployed on a quarterly basis to measure 48-hour integrated personal carbon monoxide exposures among 515 children 0-18 months of age and 532 mothers aged 15-55 years and area samples in a subsample of 77 kitchens, in households randomized into control and intervention groups. Instrument comparisons among types of passive diffusion tubes and against a continuous electrochemical CO monitor indicated that tubes responded nonlinearly to CO, and regression calibration was used to reduce this bias. Before stove introduction, the baseline arithmetic (geometric) mean 48-h child (n=270), mother (n=529) and kitchen (n=65) levels were, respectively, 3.4 (2.8), 3.4 (2.8) and 10.2 (8.4) p.p.m. The between-group analysis of the 3355 post-baseline measurements found CO levels to be significantly lower among the intervention group during the trial period: kitchen levels: -90%; mothers: -61%; and children: -52% in geometric means. No significant deterioration in stove effect was observed over the 18 months of surveillance. The reliability of these findings is strengthened by the large sample size made feasible by these unobtrusive and inexpensive tubes, measurement error reduction through instrument calibration, and a randomized, longitudinal study design. These results from the first randomized trial of improved household energy technology in a developing country and

Comparison of Mental Health Status in Mothers of Primary School Children with Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder and Mothers of Normal Children in Yazd city (2015- 2016

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Ali Jafari Nodoushan

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction: ADHD is one of the most common disorders among school children throughout the world. Parents of these children are faced with more conflicts than normal children's parents. The Purpose of his study was to evaluate and compare the mental health status of mothers having children with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder versus mental health of mothers having normal primary school children, Yazd, Iran. Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of 160 mothers of primary-school children who were selected through random cluster sampling; 80 of them had children with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder and the remaining half had normal children. Also, for the diagnosis of children with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder, the Conners test as well as test of General Mental Health (GHQ were used to measure mothers' mental health. The data were then analyzed in two levels of descriptive and inferential statistics (T-test and analysis of variance Results: Comparison of mental health and its subscales indicated that mothers of children with ADHD disorder were lower in all aspects of mental health than mothers of normal children. Conclution: According to the research results, mothers of children with attention deficit/hyperactive disorder have lower levels of mental health than mothers of normal children. So, it is recommended that education and health officials provide training courses for these parents to promote their mental health status and consequently their quality of family life.

Application of random effects to the study of resource selection by animals.

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Gillies, Cameron S; Hebblewhite, Mark; Nielsen, Scott E; Krawchuk, Meg A; Aldridge, Cameron L; Frair, Jacqueline L; Saher, D Joanne; Stevens, Cameron E; Jerde, Christopher L

2006-07-01

1. Resource selection estimated by logistic regression is used increasingly in studies to identify critical resources for animal populations and to predict species occurrence. 2. Most frequently, individual animals are monitored and pooled to estimate population-level effects without regard to group or individual-level variation. Pooling assumes that both observations and their errors are independent, and resource selection is constant given individual variation in resource availability. 3. Although researchers have identified ways to minimize autocorrelation, variation between individuals caused by differences in selection or available resources, including functional responses in resource selection, have not been well addressed. 4. Here we review random-effects models and their application to resource selection modelling to overcome these common limitations. We present a simple case study of an analysis of resource selection by grizzly bears in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains with and without random effects. 5. Both categorical and continuous variables in the grizzly bear model differed in interpretation, both in statistical significance and coefficient sign, depending on how a random effect was included. We used a simulation approach to clarify the application of random effects under three common situations for telemetry studies: (a) discrepancies in sample sizes among individuals; (b) differences among individuals in selection where availability is constant; and (c) differences in availability with and without a functional response in resource selection. 6. We found that random intercepts accounted for unbalanced sample designs, and models with random intercepts and coefficients improved model fit given the variation in selection among individuals and functional responses in selection. Our empirical example and simulations demonstrate how including random effects in resource selection models can aid interpretation and address difficult assumptions

Local randomization in neighbor selection improves PRM roadmap quality

KAUST Repository

McMahon, Troy; Jacobs, Sam; Boyd, Bryan; Tapia, Lydia; Amato, Nancy M.

2012-01-01

Probabilistic Roadmap Methods (PRMs) are one of the most used classes of motion planning methods. These sampling-based methods generate robot configurations (nodes) and then connect them to form a graph (roadmap) containing representative feasible pathways. A key step in PRM roadmap construction involves identifying a set of candidate neighbors for each node. Traditionally, these candidates are chosen to be the k-closest nodes based on a given distance metric. In this paper, we propose a new neighbor selection policy called LocalRand(k,K'), that first computes the K' closest nodes to a specified node and then selects k of those nodes at random. Intuitively, LocalRand attempts to benefit from random sampling while maintaining the higher levels of local planner success inherent to selecting more local neighbors. We provide a methodology for selecting the parameters k and K'. We perform an experimental comparison which shows that for both rigid and articulated robots, LocalRand results in roadmaps that are better connected than the traditional k-closest policy or a purely random neighbor selection policy. The cost required to achieve these results is shown to be comparable to k-closest. © 2012 IEEE.

Local randomization in neighbor selection improves PRM roadmap quality

KAUST Repository

McMahon, Troy

2012-10-01

Probabilistic Roadmap Methods (PRMs) are one of the most used classes of motion planning methods. These sampling-based methods generate robot configurations (nodes) and then connect them to form a graph (roadmap) containing representative feasible pathways. A key step in PRM roadmap construction involves identifying a set of candidate neighbors for each node. Traditionally, these candidates are chosen to be the k-closest nodes based on a given distance metric. In this paper, we propose a new neighbor selection policy called LocalRand(k,K\\'), that first computes the K\\' closest nodes to a specified node and then selects k of those nodes at random. Intuitively, LocalRand attempts to benefit from random sampling while maintaining the higher levels of local planner success inherent to selecting more local neighbors. We provide a methodology for selecting the parameters k and K\\'. We perform an experimental comparison which shows that for both rigid and articulated robots, LocalRand results in roadmaps that are better connected than the traditional k-closest policy or a purely random neighbor selection policy. The cost required to achieve these results is shown to be comparable to k-closest. © 2012 IEEE.

An experimental evaluation of theory-based mother and mother-child programs for children of divorce.

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Wolchik, S A; West, S G; Sandler, I N; Tein, J Y; Coatsworth, D; Lengua, L; Weiss, L; Anderson, E R; Greene, S M; Griffin, W A

2000-10-01

This study evaluated the efficacy of 2 theory-based preventive interventions for divorced families: a program for mothers and a dual component mother-child program. The mother program targeted mother-child relationship quality, discipline, interparental conflict, and the father-child relationship. The child program targeted active coping, avoidant coping, appraisals of divorce stressors, and mother-child relationship quality. Families with a 9- to 12-year-old child (N = 240) were randomly assigned to the mother, dual-component, or self-study program. Postintervention comparisons showed significant positive program effects of the mother program versus self-study condition on relationship quality, discipline, attitude toward father-child contact, and adjustment problems. For several outcomes, more positive effects occurred in families with poorer initial functioning. Program effects on externalizing problems were maintained at 6-month follow-up. A few additive effects of the dual-component program occurred for the putative mediators; none occurred for adjustment problems.

Effect of Psychological Intervention on Marital Satisfaction of Mothers with Slow Pace Under 5 Years Children

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Mehran Soleymani

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Objective of this study was investigating impact of early psychological interventions on marital satisfaction of mothers with slow pace under 5 years children. Considering variables of the research, that is, early psychological interventions and marital satisfaction, research hypotheses was as follows: "early psychological interventions affect marital satisfaction of mothers with slow pace under 5 years children" and it was examined. Methods: This research is of experimental type and pretest-posttest plan with control groups was used. Statistical population included all mothers with slow pace under 5 years children in Urmia. To this end, 40 mothers with slow pace children were selected as the sample in a non-random manner by convenience sampling. They were assigned randomly into two groups of 20 (20 test group and 20 control group, and finally psychological interventions were conducted on one of groups randomly. In order to evaluate marital satisfaction, Enrich marital satisfaction questionnaire with 47 items was used. Data were analyzed by univariate analysis of covariance. Results: findings showed that there is significant difference between two groups in posttest in overall score of marital satisfaction as well as in some elements such as conventional responses, marital satisfaction, personality issues, marital relationships, conflict resolution, leisure, parenting, family and friends, and ideological orientation and sexual relations (P<0.005, and no significant difference was observed in financial supervision and roles related to gender equality. Discusion: Psychological interventions were effective in promoting marital satisfaction in mothers with slow pace under 5 years children.

Asian American mothers' perception of their children's weight: a comparison with other racial/ethnic groups in Los Angeles.

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Nobari, Tabashir Z; Wang, May-Choo; Whaley, Shannon E

2015-01-01

While mother's perception of child's weight is important for the success of early childhood obesity prevention programs, few studies have examined that of Asian Americans. Our study examined their perception and compared it to that of mothers of other racial/ethnic groups. Cross-sectional study of 2,051 randomly selected mothers of children aged 2-5 years living in Los Angeles County who were enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children (WIC). The primary outcome was mother's perception of child's weight. We found that Asian American mothers were 2.12 (95% CI: 1.27-3.54) times as likely as Hispanic mothers to accurately perceive their children's weight, adjusting for child's age, sex and birthweight, and mother's age and education. However, this relationship disappeared after adjusting for mother's BMI. We did not find differences in perception of child's weight among non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic mothers. It appears that Asian American mothers' increased accurate perception of child's weight status can be partially explained by their lower prevalence of obesity. Our findings suggest that early childhood obesity prevention programs should consider the weight status of mothers.

A community-based randomized controlled trial of Mom Power parenting intervention for mothers with interpersonal trauma histories and their young children.

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Rosenblum, Katherine L; Muzik, Maria; Morelen, Diana M; Alfafara, Emily A; Miller, Nicole M; Waddell, Rachel M; Schuster, Melisa M; Ribaudo, Julie

2017-10-01

We conducted a study to evaluate the effectiveness of Mom Power, a multifamily parenting intervention to improve mental health and parenting among high-risk mothers with young children in a community-based randomized controlled trial (CB-RCT) design. Participants (N = 122) were high-risk mothers (e.g., interpersonal trauma histories, mental health problems, poverty) and their young children (age parenting intervention (treatment condition), or weekly mailings of parenting information (control condition). In this study, the 13-session intervention was delivered by community clinicians trained to fidelity. Pre- and post-trial assessments included mothers' mental health symptoms, parenting stress and helplessness, and connection to care. Mom Power was delivered in the community with fidelity and had good uptake (>65%) despite the risk nature of the sample. Overall, we found improvements in mental health and parenting stress for Mom Power participants but not for controls; in contrast, control mothers increased in parent-child role reversal across the trial period. The benefits of Mom Power treatment (vs. control) were accentuated for mothers with interpersonal trauma histories. Results of this CB-RCT confirm the effectiveness of Mom Power for improving mental health and parenting outcomes for high-risk, trauma-exposed women with young children. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01554215.

A new mother-child play activity program to decrease parenting stress and improve child cognitive abilities: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

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Tachibana, Yoshiyuki; Fukushima, Ai; Saito, Hitomi; Yoneyama, Satoshi; Ushida, Kazuo; Yoneyama, Susumu; Kawashima, Ryuta

2012-01-01

We propose a new play activity intervention program for mothers and children. Our interdisciplinary program integrates four fields of child-related sciences: neuroscience, preschool pedagogy, developmental psychology, and child and maternal psychiatry. To determine the effect of this intervention on child and mother psychosocial problems related to parenting stress and on the children's cognitive abilities, we performed a cluster randomized controlled trial. Participants were 238 pairs of mothers and typically developing preschool children (ages 4-6 years old) from Wakakusa kindergarten in Japan. The pairs were asked to play at home for about 10 min a day, 5 days a week for 3 months. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group by class unit. The Parenting Stress Index (PSI) (for mothers), the Goodenough Draw-a-Man intelligence test (DAM), and the new S-S intelligence test (NS-SIT) (for children) were administered prior to and 3 months after the intervention period. Pre-post changes in test scores were compared between the groups using a linear mixed-effects model analysis. The primary outcomes were the Total score on the child domain of the PSI (for child psychosocial problems related to parenting stress), Total score on the parent domain of the PSI (for maternal psychosocial problems related to parenting stress), and the score on the DAM (for child cognitive abilities). The results of the PSI suggested that the program may reduce parenting stress. The results of the cognitive tests suggested that the program may improve the children's fluid intelligence, working memory, and processing speed. Our intervention program may ameliorate the children's psychosocial problems related to parenting stress and increase their cognitive abilities. UMIN Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000002265.

Home visits by neighborhood Mentor Mothers provide timely recovery from childhood malnutrition in South Africa: results from a randomized controlled trial

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Mbewu Nokwanele

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Child and infant malnourishment is a significant and growing problem in the developing world. Malnourished children are at high risk for negative health outcomes over their lifespans. Philani, a paraprofessional home visiting program, was developed to improve childhood nourishment. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether the Philani program can rehabilitate malnourished children in a timely manner. Methods Mentor Mothers were trained to conduct home visits. Mentor Mothers went from house to house in assigned neighborhoods, weighed children age 5 and younger, and recruited mother-child dyads where there was an underweight child. Participating dyads were assigned in a 2:1 random sequence to the Philani intervention condition (n = 536 or a control condition (n = 252. Mentor Mothers visited dyads in the intervention condition for one year, supporting mothers' problem-solving around nutrition. All children were weighed by Mentor Mothers at baseline and three, six, nine and twelve month follow-ups. Results By three months, children in the intervention condition were five times more likely to rehabilitate (reach a healthy weight for their ages than children in the control condition. Throughout the course of the study, 43% (n = 233 of 536 of children in the intervention condition were rehabilitated while 31% (n = 78 of 252 of children in the control condition were rehabilitated. Conclusions Paraprofessional Mentor Mothers are an effective strategy for delivering home visiting programs by providing the knowledge and support necessary to change the behavior of families at risk.

A pilot randomized controlled trial of time-intensive cognitive-behaviour therapy for postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder: effects on maternal symptoms, mother-infant interactions and attachment.

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Challacombe, F L; Salkovskis, P M; Woolgar, M; Wilkinson, E L; Read, J; Acheson, R

2017-06-01

There is increasing recognition that perinatal anxiety disorders are both common and potentially serious for mother and child. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can be triggered or exacerbated in the postpartum period, with mothers reporting significant effects on parenting tasks. However, there is little evidence concerning their effective treatment or the impact of successful treatment on parenting. A total of 34 mothers with OCD and a baby of 6 months old were randomized into either time-intensive cognitive-behaviour therapy (iCBT) or treatment as usual (TAU). iCBT took place after randomization at 6 months postpartum and was completed by 9 months. Maternal symptomatology, sensitivity in mother-infant interactions and parenting were assessed at baseline and reassessed at 12 months postpartum. At 12 months attachment was also assessed using Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure. A healthy control group of mothers and infants (n = 37) underwent the same assessments as a benchmark. iCBT was successful in ameliorating maternal symptoms of OCD (controlled effect size = 1.31-1.90). However, mother-infant interactions were unchanged by treatment and remained less sensitive in both OCD groups than a healthy control group. The distribution of attachment categories was similar across both clinical groups and healthy controls with approximately 72% classified as secure in each group. iCBT is an effective intervention for postpartum OCD. Sensitive parenting interactions are affected by the presence of postpartum OCD and this is not improved by successful treatment of OCD symptoms. However, the overall attachment bond appears to be unaffected. Longitudinal studies are needed to explore the impact of postpartum OCD as the child develops.

Mothers' knowledge of foetal movements monitoring during ...

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The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge pregnant mothers have on the ... A quantitative research survey design was used to obtain information from pregnant mothers. Simple random probability sampling was used. ... Browse By Country · List All Titles · Free To Read Titles This Journal is Open Access.

Family-Based Smoking Cessation Intervention for Smoking Fathers and Nonsmoking Mothers with a Child: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

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Chan, Sophia Siu Chee; Cheung, Yee Tak Derek; Fong, Daniel Yee Tak; Emmons, Karen; Leung, Angela Yee Man; Leung, Doris Yin Ping; Lam, Tai Hing

2017-03-01

To examine whether a family-based intervention targeting both smoking fathers and nonsmoking mothers in well-child health clinics is effective in increasing fathers' abstinence from cigarette smoking. This parallel 2-arm randomized controlled trial recruited a total of 1158 families with a daily-smoking father, a nonsmoking mother, and a child aged 0-18 months from the 22 maternal and child health centers in Hong Kong. The intervention group received the family-based intervention, including 6 nurse-led individual face-to-face and telephone counseling sessions within 1 month after recruitment and a voluntary face-to-face family counseling session (FCS). The control group received a leaflet, a self-help booklet, and brief quitting advice only. Father-reported 7-day and 6-month abstinence, smoking reduction, quit attempts, mother-reported help and support, and child salivary cotinine level were assessed at 12 months. Generalized estimating equation models were used to compare these outcomes between the 2 study groups. Compared with the control group, the intervention group reported a greater prevalence of 7-day (13.7% vs 8.0%; OR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.16-3.17; P fathers' self-reported abstinence (20.2% vs 12.3%; P = .02), mothers' help (66.1% vs 43.8%; P fathers (55.0% vs 45.4%; P family-based smoking cessation intervention for the families in the well-child healthcare setting was effective in increasing the fathers' self-reported abstinence. Additional participation in the FCS increased mothers' help and support to the fathers. Controlled-trials.com: ISRCTN99111655; Hkuctr.com: HKUCTR-465. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Correlation Between Mothers' Depression and Developmental Delay in Infants Aged 6-18 Months.

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Vameghi, Roshanak; Amir Ali Akbari, Sedigheh; Sajjadi, Homeira; Sajedi, Firoozeh; Alavimajd, Hamid

2015-08-23

Regarding the importance of children's developmental status and various factors that delay their development, this study was conducted to examine the correlation between mothers' depression levels and the developmental delay in infants. This descriptive study was performed on 1053 mothers and their infants' age 6 to18 month-old in medical centers affiliated with Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in 2014-2015. The participants were selected through multi-stage random sampling. The following instruments were used in this study: A demographic and obstetric specification questionnaire, infant specification questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Ages and Stages Questionnaire to determine the status of the children's development. The data were analyzed using SPSS19 software, Mann-Whitney; independent T-test and logistic-Regression tests were used. The results showed that 491 mothers (46.7%) suffered mild to extremely severe depression. The delay in infant development was 11.8%. The Mann-Whitney test showed a correlation between mothers' depression levels and developmental delay in infants (P=0.001). Moreover, there was a significant correlation between mothers' depression and developmental delays in gross-motor and problem-solving skills (Pmothers' depression and infant development, it is recommended to screen mothers for depression in order to perform early interventions in developmental delay.

The Effects of Tonsillectomy Education Using Smartphone Text Message for Mothers and Children Undergoing Tonsillectomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

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Yang, Ji Yeon; Lee, Hanna; Zhang, Yongai; Lee, Ji Uhn; Park, Jun Hee; Yun, Eun Kyoung

2016-11-01

Tonsillectomy is the most common type of surgical procedure performed in preschool children. Due to short period of hospitalization, mothers are expected to manage their children's care at home. However, they are rarely provided with sufficient information about postoperative management. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of providing caregivers with information on tonsillectomy care by smartphone text messaging in increasing their mothers' knowledge, reducing the anxiety, and improving the sick-role behavior of pediatric tonsillectomy patients. A sample of 61 pediatric patients and their mothers was recruited. Participants were randomly assigned into either the experimental group (n = 27) or the control group (n = 34). The control group was given information about the tonsillectomy by conventional textual and verbal means, whereas the experimental group received the same information in the form of 10 text messages during the period from hospitalization to their first follow-up visits. Results of mixed design, two-way analysis of variance indicated significant interaction effects between time points and groups for mothers' knowledge (F = 4.26, p = 0.043) and children's anxiety (F = 3.32; p = 0.037). Thus, the results do support the effectiveness of tonsillectomy education using smartphone text messaging in increasing mothers' knowledge and reducing children's anxiety. These results can be applied to preoperative and postoperative interventions for children not only for tonsillectomy but also for many other operations. The development of various educational programs using smartphone text messaging for postoperative patient management would also be valuable.

The protocol of a randomized controlled trial for playgroup mothers: Reminder on Food, Relaxation, Exercise, and Support for Health (REFRESH Program

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Monteiro Sarojini MDR

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Mother's physical activity levels are relatively low, while their energy consumption is generally high resulting in 58% of Australian women over the age of 18 years being overweight or obese. This study aims to confirm if a low-cost, accessible playgroup based intervention program can improve the dietary and physical activity behaviours of mothers with young children. Methods/Design The current study is a randomized controlled trial lifestyle (nutrition and physical activity intervention for mothers with children aged between 0 to 5 years attending playgroups in Perth, Western Australia. Nine-hundred participants will be recruited and randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 450 and control (n = 450 groups. The study is based on the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT and the Transtheoretical Model (TTM, and the Precede-Proceed Framework incorporating goal setting, motivational interviewing, social support and self-efficacy. The six month intervention will include multiple strategies and resources to ensure the engagement and retention of participants. The main strategy is home based and will include a specially designed booklet with dietary and physical activity information, a muscle strength and flexibility exercise chart, a nutrition label reading shopping list and menu planner. The home based strategy will be supported by face-to-face dietary and physical activity workshops in the playgroup setting, posted and emailed bi-monthly newsletters, and monthly Short Message Service (SMS reminders via mobile phones. Participants in the control group receive no intervention materials. Outcome measures will be assessed using data that will be collected at baseline, six months and 12 months from participants in the control and intervention groups. Discussion This trial will add to the evidence base on the recruitment, retention and the impact of community based dietary and physical activity interventions for mothers with young children

A new mother-child play activity program to decrease parenting stress and improve child cognitive abilities: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

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Yoshiyuki Tachibana

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: We propose a new play activity intervention program for mothers and children. Our interdisciplinary program integrates four fields of child-related sciences: neuroscience, preschool pedagogy, developmental psychology, and child and maternal psychiatry. To determine the effect of this intervention on child and mother psychosocial problems related to parenting stress and on the children's cognitive abilities, we performed a cluster randomized controlled trial. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Participants were 238 pairs of mothers and typically developing preschool children (ages 4-6 years old from Wakakusa kindergarten in Japan. The pairs were asked to play at home for about 10 min a day, 5 days a week for 3 months. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group by class unit. The Parenting Stress Index (PSI (for mothers, the Goodenough Draw-a-Man intelligence test (DAM, and the new S-S intelligence test (NS-SIT (for children were administered prior to and 3 months after the intervention period. Pre-post changes in test scores were compared between the groups using a linear mixed-effects model analysis. The primary outcomes were the Total score on the child domain of the PSI (for child psychosocial problems related to parenting stress, Total score on the parent domain of the PSI (for maternal psychosocial problems related to parenting stress, and the score on the DAM (for child cognitive abilities. The results of the PSI suggested that the program may reduce parenting stress. The results of the cognitive tests suggested that the program may improve the children's fluid intelligence, working memory, and processing speed. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our intervention program may ameliorate the children's psychosocial problems related to parenting stress and increase their cognitive abilities. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000002265.

Efficacy of a randomized cell phone-based counseling intervention in postponing subsequent pregnancy among teen mothers.

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Katz, Kathy S; Rodan, Margaret; Milligan, Renee; Tan, Sylvia; Courtney, Lauren; Gantz, Marie; Blake, Susan M; McClain, Lenora; Davis, Maurice; Kiely, Michele; Subramanian, Siva

2011-12-01

Adolescent mothers in Washington, DC have a high rate of subsequent teen pregnancies, often within 24 months. Children of teen mothers are at risk for adverse psychosocial outcomes. When adolescents are strongly attached to parents, schools, and positive peers, they may be less likely to repeat a pregnancy. This study tested the efficacy of a counseling intervention delivered by cell phone and focused on postponing subsequent teen pregnancies by strengthening healthy relationships, reproductive practices, and positive youth assets. The objective of this study was to compare time to a repeat pregnancy between the intervention and usual care groups, and, secondarily, to determine whether treatment intensity influenced time to subsequent conception. Primiparous pregnant teens ages 15-19, were recruited in Washington, DC. Of 849 teens screened, 29.3% (n = 249) met inclusion criteria, consented to participate, and completed baseline measures. They were then randomized to the intervention (N = 124) or to usual care (N = 125). Intervention group teens received cell phones for 18 months of counseling sessions, and quarterly group sessions. Follow-up measures assessed subsequent pregnancy through 24 months post-delivery. A survival analysis compared time to subsequent conception in the two treatment groups. Additional models examined the effect of treatment intensity. By 24 months, 31% of the intervention and 36% of usual care group teens had a subsequent pregnancy. Group differences were not statistically significant in intent-to-treat analysis. Because there was variability in the degree of exposure of teens to the curriculum, a survival analysis accounting for treatment intensity was performed and a significant interaction with age was detected. Participants who were aged 15-17 years at delivery showed a significant reduction in subsequent pregnancy with increased levels of intervention exposure (P teen pregnancy. Cell phone-based approaches to counseling may not be the

Lack of viral selection in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 mother-to-child transmission with primary infection during late pregnancy and/or breastfeeding.

Science.gov (United States)

Ceballos, Ana; Andreani, Guadalupe; Ripamonti, Chiara; Dilernia, Dario; Mendez, Ramiro; Rabinovich, Roberto D; Cárdenas, Patricia Coll; Zala, Carlos; Cahn, Pedro; Scarlatti, Gabriella; Martínez Peralta, Liliana

2008-11-01

Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) as described for women with an established infection is, in most cases, associated with the transmission of few maternal variants. This study analysed virus variability in four cases of maternal primary infection occurring during pregnancy and/or breastfeeding. Estimated time of seroconversion was at 4 months of pregnancy for one woman (early seroconversion) and during the last months of pregnancy and/or breastfeeding for the remaining three (late seroconversion). The C2V3 envelope region was analysed in samples of mother-child pairs by molecular cloning and sequencing. Comparisons of nucleotide and amino acid sequences as well as phylogenetic analysis were performed. The results showed low variability in the virus population of both mother and child. Maximum-likelihood analysis showed that, in the early pregnancy seroconversion case, a minor viral variant with further evolution in the child was transmitted, which could indicate a selection event in MTCT or a stochastic event, whereas in the late seroconversion cases, the mother's and child's sequences were intermingled, which is compatible with the transmission of multiple viral variants from the mother's major population. These results could be explained by the less pronounced selective pressure exerted by the immune system in the early stages of the mother's infection, which could play a role in MTCT of HIV-1.

EFFECT OF MASSAGE AND AROMATHERAPY ON STRESS AND PROLACTIN LEVEL AMONG PRIMIPAROUS PUERPERAL MOTHERS IN SEMARANG, CENTRAL JAVA, INDONESIA

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Melyana Nurul Widyawati

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Background: Exclusive breastfeeding in Semarang during the past five years remains low. Only 20 to 64% of mothers were breastfed exclusively in 2010-2012. The incidence of postpartum blues was reported by 29.9% mothers, and mostly (56.6% was primiparous. Objective: This study aims to determine the effect of Loving Massage, aromatherapy, and a combination of Loving Massage and aromatherapy on stress levels, and changes in levels of prolactin in primiparous puerperal in Semarang. Method: A true experimental study with a randomized pretest-posttest control group design. Cluster random sampling was used to select 12 health centers from the 37 health centers in Semarang. A random assignment with a sealed envelope was performed to divide study participants into four groups; loving massage group, aromatherapy group, and a combination group of loving massage and aromatherapy, and a control group. A total of 52 primiparous puerperal mothers was involved, with 13 mothers were distributed equally in each group. Results: Loving Massage, aromatherapy, and a combination of Loving Massage and aromatherapy effectively changed mother’s stress and prolactin levels. Effectiveness of each treatment assessed from the average difference in scores before and after treatment. Combination of Loving Massage and aromatherapy had proven as the most effective treatment in reducing stress levels (11.61 ± 6.76, and increasing prolactin level (83.13 ± 6.41 ng/ml. Conclusions: Loving Massage & Aromatherapy shown to lower the levels of stress, and can increase the levels prolactin in postpartum primiparous. Therefore, it is recommended to provide Loving Massage therapy and aromatherapy to postpartum primiparous mothers.

Intrafamilial, Preferentially Mother-to-Child and Intraspousal, Helicobacter pylori Infection in Japan Determined by Mutilocus Sequence Typing and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Fingerprinting.

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Yokota, Shin-ichi; Konno, Mutsuko; Fujiwara, Shin-ichi; Toita, Nariaki; Takahashi, Michiko; Yamamoto, Soh; Ogasawara, Noriko; Shiraishi, Tsukasa

2015-10-01

The infection route of Helicobacter pylori has been recognized to be mainly intrafamilial, preferentially mother-to-child, especially in developed countries. To determine the transmission route, we examined whether multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was useful for analysis of intrafamilial infection. The possibility of intraspousal infection was also evaluated. Clonal relationships between strains derived from 35 index Japanese pediatric patients, and their family members were analyzed by two genetic typing procedures, MLST and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting. Mostly coincident results were obtained by MLST and RAPD. By MLST, the allele of loci in the isolates mostly matched between the index child and both the father and mother for 9 (25.7%) of the 35 patients, between the index child and the mother for 25 (60.0%) of the 35 patients. MLST is useful for analyzing the infection route of H. pylori as a highly reproducible method. Intrafamilial, especially mother-to-children and sibling, infection is the dominant transmission route. Intraspousal infection is also thought to occur in about a quarter in the Japanese families. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The impact of Islamic religious education on anxiety level in primipara mothers.

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Mokhtaryan, Tahereh; Yazdanpanahi, Zahra; Akbarzadeh, Marzieh; Amooee, Sedigheh; Zare, Najaf

2016-01-01

Anxiety is among the most common pregnancy complications. This study was conducted to examine the impact of religious teaching on anxiety in primiparous mothers referring to the selected perinatal clinics of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2013. This randomized clinical trial was conducted on the pregnant women in 20-28 weeks of gestation referring to the selected clinics of Tehran University of Medical Sciences from July 2013 to June 2014. The subjects were selected through simple random sampling and divided into religious education and control groups. To assess the individuals, a demographic questionnaire, an anxiety trait State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and a religious knowledge and attitude trait (pre- test and post-test and 1 or 2 months after the test) were filled in by the two groups. Training classes (religious knowledge and attitude trait) for the cases were held in 6 weeks, and the sessions lasted for 1½ h. The knowledge and attitude scores showed significant differences in the controls and cases after the intervention ( P = 0.001) and 2 months after the study ( P = 0.001). According to the results of independent t -test, a significant difference was found in the state anxiety score ( P = 0.002) and personal score ( P = 0.0197) between the two groups before the intervention; however, the results were strongly significant different after the intervention and 2 months after the study ( P ≤ 0.001). The improvement in the mothers' knowledge and attitude in religious subjects will reduce anxiety in primiparas.

Influential Factors of Puerto Rican Mother-Child Communication About Sexual Health Topics.

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Torres, Maria Idalí; Granberry, Phillip; Person, Sharina; Allison, Jeroan; Rosal, Milagros; Rustan, Sarah

2016-11-01

Introduction Latina mothers play a central role in raising and socializing their children; however, few studies have examined the cultural, socio-cognitive and neighborhood-related variables influencing the level of communication between Puerto Rican mothers and their children about sexuality and sexual health. This cross-sectional study sought to examine these influences. Methods Puerto Rican mothers with children aged 10-19 years (n = 193) were selected randomly for an ethnographic interview as part of a community participatory action research project in a U.S. urban northeastern community. Results Bivariate analyses found statistically significant associations between the child's age (p = 0.002), the mother's past communication about traditional gender role norms of women (marianismo) (p < 0.001), her positive outcome expectations for communications with her child (p < 0.025), and her perceptions of the physical condition (p < 0.001) and sexual health problems (p = 0.047) in the neighborhood. In a multivariate model, all of these variables remained significant except sexual health problems, and mother's attitudes toward the obligations of children to parents (familismo) emerged as a factor associated with a decrease in the number of sexual health topics that mothers raised with their children. No significant effects were found for mother's spiritual and religious experience (religiosidad). Discussion Our study highlights the importance of marianismo as a framework within which Puerto Rican mothers communicate sexual health information as well as the need to improve mothers' confidence discussing sexual health issues with their children. Future public health interventions to promote communication about sexuality and sexual health among Puerto Rican mothers should consider addressing this issue as a part of comprehensive neighborhood improvement projects.

Increasing Confidence and Ability in Implementing Kangaroo Mother Care Method Among Young Mothers.

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Kenanga Purbasary, Eleni; Rustina, Yeni; Budiarti, Tri

Mothers giving birth to low birth weight babies (LBWBs) have low confidence in caring for their babies because they are often still young and may lack the knowledge, experience, and ability to care for the baby. This research aims to determine the effect of education about kangaroo mother care (KMC) on the confidence and ability of young mothers to implement KMC. The research methodology used was a controlled-random experimental approach with pre- and post-test equivalent groups of 13 mothers and their LBWBs in the intervention group and 13 mothers and their LBWBs in the control group. Data were collected via an instrument measuring young mothers' confidence, the validity and reliability of which have been tested with a resulting r value of .941, and an observation sheet on KMC implementation. After conducting the education, the confidence score of young mothers and their ability to perform KMC increased meaningfully. The score of confidence of young mothers before education was 37 (p = .1555: and the ability score for KMC Implementation before education was 9 (p = .1555). The median score of confidence of young mothers after education in the intervention group was 87 and in the control group was 50 (p = .001, 95% CI 60.36-75.56), and ability median score for KMC implementation after education in the intervention group was 16 and in the control group was 12 (p = .001, 95% CI 1.50-1.88). KMC education should be conducted gradually, and it is necessary to involve the family, in order for KMC implementation to continue at home. A family visit can be done for LBWBs to evaluate the ability of the young mothers to implement KMC.

Effects of pushing techniques in birth on mother and fetus: a randomized study.

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Yildirim, Gulay; Beji, Nezihe Kizilkaya

2008-03-01

The Valsalva pushing technique is used routinely in the second stage of labor in many countries, and it is accepted as standard obstetric management in Turkey. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of pushing techniques on mother and fetus in birth in this setting. This randomized study was conducted between July 2003 and June 2004 in Bakirkoy Maternity and Children's Teaching Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. One hundred low-risk primiparas between 38 and 42 weeks' gestation, who expected a spontaneous vaginal delivery, were randomized to either a spontaneous pushing group or a Valsalva-type pushing group. Spontaneous pushing women were informed during the first stage of labor about spontaneous pushing technique (open glottis pushing while breathing out) and were supported in pushing spontaneously in the second stage of labor. Similarly, Valsalva pushing women were informed during the first stage of labor about the Valsalva pushing technique (closed glottis pushing while holding their breath) and were supported in using Valsalva pushing in the second stage of labor. Perineal tears, postpartum hemorrhage, and hemoglobin levels were evaluated in mothers; and umbilical artery pH, Po(2) (mmHg), and Pco(2) (mmHg) levels and Apgar scores at 1 and 5 minutes were evaluated in newborns in both groups. No significant differences were found between the two groups in their demographics, incidence of nonreassuring fetal surveillance patterns, or use of oxytocin. The second stage of labor and duration of the expulsion phase were significantly longer with Valsalva-type pushing. Differences in the incidence of episiotomy, perineal tears, or postpartum hemorrhage were not significant between the groups. The baby fared better with spontaneous pushing, with higher 1- and 5-minute Apgar scores, and higher umbilical cord pH and Po(2) levels. After the birth, women expressed greater satisfaction with spontaneous pushing. Educating women about the spontaneous pushing

Increasing Physical Activity in Mothers Using Video Exercise Groups and Exercise Mobile Apps: Randomized Controlled Trial.

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Mascarenhas, Maya Nina; Chan, June Maylin; Vittinghoff, Eric; Van Blarigan, Erin Lynn; Hecht, Frederick

2018-05-18

Women significantly decrease their activity levels in the transition to motherhood. Digital health technologies are low cost, scalable, and can provide an effective delivery mechanism for behavior change. This is the first study that examines the use of videoconferencing and mobile apps to create exercise groups for mothers. The aim of the study was to test the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of an individually adaptive and socially supportive physical activity intervention incorporating videoconferencing and mobile apps for mothers. The Moms Online Video Exercise Study was an 8-week, 2-armed, Web-based randomized trial comparing the effectiveness of a group exercise intervention with a waitlist control. Healthy mothers with at least 1 child under the age of 12 years were recruited through Facebook and email listservs. Intervention participants joined exercise groups using videoconferencing (Google Hangouts) every morning on weekdays and exercised together in real time, guided by exercise mobile apps (eg, Nike+, Sworkit) of their choice. Waitlist control participants had access to recommended mobile apps and an invitation to join an exercise group after the 8-week study period. Main outcomes assessed included changes in self-reported moderate, vigorous, and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) minutes per week in aggregate and stratified by whether women met Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for sufficient aerobic activity at baseline. Outcomes were measured through self-assessed Web-based questionnaires at baseline and 8 weeks. The intervention was effective at increasing exercise for inactive women and proved to be feasible and acceptable to all participants. A total of 64 women were randomized, 30 to intervention and 34 to control. Women attended 2.8 sessions per week. There was a strong, but not statistically significant, trend toward increasing moderate, vigorous, and MVPA minutes for all women. As hypothesized, in

Long-term mother and child mental health effects of a population-based infant sleep intervention: cluster-randomized, controlled trial.

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Hiscock, Harriet; Bayer, Jordana K; Hampton, Anne; Ukoumunne, Obioha C; Wake, Melissa

2008-09-01

Maternal depression is an established risk for adverse child development. Two thirds of clinically significant depressive symptoms occur in mothers reporting an infant sleep problem. We aimed to determine the long-term effects of a behavioral intervention for infant sleep problems on maternal depression and parenting style, as well as on child mental health and sleep, when the children reached 2 years of age. We conducted a cluster-randomized trial in well-child centers across 6 government areas of Melbourne, Australia. Participants included 328 mothers reporting an infant sleep problem at 7 months, drawn from a population sample (N = 739) recruited at 4 months. We compared the usual well-child care (n = 154) versus a brief behavior-modification program designed to improve infant sleep (n = 174) delivered by well-child nurses at ages 8 to 10 months and measured maternal depression symptoms (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale); parenting practices (Parent Behavior Checklist); child mental health (Child Behavior Checklist); and maternal report of a sleep problem (yes or no). At 2 years, mothers in the intervention group were less likely than control mothers to report clinical depression symptoms: 15.4% vs 26.4% (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale community cut point) and 4.2% vs 13.2% (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale clinical cut point). Neither parenting style nor child mental health differed markedly between the intervention and control groups. A total of 27.3% of children in the intervention group versus 32.6% of control children had a sleep problem. The sleep intervention in infancy resulted in sustained positive effects on maternal depression symptoms and found no evidence of longer-term adverse effects on either mothers' parenting practices or children's mental health. This intervention demonstrated the capacity of a functioning primary care system to deliver effective, universally offered secondary prevention.

Evaluating the effectiveness of selected community-level interventions on key maternal, child health, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV outcomes in three countries (the ACCLAIM Project): a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

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Woelk, Godfrey B; Kieffer, Mary Pat; Walker, Damilola; Mpofu, Daphne; Machekano, Rhoderick

2016-02-16

Efforts to scale up and improve programs for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) have focused primarily at the health facility level, and limited attention has been paid to defining an effective set of community interventions to improve demand and uptake of services and retention. Many barriers to PMTCT are also barriers to pregnancy, childbirth, and postnatal care faced by mothers regardless of HIV status. Demand for maternal and child health (MCH) and PMTCT services can be limited by critical social, cultural, and structural barriers. Yet, rigorous evaluation has shown limited evidence of effectiveness of multilevel community-wide interventions aimed at improving MCH and HIV outcomes for pregnant women living with HIV. We propose to assess the effect of a package of multilevel community interventions: a social learning and action component, community dialogues, and peer-led discussion groups, on the demand for, uptake of, and retention of HIV positive pregnant/postpartum women in MCH/PMTCT services. This study will undertake a three-arm randomized trial in Swaziland, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Districts/regions (n = 9) with 45 PMTCT-implementing health facilities and their catchment areas (populations 7,300-27,500) will be randomly allocated to three intervention arms: 1) community leader engagement, 2) community leader engagement with community days, or 3) community leader engagement with community days and male and female community peer groups. The primary study outcome is HIV exposed infants (HEIs) returning to the health facility within 2 months for early infant diagnosis (EID) of HIV. Secondary study outcomes include gestational age of women attending for first antenatal care, male partners tested for HIV, and HEIs receiving nevirapine prophylaxis at birth. Changes in community knowledge, attitudes, practices, and beliefs on MCH/PMTCT will be assessed through household surveys. Implementation of the protocol necessitated changes in the

Determinants of breastfeeding pattern among nursing mothers in Anambra State, Nigeria.

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Ukegbu, A U; Ebenebe, E U; Ukegbu, P O; Onyeonoro, U U

2011-09-01

The practice of optimal breastfeeding including exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life is still rare among nursing mothers despite numerous benefits of breastfeeding. This study was aimed at identifying the factors influencing breastfeeding pattern among nursing mothers in Anambra State, Nigeria. A cross sectional study was carried out in three comprehensive health centres of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) located at Neni, Ukpo and Nnewi communities of Anambra State. A semi structured questionnaire was interviewer administered on 228 nursing mothers consecutively selected by a systematic random sampling method as they visited the maternal and child welfare clinics. In addition, four sessions of focus group discussions (one in each centre) involving 8-10 nursing mothers were held. Most mothers 190 (83.3%) were aged between 20 and 34 years. About 152 (66.6%) had attended or completed secondary education and were mainly traders 86 (37.7%) and full time house wives 66 (29.0%). Majority 208 (91.2%) had at least good knowledge of breastfeeding. Their main source of breastfeeding education was government health facilities (80.85%). Only 85 (37.3%) breastfed exclusively. Exclusively breastfeeding was significantly associated with maternal older age, parity, delivery at government facility, positive family attitude towards exclusive breastfeeding and breastfeeding education from government health facility (p < 0.05). Focus group discussion showed that mothers believed that adequate nutrition, physical, financial and emotional support to them would increase exclusive breastfeeding practice. Exclusive breastfeeding rate was low among the mothers and the factors identified to influence its practice have important implications to breastfeeding intervention programmes. Activities to promote exclusive breastfeeding should be focused on the group of women and location in which it was poorly practiced. In addition, support to the mothers would

Effects of providing personalized feedback of child's obesity risk on mothers' food choices using a virtual reality buffet.

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McBride, C M; Persky, S; Wagner, L K; Faith, M S; Ward, D S

2013-10-01

Providing personalized genetic-risk feedback of a child's susceptibility to adult-onset health conditions is a topic of considerable debate. Family health history (FHH), specifically parental overweight/obesity status, is a useful assessment for evaluating a child's genetic and environmental risk of becoming obese. It is unclear whether such risk information may influence parents' efforts to reduce their child's risk of obesity. To evaluate whether telling mothers the magnitude of their child's risk of becoming obese based on personal FHH influenced food choices for their young child from a virtual reality-based buffet restaurant. Overweight/obese mothers of a child aged 4-5 years who met eligibility criteria (N=221) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental arms, which emphasized different health information: arm 1, food safety control (Control); arm 2, behavioral-risk information (BRI) alone or arm 3, behavioral-risk information plus personal FHH-based risk assessment (BRI+FHH). Mothers donned a head-mounted display to be immersed in a virtual restaurant buffet, where they selected virtual food and beverages as a lunch for their child. Mothers who were randomized to BRI+FHH filled the index child's plate with an average of 45 fewer calories than those in the Control arm (Prisk message (that is, only one overweight parent). The influence of communicating a child's inherited risk of obesity on mothers' feeding practices may vary by the risk level conveyed. High-risk messages may best be coupled with strategies to increase mother's perceptions that efforts can be undertaken to reduce risk and build requisite behavioral skills to reduce risk.

The synchronized trial on expectant mothers with depressive symptoms by omega-3 PUFAs (SYNCHRO): Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Nishi, Daisuke; Su, Kuan-Pin; Usuda, Kentaro; Chiang, Yi-Ju Jill; Guu, Tai-Wei; Hamazaki, Kei; Nakaya, Naoki; Sone, Toshimasa; Sano, Yo; Tachibana, Yoshiyuki; Ito, Hiroe; Isaka, Keiich; Hashimoto, Kenji; Hamazaki, Tomohito; Matsuoka, Yutaka J

2016-09-15

Maternal depression can be harmful to both mothers and their children. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) supplementation has been investigated as an alternative intervention for pregnant women with depressive symptoms because of the supporting evidence from clinical trials in major depression, the safety advantage, and its anti-inflammatory and neuroplasticity effects. This study examines the efficacy of omega-3 PUFA supplementation for pregnant women with depressive symptoms in Taiwan and Japan, to provide evidence available for Asia. The rationale and protocol of this trial are reported here. The Synchronized Trial on Expectant Mothers with Depressive Symptoms by Omega-3 PUFAs (SYNCHRO) is a multicenter, double-blind, parallel group, randomized controlled trial. Participants will be randomized to either the omega-3 PUFAs arm (1,200 mg eicosapentaenoic acid and 600 mg docosahexaenoic acid daily) or placebo arm. Primary outcome is total score on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) at 12 weeks after the start of the intervention. We will randomize 56 participants to have 90 % power to detect a 4.7-point difference in mean HAMD scores with omega-3 PUFAs compared with placebo. Because seafood consumption varies across countries and this may have a major effect on the efficacy of omega-3 PUFA supplementation, 56 participants will be recruited at each site in Taiwan and Japan, for a total number of 112 participants. Secondary outcomes include depressive symptoms at 1 month after childbirth, diagnosis of major depressive disorder, changes in omega-3 PUFAs concentrations and levels of biomarkers at baseline and at 12 weeks' follow-up, and standard obstetric outcomes. Data analyses will be by intention to treat. The trial was started in June 2014 and is scheduled to end in February 2018. The trial is expected to provide evidence that can contribute to promoting mental health among mothers and children in Asian populations. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT

Community Mothers Programme--seven year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial of non-professional intervention in parenting.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Z; Molloy, B; Scallan, E; Fitzpatrick, P; Rooney, B; Keegan, T; Byrne, P

2000-09-01

The Community Mothers Programme aims at using experienced volunteer mothers in disadvantaged areas to give support to first-time parents in rearing their children up to 1 year of age. The programme was evaluated by randomized controlled trial in 1990. Seven years later, trial participants were interviewed about child health, nutrition, cognitive stimulation, parenting skills, and maternal self-esteem. The aim of this study was to see whether the demonstrated benefits at 1 year of age of this programme could be sustained at age 8. One-third of the original group (38 intervention, 38 control), were contacted and interviewed. The risk for having an accident requiring a hospital visit was lower in the intervention group: relative risk (RR) 0.59, 95 per cent confidence interval (CI) 0.31-1.11. Intervention children were more likely to visit the library weekly: RR 1.58, 95 per cent CI 1.10-2.26. Intervention mothers were more likely to check homework every night: RR 1.23, 95 per cent CI 1.05-1.43 (p=0.006); and to disagree with the statement 'children should be smacked for persistently bad behaviour': RR 2.11, 95 per cent CI 1.10-4.06. They were more likely to disagree with the statement 'I do not have much to be proud of': RR 1.24, 95 per cent CI 1.04-1.40; and to make a positive statement about motherhood than controls: RR 1.53, 95 per cent CI 1.06-2.20. Subsequent children of intervention mothers were more likely to have completed Haemophilus influenzae b: RR 1.26, 95 per cent CI 1.06-1.51; and polio immunization: RR 1.19, 95 per cent CI 1.02-1.40. The Community Mothers programme had sustained beneficial effects on parenting skills and maternal self-esteem 7 years later with benefit extending to subsequent children.

Effect of mother-infant early skin-to-skin contact on breast feeding status: a randomized controlled trial

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahmood, I.; Jamal, M.; Khan, N.

2011-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the effect of mother-infant early skin-to-skin contact on breast feeding behavior of infants. Study Design: A randomized controlled trial. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, from November to December 2009. Methodology: Eligible mothers were assessed for the successful breast feeding by using IBFAT tool. The time to initiate the first feed, time to effective breast feeding, maternal satisfaction with the care provided, preference for the same care in future and level of exclusive breast feeding at the age of one month were also noted. The data was compared by using X2 and t-test. Significant p-value was taken as < 0.05. Results: A total of 183 mother-infant pairs (92 in skin-to-skin care [SSC] group and 91 in conventional care [CC] group) were analyzed for breast feeding behavior of the infants. The first breast feed was 26.25% more successful in SSC group (58.8% in SSC group as compared to 32.5% in CC group with p-value of 0.001). In SSC group, the mean time to initiate first breast feed was 61.6 minutes shorter than CC group (40.62 vs. 101.88; p < 0.001). Mean time to achieve effective breast feeding was 207 minutes earlier in SSC group (149.69 vs. 357.50; p < 0.001). The level of satisfaction in the mothers of SSC group was significantly high as compared to controls (56% vs. 6.2%). Similarly, 53.8% mothers of SSC group showed reference for similar care in future as compared to 5% in CC group. In SSC group 85.3% infants were exclusively breast fed at one month as compared to 65.7% in CC group (p=0.025). Conclusion: Maternal-infant early skin-to-skin contact significantly enhanced the success of first breast feed and continuation of exclusive breast feeding till one month of age. It also reduced the time to initiate first feed and time to effective breast feeding. (author)

Household Food Insecurity, Mother's Feeding Practices, and the Early Childhood's Iron Status.

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Salarkia, Nahid; Neyestani, Tirang R; Omidvar, Nasrin; Zayeri, Farid

2015-01-01

Health consequences of food insecurity among infants and toddlers have not been fully examined. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between household food insecurity, mother's infant feeding practices and iron status of 6-24 months children. In this cross-sectional study, 423 mother-child pairs were randomly selected by multistage sampling method. Children blood samples were analyzed for hemoglobin and serum ferritin concentrations. Household food security was evaluated using a validated Household Food Insecurity Access Scale. The mother's feeding practices were evaluated using Infant and Young Child Feeding practice variables including: The duration of breastfeeding and the time of introducing of complementary feeding. Based on the results, of the studied households only 47.7% were food secure. Mild and moderate-severe household food insecurity was 39.5% and 12.8%, respectively. Anemia, iron deficiency (ID), and iron deficiency anemia were seen in 29.1%, 12.2%, and 4.8% of children, respectively. There was no significant association between household food insecurity; mother's feeding practices and child ID with or without anemia. We found no association between household food insecurity and the occurrence of anemia in the 6-24 months children. However, these findings do not rule out the possibility of other micronutrient deficiencies among the food-insecure household children.

Unified communication to reach vulnerable mothers.

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Tezcan, B; Von Rege, I; Henkson, H; Oteng-Ntim, E

2011-01-01

The feasibility of using a mobile text to reach vulnerable patient groups was assessed in this study. A total of 121 pregnant or postnatal women were randomly asked to complete a questionnaire. The questionnaire was given to them in the antenatal clinic, postnatal ward, antenatal ward or in the day assessment unit at St Thomas' Hospital, London. The forms were collected and analysed using an Excel database. The results of this survey show that mobile technology is readily available for 97% of the obstetric population. In mothers from vulnerable groups and in mothers from deprived areas, 61% possessed 3rd generation mobile technology. The majority of mothers surveyed wanted their care supplemented by the use of their mobile phones.

Brief Psychotherapy for Maternal Depression: Impact on Mothers and Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Swartz, Holly A; Cyranowski, Jill M; Cheng, Yu; Zuckoff, Allan; Brent, David A; Markowitz, John C; Martin, Stacy; Amole, Marlissa C; Ritchey, Fiona; Frank, Ellen

2016-06-01

Two-generation studies demonstrate that treating maternal depression benefits school-age children. Although mothers prefer psychotherapy to medication, little is known about how psychotherapy for maternal depression affects offspring, especially in very high-risk families in which both mothers and children concurrently meet syndromal criteria for psychiatric disorders. This trial evaluated the effects of 2 brief psychotherapies for maternal depression on very high-risk families. Mothers with major depressive disorder were randomly assigned to 9 sessions of either brief interpersonal psychotherapy for mothers (IPT-MOMS; n = 85) or brief supportive psychotherapy (BSP; n = 83). Independent assessors evaluated mothers and their children, ages 7 to 18 years, diagnosed with at least 1 internalizing disorder, every 3 months over the course of 1 year. Symptoms and functioning of mothers and children improved significantly over time, with no between-group differences. However, children of mothers assigned to BSP had more outpatient mental health visits and were more likely to receive antidepressant medication. Mothers reported greater satisfaction with IPT-MOMS than BSP. Improvement in mothers' depressive symptoms was associated with improvement in child functioning in time-lagged fashion, with children improving 3 to 6 months after mothers improved. Antidepressant medication use and number of mental health visits received by children did not affect outcomes. IPT-MOMS and BSP demonstrated comparable beneficial effects on maternal depression. Children's functioning improved following maternal improvement, independent of youths' treatment. Children of mothers randomized to IPT-MOMS, compared with BSP, achieved comparable outcomes despite less follow-up treatment. Observation of lagged association between maternal improvement and change in child functioning should influence treatment planning for families. Clinical trial registration information-Psychotherapy for Depressed

A randomized controlled trial comparing Circle of Security Intervention and treatment as usual as interventions to increase attachment security in infants of mentally ill mothers: Study Protocol.

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Ramsauer, Brigitte; Lotzin, Annett; Mühlhan, Christine; Romer, Georg; Nolte, Tobias; Fonagy, Peter; Powell, Bert

2014-01-30

Psychopathology in women after childbirth represents a significant risk factor for parenting and infant mental health. Regarding child development, these infants are at increased risk for developing unfavorable attachment strategies to their mothers and for subsequent behavioral, emotional and cognitive impairments throughout childhood. To date, the specific efficacy of an early attachment-based parenting group intervention under standard clinical outpatient conditions, and the moderators and mediators that promote attachment security in infants of mentally ill mothers, have been poorly evaluated. This randomized controlled clinical trial tests whether promoting attachment security in infancy with the Circle of Security (COS) Intervention will result in a higher rate of securely attached children compared to treatment as usual (TAU). Furthermore, we will determine whether the distributions of securely attached children are moderated or mediated by variations in maternal sensitivity, mentalizing, attachment representations, and psychopathology obtained at baseline and at follow-up. We plan to recruit 80 mother-infant dyads when infants are aged 4-9 months with 40 dyads being randomized to each treatment arm. Infants and mothers will be reassessed when the children are 16-18 months of age. Methodological aspects of the study are systematic recruitment and randomization, explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria, research assessors and coders blinded to treatment allocation, advanced statistical analysis, manualized treatment protocols and assessments of treatment adherence and integrity. The aim of this clinical trial is to determine whether there are specific effects of an attachment-based intervention that promotes attachment security in infants. Additionally, we anticipate being able to utilize data on maternal and child outcome measures to obtain preliminary indications about potential moderators of the intervention and inform hypotheses about which intervention

The Effect of Kangaroo Mother Care Immediately after Delivery on Mother-infant Attachment 3 Months after Delivery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatemeh Zahra Karimi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Background  The aim of this study was determine the effect of kangaroo mother care (KMC immediately after delivery on mother-infant attachment 3-month after delivery. Materials and Methods: In this RCT study, 72 mother-infant pairs were randomly divided in to kangaroo mother care and routine care groups.The intervention group received kangaroo mother care (KMC in the first two hours post birth. The control group just received routine hospital care. Mothers in the intervention group were encouraged to keep the baby in KMC as much as possible during the day and night throughout the neonatal period. Participants were followed up for three months after birth. The Main outcome measure was mother-infant attachment at 3 months postpartum and maternal anxiety about the baby at the same time. The data was collected by questionnaire (demographic information of parents and neonates and maternal attachment scale. Analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 14. Results: There was no significant difference between two groups regarding their baseline data. Mean maternal attachment score in the KMC group and in the routine care group at three months after delivery was 52.40±3.30 and 49.86±4.18 respectively, which was significantly higher in the KMC group (P

Report from a Multi-Institutional Randomized Clinical Trial Examining Computer-Assisted Problem-Solving Skills Training for English- and Spanish-Speaking Mothers of Children with Newly Diagnosed Cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Sahler, Olle Jane Z.; Sherman, Sandra A.; Fairclough, Diane L.; Butler, Robert W.; Katz, Ernest R.; Dolgin, Michael J.; Varni, James W.; Noll, Robert B.; Phipps, Sean

2009-01-01

Objectives To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of a handheld personal digital assistant (PDA)-based supplement for maternal Problem-Solving Skills Training (PSST) and to explore Spanish-speaking mothers’ experiences with it. Methods Mothers (n = 197) of children with newly diagnosed cancer were randomized to traditional PSST or PSST + PDA 8-week programs. Participants completed the Social Problem-Solving Inventory-Revised, Beck Depression Inventory-II, Profile of Mood States, and Impact of Event Scale-Revised pre-, post-treatment, and 3 months after completion of the intervention. Mothers also rated optimism, logic, and confidence in the intervention and technology. Results Both groups demonstrated significant positive change over time on all psychosocial measures. No between-group differences emerged. Despite technological “glitches,” mothers expressed moderately high optimism, appreciation for logic, and confidence in both interventions and rated the PDA-based program favorably. Technology appealed to all Spanish-speaking mothers, with younger mothers showing greater proficiency. Conclusions Well-designed, supported technology holds promise for enhancing psychological interventions. PMID:19091804

Triple p-positive parenting program for mothers of ADHD children.

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Aghebati, Asma; Gharraee, Banafsheh; Hakim Shoshtari, Mitra; Gohari, Mahmood Reza

2014-01-01

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic, highly prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder which affects 9% of school-age children. Triple P-Positive Parenting Program is an evidence-based parenting program reported to be useful in the management of this disorder. The aim of this randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of Triple P in mothers of ADHD children. In this study, 30 mothers with ADHD children aged between 6 to 10 were randomly assigned to two groups (15 participants in each group). Parenting style, mother-child relationship, maternal depression, anxiety and stress, and children's behavioral problems were evaluated. The intervention group received 120 minute sessions for 5 weeks and 15-30 minute telephone contacts for 3 weeks while no intervention was done for the control group. Analysis of covariance revealed that mothers of the Triple P group showed significant (p parenting style, mother-child relationship, and considerable decrease in depression, anxiety and stress. Women trained in the Triple P group also reported significantly lower rates of child misbehavior than women of the control group. Triple P-Positive Parenting intervention is effective and acceptable for mothers of ADHD children. None. Clinical Trial Registration-URL: http://www.irct.ir. Unique identifier: IRCT201111288234N1.

40 CFR 761.308 - Sample selection by random number generation on any two-dimensional square grid.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 30 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Sample selection by random number... § 761.79(b)(3) § 761.308 Sample selection by random number generation on any two-dimensional square... area created in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section, select two random numbers: one each for...

Stress in Mothers of Hearing Impaired Children Compared to Mothers of Normal and Other Disabled Children

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Mahnaz Aliakbari Dehkordi

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Stress is associated with life satisfaction and also development of some physical diseases. Birth of a disabled child with mental or physical disability (especially deaf or blind children, impose an enormous load of stress on their parents especially the mothers. This study compared stress levels of mothers with hearing impaired children and mothers of normal children or with other disabilities.Methods: In this study, cluster random sampling was performed in Karaj city. 120 mothers in four groups of having a child with mental retardation, low vision, hearing impairment and with normal children were included. Family inventory of life events (FILE of Mc Cubbin et al. was used to determine stress level in four groups of mothers.Results: The results of this research indicated a significant difference (p<0.05 between stress levels of mothers with hearing impaired children and mothers of other disabled and normal children in subscales of intra-family stress, finance and business strains, stress of job transitions, stress of illness and family care and family members "in and out''. There was no difference between compared groups in other subscales.Conclusion: Since deafness is a hidden inability, the child with hearing impairment has a set of social and educational problems causing great stress for parents, especially to mother. In order to decrease mother’s stress, it is suggested to provide more family consultation, adequate social support and to run educational classes for parents to practice stress coping strategies.

Assessing exclusive breastfeeding practices, dietary intakes and body mass index (BMI) of nursing mothers in Ekiti State of Nigeria.

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Ijarotimi, Oluwole Steve

2010-06-01

Breastfeeding is an unequalled way of providing ideal food for the infants. The benefits of breastfeeding practices to infants and mothers are well documented. However, information on breastfeeding practices and its effect on body mass index (BMI) of mothers are scarce, particularly in Ekiti State of Nigeria. Therefore, the present study is designed to assess breastfeeding practices and its association with BMI of mothers. A descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted among breastfeeding mothers that attended postnatal clinic of the state specialist hospitals and maternity centers in the study location. The specialist hospital and two-third of the nine maternity centers were purposively selected because of their health facilities and personnel. The mother-child pairs (200 respondents) were randomly selected from the study locations. Information on demographic characteristic, socio-economic parameters, nutritional knowledge of breastfeeding and dietary intakes of mothers were collected using questionnaires. BMI of mothers was determined as described by World Health Organization. Age distribution of mothers was between 25-34 years; and almost half of respondents had good educational background and were engaged in different occupations. The respondent monthly income ranged between = N = 3500 - 26000 ($26.92 - $200); and their dietary intakes varied between starchy and protein-based food. The result also showed that the respondent consumed enough nutrients to meet up the recommended daily allowance for protein, carbohydrate, fat, zinc, magnesium, sodium and phosphorous requirements. The BMI classifications showed that over three-fifth of respondents were normal, while the remaining were underweight (6%) and overweight/obese (26.5%). Also, large proportion of respondents engaged in exclusive breastfeeding and with good knowledge of breastfeeding practices. Statistically, exclusive breastfeeding practices had no correlation between the BMI and frequency of

Applications of random forest feature selection for fine-scale genetic population assignment.

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Sylvester, Emma V A; Bentzen, Paul; Bradbury, Ian R; Clément, Marie; Pearce, Jon; Horne, John; Beiko, Robert G

2018-02-01

Genetic population assignment used to inform wildlife management and conservation efforts requires panels of highly informative genetic markers and sensitive assignment tests. We explored the utility of machine-learning algorithms (random forest, regularized random forest and guided regularized random forest) compared with F ST ranking for selection of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) for fine-scale population assignment. We applied these methods to an unpublished SNP data set for Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) and a published SNP data set for Alaskan Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ). In each species, we identified the minimum panel size required to obtain a self-assignment accuracy of at least 90% using each method to create panels of 50-700 markers Panels of SNPs identified using random forest-based methods performed up to 7.8 and 11.2 percentage points better than F ST -selected panels of similar size for the Atlantic salmon and Chinook salmon data, respectively. Self-assignment accuracy ≥90% was obtained with panels of 670 and 384 SNPs for each data set, respectively, a level of accuracy never reached for these species using F ST -selected panels. Our results demonstrate a role for machine-learning approaches in marker selection across large genomic data sets to improve assignment for management and conservation of exploited populations.

Delivery Practices and Associated Factors among Mothers Seeking Child Welfare Services in Selected Health Facilities in Nyandarua South District, Kenya

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Wanjira Carol

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A measure of the proportion of deliveries assisted by skilled attendants is one of the indicators of progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG 5, which aims at improving maternal health. This study aimed at establishing delivery practices and associated factors among mothers seeking child welfare services at selected health facilities in Nyandarua South district, Kenya to determine whether mothers were receiving appropriate delivery care. Methods A hospital-based cross-sectional survey among women who had recently delivered while in the study area was carried out between August and October 2009. Binary Logistic regression was used to identify factors that predicted mothers' delivery practice. Results Among the 409 mothers who participated in the study, 1170 deliveries were reported. Of all the deliveries reported, 51.8% were attended by unskilled birth attendants. Among the deliveries attended by unskilled birth attendants, 38.6% (452/1170 were by neighbors and/or relatives. Traditional Birth Attendants attended 1.5% (17/1170 of the deliveries while in 11.7% (137/1170 of the deliveries were self administered. Mothers who had unskilled birth attendance were more likely to have Conclusion Among the mothers interviewed, utilization of skilled delivery attendance services was still low with a high number of deliveries being attended by unqualified lay persons. There is need to implement cost effective and sustainable measures to improve the quality of maternal health services with an aim of promoting safe delivery and hence reducing maternal mortality.

Study on the effect of exclusive breastfeeding education on breastfeeding self-efficacy in mothers referring to affiliated hospitals of Medical Sciences Universities in Tehran during 2010-2011

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Leila Mirshekari

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Breastfeeding saves the lives of more than half a million infants in a year and cause strong emotional relationship between mother and child and their psychosocial development of personality. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of exclusive breastfeeding education on mothers' breastfeeding self-efficacy and stress. This experimental study with clinical trial has randomly selected three hospitals from hospitals affiliated to medical sciences universities of Tehran with intensive care units for premature infants, and 100 eligible nulliparous mothers were sampled during three months. Mothers are randomly classified into case and control groups (each group with 50 samples. The case group received breastfeeding education and educational booklet, but control group received no education. A month later, the samples reanswered to questionnaires. Data is collected through questionnaires and analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics, T-test, paired-t, and Chi-Square tests. The results indicate that there is a significant difference between breastfeeding self-efficacy in pre and posteducational case group, so that education has significant effect on breastfeeding self-efficacy (t=10.7, p<0.01. Breastfeeding education especially in premature infants increases the mothers' breastfeeding self-efficacy, and thus the mothers with premature infants require special breastfeeding education.

Interference-aware random beam selection for spectrum sharing systems

KAUST Repository

Abdallah, Mohamed M.

2012-09-01

Spectrum sharing systems have been introduced to alleviate the problem of spectrum scarcity by allowing secondary unlicensed networks to share the spectrum with primary licensed networks under acceptable interference levels to the primary users. In this paper, we develop interference-aware random beam selection schemes that provide enhanced throughput for the secondary link under the condition that the interference observed at the primary link is within a predetermined acceptable value. For a secondary transmitter equipped with multiple antennas, our schemes select a random beam, among a set of power- optimized orthogonal random beams, that maximizes the capacity of the secondary link while satisfying the interference constraint at the primary receiver for different levels of feedback information describing the interference level at the primary receiver. For the proposed schemes, we develop a statistical analysis for the signal-to-noise and interference ratio (SINR) statistics as well as the capacity of the secondary link. Finally, we present numerical results that study the effect of system parameters including number of beams and the maximum transmission power on the capacity of the secondary link attained using the proposed schemes. © 2012 IEEE.

The effect of cognitive-behavioral counseling on anxiety in the mothers of infants in the NICU:  A randomized controlled trial [version 1; referees: 2 approved

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Massumeh Koochaki

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Pressures and tensions in everyone’s life can cause a wide range of mental disorders such as anxiety. One of these tensions is the birth of a baby who requires special care, which can cause personal and social problems for the mother if no appropriate measures are taken to help them. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of cognitive-behavioral counseling on anxiety in the mothers of infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Methods: This randomized controlled trial recruited 90 women presenting to Kowsar Hospital in Qazvin in 2016. They were enrolled by convenience sampling and randomly assigned to control and intervention groups. Eight sessions were held for each group. Beck Anxiety Inventory was filled by mothers at the beginning of intervention, at the end of the eighth session and three weeks after the intervention. The data was analyzed by generalized estimating equations (GEE method. Results: According to the results, maternal anxiety showed no significant differences between the two groups before intervention (p = 0.408 and p = 0.881. Based on GEE test, the mean score of anxiety was significantly different in the two groups (p = 0.026 immediately and three weeks after the intervention in that it was lower in the intervention group. Friedman test results also confirmed the reducing trend of mean score of anxiety in the three stages (p = 0.000. Conclusions: Counseling has a positive effect on reducing the anxiety of mothers of children with special needs, therefore it can be used to improve their condition.

Interference-aware random beam selection for spectrum sharing systems

KAUST Repository

Abdallah, Mohamed M.; Sayed, Mostafa M.; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim; Qaraqe, Khalid A.

2012-01-01

. In this paper, we develop interference-aware random beam selection schemes that provide enhanced throughput for the secondary link under the condition that the interference observed at the primary link is within a predetermined acceptable value. For a secondary

Effect of Foot Reflexology on Milk Production in Mothers with Premature Infants

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M. Eshgizadeh

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Aims: Premature infants need breastfeeding milk in infancy in order to achieve optimal growth more than ever and not having enough milk in breast feeding, is a common problem for women who have premature infants. Reflexology massage is one of the proposed treatments to help with this issue. The current study is aimed to determine the effect of reflexology on milk production in mothers with premature infants. Materials & Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 30 mothers with premature infants admitted to Shohada Hospital in Quchan city, in 2016, were selected through convenient sampling and randomly divided into intervention and control groups. The intervention group received foot reflexology massage for 3 consecutive days for 20 minutes and the control group received routine care only. The volume of milk was measured before and 30 minutes after massage on the first and third day of the study. Data were analyzed by SPSS 22 using Chi-square, independent t-test and repeated measures analysis of variance. Findings: There was no significant difference in the mean volume of milk on the first day after reflex massage between the intervention group and the control group (p=0.79, but on the third day, there was a significant difference in the mean volume of milk after reflex massage between the intervention group and the control group (p=0.02. The difference in mean volume of milk on the third day, after intervention compared to before intervention was not significant (p=0.187. Conclusions: Reflexology massage is not effective on milk production in mothers with premature infants.

The signature of positive selection at randomly chosen loci.

OpenAIRE

Przeworski, Molly

2002-01-01

In Drosophila and humans, there are accumulating examples of loci with a significant excess of high-frequency-derived alleles or high levels of linkage disequilibrium, relative to a neutral model of a random-mating population of constant size. These are features expected after a recent selective sweep. Their prevalence suggests that positive directional selection may be widespread in both species. However, as I show here, these features do not persist long after the sweep ends: The high-frequ...

Enhancing Human Milk Production With Domperidone in Mothers of Preterm Infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Asztalos, Elizabeth V; Campbell-Yeo, Marsha; da Silva, Orlando P; Ito, Shinya; Kiss, Alex; Knoppert, David

2017-02-01

Mothers of preterm infants often are at risk of expressing an inadequate amount of milk for their infants and the use of galactogogues is often considered. Domperidone is a widely used galactogogue with little information available to guide clinicians regarding initiation, timing, and duration of treatment. Research aim: The primary objective of this study was to determine whether administration of domperidone within the first 21 days after delivery would lead to a higher proportion of mothers achieving a 50% increase in the volume of milk at the end of 14 days of treatment compared with mothers receiving placebo. Eligible mothers were randomized to one of two treatment arms: Group A-domperidone 10 mg orally three times daily for 28 days; or Group B-placebo 10 mg orally three times daily for 14 days followed by domperidone 10 mg orally three times daily for 14 days. A total of 90 mothers of infants ≤ 29 weeks gestation were randomized. Mean milk volumes at entry were similar for both groups. More mothers achieved a 50% increase in milk volume after 14 days in Group A (77.8%) compared with Group B (57.8%), odds ratio = 2.56, 95% confidence interval [1.02, 6.25], p = .04. A greater number of mothers experienced a 50% or more increase in human milk volume, but the absolute increase in milk volume was modest.

Simulated Performance Evaluation of a Selective Tracker Through Random Scenario Generation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hussain, Dil Muhammad Akbar

2006-01-01

performance assessment. Therefore, a random target motion scenario is adopted. Its implementation in particular for testing the proposed selective track splitting algorithm using Kalman filters is investigated through a number of performance parameters which gives the activity profile of the tracking scenario......  The paper presents a simulation study on the performance of a target tracker using selective track splitting filter algorithm through a random scenario implemented on a digital signal processor.  In a typical track splitting filter all the observation which fall inside a likelihood ellipse...... are used for update, however, in our proposed selective track splitting filter less number of observations are used for track update.  Much of the previous performance work [1] has been done on specific (deterministic) scenarios. One of the reasons for considering the specific scenarios, which were...

Minimization over randomly selected lines

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Ismet Sahin

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a population-based evolutionary optimization method for minimizing a given cost function. The mutation operator of this method selects randomly oriented lines in the cost function domain, constructs quadratic functions interpolating the cost function at three different points over each line, and uses extrema of the quadratics as mutated points. The crossover operator modifies each mutated point based on components of two points in population, instead of one point as is usually performed in other evolutionary algorithms. The stopping criterion of this method depends on the number of almost degenerate quadratics. We demonstrate that the proposed method with these mutation and crossover operations achieves faster and more robust convergence than the well-known Differential Evolution and Particle Swarm algorithms.

A Social Media Peer Group for Mothers To Prevent Obesity from Infancy: The Grow2Gether Randomized Trial.

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Fiks, Alexander G; Gruver, Rachel S; Bishop-Gilyard, Chanelle T; Shults, Justine; Virudachalam, Senbagam; Suh, Andrew W; Gerdes, Marsha; Kalra, Gurpreet K; DeRusso, Patricia A; Lieberman, Alexandra; Weng, Daniel; Elovitz, Michal A; Berkowitz, Robert I; Power, Thomas J

2017-10-01

Few studies have addressed obesity prevention among low-income families whose infants are at increased obesity risk. We tested a Facebook peer-group intervention for low-income mothers to foster behaviors promoting healthy infant growth. In this randomized controlled trial, 87 pregnant women (Medicaid insured, BMI ≥25 kg/m 2 ) were randomized to the Grow2Gether intervention or text message appointment reminders. Grow2Gether participants joined a private Facebook group of 9-13 women from 2 months before delivery until infant age 9 months. A psychologist facilitated groups featuring a curriculum of weekly videos addressing feeding, sleep, parenting, and maternal well-being. Feasibility was assessed using the frequency and content of participation, and acceptability using surveys. Maternal beliefs and behaviors and infant growth were assessed at birth, 2, 4, 6, and 9 months. Differences in infant growth between study arms were explored. We conducted intention-to-treat analyses using quasi-least-squares regression. Eighty-eight percent (75/85) of intervention participants (42% (36/85) food insecure, 88% (75/85) black) reported the group was helpful. Participants posted 30 times/group/week on average. At 9 months, the intervention group had significant improvement in feeding behaviors (Infant Feeding Style Questionnaire) compared to the control group (p = 0.01, effect size = 0.45). Intervention group mothers were significantly less likely to pressure infants to finish food and, at age 6 months, give cereal in the bottle. Differences were not observed for other outcomes, including maternal feeding beliefs or infant weight-for-length. A social media peer-group intervention was engaging and significantly impacted certain feeding behaviors in families with infants at high risk of obesity.

A randomized trial of motivational interviewing and facilitated contraceptive access to prevent rapid repeat pregnancy among adolescent mothers.

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Stevens, Jack; Lutz, Robyn; Osuagwu, Ngozi; Rotz, Dana; Goesling, Brian

2017-10-01

Most interventions designed to reduce teen pregnancy rates have not focused on pregnant and/or parenting adolescents. Therefore, a large randomized controlled trial was conducted regarding a motivational interviewing program entitled Teen Options to Prevent Pregnancy in a low-income sample of adolescent mothers. This program recommended monthly sessions between a participant and a registered nurse over 18 months. This program also featured facilitated birth control access through transportation assistance and a part-time contraceptive clinic. The impact of this program on rapid repeat pregnancies at 18 months after enrollment was evaluated. Five hundred ninety-eight adolescent females were enrolled from 7 obstetrics-gynecology clinics and 5 postpartum units of a large hospital system in a Midwestern city. Each participant was enrolled at least 28 weeks pregnant or less than 9 weeks postpartum. Each participant was randomized to either the Teen Options to Prevent Pregnancy intervention or a usual-care control condition. Intervention participants averaged 4.5 hours of assistance. Participants were contacted by blinded research staff at 6 and 18 months to complete self-report surveys. Differences in outcomes between the intervention and control groups were assessed using ordinary least-squares regression. There was an 18.1% absolute reduction in self-reported repeat pregnancy in the intervention group relative to the control group (20.5% vs 38.6%%; P Teen Options to Prevent Pregnancy program represents one of the few evidence-based interventions to reduce rapid repeat teen pregnancy. This relatively brief intervention may be a viable alternative to more time-intensive programs that adolescent mothers may be unable or unwilling to receive. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Selection for altruism through random drift in variable size populations

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Houchmandzadeh Bahram

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Altruistic behavior is defined as helping others at a cost to oneself and a lowered fitness. The lower fitness implies that altruists should be selected against, which is in contradiction with their widespread presence is nature. Present models of selection for altruism (kin or multilevel show that altruistic behaviors can have ‘hidden’ advantages if the ‘common good’ produced by altruists is restricted to some related or unrelated groups. These models are mostly deterministic, or assume a frequency dependent fitness. Results Evolutionary dynamics is a competition between deterministic selection pressure and stochastic events due to random sampling from one generation to the next. We show here that an altruistic allele extending the carrying capacity of the habitat can win by increasing the random drift of “selfish” alleles. In other terms, the fixation probability of altruistic genes can be higher than those of a selfish ones, even though altruists have a smaller fitness. Moreover when populations are geographically structured, the altruists advantage can be highly amplified and the fixation probability of selfish genes can tend toward zero. The above results are obtained both by numerical and analytical calculations. Analytical results are obtained in the limit of large populations. Conclusions The theory we present does not involve kin or multilevel selection, but is based on the existence of random drift in variable size populations. The model is a generalization of the original Fisher-Wright and Moran models where the carrying capacity depends on the number of altruists.

Video-feedback intervention increases sensitive parenting in ethnic minority mothers: a randomized control trial.

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Yagmur, Sengul; Mesman, Judi; Malda, Maike; Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J; Ekmekci, Hatice

2014-01-01

Using a randomized control trial design we tested the effectiveness of a culturally sensitive adaptation of the Video-feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD) in a sample of 76 Turkish minority families in the Netherlands. The VIPP-SD was adapted based on a pilot with feedback of the target mothers, resulting in the VIPP-TM (VIPP-Turkish Minorities). The sample included families with 20-47-month-old children with high levels of externalizing problems. Maternal sensitivity, nonintrusiveness, and discipline strategies were observed during pretest and posttest home visits. The VIPP-TM was effective in increasing maternal sensitivity and nonintrusiveness, but not in enhancing discipline strategies. Applying newly learned sensitivity skills in discipline situations may take more time, especially in a cultural context that favors more authoritarian strategies. We conclude that the VIPP-SD program and its video-feedback approach can be successfully applied in immigrant families with a non-Western cultural background, with demonstrated effects on parenting sensitivity and nonintrusiveness.

Do mothers affect daughter's behaviors? Diet, physical activity, and sedentary behaviors in Kuwaiti mother-daughter dyads.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaban, Lemia H; Vaccaro, Joan A; Sukhram, Shiryn D; Huffman, Fatma G

2018-01-01

The objective of the study was to evaluate 169 Kuwaiti mother-daughter dyads and their associations with health behaviors for eating healthy, engaging in physical activity, daughters perceived body weight, time spent with computer/video, and time viewing television. Female students aged 10-14 years were selected from private and public schools in the State of Kuwait. Results demonstrated that daughters exhibited similar behaviors to their mothers in their perceived eating behavior, physical activity, computer/video game use, and TV screen time. Future research is essential to determine the role of mothers in effective health behavior intervention strategies for female Kuwaiti adolescents.

Selection bias and subject refusal in a cluster-randomized controlled trial

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Rochelle Yang

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Selection bias and non-participation bias are major methodological concerns which impact external validity. Cluster-randomized controlled trials are especially prone to selection bias as it is impractical to blind clusters to their allocation into intervention or control. This study assessed the impact of selection bias in a large cluster-randomized controlled trial. Methods The Improved Cardiovascular Risk Reduction to Enhance Rural Primary Care (ICARE study examined the impact of a remote pharmacist-led intervention in twelve medical offices. To assess eligibility, a standardized form containing patient demographics and medical information was completed for each screened patient. Eligible patients were approached by the study coordinator for recruitment. Both the study coordinator and the patient were aware of the site’s allocation prior to consent. Patients who consented or declined to participate were compared across control and intervention arms for differing characteristics. Statistical significance was determined using a two-tailed, equal variance t-test and a chi-square test with adjusted Bonferroni p-values. Results were adjusted for random cluster variation. Results There were 2749 completed screening forms returned to research staff with 461 subjects who had either consented or declined participation. Patients with poorly controlled diabetes were found to be significantly more likely to decline participation in intervention sites compared to those in control sites. A higher mean diastolic blood pressure was seen in patients with uncontrolled hypertension who declined in the control sites compared to those who declined in the intervention sites. However, these findings were no longer significant after adjustment for random variation among the sites. After this adjustment, females were now found to be significantly more likely to consent than males (odds ratio = 1.41; 95% confidence interval = 1.03, 1

The Effect of Psychological Intervention on Mother-Infant Bonding and Breastfeeding

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Mamak Shariat

2017-03-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Background: The emotional bond that a mother feels towards her infant is critical to their social, emotional, and cognitive development. This concept has a major influence on an infant’s future health, and growth, so the assessment of parental-fetal attachment and related factors is of great importance. This study aimed to examine the effect of psychological intervention on attachment and persistency of lactation.Methods: This clinical trial was carried out on 71 pregnant women who visited Milad and Vali-Asr hospitals in Tehran, Iran. The subjects were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly divided into control (n=36 and intervention (n=35 groups. In the intervention group, the subjects received three sessions of supportive group psychotherapy supplemented by training packages. Avant’s mother-infant attachment behavior questionnaire, Maternal Attachment Inventory, 28-item General Health Questionnaire, and the short form of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory were used to evaluate attachment behaviors and related factors. Attachment of mothers was examined at six different times. Statistical data was analyzed using independent t-test, Fisher’s exact test.Results: The findings indicated that the intervention group had increased attachment and breastfeeding persistency (P˂0.001. Regression test also showed that maternal attachment was significantly influenced by psychological interventions, self-esteem, and depression (P˂0.001.Conclusion: According to the results, psychological interventions are suggested during pregnancy to increase attachment and breastfeeding persistency, and thereby, improve mental health of both mother and newborn.

[Food intakes in breast-feeding mothers].

Science.gov (United States)

Savino, F; Bermond, S; Bonfante, G; Gallo, E; Oggero, R

2001-06-01

The relation between mother's diet and breastmilk composition is still an open issue. Nutritional inadequacies during lactation may affect the well-being of both the mother and the infant. For this reason breast feeding women usually pay attention about their alimentary practices and about their style of life during breast-feeding period. This research was conducted to verify the adequacy of lactating mother's diet in comparison with the Italian recommended daily assumption levels of nutrients (LARN 1996) for this category. We have also compared food intake of not breast feeding mothers with the LARN, and analyzed the differences between these groups of mothers. Forty-eight healthy infants were selected, 23 bottle fed, 25 breast fed. Mothers's diet in the previous 48 hours was investigated using a structured questionnaire. The data collected were processed using software Dietosystem to obtain the daily nutrient intakes. The wetnurses's diet in comparison with the LARN 1996 resulted hypocaloric and hyperproteic, deficient in Calcium, Iron, folic acid and vitamin E. Surprisingly not breast feeding mothers's intake of nutrients is closer to LARN levels than that of breast feeding mothers. Mothers are not informed enough about their alimentation during lactating period. Pediatricians must improve their knowledge about this subject and give the mothers the information they need to achieve the recommended food requirements.

Specificity of problem-solving skills training in mothers of children newly diagnosed with cancer: results of a multisite randomized clinical trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahler, Olle Jane Z; Dolgin, Michael J; Phipps, Sean; Fairclough, Diane L; Askins, Martha A; Katz, Ernest R; Noll, Robert B; Butler, Robert W

2013-04-01

Diagnosis of cancer in a child can be extremely stressful for parents. Bright IDEAS, a problem-solving skills training (PSST) intervention, has been shown to decrease negative affectivity (anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress symptoms) in mothers of newly diagnosed patients. This study was designed to determine the specificity of PSST by examining its direct and indirect (eg, social support) effects compared with a nondirective support (NDS) intervention. This randomized clinical trial included 309 English- or Spanish-speaking mothers of children diagnosed 2 to 16 weeks before recruitment. Participants completed assessments prerandomization (T1), immediately postintervention (T2), and at 3-month follow-up (T3). Both PSST and NDS consisted of eight weekly 1-hour individual sessions. Outcomes included measures of problem-solving skill and negative affectivity. There were no significant between-group differences at baseline (T1). Except for level of problem-solving skill, which was directly taught in the PSST arm, outcome measures improved equally in both groups immediately postintervention (T2). However, at the 3-month follow-up (T3), mothers in the PSST group continued to show significant improvements in mood, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress; mothers in the NDS group showed no further significant gains. PSST is an effective and specific intervention whose beneficial effects continue to grow after the intervention ends. In contrast, NDS is an effective intervention while it is being administered, but its benefits plateau when active support is removed. Therefore, teaching coping skills at diagnosis has the potential to facilitate family resilience over the entire course of treatment.

Does the efficacy of parent-child training depend on maternal symptom improvement? Results from a randomized controlled trial on children and mothers both affected by attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Science.gov (United States)

Häge, Alexander; Alm, Barbara; Banaschewski, Tobias; Becker, Katja; Colla, Michael; Freitag, Christine; Geissler, Julia; von Gontard, Alexander; Graf, Erika; Haack-Dees, Barbara; Hänig, Susann; Hennighausen, Klaus; Hohmann, Sarah; Jacob, Christian; Jaite, Charlotte; Jennen-Steinmetz, Christine; Kappel, Viola; Matthies, Swantje; Philipsen, Alexandra; Poustka, Luise; Retz, Wolfgang; Rösler, Michael; Schneider-Momm, Katja; Sobanski, Esther; Vloet, Timo D; Warnke, Andreas; Jans, Thomas

2018-01-23

Multimodal treatment of children with ADHD often includes parent-child training (PCT). However, due to the high heritability, parents of children with ADHD are frequently also affected by the disorder, which is likely to constitute a significant barrier to successful treatment of the child. This secondary analysis of our randomized controlled multicentre AIMAC trial (ADHD in mothers and children) investigates whether children's outcomes following parent-child training in combination with maternal ADHD treatment depend on maternal symptom improvement. In a first step focusing on treatment of maternal ADHD, 144 mothers of mother-child dyads were randomized to multimodal ADHD treatment (group psychotherapy plus methylphenidate) or clinical management (mainly supportive counselling). After 12 weeks (T2), a 12-week PCT program (T2-T3) for all mother-child dyads was added to treat children's ADHD. Maternal symptomatology (CAARS-O:L; SCL-90-R) and children's externalizing symptoms (ADHD-ODD Scale, SDQ) were repeatedly assessed (T1 = baseline, T2, T3). Effects of changes in maternal symptomatology (T1-T2) on the change in children's symptom scores (T1-T3) were analysed using a general linear model, controlling for baseline scores, study centre, and maternal treatment group. 125 mother-child dyads were analysed. Mothers showed significant improvements in ADHD symptoms and overall psychopathology [CAARS-O:L ADHD index: mean - 3.54, SE 0.74 p < 0.0001; SCL-90-R Global Severity (GS): mean - 11.03, SE 3.90, p = 0.0056]. Although children's externalizing symptoms improved significantly (ADHD-ODD Scale: mean - 4.46, SE 0.58, p < 0.0001), maternal improvement had no effect on children's outcomes after Bonferroni-Holm correction for multiple testing. The findings do not support our hypothesis that children's outcomes following PCT for ADHD depend on maternal symptom improvements.Trial register CCT-ISRCTN73911400.

Daily Associations of Stress and Eating in Mother-Child Dyads.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunton, Genevieve F; Dzubur, Eldin; Huh, Jimi; Belcher, Britni R; Maher, Jaclyn P; O'Connor, Sydney; Margolin, Gayla

2017-06-01

This study used Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) in mother-child dyads to examine the day-level associations of stress and eating. Mothers and their 8- to 12-year-old children ( N = 167 dyads) completed between three (weekday) and eight (weekend) EMA survey prompts per day at random nonschool times across 8 days. EMA measured perceived stress, and past 2-hour healthy (i.e., fruit and vegetables) and unhealthy (e.g., pastries/sweets, soda/energy drinks) eating. Children reported more healthy and unhealthy eating on days when their mothers also engaged in more healthy and unhealthy eating, respectively. On days when mothers' perceived stress was greater than usual, they reported more healthy eating. Eating behaviors were coupled between mothers and children at the day level. Mothers' stress was related to their own eating but not to children's eating.

A continuous quality improvement intervention to improve the effectiveness of community health workers providing care to mothers and children: a cluster randomised controlled trial in South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Horwood, Christiane; Butler, Lisa; Barker, Pierre; Phakathi, Sifiso; Haskins, Lyn; Grant, Merridy; Mntambo, Ntokozo; Rollins, Nigel

2017-06-13

Community health workers (CHWs) play key roles in delivering health programmes in many countries worldwide. CHW programmes can improve coverage of maternal and child health services for the most disadvantaged and remote communities, leading to substantial benefits for mothers and children. However, there is limited evidence of effective mentoring and supervision approaches for CHWs. This is a cluster randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of a continuous quality improvement (CQI) intervention amongst CHWs providing home-based education and support to pregnant women and mothers. Thirty CHW supervisors were randomly allocated to intervention (n = 15) and control (n = 15) arms. Four CHWs were randomly selected from those routinely supported by each supervisor (n = 60 per arm). In the intervention arm, these four CHWs and their supervisor formed a quality improvement team. Intervention CHWs received a 2-week training in WHO Community Case Management followed by CQI mentoring for 12 months (preceded by 3 months lead-in to establish QI processes). Baseline and follow-up surveys were conducted with mothers of infants Improved training and CQI-based mentoring of CHWs can improve quantity and quality of CHW-mother interactions at household level, leading to improvements in mothers' knowledge and infant feeding practices. ClinicalTrials.Gov NCT01774136.

Heritability of menopausal age in mothers and daughters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Asselt, Kristel M.; Kok, Helen S.; Pearson, Peter L.; Dubas, Judith S.; Peeters, Petra H. M.; te Velde, Egbert R.; van Noord, Paulus A. H.

2004-01-01

Objective: To determine the heritability of age at natural menopause from mother-daughter pairs. Design: Two-generation families were selected to study heritability of menopausal age. Setting: Subjects were drawn from a population-based study. Patient(s): One hundred sixty-four mother-daughter pairs

Depression treatment for impoverished mothers by point-of-care providers: A randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Segre, Lisa S; Brock, Rebecca L; O'Hara, Michael W

2015-04-01

Depression in low-income, ethnic-minority women of childbearing age is prevalent and compromises infant and child development. Yet numerous barriers prevent treatment delivery. Listening Visits (LV), an empirically supported intervention developed for delivery by British home-visiting nurses, could address this unmet mental health need. This randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluated the effectiveness of LV delivered at a woman's usual point-of-care, including home visits or an ob-gyn office. Listening Visits were delivered to depressed pregnant women or mothers of young children by their point-of-care provider (e.g., home visitor or physician's assistant), all of whom had low levels of prior counseling experience. Three quarters of the study's participants were low-income. Of those who reported ethnicity, all identified themselves as minorities. Participants from 4 study sites (N = 66) were randomized in a 2:1 ratio, to LV or a wait-list control group (WLC). Assessments, conducted at baseline and 8 weeks, evaluated depression, quality of life, and treatment satisfaction. Depressive severity, depressive symptoms, and quality of life significantly improved among LV recipients as compared with women receiving standard social/health services. Women valued LV as evidenced by their high attendance rates and treatment satisfaction ratings. In a stepped model of depression care, LV can provide an accessible, acceptable, and effective first-line treatment option for at-risk women who otherwise are unlikely to receive treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

"Comparison of Parenting Related Stress and Depression Symptoms in Mothers of Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorders(ASD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fariba Kiani

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Backgrounds: When a child has a developmental disability, the parenthood stress can be onerous. Research on the parenting stress has addressed the parenting stress differences between children families with and without disabilities. The purpose of the current research was to examine the comparison of parenting related stress and depression symptoms in mothers of children recently diagnosed with and without autism spectrum disorders.Materials and Methods: In this semi-experimental study that was performed using both experiment and control groups, 15 mothers of children was recruited (biological mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders aged 6 years who’s diagnosed were made less than 5 months prior to study and was compared with 15 mothers of children without autism spectrum disorders were selected with using of available sampling method and randomly were replaced into two experimental and control groups. Parents completed a packet of questionnaire measuring demographics, parenting stress and depression. Data were analyzed using of descriptive statistics, t-test method. Results: Results of t tests showed significant differences between the two groups for two variables (p

Care demands on mothers caring for a child with Down syndrome: Malaysian (Sarawak) mothers' perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Kim Geok; Lim, Khatijah Abdullah; Ling, How Kee

2015-10-01

This paper examines the experiences of mothers caring for a child with Down syndrome in the Malaysian (Sarawak) context. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 26 biological mothers of children with Down syndrome aged 18 years and below. They were accessed through selected child health clinics, community-based rehabilitation centres and schools using purposive sampling within two regions in Sarawak, one of the two Borneo States of Malaysia. Major themes emerging within the context of care demands were children's health, developmental delays, daily needs and behaviour issues. The insights obtained into the care demands experienced by mothers of children with Down syndrome have several implications for practice by care professionals. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Interference-aware random beam selection schemes for spectrum sharing systems

KAUST Repository

Abdallah, Mohamed; Qaraqe, Khalid; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2012-01-01

users. In this work, we develop interference-aware random beam selection schemes that provide enhanced performance for the secondary network under the condition that the interference observed by the receivers of the primary network is below a

An Exploration of Jamaican Mothers' Perceptions of Closeness and Intimacy in the Mother-Child Relationship during Middle Childhood.

Science.gov (United States)

Burke, Taniesha; Kuczynski, Leon; Perren, Sonja

2017-01-01

Research on Jamaican mother-child relationships has had a limited focus on authoritarian parenting styles and selected discipline practices such as corporal punishment. This study examined Jamaican mothers' experiences of closeness and connectedness with their children to provide a holistic perspective on Jamaican-parent-child relationships. Thirty mothers (17 middle class and 13 lower class) living in Kingston and St. Andrew, Jamaica, participated in a 1-h to 1.5-h semi-structured, open-ended interview regarding their 8- to 12-year-old children. Thematic analyses indicated that mothers experienced closeness through intimate interactions (e.g., shared projects, shared physical affection, mutuality, and child self-disclosure) and parent-child nurturance. Both mothers and children were active in creating contexts for closeness. Mothers also reported experiences that temporarily damaged their connection with their children. The findings suggest that the construct of parent-child intimacy may be useful in teasing out the psychological meanings and interpersonal processes of parent-child relatedness in cultural research.

Marital Conflict Predicts Mother-to-Infant Adrenocortical Transmission.

Science.gov (United States)

Hibel, Leah C; Mercado, Evelyn

2017-12-21

Employing an experimental design, mother-to-infant transmission of stress was examined. Mothers (N = 117) were randomized to either have a positive or conflictual discussion with their marital partners, after which infants (age = 6 months) participated in a fear and frustration task. Saliva samples were collected to assess maternal cortisol responses to the discussion and infant cortisol responses to the challenge task. Results indicate maternal cortisol reactivity and recovery to the conflict (but not positive) discussion predicted infant cortisol reactivity to the infant challenge. Mothers' positive affect during the discussion buffered, and intrusion during the free-play potentiated, mother-to-infant adrenocortical transmission. These findings advance our understanding of the social and contextual regulation of adrenocortical activity in early childhood. © 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Children of Deviants: A Fifteen Year Follow-Up Study of Children of Schizophrenic Mothers, Welfare Mothers, Matched Controls and Random Urban Families.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Dorothy; And Others

How does a psychotic mother affect the emotional development of her child? Studies have found that mental illness in the family and intra-family conflict are important concomitants of neurosis, but most studies have failed to link the child's experiences with a mentally ill mother clearly with later development of a similar mental illness. Our own…

Knowledge and belief of nursing mothers on nutritional ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study was designed to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of nursing mothers with respect to food restriction during acute diarrhoea in Ibadan, South West Nigeria. This single round cross-sectional study adopted a purposive sampling procedure to select 250 nursing mothers aged between 17 and 45 ...

Improving uptake and engagement with child body image interventions delivered to mothers: Understanding mother and daughter preferences for intervention content.

Science.gov (United States)

Garbett, Kirsty M; Diedrichs, Phillippa C

2016-12-01

Mothers are a key influence on adolescent girls' body image. This study aimed to improve understanding of mothers' and daughters' preferences for content in body image interventions designed to assist mothers to promote positive body image among their daughters. British mother-daughter dyads (N=190) viewed descriptions of five evidence-based influences on body image (family, friends, and relationships; appearance-based teasing; media and celebrities; appearance conversations; body acceptance and care). Mothers and daughters each selected the two most important influences to learn about in these interventions. Overall, both mothers and daughters most frequently opted for family, friends, and relationships and body acceptance and care, whereas media and celebrities was their least preferred topic. While the overall sample of mothers and daughters agreed on preferences, Fisher's exact tests showed that within-dyad agreement was low. Recommendations for improving parent and child engagement with, and effectiveness of, child body image interventions delivered to parents are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effectiveness of the Quality of Life Therapy on Parental Stress and its Dimensions among Mothers with Intellectually Disabled Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

صدیقه آقائی

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to examine the effectiveness of quality of life therapy on reducing parental stress and its dimensions among mothers who have children with intellectual disability. The research was designed as semi-experimental pretest-posttest with a control group. The statistical population was all mothers who had school children with intellectual disability in Semirom town. The statistical sample contained 30 mothers with intellectually disabled children who were voluntary selected. They were randomly assigned in experimental (15 mothers and control (15 mothers groups. While the control group was in waiting list, the experimental group received eight 90-minutes sessions of quality of life therapy. The measurement was the short form of Parental Stress Questionnaire (Abedin, 1983. Both groups were evaluated in pre-test and post-test. Collected data were analyzed by descriptive (means and standard deviations and inferential statistic (multivariate covariate analysis methods. The results showed that the scores of control group in posttest parental stress was higher in comparison to experimental group. As regard to the results it can be said that the quality of life therapy training is significantly effective on improving parental stress and its dimensions among mothers with Intellectually Disabled Children.

The Role of Mother in Informing Girls About Puberty: A Meta-Analysis Study

Science.gov (United States)

Sooki, Zahra; Shariati, Mohammad; Chaman, Reza; Khosravi, Ahmad; Effatpanah, Mohammad; Keramat, Afsaneh

2016-01-01

Context Family, especially the mother, has the most important role in the education, transformation of information, and health behaviors of girls in order for them to have a healthy transition from the critical stage of puberty, but there are different views in this regard. Objectives Considering the various findings about the source of information about puberty, a meta-analysis study was conducted to investigate the extent of the mother’s role in informing girls about puberty. Data Sources This meta-analysis study was based on English articles published from 2000 to February 2015 in the Scopus, PubMed, and Science direct databases and on Persian articles in the SID, Magiran, and Iran Medex databases with determined key words and their MeSH equivalent. Study Selection Quantitative cross-sectional articles were extracted by two independent researchers and finally 46 articles were selected based on inclusion criteria. STROBE list were used for evaluation of studies. Data Extraction The percent of mothers as the current and preferred source of gaining information about the process of puberty, menarche, and menstruation from the perspective of adolescent girls was extracted from the articles. The results of studies were analyzed using meta-analysis (random effects model) and the studies’ heterogeneity was analyzed using the I2 calculation index. Variance between studies was analyzed using tau squared (Tau2) and review manager 5 software. Results The results showed that, from the perspective of teenage girls in Iran and other countries, in 56% of cases, the mother was the current source of information about the process of puberty, menarche, and menstruation. The preferred source of information about the process of puberty, menarche, and menstruation was the mother in all studies at 60% (Iran 57%, and other countries 66%). Conclusions According to the findings of this study, it is essential that health professionals and officials of the ministry of health train

Continuous-Time Mean-Variance Portfolio Selection with Random Horizon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Zhiyong

2013-01-01

This paper examines the continuous-time mean-variance optimal portfolio selection problem with random market parameters and random time horizon. Treating this problem as a linearly constrained stochastic linear-quadratic optimal control problem, I explicitly derive the efficient portfolios and efficient frontier in closed forms based on the solutions of two backward stochastic differential equations. Some related issues such as a minimum variance portfolio and a mutual fund theorem are also addressed. All the results are markedly different from those in the problem with deterministic exit time. A key part of my analysis involves proving the global solvability of a stochastic Riccati equation, which is interesting in its own right

Continuous-Time Mean-Variance Portfolio Selection with Random Horizon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu, Zhiyong, E-mail: yuzhiyong@sdu.edu.cn [Shandong University, School of Mathematics (China)

2013-12-15

This paper examines the continuous-time mean-variance optimal portfolio selection problem with random market parameters and random time horizon. Treating this problem as a linearly constrained stochastic linear-quadratic optimal control problem, I explicitly derive the efficient portfolios and efficient frontier in closed forms based on the solutions of two backward stochastic differential equations. Some related issues such as a minimum variance portfolio and a mutual fund theorem are also addressed. All the results are markedly different from those in the problem with deterministic exit time. A key part of my analysis involves proving the global solvability of a stochastic Riccati equation, which is interesting in its own right.

The effects of selection on low mortality and brooding by a mother hen on open-field response, feather pecking and cannibalism in laying hens

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rodenburg, T.B.; Uitdehaag, K.A.; Ellen, E.D.; Komen, J.

2009-01-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of selection on low mortality in combination with brooding by a mother hen on open-field response at 5-6 weeks of age and on plumage and body condition at 42 weeks of age. Birds in the experiment were either selected for low mortality in

Mothers' night work and children's behavior problems.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunifon, Rachel; Kalil, Ariel; Crosby, Danielle A; Su, Jessica Houston

2013-10-01

Many mothers work in jobs with nonstandard schedules (i.e., schedules that involve work outside of the traditional 9-5, Monday through Friday schedule); this is particularly true for economically disadvantaged mothers. In the present article, we used longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Survey (n = 2,367 mothers of children ages 3-5 years) to examine the associations between maternal nonstandard work and children's behavior problems, with a particular focus on mothers' night shift work. We employed 3 analytic strategies with various approaches to adjusting for observed and unobserved selection factors; these approaches provided an upper and lower bound on the true relationship between night shift work and children's behavior. Taken together, the results provide suggestive evidence for modest associations between exposure to maternal night shift work and higher levels of aggressive and anxious or depressed behavior in children compared with children whose mothers who are not working, those whose mothers work other types of nonstandard shifts, and, for aggressive behavior, those whose mothers work standard shifts.

Use of Videoconferencing for Lactation Consultation: An Online Cross-Sectional Survey of Mothers' Acceptance in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Habibi, Mona F; Springer, Cary M; Spence, Marsha L; Hansen-Petrik, Melissa B; Kavanagh, Katherine F

2018-05-01

Suboptimal breastfeeding duration and exclusivity rates are a public health concern. Therefore, there is a need for identifying effective tools for use in interventions targeting specific barriers to optimal breastfeeding outcomes. Research aim: This study aimed to assess the relationship between acceptance of remote lactation consultation using videoconferencing and (a) maternal demographic factors, (b) technology acceptance subscales, (c) maternal learning style preferences, and (d) other potentially explanatory maternal factors. This was a cross-sectional, online study. English-speaking mothers of at least 18 years of age, with an infant age 4 months or younger, and who reported initiating breastfeeding were eligible to participate. Mothers were recruited from 27 randomly selected states. One hundred one mothers completed the survey, resulting in a response rate of 71%. The main outcome was acceptance of videoconferencing use for lactation consultation. No significant differences were found in acceptance by maternal demographic factors or learning style preferences. Acceptance was significantly related to perceived ease of use ( r = .680, p acceptance of videoconferencing for lactation consultation ( r = .432, p model ( R 2 = .616, p acceptance, maternal age was inversely related. This sample of mothers indicated general acceptance of videoconferencing for lactation consultation, with younger mothers and those perceiving it to be more useful demonstrating greater acceptance.

TEHRAN AIR POLLUTANTS PREDICTION BASED ON RANDOM FOREST FEATURE SELECTION METHOD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Shamsoddini

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Air pollution as one of the most serious forms of environmental pollutions poses huge threat to human life. Air pollution leads to environmental instability, and has harmful and undesirable effects on the environment. Modern prediction methods of the pollutant concentration are able to improve decision making and provide appropriate solutions. This study examines the performance of the Random Forest feature selection in combination with multiple-linear regression and Multilayer Perceptron Artificial Neural Networks methods, in order to achieve an efficient model to estimate carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and PM2.5 contents in the air. The results indicated that Artificial Neural Networks fed by the attributes selected by Random Forest feature selection method performed more accurate than other models for the modeling of all pollutants. The estimation accuracy of sulfur dioxide emissions was lower than the other air contaminants whereas the nitrogen dioxide was predicted more accurate than the other pollutants.

Tehran Air Pollutants Prediction Based on Random Forest Feature Selection Method

Science.gov (United States)

Shamsoddini, A.; Aboodi, M. R.; Karami, J.

2017-09-01

Air pollution as one of the most serious forms of environmental pollutions poses huge threat to human life. Air pollution leads to environmental instability, and has harmful and undesirable effects on the environment. Modern prediction methods of the pollutant concentration are able to improve decision making and provide appropriate solutions. This study examines the performance of the Random Forest feature selection in combination with multiple-linear regression and Multilayer Perceptron Artificial Neural Networks methods, in order to achieve an efficient model to estimate carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and PM2.5 contents in the air. The results indicated that Artificial Neural Networks fed by the attributes selected by Random Forest feature selection method performed more accurate than other models for the modeling of all pollutants. The estimation accuracy of sulfur dioxide emissions was lower than the other air contaminants whereas the nitrogen dioxide was predicted more accurate than the other pollutants.

Combining magnetic sorting of mother cells and fluctuation tests to analyze genome instability during mitotic cell aging in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Science.gov (United States)

Patterson, Melissa N; Maxwell, Patrick H

2014-10-16

Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been an excellent model system for examining mechanisms and consequences of genome instability. Information gained from this yeast model is relevant to many organisms, including humans, since DNA repair and DNA damage response factors are well conserved across diverse species. However, S. cerevisiae has not yet been used to fully address whether the rate of accumulating mutations changes with increasing replicative (mitotic) age due to technical constraints. For instance, measurements of yeast replicative lifespan through micromanipulation involve very small populations of cells, which prohibit detection of rare mutations. Genetic methods to enrich for mother cells in populations by inducing death of daughter cells have been developed, but population sizes are still limited by the frequency with which random mutations that compromise the selection systems occur. The current protocol takes advantage of magnetic sorting of surface-labeled yeast mother cells to obtain large enough populations of aging mother cells to quantify rare mutations through phenotypic selections. Mutation rates, measured through fluctuation tests, and mutation frequencies are first established for young cells and used to predict the frequency of mutations in mother cells of various replicative ages. Mutation frequencies are then determined for sorted mother cells, and the age of the mother cells is determined using flow cytometry by staining with a fluorescent reagent that detects bud scars formed on their cell surfaces during cell division. Comparison of predicted mutation frequencies based on the number of cell divisions to the frequencies experimentally observed for mother cells of a given replicative age can then identify whether there are age-related changes in the rate of accumulating mutations. Variations of this basic protocol provide the means to investigate the influence of alterations in specific gene functions or specific environmental conditions on

Mothers' knowledge of domestic accident prevention involving children in Baghdad City.

Science.gov (United States)

Lafta, Riyadh K; Al-Shatari, Sahar A; Abass, Seba

2013-01-01

Accidental injuries are the most common cause of death in children over the age of one. Every year, millions of children are permanently disabled or disfigured because of accidents. To assess the level of knowledge of women with respect to children's domestic accidents, and to determine its association with some demographic factors. This cross-sectional study was conducted in both sides of Baghdad City during the period from April through to August 2013. The targeted population were women attending the primary health care centers (PHCCs). A random sample of 20 PHCCs was taken through a stratified random sampling technique by dividing Baghdad City into its two main parts Karkh and Russafa. Ten centers were then chosen from each sector by a simple random sampling technique. A well-structured questionnaire was developed that constituted of questions on four main types of accidents involving children (poisoning by chemicals and detergents, electric shock, injuries from sharp instruments in the kitchen, and burns). The total number of women enrolled in this study was 1032 aged from 15-50 years. The results revealed that only 9.2% of the mothers acquired a good level of knowledge in prevention of injuries from chemicals and detergents, and more than 90% were found to have poor knowledge. The same was found regarding knowledge about preventing electrical accidents caused by power sockets and electrical appliances where only 10.2% of the mothers were found to have a good level of knowledge. The results were not much better regarding accidents caused by fire, only 11.6% of the mothers scored well. With respect to dealing with accidents caused by sharp instruments in the kitchen, only 6.3% of the mothers obtained a score that indicated a good level of knowledge. Older mothers were statistically found to have a better level of knowledge than younger mothers. Higher educated mothers' were statistically associated with a lower level of knowledge in accident prevention. Mothers

Selected Childrearing Tasks and Problems of Mothers and Fathers

Science.gov (United States)

Bartz, Karen W.

1978-01-01

Interviews with parents at two stages of the family life cycle provide comparable data on some tasks and problems of parenting. Differences in involvement and perception of problems are identified between mothers and fathers and parents in school-age and teen-age stages. Implications are drawn for parent education programs. (Author)

Peruvian mothers' knowledge and recognition of pneumonia in children under 5 years of age

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cesar Augusto Gálvez

2002-02-01

Full Text Available Objective. To assess Peruvian mothers' knowledge and recognition of pneumonia in children under 5 years of age, the mothers' attitude toward seeking medical help if they had a child with signs of pneumonia, and their perception of a Government of Peru pneumonia campaign. Methods. In this cross-sectional study, 501 mothers were selected randomly from 20 low-income communities of the metropolitan area of Lima, Peru, and were interviewed between June and August 2000. Using SPSS software, descriptive statistics were applied to summarize the demographic data and the data regarding the mothers' knowledge of pneumonia and recognition of signs of the disease. Cross-tabulations and chi-squares were done to assess relationships between variables and to make comparisons. Results. About 84% of the mothers said that they knew what pneumonia is. Most believed that pneumonia is dangerous. A majority (58.7% indicated that pneumonia is caused by lack of parental care. Only 28.9% believed that a virus causes the disease. More than 80% correctly picked rapid breathing and/or chest retraction from a list of possible signs and symptoms of pneumonia, and 94.6% said they were ready to take their child to the closest health center if they thought their child had pneumonia. Although 57.1% said they had heard about the Government of Peru pneumonia campaign, 69.3% of these mothers said they could not recall the motto of the campaign. Mothers who reported having heard of the campaign through TV were more likely than other mothers to correctly recognize the two major signs of pneumonia presented in the campaign. Conclusions. Although the percentage of mothers believing they can recognize pneumonia through rapid breathing and chest retraction seems to have increased in recent years, there is still a sizable percentage of mothers who remain uninformed about pneumonia and its possible fatal consequences. Efforts need to continue to educate Peruvian mothers about the causes

Hebbian Learning in a Random Network Captures Selectivity Properties of the Prefrontal Cortex

Science.gov (United States)

Lindsay, Grace W.

2017-01-01

Complex cognitive behaviors, such as context-switching and rule-following, are thought to be supported by the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Neural activity in the PFC must thus be specialized to specific tasks while retaining flexibility. Nonlinear “mixed” selectivity is an important neurophysiological trait for enabling complex and context-dependent behaviors. Here we investigate (1) the extent to which the PFC exhibits computationally relevant properties, such as mixed selectivity, and (2) how such properties could arise via circuit mechanisms. We show that PFC cells recorded from male and female rhesus macaques during a complex task show a moderate level of specialization and structure that is not replicated by a model wherein cells receive random feedforward inputs. While random connectivity can be effective at generating mixed selectivity, the data show significantly more mixed selectivity than predicted by a model with otherwise matched parameters. A simple Hebbian learning rule applied to the random connectivity, however, increases mixed selectivity and enables the model to match the data more accurately. To explain how learning achieves this, we provide analysis along with a clear geometric interpretation of the impact of learning on selectivity. After learning, the model also matches the data on measures of noise, response density, clustering, and the distribution of selectivities. Of two styles of Hebbian learning tested, the simpler and more biologically plausible option better matches the data. These modeling results provide clues about how neural properties important for cognition can arise in a circuit and make clear experimental predictions regarding how various measures of selectivity would evolve during animal training. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The prefrontal cortex is a brain region believed to support the ability of animals to engage in complex behavior. How neurons in this area respond to stimuli—and in particular, to combinations of stimuli (�

Existential Meaning Among First-Time Full-Term and Preterm Mothers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prinds, Christina; Hvidtjørn, Dorte; Mogensen, Ole

2014-01-01

Research indicates that childbirth is a time when a woman might experience existential disruptions and gain new perspectives on life. The 2-fold aim of this study was to investigate whether attitudes related to existential meaning among first-time mothers intensify and whether they differ between...... mothers who gave birth at full term and those who gave birth preterm. All first-time mothers who gave birth in Denmark in 2010 before the 32nd week of pregnancy and twice that number of full-term mothers (randomly sampled) were invited to participate in a national cross-sectional survey. Five core items...... concerning meaning in life, vulnerability of life, responsibility, thoughts about life and death, and "something bigger than oneself" were analyzed to compare mothers' attitudes on existential meaning. The overall response rate was 57% (517/913). Contrary to the hypothesis, attitudes related to existential...

Performance Evaluation of User Selection Protocols in Random Networks with Energy Harvesting and Hardware Impairments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tan Nhat Nguyen

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we evaluate performances of various user selection protocols under impact of hardware impairments. In the considered protocols, a Base Station (BS selects one of available Users (US to serve, while the remaining USs harvest the energy from the Radio Frequency (RF transmitted by the BS. We assume that all of the US randomly appear around the BS. In the Random Selection Protocol (RAN, the BS randomly selects a US to transmit the data. In the second proposed protocol, named Minimum Distance Protocol (MIND, the US that is nearest to the BS will be chosen. In the Optimal Selection Protocol (OPT, the US providing the highest channel gain between itself and the BS will be served. For performance evaluation, we derive exact and asymptotic closed-form expressions of average Outage Probability (OP over Rayleigh fading channels. We also consider average harvested energy per a US. Finally, Monte-Carlo simulations are then performed to verify the theoretical results.

Selective organ specific inflammation in offspring harbouring microchimerism from strongly alloreactive mothers.

Science.gov (United States)

Leveque, Lucie; Hodgson, Samantha; Peyton, Stephen; Koyama, Motoko; MacDonald, Kelli P A; Khosrotehrani, Kiarash

2014-05-01

The origins of autoimmunity are not yet understood despite significant advances in immunology. The trafficking of maternal cells to the offspring represents the very first immunological event in foetal life and is reinforced during lactation. The persistence of maternal cells in offspring's tissues and circulation has been associated with several autoimmune disorders. However a direct causal effect has never been demonstrated. Maternal T cells specifically targeting foetal insulin producing cells have been shown to generate islet inflammation without directly participating in this process. Our objective was to evaluate if alloreactive maternal cells could directly trigger a graft-versus host like reaction or indirectly influence the development of the offspring's regulatory T cells favouring autoimmunity. We adopted a breeding strategy comparing genetically identical offspring from either strongly alloreactive transgenic mothers compared to immunodeficient mothers. We detected maternal alloreactive T cells in the offspring and early signs of inflammation in small intestine of 6 weeks old offspring. Interestingly, CD4(+) Foxp3(+) regulatory T cell frequency was diminished in mesenteric lymph nodes from eight months old offspring born of alloreactive mothers compared to offspring of immunodeficient mothers. Our study favours a hypothesis where highly alloreactive maternal cell microchimerism indirectly predisposes offspring to autoimmunity. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mothers' perceptions of community health professional support.

Science.gov (United States)

Maunders, Helena; Giles, David; Douglas, Hazel

2007-04-01

This qualitative study aimed to explore mothers' experiences of the support they received from community health professionals. Every third mother was selected from an NHS Trust's database of women whose health visitors had used the Solihull Approach. Forty-two women were sent information packs and consent forms. Nine mothers who returned consent forms were interviewed. The interview transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The results expand on previous research and contribute additional ideas to the existing evidence base. The findings explore the concepts of trust, expertise and understanding within the working partnership. In addition, the results address mothers' need for reliability, and a preference for professionals who understood women's beliefs about what it means to be a 'good mother'. The results and recommendations are pertinent to those community health professionals who work in the area of early childhood intervention, including practitioners who use the Solihull Approach.

The reliability of randomly selected final year pharmacy students in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Employing ANOVA, factorial experimental analysis, and the theory of error, reliability studies were conducted on the assessment of the drug product chloroquine phosphate tablets. The G–Study employed equal numbers of the factors for uniform control, and involved three analysts (randomly selected final year Pharmacy ...

Random selection of items. Selection of n1 samples among N items composing a stratum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaech, J.L.; Lemaire, R.J.

1987-02-01

STR-224 provides generalized procedures to determine required sample sizes, for instance in the course of a Physical Inventory Verification at Bulk Handling Facilities. The present report describes procedures to generate random numbers and select groups of items to be verified in a given stratum through each of the measurement methods involved in the verification. (author). 3 refs

Knowledge and behavior of mothers about the way of suckling their babies

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Titi S. Sularyo

2006-10-01

Full Text Available Background A good and proper knowledge and behavior of mothers as to how they breast-feed their young is supposed to enhance the health of the community. Objective To find out the knowledge and behavior of mothers of under-fives about the technique of nursing and its related factors. Methods The study was perionned from September 20 to October 15, 1999 at Kelurahan Pisangan Baru, East Jakarta. The respondents were 101 mothers owning under-fives, attained by the multi-stage cluster random sampling method. Questionnaires were used and observation was made only on mothers who were suckling their child during the interview. Results Mother's knowledge about the way of suckling was found unsatisfactory in 46.5% although 51.5% of mothers revealed a good behavior. Statistical analysis showed no significant relationships between factors such as age, educational level, occupation, family income and mother's activity with mother's knowledge and behavior about the way of nursing their child. Conclusions There was no significant relationship between mother's knowledge and behavior about breastfeeding. Other factors beyond this studied factors should be taken into account.

Mother and newborn baby: mutual regulation of physiology and behavior--a selective review.

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Winberg, Jan

2005-11-01

This article reviews 30 years of work demonstrating that interactions between mother and newborn infant in the period just after birth influence the physiology and behavior of both. Close body contact of the infant with his/her mother helps regulate the newborn's temperature, energy conservation, acid-base balance, adjustment of respiration, crying, and nursing behaviors. Similarly, the baby may regulate--i.e., increase--the mother's attention to his/her needs, the initiation and maintenance of breastfeeding, and the efficiency of her energy economy through vagus activation and a surge of gastrointestinal tract hormone release resulting in better exploitation of ingested calories. The effects of some of these changes can be detected months later. Parallels to animal research and possible mechanisms are discussed.

Pediatric-based intervention to motivate mothers to seek follow-up for depression screens: The Motivating Our Mothers (MOM) trial.

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Fernandez y Garcia, Erik; Joseph, Jill; Wilson, Machelle D; Hinton, Ladson; Simon, Gregory; Ludman, Evette; Scott, Fiona; Kravitz, Richard L

2015-01-01

To determine the initial effectiveness of a novel, pediatric office-based intervention in motivating mothers to seek further assessment of positive depression screens. In this pilot randomized controlled trial, English-speaking mothers (n = 104) with positive 2-question depression screens and presenting with children 0 to 12 years old for well-child care to a general pediatric training clinic received interventions from a trained research assistant. The Motivating Our Mothers (MOM) intervention included office-based written and verbal targeted depression education and motivational messages encouraging further depression assessment and a semistructured telephone booster delivered 2 days later. The control intervention included nontargeted written and verbal messages and 2 days later, an attention control telephone survey. Both groups received a list of depression care resources. The primary outcome was the proportion of mothers in each group who reported trying to contact any of 6 types of resources to discuss the positive screen at 2 weeks after intervention (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01453790). Despite 6 contact attempts, 10 MOM and 9 control mothers were lost to follow-up. More mothers in the MOM intervention tried to contact a resource compared to control (73.8% vs 53.5%, difference 20.3%, 95% confidence interval for difference -0.1 to 38.5, P = .052). Mothers receiving the MOM intervention made more attempts to contact a resource for follow-up of positive depression screens. If found effective in larger studies, MOM may prove a promising approach for motivating depression screen-positive mothers identified in general pediatric settings within and beyond the postpartum period to seek further depression assessment and support. Copyright © 2015 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Breastfeeding knowledge and practice of mothers with infants less ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding is the ideal for infants in the first six months, however the practice is low. The role of mothers' knowledge of breastfeeding on practise is not clear.This study was designed to assess knowledge and practice of nursing mothers concerning breastfeeding in the selected Local Government ...

Effectiveness of a Web-Based Tailored Intervention With Virtual Assistants Promoting the Acceptability of HPV Vaccination Among Mothers of Invited Girls: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Pot, Mirjam; Paulussen, Theo Gwm; Ruiter, Robert Ac; Eekhout, Iris; de Melker, Hester E; Spoelstra, Maxine Ea; van Keulen, Hilde M

2017-09-06

In 2010, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination was introduced in the Dutch National Immunization Program for 12-year-old girls, aiming to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer in women. HPV vaccination uptake turned out to be lower than expected: 61% versus 70%, respectively. Mothers were shown to play the most important role in the immunization decision about this vaccination. They had also expressed their need for interactive personal information about the HPV vaccination over and above the existing universal general information. To improve the effectiveness of the existing education about the HPV vaccination, we systematically developed a Web-based tailored intervention with virtual assistants providing mothers of girls to be invited with tailored feedback on their decision making about the HPV vaccination. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Web-based tailored intervention for promoting HPV vaccination acceptance by means of a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Mothers were recruited via the Dutch vaccination register (Praeventis) (n=36,000) and three Web-based panels (n=2483). Those who gave informed consent (N=8062) were randomly assigned to the control (n=4067) or intervention condition (n=3995). HPV vaccination uptake, as registered by Praeventis once the HPV vaccination round was completed, was used as the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were differential scores across conditions between baseline (before the provided access to the new tailored intervention) and follow-up (just before the first vaccination) regarding the mothers' degree of informed decision making (IDM), decisional conflict, and critical determinants of HPV vaccination uptake among which are intention, attitude, risk perception, and outcome beliefs. Intention-to-treat analysis (N=8062) showed a significant positive effect of the intervention on IDM, decisional conflict, and nearly all determinants of HPV vaccination uptake (Padmin/rctview.asp?TC=4935

The effect of problem-focused coping strategy training on psychological symptoms of mothers of children with down syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Pourmohamadreza-Tajrishi, Masoume; Azadfallah, Parviz; Hemmati Garakani, Sahel; Bakhshi, Enayatollah

2015-02-01

Anxiety is one of the most common reactions that parents show while understanding their children's intellectual disability due to Down syndrome. Anxiety leads parents not to develop appropriate relations with their children, subsequently their psychological health are at risk. The present study was aimed to determine the effect of problem-focused coping strategy training on psychological symptoms of mothers with Down child. This was an experimental study with pretest and posttest design with case and control group. Sixty-four mothers were selected randomly from Iranian Down Syndrome Charity Society. They completed Symptoms Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). They were assigned to experimental and control groups in equal. Experimental group participated in 12 training sessions (once a week; 60 minutes for each session) and received problem-focused coping strategy program, but control group did not. After 12(th) session, all subjects completed SCL-90-R again. Analysis of covariance was used for analyzing the data. There was a significant difference (Pstrategy-training program led to improve family's perception towards the child and subsequently promote of mental health of mothers with Down children.

Nine centuries waiting: The experiences of Iranians surrogacy commissioning mothers.

Science.gov (United States)

Zandi, Mitra; Vanaki, Zohreh; Shiva, Marziyeh; Mohammadi, Eesa

2014-05-01

There are a few studies about commissioning mothers' understanding from the surrogacy during 9 months of waiting for delivery in Iran and other countries. This study was conducted with an aim to explore and explain the nature of concerns (experiences) of commissioning mothers. A qualitative design with a conventional content analysis approach was used to gather and analyze the experiences of commissioning mothers. They were selected from Royan Research Centre and other infertility centers in Iran. After purposive sampling for the selection of the participants, unstructured interviews were held for data collection. Twenty-four unstructured interviews were conducted with 12 commissioning mothers, 2 surrogate mothers, and 2 infertility center social workers who directly and continuously dealt with these mothers. TWO MAIN THEMES EMERGED FROM THE DATA ANALYSIS: 1. cultural dilemma (consisting of three subthemes: Social taboo, concerns about disclosure to others and the child, concerns about altering maternal and child's identity, and 2. uncertain waiting (consisting of three subthemes: Concerns about health of fetus and surrogate, concerns about an unfamiliar surrogate, and concerns about lack of preparation for maternal role). The study reveals the importance of maternal emotional care in this group and introduces a new arena for nurses' activity. These findings help the mothers by nurses' activities in health care clinics and anywhere they deliver nursing care.

The mathematics of random mutation and natural selection for multiple simultaneous selection pressures and the evolution of antimicrobial drug resistance.

Science.gov (United States)

Kleinman, Alan

2016-12-20

The random mutation and natural selection phenomenon act in a mathematically predictable behavior, which when understood leads to approaches to reduce and prevent the failure of the use of these selection pressures when treating infections and cancers. The underlying principle to impair the random mutation and natural selection phenomenon is to use combination therapy, which forces the population to evolve to multiple selection pressures simultaneously that invoke the multiplication rule of probabilities simultaneously as well. Recently, it has been seen that combination therapy for the treatment of malaria has failed to prevent the emergence of drug-resistant variants. Using this empirical example and the principles of probability theory, the derivation of the equations describing this treatment failure is carried out. These equations give guidance as to how to use combination therapy for the treatment of cancers and infectious diseases and prevent the emergence of drug resistance. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Aging mothers' and their adult daughters' perceptions of conflict behaviors.

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Fingerman, K L

1995-12-01

Aging parents tend to perceive greater compatibility between themselves and offspring than do off-spring, but there is little research examining differences in perceptions of conflicts. Ninety-six older mothers (M age = 76) and their daughters (M age = 44) together selected a conflictual incident, then individually rated the degree to which they and the other person had engaged in destructive, constructive, or avoidant conflict behaviors. Mothers and daughters reported using constructive approaches more than other approaches. Mothers claimed to engage in constructive behaviors more than daughters recognized. Daughters reported engaging in destructive and avoidant behaviors more than mothers realized. Mothers also thought daughters felt better about the incident than daughters reported feeling about it. Findings suggest older mothers' underestimate daughters' negative behaviors and feelings in conflict situations.

A Bayesian random effects discrete-choice model for resource selection: Population-level selection inference

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Thomas, D.L.; Johnson, D.; Griffith, B.

2006-01-01

Modeling the probability of use of land units characterized by discrete and continuous measures, we present a Bayesian random-effects model to assess resource selection. This model provides simultaneous estimation of both individual- and population-level selection. Deviance information criterion (DIC), a Bayesian alternative to AIC that is sample-size specific, is used for model selection. Aerial radiolocation data from 76 adult female caribou (Rangifer tarandus) and calf pairs during 1 year on an Arctic coastal plain calving ground were used to illustrate models and assess population-level selection of landscape attributes, as well as individual heterogeneity of selection. Landscape attributes included elevation, NDVI (a measure of forage greenness), and land cover-type classification. Results from the first of a 2-stage model-selection procedure indicated that there is substantial heterogeneity among cow-calf pairs with respect to selection of the landscape attributes. In the second stage, selection of models with heterogeneity included indicated that at the population-level, NDVI and land cover class were significant attributes for selection of different landscapes by pairs on the calving ground. Population-level selection coefficients indicate that the pairs generally select landscapes with higher levels of NDVI, but the relationship is quadratic. The highest rate of selection occurs at values of NDVI less than the maximum observed. Results for land cover-class selections coefficients indicate that wet sedge, moist sedge, herbaceous tussock tundra, and shrub tussock tundra are selected at approximately the same rate, while alpine and sparsely vegetated landscapes are selected at a lower rate. Furthermore, the variability in selection by individual caribou for moist sedge and sparsely vegetated landscapes is large relative to the variability in selection of other land cover types. The example analysis illustrates that, while sometimes computationally intense, a

Impact of media health campaign for primary health care among mothers in karachi

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Habibullah, S.

2008-01-01

To evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice of media-based primary health care (i.e. Expanded Programme of Immunization, National Polio Day, oral rehydration therapy, breast feeding, contraceptive practices, modes of spread of hepatitis B, C, and HIV) among mothers with children under five years of age in an urban and a rural area of Karachi and changes in the same after community-based health education The study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase 600 mothers with children under five years of age were selected at random (300 urban and 300 rural) for the evaluation of knowledge, attitude and practice of media-based primary health care i.e. Expanded Programme of Immunization, National Polio Day, oral rehydration therapy, breast feeding, contraceptive practices and modes of spread of Hepatitis B, C and HIV. In the second phase, health education on the same components of primary health care was given by lady health workers of the area to the same community for one month. Data of 200 mothers (100 urban and 100 rural) was re-evaluated after three months, to find out if there was any change, in the same. All the three areas were given scores and grade. In this study, 58% were Sindhi speaking. The mean age of mothers was 29 years. Majority (91% urban and 45% rural mothers) had access to one or more media channels. The knowledge of media-based primary health care was poor (score=10.09) among all mothers but attitude (score=8.07) and practice (score=11.09) was good for the same in more than 70% mothers in both communities. In the second phase of the study, it was found that the knowledge of primary health care had not improved but attitude and practice was good as observed earlier in both communities. Despite the national media based health education of Primary Health Care for decades, knowledge of primary health care was poor among mothers (urban and rural) but attitude and practice was good. Age and exposure to one or more media channels was found

Predictive factors of mother-child communication patterns in the mothers referred to Khorramabad Shahid Madani hospital in 2012

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khatereh Anbari

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Background : The quality of mother-child relationship play an important role in personality shaping, social functioning and mental health of children in the future . This study was designed to evaluate the prognostic factors of mother - child relationship patterns.   Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional study 110 mothers admitted to children's hospital of Khorramabad selected by consecutive sampling method. Data gathering tool was Mother - Child Relationship Evaluation (MCRE questionnaire. At first the view points of the mothers about four communication patterns including: over protection, child rejection, overneglignce and child acceptance were examined, then according to each pattern cut off, the type of communication pattern was determined. Fisher's exact test and linear regression were used for data analysis.   Results: The mean age of participants was 28.6±6.46. Communication pattern in 66.4% of the mothers was over protection and 19.1% of them had overneglence pattern. Also communication pattern in 12.8% of the participants was child acceptance and 1.8% followed from child rejectoin communication pattern. A significant statistical relation was seen between age, education level, marital status, mothers residence and pregnancy status with the pattern of their relationship (P <0.05. In linear regression analysis, most important factors in predicting the communication pattern were single parent and unplanned pregnancy.   Conclusion: Raising awareness of mothers through workshops can increase proper child skills and led to the development of social skills and reducing child behavior problems in the future.

[Depression Symptoms of Mothers and Fathers of Persons with Schizophrenia].

Science.gov (United States)

Alexandrowicz, Rainer W; König, Daniel; Unger, Annemarie; Klug, Günter; Soulier, Nathalie; Freidl, Marion; Friedrich, Fabian

2016-05-01

The purpose of the present study was to investigate if depression symptomatology of patients' parents is predicted by the symptoms of schizophrenia. 101 mothers and 101 fathers of the same patients suffering from schizophrenia were included into this study. Parents filled in the "Beck Depression Inventory". Patients were assessed by means of the "Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale". For statistical analyses a Multidimensional Random Coefficients Multinomial Logit Model was applied. We found a significant positive association between negative symptoms and depression severity of fathers and mothers. Further, a significant positive association between positive symptoms and depression severity of fathers, but not of mothers was found. Our results show that depression of mothers and of fathers is associated with symptoms of schizophrenia even when controlling for potential predictors. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

The signature of positive selection at randomly chosen loci.

Science.gov (United States)

Przeworski, Molly

2002-03-01

In Drosophila and humans, there are accumulating examples of loci with a significant excess of high-frequency-derived alleles or high levels of linkage disequilibrium, relative to a neutral model of a random-mating population of constant size. These are features expected after a recent selective sweep. Their prevalence suggests that positive directional selection may be widespread in both species. However, as I show here, these features do not persist long after the sweep ends: The high-frequency alleles drift to fixation and no longer contribute to polymorphism, while linkage disequilibrium is broken down by recombination. As a result, loci chosen without independent evidence of recent selection are not expected to exhibit either of these features, even if they have been affected by numerous sweeps in their genealogical history. How then can we explain the patterns in the data? One possibility is population structure, with unequal sampling from different subpopulations. Alternatively, positive selection may not operate as is commonly modeled. In particular, the rate of fixation of advantageous mutations may have increased in the recent past.

Paraprofessional-delivered home-visiting intervention for American Indian teen mothers and children: 3-year outcomes from a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Barlow, Allison; Mullany, Britta; Neault, Nicole; Goklish, Novalene; Billy, Trudy; Hastings, Ranelda; Lorenzo, Sherilynn; Kee, Crystal; Lake, Kristin; Redmond, Cleve; Carter, Alice; Walkup, John T

2015-02-01

The Affordable Care Act provides funding for home-visiting programs to reduce health care disparities, despite limited evidence that existing programs can overcome implementation and evaluation challenges with at-risk populations. The authors report 36-month outcomes of the paraprofessional-delivered Family Spirit home-visiting intervention for American Indian teen mothers and children. Expectant American Indian teens (N=322, mean age=18.1 years) from four southwestern reservation communities were randomly assigned to the Family Spirit intervention plus optimized standard care or optimized standard care alone. Maternal and child outcomes were evaluated at 28 and 36 weeks gestation and 2, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months postpartum. At baseline the mothers had high rates of substance use (>84%), depressive symptoms (>32%), dropping out of school (>57%), and residential instability (51%). Study retention was ≥83%. From pregnancy to 36 months postpartum, mothers in the intervention group had significantly greater parenting knowledge (effect size=0.42) and parental locus of control (effect size=0.17), fewer depressive symptoms (effect size=0.16) and externalizing problems (effect size=0.14), and lower past month use of marijuana (odds ratio=0.65) and illegal drugs (odds ratio=0.67). Children in the intervention group had fewer externalizing (effect size=0.23), internalizing (effect size=0.23), and dysregulation (effect size=0.27) problems. The paraprofessional home-visiting intervention promoted effective parenting, reduced maternal risks, and improved child developmental outcomes in the U.S. population subgroup with the fewest resources and highest behavioral health disparities. The methods and results can inform federal efforts to disseminate and sustain evidence-based home-visiting interventions in at-risk populations.

Does mothers' employment affect adolescents' weight and activity levels? Improving our empirical estimates.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Molly A; Lippert, Adam M; Chandler, Kelly D; Lemmon, Megan

2018-04-01

Women's lives are marked by complex work and family routines - routines that have implications for their children's health. Prior research suggests a link between mothers' work hours and their children's weight, but few studies investigate the child health implications of increasingly common work arrangements, such as telecommuting and flexible work schedules. We examine whether changes in mothers' work arrangements are associated with changes in adolescents' weight, physical activity, and sedentary behavior using longitudinal data and fixed effects models to better account for mothers' social selection in to different work arrangements and children's underlying preferences. With data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health ( N = 10,518), we find that changes in mothers' work arrangements are not significantly associated with adolescents' weight gain or physical activity but are significantly associated with adolescents' sedentary behavior. Adolescents' sedentary behavior declines when mothers become more available after school and increases when mothers work more hours or become unemployed. In sum, after accounting for unobserved, stable traits, including mothers' selection into jobs with more or less flexibility, mothers' work arrangements are most strongly associated with adolescents' sedentary behavior.

Selection of Mother Wavelet Functions for Multi-Channel EEG Signal Analysis during a Working Memory Task

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Noor Kamal Al-Qazzaz

2015-11-01

Full Text Available We performed a comparative study to select the efficient mother wavelet (MWT basis functions that optimally represent the signal characteristics of the electrical activity of the human brain during a working memory (WM task recorded through electro-encephalography (EEG. Nineteen EEG electrodes were placed on the scalp following the 10–20 system. These electrodes were then grouped into five recording regions corresponding to the scalp area of the cerebral cortex. Sixty-second WM task data were recorded from ten control subjects. Forty-five MWT basis functions from orthogonal families were investigated. These functions included Daubechies (db1–db20, Symlets (sym1–sym20, and Coiflets (coif1–coif5. Using ANOVA, we determined the MWT basis functions with the most significant differences in the ability of the five scalp regions to maximize their cross-correlation with the EEG signals. The best results were obtained using “sym9” across the five scalp regions. Therefore, the most compatible MWT with the EEG signals should be selected to achieve wavelet denoising, decomposition, reconstruction, and sub-band feature extraction. This study provides a reference of the selection of efficient MWT basis functions.

Determination of Mother Centriole Maturation in CPAP-Depleted Cells Using the Ninein Antibody

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Miseon Lee

2015-03-01

Full Text Available BackgroundMutations in centrosomal protein genes have been identified in a number of genetic diseases in brain development, including microcephaly. Centrosomal P4.1-associated protein (CPAP is one of the causal genes implicated in primary microcephaly. We previously proposed that CPAP is essential for mother centriole maturation during mitosis.MethodsWe immunostained CPAP-depleted cells using the ninein antibody, which selectively detects subdistal appendages in mature mother centrioles.ResultsNinein signals were significantly impaired in CPAP-depleted cells.ConclusionThe results suggest that CPAP is required for mother centriole maturation in mammalian cells. The selective absence of centriolar appendages in young mother centrioles may be responsible for asymmetric spindle pole formation in CPAP-depleted cells.

Transport of compounds from mother to foetus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bowen, B.M.; Garnett, E.S.; Perrier, D.G.; Prestwich, W.

1992-06-01

This study reviews the literature and investigates the transport of selected radiopharmaceuticals from the mother to the foetus and the distribution of these radiopharmaceuticals in both animals and man. This search emphasizes the placental transport of the drugs from the mother to the foetus and the development of pharmacokinetic models that could describe this transport. An outline of the distribution and/or transport of several radio-pharmaceuticals is presented followed by a description of the factors that regulate the transport of the radiopharmaceuticals from the mother to the foetus. Pharmacokinetic models were designed on the available information in the open literature. The limitation of the literature is discussed and suggestions for future experimental investigation are made

Differential privacy-based evaporative cooling feature selection and classification with relief-F and random forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Le, Trang T; Simmons, W Kyle; Misaki, Masaya; Bodurka, Jerzy; White, Bill C; Savitz, Jonathan; McKinney, Brett A

2017-09-15

Classification of individuals into disease or clinical categories from high-dimensional biological data with low prediction error is an important challenge of statistical learning in bioinformatics. Feature selection can improve classification accuracy but must be incorporated carefully into cross-validation to avoid overfitting. Recently, feature selection methods based on differential privacy, such as differentially private random forests and reusable holdout sets, have been proposed. However, for domains such as bioinformatics, where the number of features is much larger than the number of observations p≫n , these differential privacy methods are susceptible to overfitting. We introduce private Evaporative Cooling, a stochastic privacy-preserving machine learning algorithm that uses Relief-F for feature selection and random forest for privacy preserving classification that also prevents overfitting. We relate the privacy-preserving threshold mechanism to a thermodynamic Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, where the temperature represents the privacy threshold. We use the thermal statistical physics concept of Evaporative Cooling of atomic gases to perform backward stepwise privacy-preserving feature selection. On simulated data with main effects and statistical interactions, we compare accuracies on holdout and validation sets for three privacy-preserving methods: the reusable holdout, reusable holdout with random forest, and private Evaporative Cooling, which uses Relief-F feature selection and random forest classification. In simulations where interactions exist between attributes, private Evaporative Cooling provides higher classification accuracy without overfitting based on an independent validation set. In simulations without interactions, thresholdout with random forest and private Evaporative Cooling give comparable accuracies. We also apply these privacy methods to human brain resting-state fMRI data from a study of major depressive disorder. Code

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COMBINATION OF OXYTOCIN AND ENDORPHIN MASSAGE ON UTERINE INVOLUTION IN PRIMIPAROUS MOTHERS

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Nurmala Sari

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Background: One of the puerperal complication is uterine subinvolution that can cause bleeding to maternal death. Oxytocin massage can stimulate oxytocin hormone that plays a role in the process of uterine involution. Endorphine massage can increase the release of oxytocin and endorphine hormone that give a sense of calm and comfort. It also increases production of oxytocin hormone that can improve the process of uterine involution. Objective: To prove the effectiveness of a combination of oxytocin massage and endorphine massage to uterine involution in primiparaous mothers during postpartum period. Methods: This was a quasy-experimental study with pretest-posttest with control group design. Total samples were 44 normal postpartum mothers selected using purposive sampling technique, which were randomly assigned in four groups, namely: 1 oxytocin massage group, 2 endorphin massage group, 3 combined oxytocin-endorphin massage group, and 4 control group. The data were analyzed using univariate, bivariate and One Way Anova to test the effectiveness of the intervention. Results: There were statistically significant differences of fundal height before and after intervention among the four groups (p=<0.05. Conclusion: The combination of oxytocin massage and endorphine massage proved most effective in accelerating uterine involution in normal postpartum mothers.

Comparing Health Literacy in High School Female Students and Their Mothers Regarding Women’s Health

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Marzieh Saeedi Koupai

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Methods: the present study is descriptive-analytical with comparative type and the statistical population included 200 secondary female school students and their mothers who were randomly selected. The tool to collect data was a two-part researcher-made questionnaire the first part whereof involved demographic information and the second part includes 41 questions of health literacy about women’s health in 5 aspects of menstruation hygiene, nutrition, breast self-examination, body activity, iron deficiency anemia. Reliability and validity of the questionnaire were confirmed and the data were analyzed via SPSS22 software. Results: there was not observed any significant difference in three aspects of menstruation hygiene, nutrition and breast self-examination between mean scores of two female groups and their mothers according to Mann-Whitney instability test (p>0.05; however, there was a significant difference in the aspects of body activities and iron deficiency anomia (p<0.05. Conclusion: taking the results of the study, high school female students under study and their mothers have average healthy literacy level regarding women’s health. Therefore, considering the fact that the girls receive greatest education in the field of women’s hygiene from their mothers in the adolescence, the necessity of diagnosing limiters of health literacy in the society and specific attention to the mothers’ teaching and including curriculum of health literacy for female students are advised to promote health. Paper Type: Research Article.

Nine centuries waiting: The experiences of Iranians surrogacy commissioning mothers

Science.gov (United States)

Zandi, Mitra; Vanaki, Zohreh; Shiva, Marziyeh; Mohammadi, Eesa

2014-01-01

Background: There are a few studies about commissioning mothers’ understanding from the surrogacy during 9 months of waiting for delivery in Iran and other countries. This study was conducted with an aim to explore and explain the nature of concerns (experiences) of commissioning mothers. Materials and Methods: A qualitative design with a conventional content analysis approach was used to gather and analyze the experiences of commissioning mothers. They were selected from Royan Research Centre and other infertility centers in Iran. After purposive sampling for the selection of the participants, unstructured interviews were held for data collection. Twenty-four unstructured interviews were conducted with 12 commissioning mothers, 2 surrogate mothers, and 2 infertility center social workers who directly and continuously dealt with these mothers. Results: Two main themes emerged from the data analysis: 1. cultural dilemma (consisting of three subthemes: Social taboo, concerns about disclosure to others and the child, concerns about altering maternal and child's identity, and 2. uncertain waiting (consisting of three subthemes: Concerns about health of fetus and surrogate, concerns about an unfamiliar surrogate, and concerns about lack of preparation for maternal role). Conclusions: The study reveals the importance of maternal emotional care in this group and introduces a new arena for nurses’ activity. These findings help the mothers by nurses’ activities in health care clinics and anywhere they deliver nursing care. PMID:24949058

Low Prevalence of Vitamin D Insufficiency among Nepalese Infants Despite High Prevalence of Vitamin D Insufficiency among Their Mothers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johanne Haugen

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Describing vitamin D status and its predictors in various populations is important in order to target public health measures. Objectives: To describe the status and predictors of vitamin D status in healthy Nepalese mothers and infants. Methods: 500 randomly selected Nepalese mother and infant pairs were included in a cross-sectional study. Plasma 25(OHD concentrations were measured by LC-MS/MS and multiple linear regression analyses were used to identify predictors of vitamin D status. Results: Among the infants, the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency (25(OHD <50 nmol/L and deficiency (<30 nmol/L were 3.6% and 0.6%, respectively, in contrast to 59.8% and 14.0% among their mothers. Infant 25(OHD concentrations were negatively associated with infant age and positively associated with maternal vitamin D status and body mass index (BMI, explaining 22% of the variability in 25(OHD concentration. Global solar radiation, maternal age and BMI predicted maternal 25(OHD concentration, explaining 9.7% of its variability. Conclusion: Age and maternal vitamin D status are the main predictors of vitamin D status in infants in Bhaktapur, Nepal, who have adequate vitamin D status despite poor vitamin D status in their mothers.

Maternity Leave and Mothers' Long-Term Sickness Absence: Evidence From West Germany.

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Guertzgen, Nicole; Hank, Karsten

2018-04-01

Exploiting unique German administrative data, we estimate the association between an expansion in maternity leave duration from two to six months in 1979 and mothers' postbirth long-term sickness absence over a period of three decades after childbirth. Adopting a difference-in-difference approach, we first assess the reform's labor market effects and, subsequently, prebirth and postbirth maternal long-term sickness absence, accounting for the potential role of the reform in mothers' selection into employment. Consistent with previous research, our estimates show that the leave extension caused mothers to significantly delay their return to work within the first year after childbirth. We then provide difference-in-difference estimates for the number and length of spells of long-term sickness absence among returned mothers. Our findings suggest that among those returned, mothers subject to the leave extension exhibit a higher incidence of long-term sickness absence compared with mothers who gave birth before the reform. This also holds true after we control for observable differences in prebirth illness histories. At the same time, we find no pronounced effects on mothers' medium-run labor market attachment following the short-run delay in return to work, which might rationalize a negative causal health effect. Breaking down the results by mothers' prebirth health status suggests that the higher incidence of long-term sickness absence among mothers subject to the reform may be explained by the fact that the reform facilitated the reentry of a negative health selection into the labor market.

Mothers' guilt responses to children's obesity risk feedback.

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Persky, Susan; McBride, Colleen M; Faith, Myles S; Wagner, Laura K; Ward, Dianne S

2015-05-01

This study explored the influence of family health history-based obesity risk feedback for their child on 147 overweight mothers' guilt related to children's lifestyle behaviors and passing down a genetic propensity for overweight. Mothers were randomized to receive, or not, obesity risk feedback for their 4- to 5-year-old child and then made food choices for them using a virtual reality-based buffet. Receipt of risk information increased lifestyle- and genetics-related guilt. Choosing fewer unhealthful foods for the child attenuated both types of guilt. Work in this area may aid in development of obesity risk feedback strategies that enhance child feeding. © The Author(s) 2015.

Interference-aware random beam selection schemes for spectrum sharing systems

KAUST Repository

Abdallah, Mohamed

2012-10-19

Spectrum sharing systems have been recently introduced to alleviate the problem of spectrum scarcity by allowing secondary unlicensed networks to share the spectrum with primary licensed networks under acceptable interference levels to the primary users. In this work, we develop interference-aware random beam selection schemes that provide enhanced performance for the secondary network under the condition that the interference observed by the receivers of the primary network is below a predetermined/acceptable value. We consider a secondary link composed of a transmitter equipped with multiple antennas and a single-antenna receiver sharing the same spectrum with a primary link composed of a single-antenna transmitter and a single-antenna receiver. The proposed schemes select a beam, among a set of power-optimized random beams, that maximizes the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of the secondary link while satisfying the primary interference constraint for different levels of feedback information describing the interference level at the primary receiver. For the proposed schemes, we develop a statistical analysis for the SINR statistics as well as the capacity and bit error rate (BER) of the secondary link.

Effect of an Empowerment Program on Self-Efficacy of Epileptic Child's Mothers in Psychological Adaptation, Gaining Support and Receiving Information

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S. Gholami

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Aims: Epilepsy is one of the most prevalent childhood neurological disorders. As the primary caregivers, the mothers of epileptic children undergo different psychological pressures. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of empowerment on the self-efficacy of the mothers of the epileptic children, concerning psychological adaptation, gaining support, and receiving information. Materials & Methods: In the controlled two-group random clinical trial with pretest and posttest steps, 100 mothers of epileptic children hospitalized in the Neurology Ward of Ghaem Hospital of Mashhad were studied in 2014. The subjects, selected via convenience sampling method, were randomly divided into two groups including experimental (n=50 and control (n=50 groups. Data was collected using the caregiver’s self-efficacy questionnaire. Only experimental group received the empowerment program, and no intervention was conducted in control group. The mothers’ self-efficacy was measured before and after the intervention in both groups. Data was analyzed by SPSS 11.5 software using independent T, paired T, Chi-square, Fisher’s exact, and covariance tests. Findings: The mean scores of self-efficacy, including psychological adjustment, gain a support, and receiving information, were not significantly different between the groups before the intervention (p>0.05. Nevertheless, the groups were significantly different after the intervention (p<0.001. In addition, the mean score after the intervention in experimental group was significantly higher than the score in the same group before the intervention (p<0.001. Conclusion: The empowerment program enhances the self-efficacy of the mothers of the epileptic children in psychological adjustment, gain a support, and receiving information.

The Impact of Educating Mothers in Choice Theory on their Children Student's Aggression in Primary level in the City of Hamadan

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Leila Cheggen

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of teaching the choice theory on mothers on the depression of their offspring during the elementary period of the city of Hamedan. The present study was a semiexperimental and design used in the research, pre-test, post-test with control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all mothers of elementary school students who were enrolled in a boys' primary school in Hamedan District in the academic year of 2017-18. After three months of student behavior observation, examination of their cases, interview with the teacher, a sample of 30 mothers was selected using purposeful sampling. Subjects were randomly assigned into two groups of 15 subjects. The tool was used in the study of the Volger's Formula Aggression Questionnaire. The hypotheses of this research are: 1- Educating mothers in choice theory affects the degree of aggression (verbal-invasive dimension of children. 2- Educating mothers in choice theory affects the degree of aggression (physical-invasive dimension of children. 3 - Educating mothers in choice theory affects the degree of aggression (relational dimension of children. 4 - Educating mothers in choice theory affects the degree of aggression (impulsive dimension of children. The findings of this study showed that the learning method of choice theory to mothers affects the level of aggression in their children (p <0.01. And the verbal, physical and relational aggression in the sample group reduced significantly following educating mothers in choice theory. Therefore, considering the findings of the effectiveness of teaching the choice theory to mothers of the sample group, on the reduction of children aggression, this intervention is an effective method in the correction of parent-child relationship and it seems to be necessary, if it used in order to improve the child raising and prevent Children's behavioral issues and their compatibility.

Mother Daughter Relationships: From Infancy to Adulthood. Unit for Child Studies Selected Papers Number 15.

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Phillips, Shelley

Topics related to characteristics of mother/daughter relationships in contemporary patriarchal societies are discussed in this seminar paper. The first section describes cases intended to illustrate ways patriarchal social structures limit contemporary mother/daughter relationships, provides a brief historical contrast, and suggests possible…

Does Mother Tongue Interfere in Second Language Learning?

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Elif Nur Denizer

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Mother tongue largely refers to not only the language one learns from one’s mother but also the speaker’s dominant and home language. It’s also called native language. This study was conducted to find whether mother tongue interferences in second-language learning, and if so; whether it affects the learners’ performance in four language skills, and also in which skill(s it has the biggest effect. Data collection tool included a questionnaire by which participants were asked to rate the questions and tick-circle or write in the correct blank. The questionnaire was based on both quantitative and qualitative approaches with the help of 4-point Likert-scale questions and one open-ended question at the last part. The participants of the study were 20 volunteer students (15 females and 5 males in Uludag University on whom the questionnaire was randomly applied.  They ranged in age from 18 to 40 and the mean age was 23. Their mother tongue was Turkish, and they knew English as a foreign language. The questionnaire shows that mother tongue interferes with second language learning in some way. In English language, the most challenging part was Grammar, while the most difficult and influenced skills was Speaking. In addition, participants had difficulty with speaking without any preparation. When it comes to having difficulty, participants had difficulty with determiners, English tenses and articles. The results indicated the interference of mother tongue in almost all aspects.

Topology-selective jamming of fully-connected, code-division random-access networks

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Polydoros, Andreas; Cheng, Unjeng

1990-01-01

The purpose is to introduce certain models of topology selective stochastic jamming and examine its impact on a class of fully-connected, spread-spectrum, slotted ALOHA-type random access networks. The theory covers dedicated as well as half-duplex units. The dominant role of the spatial duty factor is established, and connections with the dual concept of time selective jamming are discussed. The optimal choices of coding rate and link access parameters (from the users' side) and the jamming spatial fraction are numerically established for DS and FH spreading.

Web-Based Prevention of Parenting Difficulties in Young, Urban Mothers Enrolled in Post-Secondary Education.

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Ehrensaft, Miriam K; Knous-Westfall, Heather M; Alonso, Thailyn Lopez

2016-12-01

Research consistently indicates that young mothers are at elevated risk for adverse social and economic risks. Recent attention has been paid to the value of maternal educational attainment for their children's economic and social outcomes. Pursuit of post-secondary education requires mothers to balance multiple roles, potentially stressing the parent-child relationship. Yet, almost no studies have addressed parenting and associated stress in young mothers enrolled in post-secondary education, and no preventive intervention trials have been conducted. We screened young mothers (parenting stress, and participated in a randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy of a web-based parenting intervention (Triple P Online) in reducing parenting stress and dysfunctional discipline (N = 52). Mothers were randomly assigned to the web-based parenting program condition or to a waitlist control condition. Mothers who completed at least the first four core modules of the online program had lower scores on the Parenting Scale's subscales (Overreactivity, Verbosity, and Laxness), compared to those who did not complete four or more modules. No intervention effects were obtained for parenting stress. The current study provides preliminary evidence of the efficacy of this online parenting program for reducing risk for dysfunctional discipline in student mothers. Future research is warranted to replicate these findings, and to test whether provision of supplemental support for implementation, or briefer program formats may promote both program compliance and outcomes related to reducing parenting stress.

Association of neural tube defects in children of mothers with MTHFR 677TT genotype and abnormal carbohydrate metabolism risk: a case-control study.

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Cadenas-Benitez, N M; Yanes-Sosa, F; Gonzalez-Meneses, A; Cerrillos, L; Acosta, D; Praena-Fernandez, J M; Neth, O; Gomez de Terreros, I; Ybot-González, P

2014-03-26

Abnormalities in maternal folate and carbohydrate metabolism have both been shown to induce neural tube defects (NTD) in humans and animal models. However, the relationship between these two factors in the development of NTDs remains unclear. Data from mothers of children with spina bifida seen at the Unidad de Espina Bífida del Hospital Infantil Virgen del Rocío (case group) were compared to mothers of healthy children with no NTD (control group) who were randomly selected from patients seen at the outpatient ward in the same hospital. There were 25 individuals in the case group and 41 in the control group. Analysis of genotypes for the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677CT polymorphism in women with or without risk factors for abnormal carbohydrate metabolism revealed that mothers who were homozygous for the MTHFR 677TT polymorphism and at risk of abnormal carbohydrate metabolism were more likely to have offspring with spina bifida and high levels of homocysteine, compared to the control group. The increased incidence of NTDs in mothers homozygous for the MTHFR 677TT polymorphism and at risk of abnormal carbohydrate metabolism stresses the need for careful metabolic screening in pregnant women, and, if necessary, determination of the MTHFR 677CT genotype in those mothers at risk of developing abnormal carbohydrate metabolism.

Becoming a mother: teenage mothers’ experiences of first pregnancy

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MS Maputle

2006-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was firstly to explore and describe the experiences of teenage mothers of first pregnancy. Secondly, to develop guidelines of a support programme that is contextual and relevant to the needs of teenage mothers. The guidelines are aimed at assisting midwives in meeting the needs of teenage mothers. An exploratory, descriptive, contextual and qualitative design was used. The phenomenological approach was implemented to collect and analyze data from a purposively selected sample of fourteen (14 teenage mothers who were pregnant for the first time. The model of Guba and Lincoln (1985: 301-318 was implemented to ensure trustworthiness in this qualitative study. Five themes emerged from the analysis of the data. Guidelines and recommendations for support programme were developed.

Selection of mother wavelets for the detection of the oscillation frequencies in power signals of nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amador G, R.; Castillo D, R.; Ortiz V, J.

2007-01-01

Diverse types of transitory events can lead to oscillations of power in nuclear reactors. In such events, the power monitors provide a signal that contains important characteristics of the transitory one, as the oscillation frequency, tendencies, changes and the instants or periods in those that important events are presented. This characteristics are detected by means of diverse analysis techniques, as Autoregressive methods, Fourier Transform, Fourier Transform in Short Time, Wavelets Transform, among others. Presently work is used the one Wavelets Continuous Transform because it allows to carry out studies of the stationary, quasi-stationary and transitory signals in the Time-scale and Time-scale-spectrum planes. Contrary to other similar works, this work describes a methodology for the selection of the scales and the Wavelet mother to be applied the one Wavelets Continuous Transform, with the objective of detecting to the dominant frequencies of the system. To prove the proposal a broadly well-known real signal of an event of power oscillations it has been used. The obtained results correspond to three families of Wavelets mothers that fulfilled the conditions of scales and central frequency of the proposal. The results show that the value of the certain frequency oscillation in this work is practically the same one reported in other studies with other techniques. (Author)

Peculiarities of the statistics of spectrally selected fluorescence radiation in laser-pumped dye-doped random media

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Yuvchenko, S. A.; Ushakova, E. V.; Pavlova, M. V.; Alonova, M. V.; Zimnyakov, D. A.

2018-04-01

We consider the practical realization of a new optical probe method of the random media which is defined as the reference-free path length interferometry with the intensity moments analysis. A peculiarity in the statistics of the spectrally selected fluorescence radiation in laser-pumped dye-doped random medium is discussed. Previously established correlations between the second- and the third-order moments of the intensity fluctuations in the random interference patterns, the coherence function of the probe radiation, and the path difference probability density for the interfering partial waves in the medium are confirmed. The correlations were verified using the statistical analysis of the spectrally selected fluorescence radiation emitted by a laser-pumped dye-doped random medium. Water solution of Rhodamine 6G was applied as the doping fluorescent agent for the ensembles of the densely packed silica grains, which were pumped by the 532 nm radiation of a solid state laser. The spectrum of the mean path length for a random medium was reconstructed.

Developmental cascade effects of interpersonal psychotherapy for depressed mothers: Longitudinal associations with toddler attachment, temperament, and maternal parenting efficacy.

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Handley, Elizabeth D; Michl-Petzing, Louisa C; Rogosch, Fred A; Cicchetti, Dante; Toth, Sheree L

2017-05-01

Using a developmental cascades framework, the current study investigated whether treating maternal depression via interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) may lead to more widespread positive adaptation for offspring and mothers including benefits to toddler attachment and temperament, and maternal parenting self-efficacy. The participants (N = 125 mother-child dyads; mean mother age at baseline = 25.43 years; 54.4% of mothers were African American; mean offspring age at baseline = 13.23 months) were from a randomized controlled trial of IPT for a sample of racially and ethnically diverse, socioeconomically disadvantaged mothers of infants. Mothers were randomized to IPT (n = 97) or an enhanced community standard control group (n = 28). The results of complier average causal effect modeling showed that engagement with IPT led to significant decreases in maternal depressive symptoms at posttreatment. Moreover, reductions in maternal depression posttreatment were associated with less toddler disorganized attachment characteristics, more adaptive maternal perceptions of toddler temperament, and improved maternal parenting efficacy 8 months following the completion of treatment. Our findings contribute to the emerging literature documenting the potential benefits to children of successfully treating maternal depression. Alleviating maternal depression appears to initiate a cascade of positive adaptation among both mothers and offspring, which may alter the well-documented risk trajectory for offspring of depressed mothers.

Follow-Up of the Cues and Care Trial: Mother and Infant Outcomes at 6 Months

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Feeley, Nancy; Zelkowitz, Phyllis; Shrier, Ian; Stremler, Robyn; Westreich, Ruta; Dunkley, David; Steele, Russell; Rosberger, Zeev; Lefebvre, Francine; Papageorgiou, Apostolos

2012-01-01

The long-term effects of the Cues intervention to reduce anxiety and enhance the interactive behavior of mothers of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants were investigated. A randomized trial comparing the Cues intervention to an attention control condition was conducted. A total of 122 mothers of newborns weighing less than 1,500 g were…

Option A improved HIV-free infant survival and mother to child HIV transmission at 9-18 months in Zimbabwe.

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Buzdugan, Raluca; Kang Dufour, Mi-Suk; McCoy, Sandra I; Watadzaushe, Constancia; Dirawo, Jeffrey; Mushavi, Angela; Mujuru, Hilda Angela; Mahomva, Agnes; Kangwende, Rugare Abigail; Hakobyan, Anna; Mugurungi, Owen; Cowan, Frances M; Padian, Nancy S

2016-06-19

We evaluated the impact of Option A on HIV-free infant survival and mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) in Zimbabwe. Serial cross-sectional community-based serosurveys. We analyzed serosurvey data collected in 2012 and 2014 among mother-infant pairs from catchment areas of 132 health facilities from five of 10 provinces in Zimbabwe. Eligible infants (alive or deceased) were born 9-18 months before each survey to mothers at least 16 years old. We randomly selected mother-infant pairs and conducted questionnaires, verbal autopsies, and collected blood samples. We estimated the HIV-free infant survival and MTCT rate within each catchment area and compared the 2012 and 2014 estimates using a paired t test and number of HIV infections averted because of the intervention. We analyzed 7249 mother-infant pairs with viable maternal specimens collected in 2012 and 8551 in 2014. The mean difference in the catchment area level MTCT between 2014 and 2012 was -5.2 percentage points (95% confidence interval = -8.1, -2.3, P Option A regimen. The association between HIV-free infant survival and duration of Option A implementation was NS at the multivariate level (P = 0.093). We found a substantial and statistically significant increase in HIV-free survival and decrease in MTCT among infants aged 9-18 months following Option A rollout in Zimbabwe. This is the only evaluation of Option A and shows the effectiveness of Option A and Zimbabwe's remarkable progress toward eMTCT.

Process evaluation of the Enabling Mothers toPrevent Pediatric Obesity Through Web-Based Learning and Reciprocal Determinism (EMPOWER) randomized control trial.

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Knowlden, Adam P; Sharma, Manoj

2014-09-01

Family-and-home-based interventions are an important vehicle for preventing childhood obesity. Systematic process evaluations have not been routinely conducted in assessment of these interventions. The purpose of this study was to plan and conduct a process evaluation of the Enabling Mothers to Prevent Pediatric Obesity Through Web-Based Learning and Reciprocal Determinism (EMPOWER) randomized control trial. The trial was composed of two web-based, mother-centered interventions for prevention of obesity in children between 4 and 6 years of age. Process evaluation used the components of program fidelity, dose delivered, dose received, context, reach, and recruitment. Categorical process evaluation data (program fidelity, dose delivered, dose exposure, and context) were assessed using Program Implementation Index (PII) values. Continuous process evaluation variables (dose satisfaction and recruitment) were assessed using ANOVA tests to evaluate mean differences between groups (experimental and control) and sessions (sessions 1 through 5). Process evaluation results found that both groups (experimental and control) were equivalent, and interventions were administered as planned. Analysis of web-based intervention process objectives requires tailoring of process evaluation models for online delivery. Dissemination of process evaluation results can advance best practices for implementing effective online health promotion programs. © 2014 Society for Public Health Education.

Mother\\'s Experiences of Having Mental Retarded Child

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Sima Mohammadkhan-Kermanshahi

2006-10-01

Full Text Available Objective: Giving birth and training to a child with Mental Retardation (MR can be stressful for mothers. Therefore mothers need role models and adequate preparation to effectively teach the child to function at optimum level within the environment. Nurses are in a strategic position to assume a vital role in a assisting these mothers. With observation, problem solving, and decision making. There is a lack of studies about mothers' experiences of having a child with MR. This study was preformed to investigate mother's experiences of having a child with MR and how explore and describe the experienced mothers with mental retarded child. Materials & Methods: A phenomenographic approach was used. The study was preformed at an exceptional school in Tehran. Twelve mothers were interviewed using guided interviews. Results: From 336 thematic sentences, Six categories emerged, the first having three subcategories and the second having twenty subcategories., the third having three, the fourth category having six, the fifth having two, and the sixth having two subcategories. Mother's experiences of having a child with MR, describes informants a variety of feelings, often ambivalent (acceptance and UN acceptance. In such a situation, attention to God and prayer are the most important coping strategies for positive adaptation in mothers' experiences of having a child with MR, but this perception can not effect to accept him alone. They emphasis on educational and psychological needs for better life. Conclusions: The findings of this study could be used in mothers education to promote understanding of mothers’ experiences and how best to help them. They could also be used in the general media to improve public understanding.

Cytokine expression in the colostral cells of healthy and allergic mothers.

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Hrdý, Jiří; Novotná, Olga; Kocourková, Ingrid; Prokešová, Ludmila

2012-05-01

There is no doubt about the beneficial effect of breastfeeding on the newborn's immune system. It is not fully elucidated what the differences are between the colostrum/milk of healthy and allergic mothers and how beneficial breastfeeding by an allergic mother is. The gene expression of selected cytokines was tested in cells isolated from colostra of healthy and allergic mothers using quantitative real-time PCR. Allergic phenotype was evident in colostral cells of allergic mothers: gene expressions of IL-4, IL-13 and EGF were increased and those of IFN-gamma decreased in comparison with colostral cells of healthy mothers. The allergic phenotype of the colostral cells of allergic mothers supporting the bias to a Th2 type response was found. It remains a question if a small number of these cells could influence the immature newborn immune system.

Mental health outcomes of mothers who conceived using fertility treatment.

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Raguz, Nikolett; McDonald, Sheila W; Metcalfe, Amy; O'Quinn, Candace; Tough, Suzanne C

2014-02-28

To compare the proportion of women with self-reported depression and anxiety symptoms at four months postpartum between mothers of singletons who conceived spontaneously and mothers who conceived with the aid of fertility treatment. The sample used for this study was drawn from The "All Our Babies Study", a community-based prospective cohort of 1654 pregnant women who received prenatal care in Calgary, Alberta. This analysis included women utilizing fertility treatment and a randomly selected 1:2 comparison group. The data was collected via three questionnaires, two of which were mailed to the participants during pregnancy and one at four months postpartum. Symptoms of depression and anxiety at four months postpartum were measured using the Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale and the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory. Secondary outcomes of parenting morale and perceived stress were also evaluated. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the population. Chi square tests and in cases of small cell sizes, Fisher Exact Tests were used to assess differences in postpartum mental health symptomatology between groups. Seventy-six participants (5.9%) conceived using a form of fertility treatment. At four months postpartum, no significant differences were observed in the proportions reporting excessive depression symptoms (2.6% vs. 5.3%, p = 0.50), anxiety (8.1% vs. 16.9%, p = 0.08) or high perceived stress scores (7.9% vs. 13.3%, p = 0.23). Women who conceived with fertility treatment were less likely to score low on parenting morale compared to women who conceived spontaneously and this was particularly evident in primiparous women (12.5% vs. 33.8%, p = 0.01). There were no group differences in proportions reporting low parenting morale in multiparous women. This study suggests that at four months postpartum, the proportion of women who experience elevated symptoms of depression, anxiety or perceived stress do not differ between mothers who

Mothers' part-time employment: associations with mother and family well-being.

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Buehler, Cheryl; O'Brien, Marion

2011-12-01

The associations between mothers' part-time employment and mother well-being, parenting, and family functioning were examined using seven waves of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development data (N = 1,364), infancy through middle childhood. Concurrent comparisons were made between families in which mothers were employed part time and both those in which mothers were not employed and those in which mothers were employed full time. Using multivariate analysis of covariance with extensive controls, results indicated that mothers employed part time had fewer depressive symptoms during the infancy and preschool years and better self-reported health at most time points than did nonemployed mothers. Across the time span studied, mothers working part time tended to report less conflict between work and family than those working full time. During their children's preschool years, mothers employed part time exhibited more sensitive parenting than did other mothers, and at school age were more involved in school and provided more learning opportunities than mothers employed full time. Mothers employed part time reported doing a higher proportion of child care and housework than mothers employed full time. Part-time employment appears to have some benefits for mothers and families throughout the child rearing years.

A brief psychological intervention for mothers of children with food allergy can change risk perception and reduce anxiety: Outcomes of a randomized controlled trial.

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Boyle, R J; Umasunthar, T; Smith, J G; Hanna, H; Procktor, A; Phillips, K; Pinto, C; Gore, C; Cox, H E; Warner, J O; Vickers, B; Hodes, M

2017-10-01

Mothers of children with food allergy have increased anxiety, which may be influenced by healthcare professionals' communication of risk. To evaluate a brief psychological intervention for reducing anxiety in mothers of children with food allergy. Two hundred mothers of children with food allergy were recruited from allergy clinics. A computer-generated randomization list was used to allocate participants to a single-session cognitive behavioural therapy intervention including a risk communication module, or standard care. Anxiety and risk perception were assessed at 6 weeks and 1 year. Primary outcome was state anxiety at 6 weeks. Secondary outcomes included state anxiety at 1 year, risk perception at 6 weeks and 1 year, and salivary cortisol response to a simulated anaphylaxis scenario at 1 year. We found no significant difference in the primary outcome state anxiety at 6 weeks, with mean 31.9 (SD 10.2) intervention, 34.0 (10.2) control; mean difference 2.1 (95% CI -0.9, 5.0; P=.17). There was significantly reduced state anxiety at 6 weeks in the intervention group, in the subgroup of participants with moderate/high anxiety at enrolment (103/200, 52%), with mean 33.0 (SD 9.3) intervention, 37.8 (SD 10.0) control; mean difference 4.8 (95% CI 0.9, 8.7; P=.016; Cohen's d effect size 0.50). The psychological intervention also reduced risk perception and salivary cortisol response (P=.032; effect size 0.36). We found evidence that a brief psychological intervention which incorporates accurate risk information may impact on anxiety, risk perception and physiological stress response in mothers of children with food allergy. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Determinants of timely initiation of breastfeeding among mothers in Goba Woreda, South East Ethiopia: A cross sectional study

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Belachew Tefera

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Although breastfeeding is universal in Ethiopia, ranges of regional differences in timely initiation of breastfeeding have been documented. Initiation of breastfeeding is highly bound to cultural factors that may either enhance or inhibit the optimal practices. The government of Ethiopia developed National Infant and Young Child Feeding Guideline in 2004 and behavior change communications on breast feeding have been going on since then. However, there is a little information on the practice of timely initiation of breast feeding and factors that predict these practices after the implementation of the national guideline. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence and determinant factors of timely initiation of breastfeeding among mothers in Bale Goba District, South East Ethiopia. Methods A community based cross sectional study was carried out from February to March 2010 using both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. A total of 608 mother infant pairs were selected using simple random sampling method and key informants for the in-depth interview were selected conveniently. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression analyses were employed to identify factors associated with timely initiation of breast feeding. Results The prevalence of timely initiation of breastfeeding was 52.4%. Bivariate analysis showed that attendance of formal education, being urban resident, institutional delivery and postnatal counseling on breast feeding were significantly associated with timely initiation of breastfeeding (P Conclusions The practice of timely initiation of breast feeding is low as nearly half the mothers did not start breastfeeding with one hour after delivery. The results suggest that breast feeding behavior change communication especially during the post natal period is critical in promoting optimal practice in the initiation of breast feeding. Rural mothers

Preventing mother-to-child transmission: factors affecting mothers' choice of feeding--a case study from Cameroon.

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Muko, K N; Tchangwe, G K; Ngwa, V C; Njoya, L

2004-11-01

This paper reports on factors influencing the decision of mothers regarding the type of feeding method for their babies in a rural setting in Cameroon. The aim of the study was to ascertain the proportion of mothers choosing the different methods of feeding, to determine the various factors influencing their choices, and to ascertain the relationships of these factors to their respective choices. Questionnaires were used on 108 HIV-positive mothers who had delivered babies and who were administered nevirapine at least 3 months prior to the study. A focus group discussion with mothers also took place. Findings were that more mothers (84%) chose breastfeeding than artificial feeding (16%), while a minority (4%) selected mixed feeding. Factors found to militate against artificial feeding were cost (69%), stigma (64%), family pressure (44%), inconvenience in preparation/administration (38%), prior education from health workers (23%), and loss of special attention from family (8%). On the other hand, advice of health worker (44%), ill health (19.5%), free milk (12.5%),job pressure (12.5%) and loss of beauty (12.5%) were found to militate against breastfeeding. A direct relationship was also found between age, educational level, income size, marital status and choice of feeding. Policies targeting stigma reduction and socio-cultural factors affecting the choice of feeding are needed to optimise uptake of the less risky methods of feeding which could in turn contribute to a reduction in transmission.

A Cross-sectional Study for Determinations of Prevention Behaviors of Domestic Accidents in Mothers with Children Less than 5- year

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Farbod Ebadi Fardazar

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Accidents are the first cause of death in children under 5- year, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The aim of this study was to identify the determinants of prevention behavior of domestic accidents in mothers of children fewer than 5 years old based on protection motivation theory PMT(. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study, 190 mothers were randomly selected. The data collection tool was researcher made questionnaire about prevention behaviors of home accidents in children less than five years based on the structures of protection motivation theory.then collected data entered in the software SPSS-22 and were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistical tests. Results: Mean of perceived response efficacy was in good level and mean of other structures of PMT were in moderate level. There was a significant correlations between the scores of perceived vulnerability (r=.39, P

Developmental Cascade Effects of Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Mothers: Longitudinal Associations with Toddler Attachment, Temperament, and Maternal Parenting Efficacy

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Handley, Elizabeth D.; Michl-Petzing, Louisa C.; Rogosch, Fred A.; Cicchetti, Dante; Toth, Sheree L.

2016-01-01

Using a developmental cascades framework, the current study investigated whether treating maternal depression via interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) may lead to more widespread positive adaptation for offspring and mothers including benefits to toddler attachment and temperament, and maternal parenting self-efficacy. The participants (N=125 mother-child dyads, mean mother age at baseline=25.43 years; 54.4% of mothers were African-American; mean offspring age at baseline=13.23 months) were from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of IPT for a sample of racially and ethnically diverse, socioeconomically disadvantaged mothers of infants. Mothers were randomized to IPT (n=97) or an enhanced community standard (ECS) control group (n=28). Results of complier average causal effect (CACE) modeling showed that engagement with IPT led to significant decreases in maternal depressive symptoms at post-treatment. Moreover, reductions in maternal depression post-treatment were associated with less toddler disorganized attachment characteristics, more adaptive maternal perceptions of toddler temperament, and improved maternal parenting efficacy eight months following the completion of treatment. Our findings contribute to the emerging literature documenting the potential benefits to children of successfully treating maternal depression. Alleviating maternal depression appears to initiate a cascade of positive adaptation among both mothers and offspring, which may alter the well-documented risk trajectory for offspring of depressed mothers. PMID:28401849

Mothers' and Graduate Trainees' Judgments of Children: Some Effects of Labeling

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Seitz, Sue; Geske, David

1977-01-01

Twenty graduate students and 20 mothers randomly chosen from a university community were asked to rate retarded and nonretarded children (1-5 years old) on characteristics reflecting social competence and interpersonal attractiveness and also on a social distance scale. (Author)

Knowledge, perception, and management skills of mothers with under-five children about diarrhoeal disease in indigenous and resettlement communities in Assosa District, Western Ethiopia.

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Merga, Nigatu; Alemayehu, Tadesse

2015-03-01

As primary caregiver to under-five children in Ethiopia, mothers' knowledge, perception, and management skills are important to minimize the effects of morbidity and mortality associated with diarrhoeal diseases. A community-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in Abramo and Megele 37 kebeles (the last administration division) in Assosa district of western Ethiopia in July 2010. Quantitative data were obtained by a structured questionnaire from 232 randomly-selected mothers having children aged less than five years regarding their knowledge, perception, and management. Qualitative data were also collected by arranging four focus group discussions involving mothers from the two communities. The prevalence of diarrhoeal diseases among under-five children was 33.2%, and the knowledge of mothers about the causes, transmission, and prevention of diarrhoea in the study area was 37.5%. The prevalence of diarrhoeal disease was higher in the settlement area whereas mothers' knowledge was better in the indigenous community; 62.9% of mothers were categorized as having good attitude on causes, transmission, and prevention of diarrhoeal disease. Community water source, water storage container, and knowledge of mothers remained a strong predictor of diarrhoeal morbidity after conducting logistic regression analysis (OR=8.4, CI 3.59-31.85; OR=2.2, CI 1.02-4.89; and OR=3.62, CI 1.23-4.71 respectively). Diarrhoeal morbidity was high in the study areas. On the contrary, knowledge and attitude of mothers, recognizing the danger sign of dehydration due to diarrhoea, and the prevention and management of childhood diarrhoeal diseases were not adequate. Information, education and communication strategy may help increase the knowledge and create positive attitude among mothers regarding the cause, prevention, and management of diarrhoea.

Antibacterial Activity of Mother Tinctures of Cholistan Desert Plants in Pakistan

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Ahmad, M.; Ghafoor, Nazia; Aamir, M. N.

2012-01-01

The mother tinctures of desert were screened for antibacterial activity against bacterial strains of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Mother tinctures were prepared by maceration process and antibacterial activity of different plants was evaluated and compared by measuring their zones of inhibition. The results indicated that Boerrhavia diffusa mother tincture had excellent activity only against Escherichia coli. Mother tincture of Chorozophora plicata showed highly effective results against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa whereas Echinops echinatus mother tincture showed highly effectiveness only against Salmonella typhi. Heliotropium europaeum mother tincture exhibited highly effective results against Bacillus subtilis in all concentrations. Tamrix aphylla presented maximum activity only against Bacillus subtilis in all three concentrations. Among the selected species Heliotropium europaeum, Chorozophora plicata and Tamrix aphylla were more effective plants against many microorganisms. However, Boerrhavia diffusa and Echinops echinatus were less effective plants against tested pathogenic bacteria. PMID:23716878

Weaving dreamcatchers: mothering among American Indian women who were teen mothers.

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Palacios, Janelle F; Strickland, Carolyn J; Chesla, Catherine A; Kennedy, Holly P; Portillo, Carmen J

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to explore the mothering experience and practice among reservation-based adult American Indian women who had been adolescent mothers. Adolescent American Indian women are at an elevated risk for teen pregnancy and poor maternal/child outcomes. Identifying mothering practices among this population may help guide intervention development that will improve health outcomes. A collaborative orientation to community-based participatory research approach. Employing interpretive phenomenology, 30 adult American Indian women who resided on a Northwestern reservation were recruited. In-depth, face-to-face and telephone interviews were conducted between 2007-2008. Women shared their mothering experience and practice, which encompassed a lifespan perspective grounded in their American Indian cultural tradition. Four themes were identified as follows: mother hen, interrupted mothering and second chances, breaking cycles and mothering a community. Mothering originated in childhood, extended across their lifespan and moved beyond mothering their biological offspring. These findings challenge the Western construct of mothering and charge nurses to seek culturally sensitive interventions that reinforce positive mothering practices and identify when additional mothering support is needed across a woman's lifespan. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Blind Measurement Selection: A Random Matrix Theory Approach

KAUST Repository

Elkhalil, Khalil

2016-12-14

This paper considers the problem of selecting a set of $k$ measurements from $n$ available sensor observations. The selected measurements should minimize a certain error function assessing the error in estimating a certain $m$ dimensional parameter vector. The exhaustive search inspecting each of the $n\\\\choose k$ possible choices would require a very high computational complexity and as such is not practical for large $n$ and $k$. Alternative methods with low complexity have recently been investigated but their main drawbacks are that 1) they require perfect knowledge of the measurement matrix and 2) they need to be applied at the pace of change of the measurement matrix. To overcome these issues, we consider the asymptotic regime in which $k$, $n$ and $m$ grow large at the same pace. Tools from random matrix theory are then used to approximate in closed-form the most important error measures that are commonly used. The asymptotic approximations are then leveraged to select properly $k$ measurements exhibiting low values for the asymptotic error measures. Two heuristic algorithms are proposed: the first one merely consists in applying the convex optimization artifice to the asymptotic error measure. The second algorithm is a low-complexity greedy algorithm that attempts to look for a sufficiently good solution for the original minimization problem. The greedy algorithm can be applied to both the exact and the asymptotic error measures and can be thus implemented in blind and channel-aware fashions. We present two potential applications where the proposed algorithms can be used, namely antenna selection for uplink transmissions in large scale multi-user systems and sensor selection for wireless sensor networks. Numerical results are also presented and sustain the efficiency of the proposed blind methods in reaching the performances of channel-aware algorithms.

Oral Supplementation of Parturient Mothers with Vitamin D and Its Effect on 25OHD Status of Exclusively Breastfed Infants at 6 Months of Age: A Double-Blind Randomized Placebo Controlled Trial.

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Naik, Prasanna; Faridi, M M A; Batra, Prerna; Madhu, S V

2017-12-01

Exclusively breastfed infants are at increased risk of vitamin D deficiency and many lactating mothers have been found deficient in 25OHD stores. To compare serum vitamin D levels in exclusively breastfed infants at 6 months of age with or without oral supplementation of 600,000 IU of vitamin D3 to mothers in early postpartum period. Exclusively breastfeeding term parturient mothers were randomized 24-48 hours following delivery to receive either 600,000 IU of vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) over 10 days in a dose of 60,000 IU/day or placebo. 25OHD levels were measured by Radio Immuno Assay method at recruitment and after 6 months in all mothers and their infants. Urinary calcium and creatinine ratio was measured to monitor adverse effects of vitamin D3 in both mothers and infants at 14 weeks and 6 months of age. X-ray of both wrists in anteroposterior view and serum alkaline phosphatase of infants were done in both groups at 6 months of age to look for evidence of rickets. Maternal profile was similar in intervention (A) and control (B) groups. Mothers' serum 25OHD levels at recruitment were also similar being 16.2 ± 9.3 ng/mL in group A and 14.1 ± 7.1 ng/mL in group B. After 6 months, 25OHD levels were 40.3 ± 21.6 and 22.9 ± 20.1 ng/mL in group A and group B mothers (p ≤ 0.00), respectively. The serum 25OHD levels in cord blood were 9.9 ± 5.7 and 8.9 ± 5.1 ng/mL, respectively, in infants born to mothers in intervention and control groups (p = 0.433). At 6 months of age, the serum 25OHD levels significantly (p vitamin D3. Serum 25OHD levels of exclusively breastfed infants significantly rise at 6 months of age when their mothers are orally supplemented with 60,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily for 10 days in the early postpartum period in comparison to infants of vitamin D3 unsupplemented mothers.

Mechanisms of change: Testing how preventative interventions impact psychological and physiological stress functioning in mothers in neglectful families.

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Toth, Sheree L; Sturge-Apple, Melissa L; Rogosch, Fred A; Cicchetti, Dante

2015-11-01

The present study applies a multilevel approach to an examination of the effect of two randomized preventive interventions with mothers in neglectful families who are also contending with elevated levels of impoverishment and ecological risk. Specifically, we examined how participation in either child-parent psychotherapy (CPP) or psychoeducational parenting intervention (PPI) was associated with reductions in maternal psychological parenting stress and in turn physiological stress system functioning when compared to mothers involved in standard community services as well as a demographic comparison group of nonmaltreating mothers. The resulting group sizes in the current investigation were 44 for CPP, 34 for PPI, 27 for community services, and 52 for nonmaltreating mothers. Mothers and their 13-month-old infants were randomly assigned to intervention group at baseline. Mothers completed assessments on stress within the parenting role at baseline and postintervention. Basal cortisol was sampled at postintervention and 1-year follow-up. Latent difference score analyses examined change in these constructs over time. Results suggested that mothers within the CPP intervention experienced significant declines in child-related parenting stress, while mothers in the PPI intervention reported declines in parent-related parenting stress. In turn, significant decreases in stress within the CPP mothers were further associated with adaptive basal cortisol functioning at 1-year postintervention. The results highlight the value of delineating how participation in preventive interventions aimed at ameliorating child maltreatment in neglectful families within the context of poverty may operate through improvements in psychological and physiological stress functioning. Findings are discussed with respect to the importance of multilevel assessments of intervention process and outcome.

Randomized Controlled Trial on Effect of Intermittent Early Versus Late Kangaroo Mother Care on Human Milk Feeding in Low-Birth-Weight Neonates.

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Jayaraman, Dhaarani; Mukhopadhyay, Kanya; Bhalla, Anil Kumar; Dhaliwal, Lakhbir Kaur

2017-08-01

Breastfeeding at discharge among sick low-birth-weight (LBW) infants is low despite counseling and intervention like kangaroo mother care (KMC). Research aim: The aim was to study the effects of early initiation of KMC on exclusive human milk feeding, growth, mortality, and morbidities in LBW neonates compared with late initiation of KMC during the hospital stay and postdischarge. A randomized controlled trial was conducted in level 2 and 3 areas of a tertiary care neonatal unit over 15 months. Inborn neonates weighing 1 to 1.8 kg and hemodynamically stable were randomized to receive either early KMC, initiated within the first 4 days of life, or late KMC (off respiratory support and intravenous fluids). Follow-up was until 1 month postdischarge. Outcomes were proportion of infants achieving exclusive human milk feeding and direct breastfeeding, growth, mortality and morbidities during hospital stay, and postdischarge feeding and KMC practices until 1 month. The early KMC group ( n = 80) achieved significantly higher exclusive human milk feeding (86% vs. 45%, p milk feeding (73% vs. 36%, p milk feeding and direct breastfeeding in LBW infants.

The relationships between mothers' work pathways and physical and mental health.

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Frech, Adrianne; Damaske, Sarah

2012-01-01

We contribute to research on the relationships between gender, work, and health by using longitudinal, theoretically driven models of mothers' diverse work pathways and adjusting for unequal selection into these pathways. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Youth-1979 (N = 2,540), we find full-time, continuous employment following a first birth is associated with significantly better health at age 40 than part-time work, paid work interrupted by unemployment, and unpaid work in the home. Part-time workers with little unemployment report significantly better health at age 40 than mothers experiencing persistent unemployment. These relationships remain after accounting for the unequal selection of more advantaged mothers into full-time, continuous employment, suggesting full-time workers benefit from cumulating advantages across the life course and reiterating the need to disentangle health benefits associated with work from those associated with pre-pregnancy characteristics.

A preliminary study of levels of selected nutrients for neonates born to diabetic and non-diabetic mothers in Bangladesh

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alam, A.M.S.; Chhowdhury, S.A.; Rahman, M.A.; Ali, S.M.K.; Huda, A.S.N.

2006-01-01

To investigate some selected nutrients status in the neonates born to diabetic and non-diabetic mothers a prospective study was carried out. From the Obstetric Unit of Bangladesh Institute of Rehabilitation in Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic disorder (BIRDEM) Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 236 newborns were recruited; 74 from diabetic, 59 from gestational diabetic and 103 from non-diabetic mothers group for this study. Cord-serum levels of Cu, Zn, Fe, Mg, Ca and ascorbic acid were investigated, and some anthropometric measurements were recorded to correlate with the nutrient levels. Fe was found significantly higher (p<0.05) whereas, ascorbic acid was found significantly lower (p<0.05) in diabetic group compared with other two groups. However, Mg and Ca levels were found significantly higher (p<0.05) in non-diabetic group. There was no significant difference observed in Cu, Zn levels for the 3 groups. Ca level was significantly correlated with birth weight and length of the neonates. These data suggests that diabetes has some effects on fetal growth and its nutritional status that also reflect the socio-economical status of the families of the neonates. (author)

Enhancing breast milk production with Domperidone in mothers of preterm neonates (EMPOWER trial).

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Asztalos, Elizabeth V; Campbell-Yeo, Marsha; daSilva, Orlando P; Kiss, Alex; Knoppert, David C; Ito, Shinya

2012-08-31

The use of mother's own breast milk during initial hospitalization has a positive impact not only in reducing potential serious neonatal morbidities but also contribute to improvements in neurodevelopmental outcomes. Mothers of very preterm infants struggle to maintain a supply of breast milk during their infants' prolonged hospitalization. Galactogogues are medications that induce lactation by exerting its effects through oxytocin or prolactin enhancement. Domperidone is a potent dopamine D2 receptor antagonist which stimulates the release of prolactin. Small trials have established its ability in enhancing breast milk production. EMPOWER was designed to determine the safety and efficacy of domperidone in mothers experiencing an inadequate milk supply. EMPOWER is a multicenter, double masked, randomized controlled phase-II trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of domperidone in those mothers identified as having difficulty in breast milk production. Eligible mothers will be randomized to one of two allocated groups: Group A: domperidone 10 mg orally three times daily for 28 days; and Group B: identical placebo 10 mg orally three times daily for 14 days followed by domperidone 10 mg orally three times daily for 14 days. The primary outcome will be determined at the completion of the first 2-week period; the second 2-week period will facilitate answering the secondary questions regarding timing and duration of treatment. To detect an estimated 30% change between the two groups (from 40% to 28%, corresponding to an odds ratio of 0.6), a total sample size of 488 mothers would be required at 80% power and alpha=0.05. To account for a 15% dropout, this number is increased to 560 (280 per group). The duration of the trial is expected to be 36-40 months. The use of a galactogogue often becomes the measure of choice for mothers in the presence of insufficient breast milk production, particularly when the other techniques are unsuccessful. EMPOWER is designed to

The effect of education based on the theory of planned behavior on preventive behaviors of cutaneous Leishmaniasis in mothers living in endemic city of Natanz

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MH Baghianimoghadam

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Due to the limited studies conducted on the educational interventions to change the preventive behaviors of cutaneous leishmaniasis(CL as well as mothers' critical role in creating and maintaining these behaviors, this study aimed to determine the impact of education based on theory of planned behavior on preventive behaviors of CL in mothers living in endemic city of Natanz. Methods: In this case experimental study, two health care centers in endemic areas of CL were randomly assigned into two groups of experimental and control. Using list of mothers covered by each center, 80 patients were selected by simple random sampling, who were required to complete a questionnaire that has been designed based on the theory of planned behavior, and its reliability and validity had been confirmed in the previous studies. Then 4 sessions were held for the experimental group mothers and 2 training sessions were held for people who influenced them, whereas control group received no interventions. Two months after training intervention, the study data were collected again and were analyzed using the SPSS software (ver. 18 via independent statistical t-test, paired t-test, Chi-square and Mann Whitney tests. Results: Before the intervention, no significant differences were observed between the mean scores of different constructs of this theory in the two groups (p>0/005. Though after intervention, a significant increase was observed (p<0/005 in the mean score of knowledge, attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, intention and action of groups and in control group, only a significant increase was observed in the mean scores of knowledge and attitude (p<0/005. Conclusions: As the findings of the present study revealed, training based on theory of planned behavior can promote preventive behaviors of CL in mothers.

Barriers to Exclusive Breastfeeding among Urban Mothers

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Lazina Sharmin

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Breastfeeding is the unique source of nutrition and it plays an important role in the growth, development and survival of the infants. The initiation of breastfeeding within one hour and continuation of only breast milk up to six months ensure maximum benefits. The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in Bangladesh is 56% which is low. We designed this study to find out the factors influencing the duration of breastfeeding in Bangladeshi population. Objective: To study the factors influencing noncompliance to exclusive breastfeeding. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in Dhaka Shishu Hospital during the period January to June 2011. It includes 125 infant (1–12 months-mother pairs randomly selected from the inpatient and outpatient departments of Dhaka Shishu Hospital. Mother-infant pairs were divided into two groups based on continuation of only breastfeeding up to six months. Outcomes were compared between two groups. Results: In this study exclusive breastfeeding was found in 27.2% and nonexclusive breastfeeding was in 72.8% cases. It was found that in most cases (40% termination of breastfeeding was at 3--4 months. The study revealed that insufficient milk production due to poor position and attachment, social factors such as influence of husband and other family members, joining to service etc act as barrier to exclusive breastfeeding. Mass media and advice from health professionals had a higher influence on lower rate of exclusive breastfeeding. Women who were multiparous, housewives were more likely to maintain optimal breastfeeding. Conclusion: The present study reveals some important factors contributing to low rate of exclusive breastfeeding in Bangladesh.

Maternal Health Care Practices among Mothers of a Selected Slum in Dhaka City

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Mohoshina Karim

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Bangladesh is a small South Asian country which became independent in 1971 after a bloody war. Rapid urbanisation in Bangladesh (26% of the 147.1 million inhabitants live in urban areas is fuelling a growth in urban poverty, particularly in the urban slums where the quality of life is extremely poor. The average population density in slums was reported in 2005 as 831 persons per acre or 205,415 people per square kilometre.1 Early commencement of antenatal care by pregnant women as well as regular visits has the potential to affect maternal and foetal outcome. Objective: To assess the status of ANC service used by the pregnant mothers and their socio-demographic characteristics. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Moghbazar slum area in Dhaka district of Bangladesh, during January to June 2014. A total of 161 slum dwellers were enrolled in the study. Information regarding education, occupation, monthly family income, antenatal care was gathered using a pretested structured questionnnare and data were analysed. Results: The majority respondents had knowledge about antenatal care and of them 89 (55.2% completed ≥3 visits. Forty five (47.8% pregnant women received ANC from government hospitals. Nearly 72% mothers received ANC service from doctors and 16.9% received from family welfare visitors (FWV. Half of mothers were satisfied with the overall care provided to them. About 86.2% mothers said that they had to wait for more than two hours for check-ups. More than 50% received information about exercise and 36% were reassured about discussing fear and anxiety about pregnancy. Conclusion: This study reveals that antenatal care provided was not up to the mark of standard care and measures should be taken to improve it.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of the mothers with anemia of children under five years old in the peadiatric department at Sylvanus Olympio teaching hospital in Lomé.

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Guedenon, Koffi Mawuse; Atakouma, Yawo Dzayissê; Macamanzi, Essossolim; Dossou, Fidèle Comlan; Gbadoe, Adama Dodji

2016-01-01

Anemia remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality of children in Togo despite of prevention effort, due to the parents lack of implication. To determine the knowledges, attitudes and practices of mothers, with anemia ofchildren under five years old Methods : Knowledge Attitudes and Practice survey from the first of february to 31 ofmarch 2012, about an interview of a hundred mothers with children under 5, randomly selected in the consultation, vaccination waiting rooms and in the hospitalisation. Forty mothers had never heard about anemia. Health personnel was the main source of mother's information (29%), mass media represented 8% of mothers information source (radio 5%; television 3%). The decreased of blood in the body is the most given definition from the mothers (44%). Malaria (24%) and malnutrition (19%) were the main causes cited by mothers. Iron deficiency has been mentioned by 3% of the mothers. Palmar - plantar pallor (32%) was the clinical signe the best known by the mothers. Most of the mothers (90%) had never assist to an information education and communication message about anemia prevention. When their children had anemia, 25 mothers (65,8%) took their children to the health center, five mothers (13,2%) had given tomatoes. The use of iron in prophylactic treatment was known by 43% of the mothers. The blend tomatoes and milk was the prophylactic treatment mentioned by 3% of the mothers. Most of the mothers (77%) would advice a mother with a children suffering from anemia to take him to the hospital. The knowledge of anemia by the mothers was correlated to then level of instruction. But the knowledge of prevention did not depend on the instruction level. anemia is not well known by the mothers of under five children. It's causes, it's treatment are not well known. Mass media are not very implicated on the subject. The reduction of it's frequency goes by information education and communication activities.

Recruiting and engaging new mothers in nutrition research studies: lessons from the Australian NOURISH randomised controlled trial

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Daniels Lynne A

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Despite important implications for the budgets, statistical power and generalisability of research findings, detailed reports of recruitment and retention in randomised controlled trials (RCTs are rare. The NOURISH RCT evaluated a community-based intervention for first-time mothers that promoted protective infant feeding practices as a primary prevention strategy for childhood obesity. The aim of this paper is to provide a detailed description and evaluation of the recruitment and retention strategies used. Methods A two stage recruitment process designed to provide a consecutive sampling framework was used. First- time mothers delivering healthy term infants were initially approached in postnatal wards of the major maternity services in two Australian cities for consent to later contact (Stage 1. When infants were approximately four months old mothers were re-contacted by mail for enrolment (Stage 2, baseline measurements (Time 1 and subsequent random allocation to the intervention or control condition. Outcomes were assessed at infant ages 14 months (Time 2 and 24 months (Time 3. Results At Stage 1, 86% of eligible mothers were approached and of these women, 76% consented to later contact. At Stage 2, 3% had become ineligible and 76% could be recontacted. Of the latter, 44% consented to full enrolment and were allocated. This represented 21% of mothers screened as eligible at Stage 1. Retention at Time 3 was 78%. Mothers who did not consent or discontinued the study were younger and less likely to have a university education. Conclusions The consent and retention rates of our sample of first time mothers are comparable with or better than other similar studies. The recruitment strategy used allowed for detailed information from non-consenters to be collected; thus selection bias could be estimated. Recommendations for future studies include being able to contact participants via mobile phone (particularly text messaging

Using ArcMap, Google Earth, and Global Positioning Systems to select and locate random households in rural Haiti.

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Wampler, Peter J; Rediske, Richard R; Molla, Azizur R

2013-01-18

A remote sensing technique was developed which combines a Geographic Information System (GIS); Google Earth, and Microsoft Excel to identify home locations for a random sample of households in rural Haiti. The method was used to select homes for ethnographic and water quality research in a region of rural Haiti located within 9 km of a local hospital and source of health education in Deschapelles, Haiti. The technique does not require access to governmental records or ground based surveys to collect household location data and can be performed in a rapid, cost-effective manner. The random selection of households and the location of these households during field surveys were accomplished using GIS, Google Earth, Microsoft Excel, and handheld Garmin GPSmap 76CSx GPS units. Homes were identified and mapped in Google Earth, exported to ArcMap 10.0, and a random list of homes was generated using Microsoft Excel which was then loaded onto handheld GPS units for field location. The development and use of a remote sensing method was essential to the selection and location of random households. A total of 537 homes initially were mapped and a randomized subset of 96 was identified as potential survey locations. Over 96% of the homes mapped using Google Earth imagery were correctly identified as occupied dwellings. Only 3.6% of the occupants of mapped homes visited declined to be interviewed. 16.4% of the homes visited were not occupied at the time of the visit due to work away from the home or market days. A total of 55 households were located using this method during the 10 days of fieldwork in May and June of 2012. The method used to generate and field locate random homes for surveys and water sampling was an effective means of selecting random households in a rural environment lacking geolocation infrastructure. The success rate for locating households using a handheld GPS was excellent and only rarely was local knowledge required to identify and locate households. This

Using ArcMap, Google Earth, and Global Positioning Systems to select and locate random households in rural Haiti

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wampler Peter J

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A remote sensing technique was developed which combines a Geographic Information System (GIS; Google Earth, and Microsoft Excel to identify home locations for a random sample of households in rural Haiti. The method was used to select homes for ethnographic and water quality research in a region of rural Haiti located within 9 km of a local hospital and source of health education in Deschapelles, Haiti. The technique does not require access to governmental records or ground based surveys to collect household location data and can be performed in a rapid, cost-effective manner. Methods The random selection of households and the location of these households during field surveys were accomplished using GIS, Google Earth, Microsoft Excel, and handheld Garmin GPSmap 76CSx GPS units. Homes were identified and mapped in Google Earth, exported to ArcMap 10.0, and a random list of homes was generated using Microsoft Excel which was then loaded onto handheld GPS units for field location. The development and use of a remote sensing method was essential to the selection and location of random households. Results A total of 537 homes initially were mapped and a randomized subset of 96 was identified as potential survey locations. Over 96% of the homes mapped using Google Earth imagery were correctly identified as occupied dwellings. Only 3.6% of the occupants of mapped homes visited declined to be interviewed. 16.4% of the homes visited were not occupied at the time of the visit due to work away from the home or market days. A total of 55 households were located using this method during the 10 days of fieldwork in May and June of 2012. Conclusions The method used to generate and field locate random homes for surveys and water sampling was an effective means of selecting random households in a rural environment lacking geolocation infrastructure. The success rate for locating households using a handheld GPS was excellent and only

Teenage Mothers Today: What We Know and How It Matters

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Mollborn, Stefanie

2016-01-01

Over the past two decades, births to U.S. teenagers have fallen and no longer follow overall fertility patterns. Yet the unique challenges faced by teenage mothers and their families justify continued research. Across disciplines, newer work has furthered our understanding of teenage motherhood today. In this article, I highlight four areas of progress: processes of selection into teenage motherhood, the broader consequences of teenage childbearing beyond the socioeconomic realm, heterogeneity of effects, and the application of life course principles. Emerging societal trends such as complex family structures, a stalled recovery from the recession for families of low socioeconomic status, and a rapidly evolving political environment for reproductive health care continue to challenge the lives of teenage mothers. Given that the consequences for teenagers of becoming mothers may change, continued research is needed. Shifts in policy to favor supporting teenage mothers and addressing the causes of both teenage pregnancy and social disadvantage may help improve the lives of these mothers and their families. PMID:28533814

Emotional experiences in surrogate mothers: A qualitative study.

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Ahmari Tehran, Hoda; Tashi, Shohreh; Mehran, Nahid; Eskandari, Narges; Dadkhah Tehrani, Tahmineh

2014-07-01

Surrogacy is one of the new techniques of assisted reproduction technology in which a woman carries and bears a child for another woman. In Iran, many Shia clerics and jurists considered it permissible so there is no religious prohibition for it. In addition to the risk of physical complications for complete surrogate mothers, the possibility of psychological complications resulted from emotional attachment to a living creature in the surrogate mother as another injury requires counseling and assessment prior to acceptance by infertile couples and complete surrogate mothers. The purpose of this study was to assess the emotional experiences of surrogate mothers. This was a qualitative, phenomenological study. We selected eight complete surrogate mothers in Isfahan. We used convenient sampling method and in-depth interview to collect the information. The data analysis was fulfilled via Colaizzi's seven-stage method. Reliability and validity study of the roots in the four-axis was done. The findings of these interviews were classified into two main themes and four sub themes: acquired experiences in pregnancy (feelings toward pregnancy, relationship with family, relatives and commissioning couple) and consequences of surrogacy (complications of pregnancy, religious and financial problems of surrogacy). Surrogacy pregnancy should be considered as high-risk emotional experience because many of surrogate mothers may face negative experiences. Therefore, it is recommended that surrogates should receive professional counseling prior to, during and following pregnancy.

The Effectiveness of Parent-Child Play Therapy on Decreasing Depression Symptoms in Children with Cancer, Decreasing Perceived Stress on Their Mothers and Improving Parent-Child Relationship

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رویا سادات علویان

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Present study, aimed to assess the effect of parent-child play therapy on decreasing depression symptoms in children with cancer, decreasing perceived stress of their mothers and improving the parent-child relationship. A total of 14 children diagnosed with cancer were selected, among the patients of Dr. Sheikh Hospital in the city of Mashhad, and randomly assigned into two groups of intervention and control. Mothers completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS and the Parent-Child Relationship Scale (PCRS, the children completed the Child Depression Inventory (CDI, both in pre-test and post-test. Eight sessions of parent-child play therapy were adminstered separately for every pair of mother-child from intervention group. Data were analyzed by using analysis of covariance. Compared to the control group, CDI scores of intervention group reduced significantly from pre to post test. Also scores of PCRS increased significantly for the intervention group. PSS Scores of intervention groups was not significantly different from control group. As a result, parent-child play therapy can be effective in reducing depression symptoms of children with cancer, and improving the parent-child relationship; while, it was not effective for reducing mothers' level of perceived stress.

Optimizing Event Selection with the Random Grid Search

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bhat, Pushpalatha C. [Fermilab; Prosper, Harrison B. [Florida State U.; Sekmen, Sezen [Kyungpook Natl. U.; Stewart, Chip [Broad Inst., Cambridge

2017-06-29

The random grid search (RGS) is a simple, but efficient, stochastic algorithm to find optimal cuts that was developed in the context of the search for the top quark at Fermilab in the mid-1990s. The algorithm, and associated code, have been enhanced recently with the introduction of two new cut types, one of which has been successfully used in searches for supersymmetry at the Large Hadron Collider. The RGS optimization algorithm is described along with the recent developments, which are illustrated with two examples from particle physics. One explores the optimization of the selection of vector boson fusion events in the four-lepton decay mode of the Higgs boson and the other optimizes SUSY searches using boosted objects and the razor variables.

School-based intervention to enable school children to act as change agents on weight, physical activity and diet of their mothers: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

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Gunawardena, Nalika; Kurotani, Kayo; Indrawansa, Susantha; Nonaka, Daisuke; Mizoue, Tetsuya; Samarasinghe, Diyanath

2016-04-06

School health promotion has been shown to improve the lifestyle of students, but it remains unclear whether school-based programs can influence family health. We developed an innovative program that enables school children to act as change agents in promoting healthy lifestyles of their mothers. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of the child-initiated intervention on weight, physical activity and dietary habit of their mothers. A 12-month cluster randomized trial was conducted, with school as a cluster. Participants were mothers with grade 8 students, aged around 13 years, of 20 schools in Homagama, Sri Lanka. Students of the intervention group were trained by facilitators to acquire the ability to assess noncommunicable disease risk factors in their homes and take action to address them, whereas those of the comparison group received no intervention. Body weight, step count and lifestyle of their mothers were assessed at baseline and post-intervention. Multi-level multivariable linear regression and logistic regression were used to assess the effects of intervention on continuous and binary outcomes, respectively. Of 308 study participants, 261 completed the final assessment at 12 month. There was a significantly greater decrease of weight and increase of physical activity in the intervention group. The mean (95% confidence interval) difference comparing the intervention group with the control group was -2.49 (-3.38 to -1.60) kg for weight and -0.99 (-1.40 to -0.58) kg/m(2) for body mass index. The intervention group had a 3.25 (95% confidence interval 1.87-5.62) times higher odds of engaging in adequate physical activity than the control group, and the former showed a greater number of steps than the latter after intervention. The intervention group showed a greater reduction of household purchase of biscuits and ice cream. A program to motivate students to act as change agents of family's lifestyle was effective in decreasing weight and

Non-random mating for selection with restricted rates of inbreeding and overlapping generations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sonesson, A.K.; Meuwissen, T.H.E.

2002-01-01

Minimum coancestry mating with a maximum of one offspring per mating pair (MC1) is compared with random mating schemes for populations with overlapping generations. Optimum contribution selection is used, whereby $\\\\\\\\Delta F$ is restricted. For schemes with $\\\\\\\\Delta F$ restricted to 0.25% per

The Effect of Mothers' Education on Children's Academic Performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Asta Breinholt; Holm, Anders

Parental education and mothers education in particular are believed to play an important role for children’s academic outcomes. This paper analyzes the causal effect of mothers' education on children’s academic performance. Using Danish administrative data on mothers’ education careers, we apply...... a difference-in-differences design to control for the nonrandom selection into maternal education and find that mothers’ education has a positive effect on children’s academic performance. The effect diminishes, the higher the mothers’ initial educational attainment....

The physics of randomness and regularities for languages (lifetimes, family trees, and the second languages); in terms of random matrices

OpenAIRE

Tuncay, Caglar

2007-01-01

The physics of randomness and regularities for languages (mother tongues) and their lifetimes and family trees and for the second languages are studied in terms of two opposite processes; random multiplicative noise [1], and fragmentation [2], where the original model is given in the matrix format. We start with a random initial world, and come out with the regularities, which mimic various empirical data [3] for the present languages.

Anxiety and depression in mothers of disabled and non-disabled children

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramzan, N.; Minhas, K.

2014-01-01

Objectives: To find the prevalence of anxiety and depression in mothers of disabled and non-disabled children and to find the association of anxiety and depression with demographic characteristics in district Sheikhupura. Method: A cross sectional comparative study was conducted to find differences in the level of anxiety and depression in both groups of mothers i.e. among mothers of disabled and non-disabled children. A convenient sampling technique was used to select 340 mothers belonging to both groups (n = 170 in each group). Urdu version of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to assess anxiety and depression in mothers. Data was analyzed using ANCOVA (SPSS version 17). Results: The Results of ANCOV A revealed statistically significant differences (p < .001) in the level of anxiety and depression in both groups of mothers. Majority of mothers (78%) belonging to children with disability had anxiety. Only 52% mothers belonging to non-disabled children had anxiety. Similarly, as compared to 46% mothers of non-disabled children, 76% mothers belonging to children with disability had depression. Correlation analysis revealed a significantly positive relationship of anxiety and depression with mothers' age (p < .05) and statistically significant inverse relationship with disabled child's age, mothers educational (p < .0 I) ana family income status. Conclusion: As the disabled child advances in age, mother better understands the demands of raising a disabled child and thus can cope with these demands affectively and with lesser anxiety. Implications of the study would assist psychologists in devising techniques for reducing level of anxiety and depression in mothers of disabled children. (author)

Timely referral saves the lives of mothers and newborns: Midwifery led continuum of care in marginalized teagarden communities - A qualitative case study in Bangladesh.

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Biswas, Animesh; Anderson, Rondi; Doraiswamy, Sathyanarayanan; Abdullah, Abu Sayeed Md; Purno, Nabila; Rahman, Fazlur; Halim, Abdul

2018-01-01

Background: Prompt and efficient identification, referral of pregnancy related complications and emergencies are key factors to the reduction of maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality. As a response to this critical need, a midwifery led continuum of reproductive health care was introduced in five teagardens in the Sylhet division, Bangladesh during 2016. Within this intervention, professional midwives provided reproductive healthcare to pregnant teagarden women in the community.  This study evaluates the effect of the referral of pregnancy related complications. Methods: A qualitative case study design by reviewing records retrospectively was used to explore the effect of deploying midwives on referrals of pregnancy related complications from the selected teagardens to the referral health facilities in Moulvibazar district of the Sylhet division during 2016.  In depth analyses was also performed on 15 randomly selected cases to understand the facts behind the referral. Results: Out of a total population of 450 pregnant women identified by the midwives, 72 complicated mothers were referred from the five teagardens to the facilities. 76.4% of mothers were referred to conduct delivery at facilities, and 31.1% of them were referred with the complication of prolonged labour. Other major complications were pre-eclampsia (17.8%), retention of the placenta with post-partum hemorrhage (11.1%) and premature rupture of the membrane (8.9%). About 60% of complicated mothers were referred to the primary health care centre, and among them 14% of mothers were delivered by caesarean section. 94% deliveries resulted in livebirths and only 6% were stillbirths. Conclusions: This study reveals that early detection of pregnancy complications by skilled professionals and timely referral to a facility is beneficial in saving the majority of baby's as well as mother's lives in resource-poor teagardens with a considerable access barrier to health facilities.

Prevention of Insulin Resistance by Dietary Intervention among Pregnant Mothers: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

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Goodarzi-Khoigani, Masoomeh; Mazloomy Mahmoodabad, Seyed Saeed; Baghiani Moghadam, Mohammad Hossein; Nadjarzadeh, Azadeh; Mardanian, Farahnaz; Fallahzadeh, Hossein; Dadkhah-Tirani, Azam

2017-01-01

Chronic insulin resistance (IR) is a basic part of the pathophysiology of gestational diabetes mellitus. Nutrition significantly impacts IR and weight loss reduces insulin levels, whereas weight gain increases the concentrations. Therefore, we surveyed the effect of nutrition intervention on IR in pregnant women and whether this effect is irrespective of weight gaining in accordance with Institute of Medicine limits. This prospective, randomized clinical trial was carried out among 150 primiparous pregnant mothers in fifteen health centers, five hospitals, and 15 private obstetrical offices in Isfahan. The nutrition intervention included education of healthy diet with emphasize on 50%-55% of total energy intake from carbohydrate (especially complex carbohydrates), 25%-30% from fat (to increase mono unsaturated fatty acids and decrease saturated and trans-fatty acids), and 15%-20% from protein during pregnancy for experimental group. The controls received the usual prenatal care by their health-care providers. This trial decreased pregnancy-induced insulin increases ( P = 0.01) and IR marginally ( P = 0.05). ANCOVA demonstrated that control of gestational weight gaining was more effective to decrease IR ( P = 0.02) while insulin values decreased by nutrition intervention and irrespective of weight control ( P = 0.06). Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) concentrations did not decrease by intervention ( P = 0.56) or weight management ( P = 0.15). The current intervention was effective to decrease pregnancy-induced insulin increases and IR. Considering study results on FPG levels and incidence of GDM, we suggest repeat of study design in a larger sample.

Nine centuries waiting: The experiences of Iranians surrogacy commissioning mothers

OpenAIRE

Zandi, Mitra; Vanaki, Zohreh; Shiva, Marziyeh; Mohammadi, Eesa

2014-01-01

Background: There are a few studies about commissioning mothers’ understanding from the surrogacy during 9 months of waiting for delivery in Iran and other countries. This study was conducted with an aim to explore and explain the nature of concerns (experiences) of commissioning mothers. Materials and Methods: A qualitative design with a conventional content analysis approach was used to gather and analyze the experiences of commissioning mothers. They were selected from Royan Research Centr...

Option A Improved HIV-free Infant Survival and Mother to Child HIV Transmission at 9–18 Months in Zimbabwe

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BUZDUGAN, Raluca; KANG DUFOUR, Mi-Suk; MCCOY, Sandra I; WATADZAUSHE, Constancia; DIRAWO, Jeffrey; MUSHAVI, Angela; MUJURU, Hilda Angela; MAHOMVA, Agnes; KANGWENDE, Rugare Abigail; HAKOBYAN, Anna; MUGURUNGI, Owen; COWAN, Frances M; PADIAN, Nancy S

2016-01-01

Objective We evaluated the impact of Option A on HIV-free infant survival and mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) in Zimbabwe. Design Serial cross-sectional community-based serosurveys. Methods We analyzed serosurvey data collected in 2012 and 2014 among mother-infant pairs from catchment areas (CAs) of 132 health facilities from 5 of 10 provinces in Zimbabwe. Eligible infants (alive or deceased) were born 9–18 months before each survey to mothers ≥16 years old. We randomly selected mother-infant pairs and conducted questionnaires, verbal autopsies and collected blood samples. We estimated: 1) the HIV-free infant survival and MTCT rate within each CA and compared the 2012 and 2014 estimates using a paired t-test, 2) number of HIV infections averted due to the intervention. Results We analyzed 7,249 mother-infant pairs with viable maternal specimens collected in 2012 and 8,551 in 2014. The mean difference in the CA-level MTCT between 2014 and 2012 was −5.2 percentage points (95% confidence interval (CI)=−8.1, −2.3, pOption A regimen. The association between HIV-free infant survival and duration of Option A implementation was not significant at the multivariate level (p=0.093). Conclusions We found a substantial and statistically significant increase in HIV-free survival and decrease in MTCT among infants aged 9–18 months following Option A rollout in Zimbabwe. This is the only impact evaluation of Option A and shows the effectiveness of Option A and Zimbabwe’s remarkable progress towards eMTCT. PMID:27058354

Impact of Maternal Attachment Style on Mother to Infant Attachment

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Moghaddam Hoseini V

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Background and Objectives: Maternal attachment has the potential to affect both child development and parenting. As such, mother-infant attachment has been considered an important topic in recent years. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between maternal adult attachment style, the maternal obstetric and demographic characteristics and mother-infant attachment.Methods: In this descriptive-correlational study, 102 women who had referred to health centers in Mashhad in 2008 and who had inclusion criteriawere selected using stratified cluster sampling. After interview about obstetric and demographic characteristics, they were asked to complete the "Revised Adult Attachment Scale" and "Mother to Infant Attachment Inventory" for assessment of maternal attachment style and mother-infant attachment 4-5 weeks after delivery. Data were analyzed by Pearson Correlation, Kruskal-wallis and Mann-whitney statistical tests.Results: In this study, themean of mother-infant attachment was found to be 97.486.12 and the mean of secure adult attachment was higher than that of other styles (16.893.97. Although, there were negative significant relationship between maternal avoidant style and mother-infant attachment (p=0.037,r=-0/20, there were no relationship between maternal age and education, parity, type of delivery and mother-infant attachment.Conclusion: The results of this research show that maternal attachment style is one of the factors of mother -infant attachment.

Comparative Evaluations of Randomly Selected Four Point-of-Care Glucometer Devices in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

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Wolde, Mistire; Tarekegn, Getahun; Kebede, Tedla

2018-05-01

Point-of-care glucometer (PoCG) devices play a significant role in self-monitoring of the blood sugar level, particularly in the follow-up of high blood sugar therapeutic response. The aim of this study was to evaluate blood glucose test results performed with four randomly selected glucometers on diabetes and control subjects versus standard wet chemistry (hexokinase) methods in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on randomly selected 200 study participants (100 participants with diabetes and 100 healthy controls). Four randomly selected PoCG devices (CareSens N, DIAVUE Prudential, On Call Extra, i-QARE DS-W) were evaluated against hexokinase method and ISO 15197:2003 and ISO 15197:2013 standards. The minimum and maximum blood sugar values were recorded by CareSens N (21 mg/dl) and hexokinase method (498.8 mg/dl), respectively. The mean sugar values of all PoCG devices except On Call Extra showed significant differences compared with the reference hexokinase method. Meanwhile, all four PoCG devices had strong positive relationship (>80%) with the reference method (hexokinase). On the other hand, none of the four PoCG devices fulfilled the minimum accuracy measurement set by ISO 15197:2003 and ISO 15197:2013 standards. In addition, the linear regression analysis revealed that all four selected PoCG overestimated the glucose concentrations. The overall evaluation of the selected four PoCG measurements were poorly correlated with standard reference method. Therefore, before introducing PoCG devices to the market, there should be a standardized evaluation platform for validation. Further similar large-scale studies on other PoCG devices also need to be undertaken.

Geography and genography: prediction of continental origin using randomly selected single nucleotide polymorphisms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramoni Marco F

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent studies have shown that when individuals are grouped on the basis of genetic similarity, group membership corresponds closely to continental origin. There has been considerable debate about the implications of these findings in the context of larger debates about race and the extent of genetic variation between groups. Some have argued that clustering according to continental origin demonstrates the existence of significant genetic differences between groups and that these differences may have important implications for differences in health and disease. Others argue that clustering according to continental origin requires the use of large amounts of genetic data or specifically chosen markers and is indicative only of very subtle genetic differences that are unlikely to have biomedical significance. Results We used small numbers of randomly selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs from the International HapMap Project to train naïve Bayes classifiers for prediction of ancestral continent of origin. Predictive accuracy was tested on two independent data sets. Genetically similar groups should be difficult to distinguish, especially if only a small number of genetic markers are used. The genetic differences between continentally defined groups are sufficiently large that one can accurately predict ancestral continent of origin using only a minute, randomly selected fraction of the genetic variation present in the human genome. Genotype data from only 50 random SNPs was sufficient to predict ancestral continent of origin in our primary test data set with an average accuracy of 95%. Genetic variations informative about ancestry were common and widely distributed throughout the genome. Conclusion Accurate characterization of ancestry is possible using small numbers of randomly selected SNPs. The results presented here show how investigators conducting genetic association studies can use small numbers of arbitrarily

The effect of an interactive weekly mobile phone messaging on retention in prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV program: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial (WELTEL PMTCT).

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Awiti, Patricia Opondo; Grotta, Alessandra; van der Kop, Mia; Dusabe, John; Thorson, Anna; Mwangi, Jonathan; Belloco, Rino; Lester, Richard; Ternent, Laura; Were, Edwin; Ekström, Anna Mia

2016-07-11

Improving retention in prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV programs is critical to optimize maternal and infant health outcomes, especially now that lifelong treatment is immediate regardless of CD4 cell count). The WelTel strategy of using weekly short message service (SMS) to engage patients in care in Kenya, where mobile coverage even in poor areas is widespread has been shown to improve adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and viral load suppression among those on ART. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of the WelTel SMS intervention compared to standard care on retention in PMTCT program in Kenya. WelTel PMTCT is a four to seven-centers, two-arm open randomized controlled trial (RCT) that will be conducted in urban and rural Kenya. Over 36 months, we plan to recruit 600 pregnant women at their first antenatal care visit and follow the mother-infant pair until they are discharged from the PMTCT program (when infant is aged 24 months). Participants will be randomly allocated to the intervention or control arm (standard care) at a 1:1 ratio. Intervention arm participants will receive an interactive weekly SMS 'How are you?' to which they are supposed to respond within 24 h. Depending on the response (ok, problem or no answer), a PMTCT nurse will follow-up and triage any problems that are identified. The primary outcome will be retention in care defined as the proportion of mother-infant pairs coming for infant HIV testing at 24 months from delivery. Secondary outcomes include a) adherence to WelTel; (b) adherence to antiretroviral medicine; (c) acceptance of WelTel and (d) cost-effectiveness of the WelTel intervention. This trial will provide evidence on the effectiveness of mHealth for PMTCT retention. Trial results and the cost-effectiveness evaluation will be used to inform policy and potential scale-up of mHealth among mothers living with HIV. ISRCTN98818734 ; registered on 9th December 2014.

Integration of oral health in primary health care through motivational interviewing for mothers of young children: A pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Batra, Manu; Shah, Aasim Farooq; Virtanen, Jorma I

2018-01-01

Early childhood caries (ECC) continues to affect children worldwide. In India, primary health centers (PHCs) comprises the primary tier where Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) provide integrated curative and preventive health care. The aim of the study was to pilot test the integration of oral health in primary health care through motivational interviewing (MI) for mothers of young children provided by ASHAs. The pilot study was conducted in Kashipur, Uttarakhand. From the six PHCs in Kashipur, three were randomly selected, one each was assigned to MI group, traditional health education group, and control group. From 60 mothers with 8-12 months child, ASHAs of all three groups gathered mother's knowledge regarding child's oral health using close-ended questionnaire and diagnosed clinical risk markers of ECC in children and ASHAs of Group A and B imparted the oral health education as per their training. The comparison of ASHA's performances on the MI training competency pre- and post-test showed an overall average of 74% improvement in post-test scores. Interexaminer reliability of the parallel clinical measurements by 6 ASHAs and the investigator for the maxillary central incisors showed 93% of agreement for both dental plaque and dental caries assessment with 0.86 and 0.89 kappa values, respectively. The health education through MI is feasible and can be cost-effective by utilization of ASHAs at PHCs to provide the oral health education to mothers which will in turn improve the oral health status of children.

Infant and young child feeding practice among mothers with 0-24 months old children in Slum areas of Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia.

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Demilew, Yeshalem Mulugeta; Tafere, Tadese Ejigu; Abitew, Dereje Berhanu

2017-01-01

Adequate nutrition during infancy and early childhood is essential to ensure the health, growth and development of children. However, infant feeding practice is suboptimal in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia. The slum area is a heavily populated urban informal settlement characterized by substandard housing, squalor, with a lack of reliable sanitation services, supply of clean water, reliable electricity, law enforcement and other basic services. Residents of the slum area were poor and less educated. This further compromises infant feeding practice. The aim of this study was to assess infant and young child feeding practice among mothers with 0-24 month old children in the study area. A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 423 mothers with 0-24 month old children from June 01-30 / 2016. Simple random sampling technique was used to select the respondents. Infant and young child feeding practice was assessed using the fifteen World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria. The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding practice was 113 (84%). Sixty (15%) mothers gave prelacteal feeds and, 96 (23%) mothers used a bottle to feed their index child. Appropriate complementary feeding practice was only 20 (7%). Thirty nine out of forty mothers introduced complementary food timely, 131 (47%) of mothers gave the minimum meal frequency, and 20 (7%) children took the minimum food diversity and acceptable diet. Independent predictors for complementary feeding practice were having secondary and above education of the mother, receiving postnatal care, possession of radio and giving birth at hospital. In this study infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practice was poor. Therefore, there is a need for strengthening the promotion on IYCF practice during postnatal care and using mass media to giving emphasis for optimal complementary feeding practices, especially for mothers with a lower educational status.

The relationship between mother narrative style and child memory.

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Kayıran, Sinan Mahir; Cure, Sena

2011-07-26

The question of whether children and infants have memory capabilities similar to adults has long been of interest. Until recently, it was thought that compared to adults, infants have very limited memory processing abilities. Knowledge about factors affecting a child's memory abilities can help families (specifically mothers) behave in a manner that best benefits their children in language and memory skills. The present study examines one factor that may underlie a child's memory capabilities; namely the mother's narrative style. Convenience sampling was used to select participants. Forty healthy children (mean age of 31.55 months, range 25-37 months) and their mothers were entered into the study. All participants were native Turkish speakers, from similar socioeconomic status backgrounds. Memory was assessed by a modified version of the Magic Shrinking Machine. Narrative style was assessed by the mother "reading" a Frog Story; a picture book with no words in it. Children were then grouped according to their mother's level of narrative style. Children's language skills were measured via the Turkish form of the CDI (Communicative Development Inventory) which was translated to Turkish as TIGE. To explore the relationships between mothers' narrative styles and children's memory and language skills and between children's language skills and memory capabilities, linear regressions were run. There were no significant correlations among any comparisons (P > 0.05). Children's language skills do not improve according to their mothers' narrative styles, and children do not show better memory abilities when mothers use more words and longer sentences. In order to have a better understanding of these relationships, future research that includes several more variables is needed. Child; Mother; Memory; Narrative style.

Increased Educational Attainment among U.S. Mothers and their Children's Academic Expectations.

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Augustine, Jennifer

2017-12-01

Existing research provides strong evidence that children with more educated parents have higher academic expectations for themselves, but has yet to consider how an increase in the education of lower educated mothers might alter the expectations of their children. In light of the historic increase in U.S. mothers' pursuit of additional education, this study investigates this timely question using data from a nationally representative, intergenerational sample of U.S. children and mothers participating in the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth ( n mothers = 3,265; n children = 8,027). Combining random and fixed effects procedures, the findings revealed that that an increase in mothers' educational attainment is linked to an increase in their children's expectations to earn a Bachelor's degree. Increased maternal education did not, however, buffer against the risk that children will downgrade these expectations upon approaching the end of high school. These results have theoretical importance to traditional models of status attainment, which typically view parental education as a stable feature of family background; extend a small but burgeoning literature that explores whether and why increased maternal education improves the mobility prospects of their children; and speak to current two-generation policy approaches that aim to leverage trends in mothers education to reduce inequality for future generations.

Improving access to interventions among mothers screened positive for post-partum depression (PPD) at National Programme on Immunization (NPI) clinics in south-western and south-eastern Nigeria - A service development report.

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Bakare, Muideen O; Bello-Mojeed, Mashudat A; Munir, Kerim M; Duduyemi, Olaniyi O; Orovwigho, Andrew O; Odetunde, Odutola I; Taiwo, Olufemi G; Olofinlade, Jushua A; Omotoso, Olakunle N; Famurewa, Olayinka H; Omolabi, Oladipupo O; Jejeloye, Adebayo O

2017-01-01

We investigate the possibility of improving access to interventions among mothers screened positive for post-partum depression (PPD) at National Programme on Immunization (NPI) clinics randomly selected from Lagos and Enugu States in south-western and south-eastern Nigeria respectively. The principle of human centred design was employed by engaging the mothers screened positive for PPD to be part of the decision making regarding their further assessment and intervention services. The study brought intervention services to primary healthcare centre at the NPI clinics. Improvement in willingness to seek interventions was observed among the mothers screened positive for PPD in this study when compared to our observation in a previous report, where mothers diagnosed with PPD were referred and requested to visit a mental health facility closer to their NPI clinics for further assessment and interventions (95.2% versus 33.7%). Interventional services for the mothers diagnosed with PPD also impact positively on the growth parameters of their infants on follow-up. Principle of human centred design improved access to intervention services among the mothers and infants studied. NPI clinics at primary healthcare level would provide appropriate forum for early screening of mothers for PPD and interventions in low-resource setting like Nigeria. There would be improvement in maternal and child health coverage if the Nigerian Government can adapt human centred design principles employed in this study nationwide.

Differential Exposure to Early Childhood Education Services and Mother-Toddler Interaction

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Klebanov, P.K.; Brooks-Gunn, J.

2008-01-01

This study examined the associations of exposure to early childhood education (ECE) services upon 2.5-year-old children's task persistence and enthusiasm and their mothers' authoritative and authoritarian behavior and support stimulation. Families participated in the Infant Health and Development Program, an eight-site randomized comprehensive ECE…

South Korean Mothers' Parenting Experiences in Divorced Mother-Headed Families

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Jahng, Kyung Eun; Song, Seung Hee

2017-01-01

These multiple case studies show what in divorced mother-headed families of South Korea, mothers experience with regard to parenting their children aged 6 to 12 years. Data were collected from participant observations and semi-structured interviews with the participants, including mothers and their children in four divorced mother-headed families…

Rumination decreases parental problem-solving effectiveness in dysphoric postnatal mothers.

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O'Mahen, Heather A; Boyd, Alex; Gashe, Caroline

2015-06-01

Postnatal depression is associated with poorer parenting quality, but there are few studies examining maternal-specific cognitive processes that may impact on parenting quality. In this study, we examined the impact of rumination on parental problem-solving effectiveness in dysphoric and non-dysphoric postnatal mothers. Fifty-nine mothers with a infant aged 12 months and under, 20 of whom had a Beck Depression Score II (BDI-II) score ≥ 14, and 39 who scored less than 14 on the BDI-II were randomly assigned to either a rumination or distraction condition. Problem-solving effectiveness was assessed post-induction with the "Postnatal Parental Problem-Solving Task" (PPST), which was adapted from the Means Ends Problem-solving task. Parental problem-solving confidence was also assessed. Dysphoric ruminating mothers exhibited poorer problem-solving effectiveness and poorer confidence regarding their problem-solving compared to dysphoric distracting, non-dysphoric distracting, and non-dysphoric ruminating mothers. A self-report measure of depressed mood was used. Rumination may be a key mechanism associated with both depressive mood and maternal parenting quality during the postnatal period. Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effect of a movement-to-music video program on the objectively measured sedentary time and physical activity of preschool-aged children and their mothers: A randomized controlled trial.

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Tuominen, Pipsa P A; Husu, Pauliina; Raitanen, Jani; Kujala, Urho M; Luoto, Riitta M

2017-01-01

Regular physical activity (PA) and the avoidance of prolonged sitting are essential for children's healthy growth, and for the physical and mental wellbeing of both children and adults. In the context of exercise, music may promote behavioral change through increased exercise adherence and participation. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a movement-to-music video program could reduce sedentary behavior (SB) and increase PA in mother-child pairs in the home environment. A randomized controlled trial was conducted in the Pirkanmaa region, Finland, in 2014-2016. The participants consisted of 228 mother-child pairs (child age 5-7 years). The primary outcomes of interest were tri-axial accelerometer-derived SB and PA, which were measured in weeks one (baseline), two, and eight in both the intervention and control groups. Further, the mothers and children in the intervention group used a movement-to-music video program from the beginning of week two to the end of week eight. Secondary outcomes included self-reported screen time. The statistical methods employed comprised an intention-to-treat and linear mixed effects model design. No statistically significant differences between groups were found in primary or secondary outcomes. Among the children in the control group, light PA decreased significantly over time and screen time increased from 89 (standard deviation, SD 37) to 99 (SD 41) min/d. Among mothers and children in the intervention group, no statistical differences were found. In supplementary analysis, the children who stayed at home instead of attending daycare/preschool had on average 25 (95% confidence interval, CI 19-30) min/d more sedentary time and 11 (95% CI 8-14) min/d less moderate-to-vigorous PA than those who were at daycare/preschool. The higher body mass index of mothers was related with 5 (95% CI 2-7) min/d more sedentary time and 1 (95% CI 0-2) min/d less moderate-to-vigorous PA. The movement-to-music video program did not change

Comparison in stress of caring mothers of children with developmental, external and internal disorders and normal children

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Narges Zamani

2017-06-01

Full Text Available However, having a baby brings positive emotions such as happiness, sense of maturity and proud, parenting's issue could cause high level of stress and child's characteristics was a detrimental factor which can effect on parent's stress, so the aim of this research was comparison of stress of caring in mothers of children with developmental, external, and internal disorders and normal children. The study population included all mothers of children with developmental, emotional, and disruptive behavior disorders, and mothers with normal children in Hamadan (a city in Iran. 240 mothers (4 groups include 60 mothers were chosen based on simple random sampling. Family inventory of life events and changes Mc Cubbin, Patterson & Wilson was used for assessing participants. The results showed that maternal stress in mothers with children who have diagnosis of disruptive behavior disorders were significantly more than of mothers of children with developmental disorders, emotional and mothers of normal children. The present study showed that disruptive behavior disorders in children have a greater impact on their mothers. So, we suggest approved psychological interventions for helping mothers of children with psychological problems, particularly children with external disorders.

Postnatal Mother-to-Infant Attachment in Subclinically Depressed Mothers: Dyads at Risk?

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Behrendt, Hannah F; Konrad, Kerstin; Goecke, Tamme W; Fakhrabadi, Roya; Herpertz-Dahlmann, Beate; Firk, Christine

Dyadic interactions between children and depressed mothers have been characterized as less synchronous and with lower maternal sensitivity, fostering an inharmonious, insecure attachment relationship between mother and child. Thus, these children may experience enhanced early life stress and are at higher risk of disturbed socioemotional development. Recently, this association has also been found in women with mild depressive symptoms. However, potential confounding effects of mother's history of own rearing experiences or infant temperament on the link between depressive symptoms and postnatal mother-to-infant attachment have not yet been investigated. Differences in mother-to-infant attachment (e.g. quality of attachment, absence of hostility, and pleasure in interaction) between mothers with and without symptoms of depression 6-8 months postpartum were analyzed in a low-risk community sample (n = 38, 19 per group). Depressive symptomatology was measured with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Depressed mothers indicated mild-to-moderate depressive symptomatology (mean BDI-II 11.26 ± 3.86) but did not fulfill criteria for a major depressive episode and, thus, were referred to as 'subclinically' depressed. Potential confounders, namely maternal history of own rearing experiences and infant temperament, were explored by multivariate AN(C)OVA. Primiparous mothers with subclinical depression differed significantly from healthy control mothers, i.e. showed poorer mother-to-infant attachment and higher infant-related hostility 6-8 months postpartum. As expected, infant temperament and mother's history of own rearing experiences were both associated with mother-to-infant attachment but did not explain the negative effects of subclinical depression on the mother-infant relationship. Given the high prevalence of maternal depression, the current findings give reason for increased concern for the developing mother

Health Profiles of Mosaic Versus Non-mosaic FMR1 Premutation Carrier Mothers of Children With Fragile X Syndrome

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Marsha R. Mailick

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The FMR1 premutation is of increasing interest to the FXS community, as questions about a primary premutation phenotype warrant research attention. 100 FMR1 premutation carrier mothers (mean age = 58; 67–138 CGG repeats of adults with fragile X syndrome were studied with respect to their physical and mental health, motor, and neurocognitive characteristics. We explored the correlates of CGG repeat mosaicism in women with expanded alleles. Mothers provided buccal swabs from which DNA was extracted and the FMR1 CGG genotyping was performed (Amplidex Kit, Asuragen. Mothers were categorized into three groups: Group 1: premutation non-mosaic (n = 45; Group 2: premutation mosaic (n = 41, and Group 3: premutation/full mutation mosaic (n = 14. Group 2 mothers had at least two populations of cells with different allele sizes in the premutation range besides their major expanded allele. Group 3 mothers had a very small population of cells in the full mutation range (>200 CGGs in addition to one or multiple populations of cells with different allele sizes in the premutation range. Machine learning (random forest was used to identify symptoms and conditions that correctly classified mothers with respect to mosaicism; follow-up comparisons were made to characterize the three groups. In categorizing mosaicism, the random forest yielded significantly better classification than random classification, with overall area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC of 0.737. Among the most important symptoms and conditions that contributed to the classification were anxiety, menopause symptoms, executive functioning limitations, and difficulty walking several blocks, with the women who had full mutation mosaicism (Group 3 unexpectedly having better health. Although only 14 premutation carrier mothers in the present sample also had a small population of full mutation cells, their profile of comparatively better health, mental health, and executive

Does financial hardship account for elevated psychological distress in lone mothers?

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Hope, S; Power, C; Rodgers, B

1999-12-01

Lone mothers have been shown to have higher levels of psychological distress than married mothers, but it is not clear how this difference arises. Using data from the 1958 British birth cohort followed to age 33, we investigated alternative explanations for the excess distress of lone mothers. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios for distress (measured using the Malaise Inventory) in lone vs married mothers. Odds ratios were adjusted to assess the contribution of explanatory factors. At age 33, psychological distress was greater among lone than married mothers (OR 2.59, 95% CI 1.97, 3.41). The odds ratio decreased to 1.43 (95% CI 1.02, 2.01) after adjustment for all explanatory factors (prior psychological distress, age of youngest child and number of children in the household, and contemporary measures of financial hardship, employment, and social support). Attenuation of the odds ratio was most marked after taking account of financial hardship. Psychological distress was greater among divorced mothers than never married mothers, though not significantly (OR = 1.70, 95% CI 0.88, 3.28). This difference was not explained by the factors examined, and was not due to the immediate distress associated with a recent divorce. Elevated psychological distress of lone mothers appears to be related to financial hardship, while other explanations, including social support and selection, have a more modest impact. Not all of the elevated psychological distress among lone mothers was accounted for, particularly among divorced lone mothers.

A randomized controlled trial of vitamin D supplementation on perinatal depression: in Iranian pregnant mothers.

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Vaziri, Farideh; Nasiri, Samira; Tavana, Zohreh; Dabbaghmanesh, Mohammad Hossein; Sharif, Farkhondeh; Jafari, Peyman

2016-08-20

Mood disorders in pregnancy and post-partum period are common and considered as a public health issue. Researchers have studied the relationship between low serum vitamin D concentration and perinatal depression, although no clinical trial has been conducted on vitamin D's effects on depression related to childbirth. This study evaluated the effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on perinatal depression scores. This randomized clinical trial was done in pregnant women who were under prenatal care in a teaching hospital in Shiraz, Iran. The inclusion criteria were: being 18 years or older, no history of mental illness and internal diseases, a singleton live fetus, without any pregnancy complications, gestational age of 26-28 weeks upon enrollment, and depression score of 0 to 13. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression scale was used to evaluate depression scores. A total of 169 participants were assigned to the two groups of placebo and vitamin D through block randomization design. Vitamin D group received 2000 IU vitamin D3 daily from 26 to 28 weeks of gestation until childbirth. Maternal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were measured at baseline and childbirth. Besides, depression scores were evaluated four times: at 26-28 and 38-40 weeks of gestation, and finally at 4 and 8 weeks after birth. The two groups were similar in relation to baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations. However, at childbirth, the vitamin D group had significantly higher 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration in comparison to the control group (p depression score (r = 0.13, p = 0.09). There was no significant difference between the two study groups in relation to the baseline depression score. While, the vitamin D group had greater reduction in depression scores than the control group at 38-40 weeks of gestation (p = 0.01) also, at 4 and 8 weeks after birth (p depression levels. We suggest further clinical trial in pregnant mothers who are at risk for postnatal depression

Fuzzy Random λ-Mean SAD Portfolio Selection Problem: An Ant Colony Optimization Approach

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Thakur, Gour Sundar Mitra; Bhattacharyya, Rupak; Mitra, Swapan Kumar

2010-10-01

To reach the investment goal, one has to select a combination of securities among different portfolios containing large number of securities. Only the past records of each security do not guarantee the future return. As there are many uncertain factors which directly or indirectly influence the stock market and there are also some newer stock markets which do not have enough historical data, experts' expectation and experience must be combined with the past records to generate an effective portfolio selection model. In this paper the return of security is assumed to be Fuzzy Random Variable Set (FRVS), where returns are set of random numbers which are in turn fuzzy numbers. A new λ-Mean Semi Absolute Deviation (λ-MSAD) portfolio selection model is developed. The subjective opinions of the investors to the rate of returns of each security are taken into consideration by introducing a pessimistic-optimistic parameter vector λ. λ-Mean Semi Absolute Deviation (λ-MSAD) model is preferred as it follows absolute deviation of the rate of returns of a portfolio instead of the variance as the measure of the risk. As this model can be reduced to Linear Programming Problem (LPP) it can be solved much faster than quadratic programming problems. Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is used for solving the portfolio selection problem. ACO is a paradigm for designing meta-heuristic algorithms for combinatorial optimization problem. Data from BSE is used for illustration.

Perception of children and mothers regarding dental aesthetics and orthodontic treatment need: a cross-sectional study.

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de Sousa, Emerson Tavares; da Silva, Beatriz Feitosa; Maia, Fabiana Barros Marinho; Forte, Franklin Delano Soares; Sampaio, Fábio Correia

2016-12-01

The normative orthodontic treatment need, established by dental professionals during the dental appointment, becomes ineffective when it does not evaluate all the factors that influence the decision-making process, including individuals' perception and satisfaction with their dental appearance. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the perception of children and their mothers as regards orthodontic treatment need and satisfaction with dental aesthetics and test if these variables are associated with the objective orthodontic treatment needs, assessed by the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI). A cross-sectional study was conducted on 308 children aged 12 years, and their mothers were randomly selected by cluster sampling (primary schools). The variables "orthodontic treatment need," "satisfaction with chewing," and "dental appearance" were assessed by means of a questionnaire. The questions were answered individually at school or home, in cases of children or mothers, respectively. DAI was assessed to make an objective clinical assessment. The variables were dichotomized and statistically analyzed by the chi-square and Fisher's exact tests, contingency coefficient C, and logistic regression. The results of the clinical evaluation (DAI) were statistically associated with the perception of orthodontic treatment need and satisfaction with dental appearance in children (p ≤ 0.01). However, no association was observed with regard to satisfaction with chewing and DAI (p = 0.10). The children's perception of orthodontic treatment need and satisfaction with the appearance of their teeth was statistically associated (p ≤ 0.01) with their mothers' perception. Maxillary overjet, maxillary and mandibular misalignment, and dental crowding were associated with the orthodontic treatment need by children and their mothers, with p value -0.05 and 5 % level of significance. Maxillary overjet was a significant predictor for the perception of orthodontic

Determinants of HPV vaccination intentions among Dutch girls and their mothers: a cross-sectional study

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van Keulen Hilde M

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Dutch government recently added universal Human Papilloma Virus (HPV vaccination for 12-year-old girls to the existing national immunization program. The participation rate for the initial catch-up campaign for girls aged 13 to 16 years in 2009 was lower (47% than expected (70%. To inform future HPV information campaigns, this paper examines the social and psychological determinants of the HPV vaccination intentions of girls aged 13 to 16 years and their mothers who were targeted by the Dutch catch-up campaign of 2009. Methods A random sample of girls and their mothers was chosen from the Dutch vaccination register and received a letter inviting them to participate (n = 5,998 mothers and daughters. In addition, a random sample was recruited via an online panel by a marketing research company (n = 650 mothers; n = 350 daughters. Both groups were asked to complete a web-based questionnaire with questions on social demographic characteristics, social-psychological factors and HPV vaccination intention. Backward linear regression analyses were conducted to examine which social-psychological factors were most dominantly associated with vaccination intention. Results Data from 952 mothers (14% and 642 daughters (10% were available for the intended analyses. The contribution of social demographic variables to the explained variance of HPV vaccination intention was small but significant for mothers (ΔR2 = .01; p = .007, but not significant for daughters (ΔR2 = .02; p = .17 after controlling for HPV vaccination uptake and the sample. In addition, social-psychological determinants largely contributed to the explained variance of HPV vaccination intention of mothers (ΔR2 = .35; p 2 = .34; p Conclusions Because of the large contribution of social-psychological variables to the explained variance of HPV vaccination intentions among the mothers and daughters, future communication strategies targeting HPV vaccination uptake should

Determinants of HPV vaccination intentions among Dutch girls and their mothers: a cross-sectional study

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background The Dutch government recently added universal Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination for 12-year-old girls to the existing national immunization program. The participation rate for the initial catch-up campaign for girls aged 13 to 16 years in 2009 was lower (47%) than expected (70%). To inform future HPV information campaigns, this paper examines the social and psychological determinants of the HPV vaccination intentions of girls aged 13 to 16 years and their mothers who were targeted by the Dutch catch-up campaign of 2009. Methods A random sample of girls and their mothers was chosen from the Dutch vaccination register and received a letter inviting them to participate (n = 5,998 mothers and daughters). In addition, a random sample was recruited via an online panel by a marketing research company (n = 650 mothers; n = 350 daughters). Both groups were asked to complete a web-based questionnaire with questions on social demographic characteristics, social-psychological factors and HPV vaccination intention. Backward linear regression analyses were conducted to examine which social-psychological factors were most dominantly associated with vaccination intention. Results Data from 952 mothers (14%) and 642 daughters (10%) were available for the intended analyses. The contribution of social demographic variables to the explained variance of HPV vaccination intention was small but significant for mothers (ΔR2 = .01; p = .007), but not significant for daughters (ΔR2 = .02; p = .17) after controlling for HPV vaccination uptake and the sample. In addition, social-psychological determinants largely contributed to the explained variance of HPV vaccination intention of mothers (ΔR2 = .35; p vaccination intentions. Conclusions Because of the large contribution of social-psychological variables to the explained variance of HPV vaccination intentions among the mothers and daughters, future communication strategies targeting HPV vaccination uptake should address

Gestational diabetes: How risky are the mothers of rural Bengal,India

OpenAIRE

Sonali Sain

2012-01-01

Early detection of gestational diabetes in antenatal mothers can improve both pregnancy and fetal outcome. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted to find out the magnitude of gestational diabetes by selective screening using “American Diabetes Association (ADA) risk approach strategy” and distribution of risk factors of gestational diabetes among the mothers attending the antenatal clinic of Singur Rural Hospital. Pregnant women with gestational age between 24-28...

Pediatric selective mutism therapy: a randomized controlled trial.

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Esposito, Maria; Gimigliano, Francesca; Barillari, Maria R; Precenzano, Francesco; Ruberto, Maria; Sepe, Joseph; Barillari, Umberto; Gimigliano, Raffaele; Militerni, Roberto; Messina, Giovanni; Carotenuto, Marco

2017-10-01

Selective mutism (SM) is a rare disease in children coded by DSM-5 as an anxiety disorder. Despite the disabling nature of the disease, there is still no specific treatment. The aims of this study were to verify the efficacy of six-month standard psychomotor treatment and the positive changes in lifestyle, in a population of children affected by SM. Randomized controlled trial registered in the European Clinical Trials Registry (EuDract 2015-001161-36). University third level Centre (Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Clinic). Study population was composed by 67 children in group A (psychomotricity treatment) (35 M, mean age 7.84±1.15) and 71 children in group B (behavioral and educational counseling) (37 M, mean age 7.75±1.36). Psychomotor treatment was administered by trained child therapists in residential settings three times per week. Each child was treated for the whole period by the same therapist and all the therapists shared the same protocol. The standard psychomotor session length is of 45 minutes. At T0 and after 6 months (T1) of treatments, patients underwent a behavioral and SM severity assessment. To verify the effects of the psychomotor management, the Child Behavior Checklist questionnaire (CBCL) and Selective Mutism Questionnaire (SMQ) were administered to the parents. After 6 months of psychomotor treatment SM children showed a significant reduction among CBCL scores such as in social relations, anxious/depressed, social problems and total problems (Pselective mutism, even if further studies are needed. The present study identifies in psychomotricity a safe and efficacy therapy for pediatric selective mutism.

Diabetes-related autoantibodies in cord blood from children of healthy mothers have disappeared by the time the child is one year old.

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Ludvigsson, Johnny; Wahlberg, Jeanette

2002-04-01

Autoantibodies found in cord blood in children who later develop diabetes might be produced by the fetus. If so, continuous autoantibody production would still be expected in these children at one year of age. We decided to determine autoantibodies in cord blood and to see whether they persisted in these children at one year. Autoantibodies against GAD65 (glutamic acid decarboxylase) and IA-2 (tyrosine phosphatase) in cord blood were determined in 2,518 randomly selected children. Forty-nine (1.95%) were positive for GAD65 antibodies, 14 (0.56%) were positive for IA-2 antibodies, and 3 of them were positive for both GAD and IA-2. Four of the mothers of children with GAD65 autoantibodies in cord blood (8.2%) had type 1 diabetes as did 5 mothers of children with IA-2 antibodies (35.7 %), but only 0.4% of the mothers had type 1 diabetes in the autoantibody-negative group (P nobody of those with positive cord blood had GAD65 or IA-2 autoantibodies. We conclude that most autoantibodies found in cord blood samples of children are probably passively transferred from mother to child. Antibody screening of cord blood cannot be used to predict diabetes in the general population. Infections during pregnancy may initiate an immune process related to diabetes development.

Mechanisms of Change: Testing how Preventative Interventions Impact Psychological and Physiological Stress Functioning in Mothers in Neglectful Families

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Toth, Sheree L.; Sturge-Apple, Melissa L.; Rogosch, Fred A.; Cicchetti, Dante

2015-01-01

The present study applies a multilevel approach to an examination of the effect of two randomized preventative interventions with mothers in neglectful families who are also contending with elevated levels of impoverishment and ecological risk. Specifically, we examined how participation in either Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) or Psychoeducational Parenting (PPI) interventions was associated with reductions in maternal psychological parenting stress and in turn physiological stress system functioning when compared to mothers involved in standard community services (CS) as well as a demographic comparison group of nonmaltreating mothers (NC). The resulting group sizes in the current investigation were: CPP (n = 44), PPI (n = 34), CS (n = 27), and NC (n = 52). Mothers and infants who were 13-months of age were randomly assigned to intervention group at baseline. Mothers completed assessments on stress within the parenting role at baseline and post-intervention. Basal cortisol was sampled at post-intervention and 1-year follow-up. Latent difference score analyses examined change in these constructs over time. Results suggested that mothers within the CPP intervention experienced significant declines in child-related parenting stress while mothers in the PPI intervention reported declines in parent-related parenting stress. In turn, significant decreases in stress within the CPP mothers were further associated with adaptive basal cortisol functioning at 1-year post-intervention. Results highlight the value of delineating how participation in preventtive interventions aimed at ameliorating child maltreatment in neglectful families within the context of poverty may operate through improvements in psychological and physiological stress functioning. Findings are discussed with respect to the importance of multi-level assessments of intervention process and outcome. PMID:26535951

Efficacy of an Attachment-Based Intervention Model on Health Indices in Children with Chronic Disease and Their Mothers.

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Dehghani-Arani, Fateme; Besharat, Mohammad Ali; Fitton, Victoria A; Aghamohammadi, Asghar

2018-05-07

Studies have shown significant relationship between health conditions and attachment. This study aimed to examine an attachment-based intervention model named mother-child-disease triangle (MCDT) on health indices in children with chronic disease and their mothers. This randomized trial study included 22 volunteer children aged 12-18 years undergoing medical treatment for a chronic disease and their mothers. After evaluation by 28-form General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), inventory of parent and peer attachment (IPPA), 28-form Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ-28) and Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ), the mother-child dyads were paired on the basis of IPPA scores. These pairs were then randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. The experimental group received ten 90-min sessions of MCDT over a 7-week period. Meanwhile, the control group received ten simple conversational sessions as a dummy intervention. In accordance with this study's pre-test/post-test design, both groups were evaluated once again after completing their respective treatment. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) showed members of the experimental group to have significantly stronger attachment and better physiological and psychosocial health than those in the control group. These findings suggest that attachment-based interventions can be used to improve the effectiveness of treatment among children with chronic disease and their mothers.

Level of modern health care seeking behaviors among mothers having under five children in Dangila town, north West Ethiopia, 2016: a cross sectional study.

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Dagnew, Amare Belachew; Tewabe, Tilahun; Murugan, Rajalakshmi

2018-05-29

Health seeking behavior is an action taken by an individual who perceive to have a health problem. In most developing countries including Ethiopia the health of the children is strongly dependant on maternal health care behavior. Most childhood morbidities and mortalities are associated with low level of mothers health care seeking behavior. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess level of modern health care seeking behavior among mothers having under five children in Dangila town, North West Ethiopia. Community based quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted from April 15 to May 15, 2016. Systematic random sampling technique was used to select study participants. A total of273 mothers with children less than five years were included in this study. The data was collected from all five Kebeles using interviewer administered questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to present the data. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with level of modern health care seeking behavior. Prevalence of modern health care seeking behavior was 82.1%. Age of mothers (AOR = 2.4(1.1, 5.3), age of the child (AOR = 6.7(2.8, 22.2), severity of illness (AOR = 5.2(1.2, 22.6) and family number (AOR = 6.4(2.1, 20.2) were predictors of modern health care seeking behavior among mothers. Majority of the mothers preferred to take their children to modern health care when they got illness. Age of children, age of mother, number of family and severity of illness were the determinant factors for modern health care seeking behavior. Therefore, health care services should be strengthened at community level through community integrated management of childhood illness, information, education communication / behavioral change communication strategies to improve mothers health care seeking behaviors.

A model for the development of mothers' perceived vulnerability of preterm infants.

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Horwitz, Sarah McCue; Storfer-Isser, Amy; Kerker, Bonnie D; Lilo, Emily; Leibovitz, Ann; St John, Nick; Shaw, Richard J

2015-06-01

Some mothers of preterm infants continue to view them as vulnerable after their health has improved. These exaggerated perceptions of vulnerability lead to poor parent-child interactions and, subsequently, to adverse child outcomes. However, there is no theoretical model to explain why these exaggerated perceptions develop in only some mother-child dyads. Data for this study come from a randomized trial of an intervention to reduce distress in mothers of preterm infants. A total of 105 mothers older than 18 years of infants aged 25-34 weeks, weighing >600 g and with clinically significant anxiety, depression, or trauma symptoms, were recruited and randomized. Women were assessed at baseline, after intervention, and at 6 months after birth. The outcome for these analyses was perceptions of infant vulnerability as measured by the Vulnerable Baby Scale (VBS) at 6 months after birth. A theoretical model developed from the extant literature was tested using the MacArthur Mediator-Moderator Approach. A dysfunctional coping style, high depression, anxiety, or trauma symptoms in response to the preterm birth, and low social support were related to 6-month VBS scores. Maternal response to trauma was directly related to VBS, and an important precursor of maternal response to trauma was a dysfunctional coping style. This model suggests that maternal responses to trauma are critical in the formation of exaggerated perceptions of vulnerability as are dysfunctional coping styles and low social support. Women with these characteristics should be targeted for intervention to prevent poor parenting practices that result from exaggerated perceptions of vulnerability.

Mother-daughter dyadic approach for starting preconception counseling at puberty in girls with diabetes.

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Charron-Prochownik, Denise; Fischl, Andrea Rodgers; Choi, Jessica; Schmitt, Patricia L; White, Neil H; Becker, Dorothy; Downs, Julie; Hannan, Margaret; Thurheimer, Jennifer; Sereika, Susan M

2014-12-29

Preconception counseling (PC) significantly and inexpensively reduces risks of reproductive-health complications for women with diabetes. Our validated technology-based preconception counseling intervention, READY-Girls , is tailored for female teens with type 1 (T1D) and type 2 (T2D) diabetes and targets decision-making regarding effective family planning and seeking PC. Our teen-focused research was instrumental in changing the American Diabetes Association's Practice Recommendations to specify that preconception counseling should "Start at puberty…". This directive requires support from well-informed mothers of teens. Our goal is to provide both teen girls and their mothers with preconception counseling knowledge, and provide mothers with sex-communication training. Evaluation should focus on mother-daughter dyads. This feasibility study explored mother's and daughter's awareness and knowledge of diabetes and pregnancy, and preconception counseling; and compared mother-daughter responses using dyadic analyses. A mixed-method design was conducted with 10 mothers of daughters with T1D. Mothers were given READY-Girls intervention and completed knowledge and support questionnaires. Their responses were compared to those of their daughter's who were participating in a large randomized, control intervention trial with READY-Girls . The major theme from one-on-one interviews was, "I know nothing about diabetes/pregnancy risks and PC". Mother's and daughter's perceptions of having limited knowledge were confirmed by low knowledge scores. Mothers perceived giving higher levels of support compared to their daughter's perceptions of receiving support. Mothers can play a vital role in initiating discussions regarding reproductive-health with their daughters and reinforcing preconception counseling. Mother-daughter team approach for starting preconception counseling at puberty in girls with diabetes is feasible. Mother-daughter dyadic analyses can be important to explore

Decreased total antioxidant capacity and increased oxidative stress in passive smoker infants and their mothers.

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Aycicek, Ali; Erel, Ozcan; Kocyigit, Abdurrahim

2005-12-01

Smoking has many adverse health effects in infants and adults. The purpose of the study was to study the effect of passive cigarette smoking on oxidative and antioxidative status of plasma in passive smoker infants and their mothers and to compare with those of non-smokers. Subjects were randomly chosen from infants aged 8-26 weeks and their mothers aged 20-34 years. Passive smoker infants (n = 29) and their mothers (n = 29) were defined as having other family members who smoked six or more cigarettes per day continually for at least 8 weeks. Non-smokers were defined as infants (n = 30) and their mothers (n = 24) who had never been exposed to passive smoking. The antioxidative status of plasma were perused by measuring the total antioxidant capacity. Oxidative status was evaluated by predicating total peroxide level, oxidative stress index, protein oxidation and lipid peroxidation. Plasma concentrations of total antioxidant capacity were significantly lower in passive smoker infants and their mothers than non-passive smoker infants and their mothers. However, lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress index were remarkably higher in passive smoker infants and their mothers than those of non-passive smoker infants and their mothers. There were significant correlations between the oxidative and antioxidative parameters of the passive smoker infants and their mothers. Oxidants are increased and antioxidants are decreased in passive smoker infants and their mothers than those of non-smokers. Passive smoker infants and their mothers are exposed to potent oxidative stress.

Primitive polynomials selection method for pseudo-random number generator

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Anikin, I. V.; Alnajjar, Kh

2018-01-01

In this paper we suggested the method for primitive polynomials selection of special type. This kind of polynomials can be efficiently used as a characteristic polynomials for linear feedback shift registers in pseudo-random number generators. The proposed method consists of two basic steps: finding minimum-cost irreducible polynomials of the desired degree and applying primitivity tests to get the primitive ones. Finally two primitive polynomials, which was found by the proposed method, used in pseudorandom number generator based on fuzzy logic (FRNG) which had been suggested before by the authors. The sequences generated by new version of FRNG have low correlation magnitude, high linear complexity, less power consumption, is more balanced and have better statistical properties.

Ayurvedic versus conventional dietary and lifestyle counseling for mothers with burnout-syndrome: A randomized controlled pilot study including a qualitative evaluation.

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Kessler, Christian S; Eisenmann, Clemens; Oberzaucher, Frank; Forster, Martin; Steckhan, Nico; Meier, Larissa; Stapelfeldt, Elmar; Michalsen, Andreas; Jeitler, Michael

2017-10-01

Ayurveda claims to be effective in the treatment of psychosomatic disorders by means of lifestyle and nutritional counseling. In a randomized controlled study mothers with burnout were randomized into two groups: Ayurvedic nutritional counseling (according to tradition), and conventional nutritional counseling (following the recommendations of a family doctor). Patients received five counseling sessions over twelve weeks. Outcomes included levels of burnout, quality of life, sleep, stress, depression/anxiety, and spirituality at three and six months. It also included a qualitative evaluation of the communication processes. We randomized thirty four patients; twenty three participants were included in the per protocol analysis. No significant differences were observed between the groups. However, significant and clinically relevant intra-group mean changes for the primary outcome burnout, and secondary outcomes sleep, stress, depression and mental health were only found in the Ayurveda group. The qualitative part of the study identified different conversational styles and counseling techniques between the two study groups. In conventional consultations questions tended to be category bound, while counseling-advice was predominantly admonitory. The Ayurvedic practitioner used open-ended interrogative forms, devices for displaying understanding, and positive re-evaluation more frequently, leading to an overall less asymmetrical interaction. We found positive effects for both groups, which however were more pronounced in the Ayurvedic group. The conversational and counseling techniques in the Ayurvedic group offered more opportunities for problem description by patients as well as patient-centered practice and resource-oriented recommendations by the physician. NCT01797887. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Human milk composition differs in healthy mothers and mothers with celiac disease

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Olivares, M.; Albrecht, S.; Palma, de G.; Desamparados Ferrer, M.; Castillejo, G.; Schols, H.A.; Sanz, Y.

2015-01-01

Purpose To investigate whether breast-milk composition and microbiota differ in healthy mothers and mothers with celiac disease (CD) to ultimately contribute to identify additional factors determining CD risk. Methods Breast-milk samples from healthy mothers (n = 12) and mothers with CD (n = 12)

Prevalence and factors associated with depressive symptoms among post-partum mothers in Nepal.

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Giri, Rajendra Kumar; Khatri, Resham Bahadur; Mishra, Shiva Raj; Khanal, Vishnu; Sharma, Vidya Dev; Gartoula, Ritu Prasad

2015-03-31

Post-partum depression is a common complication of women after childbirth. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of and factors associated with depressive symptoms among post-partum mothers attending a child immunization clinic at a maternity hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 346 post-partum mothers at six to ten weeks after delivery using systematic random sampling. Mothers were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to screen for depressive symptoms. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the association of post-partum depressive symptoms with socio-demographic and maternal factors. The prevalence of post-partum depressive symptoms among mothers was 30%. Mothers aged 20 to 29 years were less likely to have depressive symptoms (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.40; 95% CI: 0.21-0.76) compared to older mothers. Similarly, mothers with a history of pregnancy-induced health problems were more likely to have depressive symptoms (aOR = 2.16; CI: 1.00-4.66) and subjective feelings of stress (aOR = 3.86; CI: 1.84-4.66) than mothers who did not. The number of post-partum mothers experiencing depressive symptoms was high; almost one-third of the participants reported having them. Pregnancy-induced health problems and subjective feelings of stress during pregnancy in the post-partum period were found to be associated with depressive symptoms among these women. Screening of depressive symptoms should be included in routine antenatal and postnatal care services for early identification and prevention.

The Effect of Mother Empowerment Program on Mothers’ Attachment to their Hospitalized Premature Neonates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soheila Karbandi

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Background: Birth of a premature neonate is associated with hospital admission and separation from the family. Admission of the neonates intervenes on infant-mother attachment and so adversely affects on the quality of care given by the mother, and subsequently increases the risk of delayed behavioral problems in the children. Aim: To assess the effectiveness of mother empowerment program on the premature infant-mother attachment. Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 70 mothers of premature infants, admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU of Omolbanin hospital of Mashhad in 2014, were divided into of intervention and control groups. The Empowerment program was a multi-step treatment program, in which information about the premature infants was provided to mothers through an illustrated booklet with a workbook and audio file in each step. Mothers in the control group received information and routine care according to the hospital guideline. The mother-infant attachment was measured after the intervention using the maternal and neonatal behaviors Avant tool. Data analysis was performed using chi-square and t-student tests by SPSS software version 11.5. Results:The mean scores of maternal attachment behaviors after the intervention in the empowerment and control groups were (56.62±8.06 and (39.51±7.77, respectively; the difference between the groups was statistically significant (P

Prevention of insulin resistance by dietary intervention among pregnant mothers: A randomized controlled trial

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Masoomeh Goodarzi-Khoigani

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Chronic insulin resistance (IR is a basic part of the pathophysiology of gestational diabetes mellitus. Nutrition significantly impacts IR and weight loss reduces insulin levels, whereas weight gain increases the concentrations. Therefore, we surveyed the effect of nutrition intervention on IR in pregnant women and whether this effect is irrespective of weight gaining in accordance with Institute of Medicine limits. Methods: This prospective, randomized clinical trial was carried out among 150 primiparous pregnant mothers in fifteen health centers, five hospitals, and 15 private obstetrical offices in Isfahan. The nutrition intervention included education of healthy diet with emphasize on 50%–55% of total energy intake from carbohydrate (especially complex carbohydrates, 25%–30% from fat (to increase mono unsaturated fatty acids and decrease saturated and trans-fatty acids, and 15%–20% from protein during pregnancy for experimental group. The controls received the usual prenatal care by their health-care providers. Results: This trial decreased pregnancy-induced insulin increases (P = 0.01 and IR marginally (P = 0.05. ANCOVA demonstrated that control of gestational weight gaining was more effective to decrease IR (P = 0.02 while insulin values decreased by nutrition intervention and irrespective of weight control (P = 0.06. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG concentrations did not decrease by intervention (P = 0.56 or weight management (P = 0.15. Conclusions: The current intervention was effective to decrease pregnancy-induced insulin increases and IR. Considering study results on FPG levels and incidence of GDM, we suggest repeat of study design in a larger sample.

Gestational diabetes: How risky are the mothers of rural Bengal, India

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Sonali Sain; Prianka Mukhopadhyay; Tushar Kanti Saha; Ritu Ghosh

2013-01-01

Early detection of gestational diabetes in antenatal mothers can improve both pregnancy and fetal outcome. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted to find out the magnitude of gestational diabetes by selective screening using “American Diabetes Association (ADA) risk approach strategy” and distribution of risk factors of gestational diabetes among the mothers attending the antenatal clinic of Singur Rural Hospital. Pregnant women with gestational age between 24-28 weeks were interv...

The prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency is more common in breastfed infants than their mothers in Bhaktapur, Nepal.

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Chandyo, R K; Henjum, S; Ulak, M; Thorne-Lyman, A L; Ulvik, R J; Shrestha, P S; Locks, L; Fawzi, W; Strand, T A

2016-04-01

Iron deficiency anemia is a widespread public health problem, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Maternal iron status around and during pregnancy may influence infant iron status. We examined multiple biomarkers to determine the prevalence of iron deficiency and anemia among breastfed infants and explored its relationship with maternal and infant characteristics in Bhaktapur, Nepal. In a cross-sectional survey, we randomly selected 500 mother-infant pairs from Bhaktapur municipality. Blood was analyzed for hemoglobin, ferritin, total iron-binding capacity, transferrin receptors and C-reactive protein. The altitude-adjusted prevalence of anemia was 49% among infants 2-6-month-old (hemaglobin (Hb) Iron deficiency anemia, defined as anemia and serum ferritin anemia (Hb iron stores. Significant predictors of infant iron status and anemia were infant age, sex and duration of exclusive breastfeeding and maternal ferritin concentrations. Our findings suggest that iron supplementation in pregnancy is likely to have resulted in a low prevalence of postpartum anemia. The higher prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency among breastfed infants compared with their mothers suggests calls for intervention targeting newborns and infants.

Effect of NICU Department Orientation Program on Mother’s Anxiety: a Randomized Clinical Trial

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Leila Valizadeh

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Neonatal intensive care unit induces the high level of anxiety for mothers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of NICU orientation program on the anxiety of mothers who had preterm newborns hospitalized in NICU. Methods: This study was a randomized clinical trial (three parallel groups. Participants included 99 mothers with preterm newborns hospitalized in NICU of Al- Zahra hospital, affiliated to Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in 2015. Mothers were randomly assigned to one of three groups (film, booklet, and control. Mothers completed the State- Trait Anxiety Inventory before entering to the NICU, and then mothers in the experiment groups became familiar with the NICU environment through watching a film or reading booklet. After the first NICU visit, all mothers completed the STAI and Cattell's Anxiety Questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 13 software. Results: There was no significant difference between three groups regarding state- trait anxiety before the intervention. After the first NICU visit, a significant reduction in maternal state anxiety was seen in the both experiment groups. There was no statistical significant difference regarding trait anxiety. Data obtained from Cattell's anxiety questionnaire after intervention, showed significant difference in state anxiety between groups. Conclusion: Employing film and booklet orientation strategy after preterm delivery can reduce the mother’s anxiety and beneficent for the mother, baby, family and health care system.

Chronic and Episodic Stress in Children of Depressed Mothers.

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Feurer, Cope; Hammen, Constance L; Gibb, Brandon E

2016-01-01

The goal of this study was to examine chronic and episodic stress in children of mothers with and without a history of major depressive disorder (MDD) during the children's lives. Participants were 255 mothers selected according to their history of MDD (present vs. absent during child's life) and their children (age 8-14; 53% girls, 81% Caucasian). Mothers' and children's histories of MDD were assessed using diagnostic interviews, and their depressive symptoms were assessed via self-report measures. Children's levels of chronic and episodic stress were assessed using a semistructured contextual threat interview. Children of mothers with a history of recurrent MDD, compared to single MDD or no depression, experienced more chronic stress within several domains including peers, mother-child relations, and other family member relations as well as greater episodic dependent interpersonal stress. Each of these group differences was maintained after excluding children with a history of MDD themselves and controlling for their current depressive symptoms. However, only the group difference in chronic peer stress was maintained when controlling for mothers' current depression. The results suggest that children exposed to recurrent maternal MDD experience higher levels of both chronic and episodic stress, at least some of which they contribute to themselves (dependent interpersonal stress) and which is at least partially independent of the effects of children's depression. In addition, much of this stress is associated primarily with current depression in the mother, though it appears that chronic peer stress may remain elevated even after the remission of maternal depression.

Exercise persistence in the face of varying exercise challenges: a test of self-efficacy theory in working mothers.

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Jung, Mary E; Brawley, Lawrence R

2011-07-01

Self-regulatory efficacy (SRE) should influence persistence towards goals. Mothers attempting to exercise while managing work and young children (N = 49, M(age) = 35.69, M(children) = 1.88) were stratified into high or low concurrent SRE groups, then randomized to read a hypothetical scenario detailing numerous or minimal exercise barrier conditions. Consistent with self-efficacy theory, when exercise barriers were numerous, mothers with higher concurrent SRE demonstrated greater persistence towards exercise goals, and perceived concurrent management of exercise with their other valued goals as more positively challenging, than mothers with lower concurrent SRE.

THE TRANSITION FROM MOTHER-OF-ONE TO MOTHER-OF-TWO: MOTHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THEMSELVES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR FIRSTBORN CHILDREN.

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Chapman, Jennifer K; Hart, Sybil L

2017-07-01

This qualitative study aimed to explore mothers' perceptions of the transition to second-time motherhood, and advance methodology for supporting mothers during this transition. Fifty-seven pregnant mothers and their firstborn children (M age = 30.3 months) participated in a laboratory procedure in which the mother exposed her child to a brief episode of differential treatment. The episode was designed to simulate an expected experience of caregiving that would occur after the birth of a second child. During a postnatal visit (M=5.72 weeks following childbirth), mothers provided written feedback on their perceptions of the transition and the contribution of the laboratory experience to that transition. Qualitative content analysis revealed that mothers approached the birth of a second child with apprehension. Intrapersonal themes revealed that participation in the procedure shaped mothers' understanding of their expanded maternal roles by enhancing their sense of preparedness and confidence in their abilities to support their children. Interpersonal themes revealed that participation helped mothers appreciate the magnitude of the challenge that their children would face and gave mothers reason to believe that their children would adjust successfully. Findings are discussed in terms of their potential contribution toward developing methodology for helping mothers prepare for the addition of a second child. © 2017 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

Socio-demographic and Lifestyle Factors in Breastfeeding Mothers, Referring to Isfahan Health Centers

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Zahra Sohrabi

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Background The feeding importance of child in first two years of life and mental damage caused by malnutrition during this period is obvious. However the mother's lifestyle and long-term effects on the health of the mother and infant during breastfeeding period should not be neglected. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the relationship between the demographic characteristics and lifestyle of breastfeeding mothers referring to health centers in Isfahan. Materials and Methods In this cross-sectional study, 190 breastfeeding mothers were selected by quota sampling from Isfahan-Iran. Demographic and lifestyle questionnaires were completed. Data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical statistical methods using of SPSS-16. Results The majority of mothers (88.9% in breast feeding period have an appropriate lifestyle. The most favorable conditions among different aspects of lifestyle related to spiritual health and the most unfavorable is related to sports and fitness. There was a direct and significant relationship between mother's education and prevention of accidents (r=0.34, P

Impact of Depressive Symptoms on Mother Infant Attachment among Mothers of Preterm Neonates

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Binu Margaret

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Objective: To assess the level of depressive symptoms and mother-infant-attachment among mothers of preterms admitted in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU and find the relationship between of depressive symptoms and mother-infant-attachment. Materials and methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted among 100 mothers whose preterm babies were admitted in NICU of Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, Karnataka using purposive sampling. Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and Mother Infant Attachment Scale were used to collect the data. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The mother’s age ranged from 20 to 40 years. The mild depressive symptoms were experienced by 28 (28% mothers, moderate 25(25% and 17 (17% had severe level of depressive symptoms. Majority mothers 77(77% of preterms had good-attachment and 18% had moderate attachment. Mean depressive symptom score and mother-infant-attachment score was 14.36±7.47 and 58.00 ±12.95 respectively. Depressive symptoms and mother-infant-attachment showed moderate negative correlation, (ρ=--0.506, (p=0.001. Conclusion: Increased levels of depressive symptoms among the mothers of preterm neonates affects the mother–infant-interactions. Interventions to decrease the level of depressive symptoms need to be planned for promoting good mother infant interaction.

Randomizing Roaches: Exploring the "Bugs" of Randomization in Experimental Design

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Wagler, Amy; Wagler, Ron

2014-01-01

Understanding the roles of random selection and random assignment in experimental design is a central learning objective in most introductory statistics courses. This article describes an activity, appropriate for a high school or introductory statistics course, designed to teach the concepts, values and pitfalls of random selection and assignment…

Treatment of depressed mothers in home visiting: impact on psychological distress and social functioning.

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Ammerman, Robert T; Putnam, Frank W; Altaye, Mekibib; Teeters, Angelique R; Stevens, Jack; Van Ginkel, Judith B

2013-08-01

Depression is prevalent in mothers receiving home visiting. Little is known about the impact of treatment on associated features of maternal depression in this population. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a novel, adapted treatment for depressed mothers in home visiting on psychological distress and social functioning. In-Home Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (IH-CBT) was developed to treat depressed mothers in home visiting. A randomized clinical trial design was used in which subjects were 93 new mothers in a home visiting program. Mothers with major depressive disorder identified at 3 months postpartum were randomized into IH-CBT and ongoing home visiting (n = 47) or standard home visiting (SHV; n = 46) in which they received home visitation alone and could obtain treatment in the community. Measures of psychological distress, social support, and social network were measured at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and three-month follow-up. Clinical features of depression and home visiting parameters were examined as potential moderators. Subjects receiving IH-CBT reported decreased psychological distress at post-treatment (ES = 0.77) and follow-up (ES = 0.73). Examination of types of psychological distress indicated broad improvements at both time points. Those receiving IH-CBT reported increased social support over time relative to those in the SHV condition. Effect sizes were modest at post-treatment (ES = 0.38) but increased at follow-up (ES = 0.65). Improvements were seen in affiliative and belonginess aspects of social support, in contrast to tangible support which was statistically non-significant. Findings were not moderated by clinical features of depression or home visiting parameters. No group differences were found in size of and involvement with social networks. IH-CBT is effective in reducing psychological distress and improving perceived social support in depressed mothers receiving home visiting. To the extent that mothers are better

Communication strategies to reduce cancer disparities: Insights from African-American mother-daughter dyads.

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Mosavel, Maghboeba; Wilson Genderson, Maureen; Ports, Katie A; Carlyle, Kellie E

2015-12-01

Mothers and daughters share a powerful and unique bond, which has potential for the dissemination of information on a variety of women's health issues, including the primary and secondary prevention of breast and cervical cancer. This study presents formative research from a long-term project examining the potential of mother-daughter communication in promoting cancer screening among African American women. Thirty-two mother-daughter pairs (N = 64) completed orally administered surveys regarding their cancer knowledge, beliefs and attitudes, and barriers to care. This study compares the attitudes and beliefs of low-income, urban, African American mothers and their adolescent daughters regarding cervical and breast cancer screening. Both mothers and daughters had fairly high levels of knowledge about breast and cervical cancer. In addition, there was a high concordance rate between mothers' and daughters' responses, suggesting a potential sharing of health knowledge between mother and daughter. These results have implications for selecting communication strategies to reduce health disparities, and support that the mother-daughter dyad could be a viable unit to disseminate targeted screening information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Integration of oral health in primary health care through motivational interviewing for mothers of young children: A pilot study

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Manu Batra

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Early childhood caries (ECC continues to affect children worldwide. In India, primary health centers (PHCs comprises the primary tier where Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA provide integrated curative and preventive health care. The aim of the study was to pilot test the integration of oral health in primary health care through motivational interviewing (MI for mothers of young children provided by ASHAs. Subjects and Methods: The pilot study was conducted in Kashipur, Uttarakhand. From the six PHCs in Kashipur, three were randomly selected, one each was assigned to MI group, traditional health education group, and control group. From 60 mothers with 8–12 months child, ASHAs of all three groups gathered mother's knowledge regarding child's oral health using close-ended questionnaire and diagnosed clinical risk markers of ECC in children and ASHAs of Group A and B imparted the oral health education as per their training. Results: The comparison of ASHA's performances on the MI training competency pre- and post-test showed an overall average of 74% improvement in post–test scores. Interexaminer reliability of the parallel clinical measurements by 6 ASHAs and the investigator for the maxillary central incisors showed 93% of agreement for both dental plaque and dental caries assessment with 0.86 and 0.89 kappa values, respectively. Conclusion: The health education through MI is feasible and can be cost-effective by utilization of ASHAs at PHCs to provide the oral health education to mothers which will in turn improve the oral health status of children.

Parenthood motives in IVF-mothers.

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Colpin, H; De Munter, A; Vandemeulebroecke, L

1998-03-01

This is an exploratory study to answer two questions: (1) does in-vitro fertilization (IVF)-mothers' motivation for parenthood differ from the naturally conceiving mothers' motivation for parenthood? and (2) are IVF-mothers' parenthood motives correlated with their adjustment to parenthood (in the same way as they are for naturally conceiving mothers)? The study sample consisted of 31 mothers with a 24-30 month old, single-born child conceived by homologous IVF and a comparison group of 31 mothers with a naturally conceived child. Self-rating questionnaires were used. Overall, the parenthood motivation pattern was quite similar for IVF-mothers and mothers by natural conception. However, 'identity', 'motherhood' and 'social control' were significantly more important motives for IVF-mothers than for the naturally conceiving mothers. The two former motives remained more important for IVF-mothers when findings were adjusted for the influence of the mothers' age and educational level. Possible explanations for these findings refer to the infertility history. Overall, few correlations between parenthood motives and the adjustment to parenthood were significant, both for the IVF-mothers and for the mothers by natural conception. Further (hypothesis-testing) research is needed to support these findings.

A study protocol of a three-group randomized feasibility trial of an online yoga intervention for mothers after stillbirth (The Mindful Health Study).

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Huberty, Jennifer; Matthews, Jeni; Leiferman, Jenn; Cacciatore, Joanne; Gold, Katherine J

2018-01-01

In the USA, stillbirth (in utero fetal death ≥20 weeks gestation) is a major public health issue. Women who experience stillbirth, compared to women with live birth, have a nearly sevenfold increased risk of a positive screen for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a fourfold increased risk of depressive symptoms. Because the majority of women who have experienced the death of their baby become pregnant within 12-18 months and the lack of intervention studies conducted within this population, novel approaches targeting physical and mental health, specific to the needs of this population, are critical. Evidence suggests that yoga is efficacious, safe, acceptable, and cost-effective for improving mental health in a variety of populations, including pregnant and postpartum women. To date, there are no known studies examining online-streaming yoga as a strategy to help mothers cope with PTSD symptoms after stillbirth. The present study is a two-phase randomized controlled trial. Phase 1 will involve (1) an iterative design process to develop the online yoga prescription for phase 2 and (2) qualitative interviews to identify cultural barriers to recruitment in non-Caucasian women (i.e., predominately Hispanic and/or African American) who have experienced stillbirth ( N  = 5). Phase 2 is a three-group randomized feasibility trial with assessments at baseline, and at 12 and 20 weeks post-intervention. Ninety women who have experienced a stillbirth within 6 weeks to 24 months will be randomized into one of the following three arms for 12 weeks: (1) intervention low dose (LD) = 60 min/week online-streaming yoga ( n  = 30), (2) intervention moderate dose (MD) = 150 min/week online-streaming yoga ( n  = 30), or (3) stretch and tone control (STC) group = 60 min/week of stretching/toning exercises ( n  = 30). This study will explore the feasibility and acceptability of a 12-week, home-based, online-streamed yoga intervention, with varying doses

Materials selection for oxide-based resistive random access memories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo, Yuzheng; Robertson, John

2014-01-01

The energies of atomic processes in resistive random access memories (RRAMs) are calculated for four typical oxides, HfO 2 , TiO 2 , Ta 2 O 5 , and Al 2 O 3 , to define a materials selection process. O vacancies have the lowest defect formation energy in the O-poor limit and dominate the processes. A band diagram defines the operating Fermi energy and O chemical potential range. It is shown how the scavenger metal can be used to vary the O vacancy formation energy, via controlling the O chemical potential, and the mean Fermi energy. The high endurance of Ta 2 O 5 RRAM is related to its more stable amorphous phase and the adaptive lattice rearrangements of its O vacancy

Mothers: The Unacknowledged Victims.

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Patterson, G.R.

1980-01-01

Used coercion theory to investigate aversive mother- child interactions. Literature indicated younger children produced higher rates of aversive interactions with their mothers. Mothers' role satisfaction varied as a function of such rates. Observation data showed mothers of aggressive children encountered higher rates of aversive interactions…

Translation and validation of a chinese version of the parenting sense of competence scale in chinese mothers.

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Ngai, Fei-Wan; Wai-Chi Chan, Sally; Holroyd, Eleanor

2007-01-01

Women's sense of competence and satisfaction in the maternal role are essential for positive parenting practices and child development. Measures of maternal role competence and satisfaction are limited in the Chinese population. To translate the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale into Chinese (C-PSOC) and to examine the psychometric properties of the C-PSOC. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a convenience sample of 170 mothers recruited from a postnatal unit. Participants completed the C-PSOC, Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale, and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. A randomly selected subsample of 57 mothers participated in the 4-week retest. The C-PSOC demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .85) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = .87). Factor analysis supported the two-factor structure reflecting the efficacy and satisfaction dimensions of the original instrument. The scale discriminated between primiparas and multiparas (t = 2.2, p Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (r = .60, p Scale (r = -.48, p < .01) demonstrated good construct validity. The C-PSOC has satisfactory psychometric properties. It has the potential to be used as a clinical and research instrument for measuring maternal role competence and satisfaction in the Chinese population.

Stability of Maternal Discipline Practices and the Quality of Mother-Child Interaction during Toddlerhood

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Huang, Keng-Yen; Caughy, Margaret O'Brien; Lee, Li-Ching; Miller, Therese; Genevro, Janice

2008-01-01

This study examined the stability of maternal punitive/high-power discipline (PD) and inductive/authoritative discipline (ID) over the second and third years of life and the effect of maternal discipline on quality of mother-child interactions. Data from a longitudinal sample with 179 mother-toddler dyads were analyzed, and selected factors (i.e.,…

Mothers After Gestational Diabetes in Australia Diabetes Prevention Program (MAGDA-DPP) post-natal intervention

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shih, Sophy T F; Davis-Lameloise, Nathalie; Janus, Edward D.

2014-01-01

Background: The Mothers After Gestational Diabetes in Australia Diabetes Prevention Program (MAGDA-DPP) is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) that aims to assess the effectiveness of a structured diabetes prevention intervention for women who had gestational diabetes.Methods/Design: The original...

Promotion of exclusive breastfeeding among HIV-positive mothers: an exploratory qualitative study.

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Hazemba, Alice N; Ncama, Busisiwe P; Sithole, Sello L

2016-01-01

Exclusive breastfeeding has the potential to reduce infant and under-five mortality, but research shows the practice is not widespread in resource-poor settings of sub-Saharan Africa. We explored factors influencing the decision to exclusively breastfeed among HIV-positive mothers accessing interventions for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in selected sites of Zambia. This exploratory qualitative study was embedded in research conducted on: HIV and infant feeding; choices and decision-outcomes in the context of prevention of mother-to-child transmission among HIV-positive mothers in Zambia. Thirty HIV-positive mothers and six key informants were recruited from two health facilities providing mother-to-child HIV transmission prevention services. A semi-structured guide was used to conduct interviews, which were digitally recorded and simultaneously transcribed. Data coding and analysis was done with the support of QRS Nvivo 10 version software. Despite the known benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, gaps in understanding and potential for behaviour change remained. We found that information promoting exclusive breastfeeding may have been understood by mothers as instructions from the health care workers indicating how to feed their HIV-exposed babies rather than as an option for the mothers' own informed-decision. This understanding influenced a mother's perceptions of breast milk safety while on antiretroviral medicine, of the formula feeding option, and of the baby crying after breastfeeding. The meanings mothers attached to exclusive breastfeeding thus influenced their understanding of breast milk insufficiency, abrupt weaning and mixed feeding in the context of preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. In order to enhance feeding practices for HIV-exposed infants, our study suggests a broader health campaign supporting all mothers to exclusively breastfeed.

Effectiveness of Cognitive Group Therapy on Quality of Life and Happiness among Mothers of Autistic Children

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A Ebrahimi

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction: Studies show that parents of children with autism disorders are more exposed to the stress of having disabled children than the parents of children with other psychological disorders. All the problems of these children can endanger the quality of life and happiness of their families. The more the ability of people for coping, so the present study with the aim of studying Effectiveness of Cognitive Group Therapy on Quality of Life and Happiness among Mothers of Autistic Children was done. Methods: The aim of the present study was to examine effectiveness of cognitive group therapy on quality of life and happiness among mothers of autistic children in Shiraz. This study was an experimental study with pretest and posttest with control group design. At first the Quality of Life Questionnaire and Happiness Inventory were administered to mothers of autistic children and after analyzing the data 30 mothers of autistic children who gained lower scores on these tests were selected based on simple random sampling and assigned two groups; experimental and control. The experimental group underwent treatment method for 12 sessions with two month follow up study, but the control group did not receive any treatment. Finding; Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and showed that there was a significant positive correlation between cognitive group therapy and improvement in quality of life and happiness in mothers with autistic children. Follow up studies showed that cognitive group therapy had a significant effect on in quality of life and happiness in the control sample. Conclusion: The results showed that the intervention which has been done could improve the quality of life and its dimensions in parents of children with autism, resulting in the increasing happiness of the  parents. Hence, this method of therapy can be used as therapy, either alone or in conjunction with other forms of mental health treatment

Emergence of multilevel selection in the prisoner's dilemma game on coevolving random networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szolnoki, Attila; Perc, Matjaz

2009-01-01

We study the evolution of cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma game, whereby a coevolutionary rule is introduced that molds the random topology of the interaction network in two ways. First, existing links are deleted whenever a player adopts a new strategy or its degree exceeds a threshold value; second, new links are added randomly after a given number of game iterations. These coevolutionary processes correspond to the generic formation of new links and deletion of existing links that, especially in human societies, appear frequently as a consequence of ongoing socialization, change of lifestyle or death. Due to the counteraction of deletions and additions of links the initial heterogeneity of the interaction network is qualitatively preserved, and thus cannot be held responsible for the observed promotion of cooperation. Indeed, the coevolutionary rule evokes the spontaneous emergence of a powerful multilevel selection mechanism, which despite the sustained random topology of the evolving network, maintains cooperation across the whole span of defection temptation values.

Work/non-workday differences in mother, child, and mother-child morning cortisol in a sample of working mothers and their children.

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Hibel, Leah C; Trumbell, Jill M; Mercado, Evelyn

2014-01-01

Mothers have been shown to have higher morning cortisol on days they go to work compared to non-workdays; however, it is unknown how maternal workday associates with child morning cortisol or the attunement of mother-child morning cortisol. This study examined the presence and stability of morning cortisol levels and slopes (i.e., cortisol awakening response or CAR) in a sample of 2-4year old children in out-of-home child care with working mothers. In addition, we examined the differential contributions of maternal workday on mother-child attunement in morning cortisol. Mother and child morning cortisol was sampled twice a day (awakening and 30min later) across four consecutive days (2 non-workdays; 2 workdays) among 47 working mothers and their young children. Mothers also reported on compliance with sampling procedures and provided demographic information. While children exhibited stability in cortisol levels, children's CARs were variable, with children's non-work CARs not predictive of work CARs. Similarly, a significant morning rise in cortisol was only found on workdays, not non-workdays. Overall, mothers had higher cortisol levels and steeper CARs than their children. Further, maternal workday moderated the attunement of mother-child morning cortisol, such that mothers and children had concordant cortisol levels on non-workdays, but discordant cortisol levels on workdays. Morning cortisol may be more variable in pre-school aged children than adults but may be similarly responsive to the social environment. Further, workday mornings may be a time of reduced mother-child cortisol attunement. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gestational diabetes: How risky are the mothers of rural Bengal, India

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Sonali Sain

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Early detection of gestational diabetes in antenatal mothers can improve both pregnancy and fetal outcome. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted to find out the magnitude of gestational diabetes by selective screening using “American Diabetes Association (ADA risk approach strategy” and distribution of risk factors of gestational diabetes among the mothers attending the antenatal clinic of Singur Rural Hospital. Pregnant women with gestational age between 24-28 weeks were interviewed using a predesigned schedule adapted from American Diabetes Association and WHO guidelines and their clinical and obstetrical examination was done. Mothers identified with at least 1 risk factor were advised for screening by Glucose Challenge test (GCT. Those with a positive result were confirmed by Glucose Tolerance Test. Out of 625 antenatal mothers, majority i.e. 60.32% of the mothers were exposed to low risk for developing gestational diabetes. Among 248 (39.68% mothers who had at least one risk factor, 20.56% were GCT positive amounting to 8.16% of the total population. 11.69% of the mothers with positive risk factors were GTT positive amounting to 56.86% of GCT positive mothers. This accounted for 4.64% of the total study population. Thus this method of preliminary screening for risk factors of gestational diabetes undertaken in all antenatal mothers followed by confirmatory testing in those found to be risk factor positive can provide a feasible alternative in increasing the yield for detection of gestational diabetes articularly in a low resource setting.

Sudden infant death syndrome: how much mothers and health professionals know.

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Yikilkan, Hulya; Unalan, Pemra Cobek; Cakir, Erkan; Ersu, Refika Hamutcu; Cifcili, Serap; Akman, Mehmet; Uzuner, Arzu; Dagli, Elif

2011-02-01

Behavioral risk factors are associated with sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Education about the risk factors of SIDS is important for prevention. Our aim was to determine the knowledge and attitude of parents and health professionals about SIDS. A total of 174 health professionals and 150 mothers were enrolled in this study. Mothers' data were collected by telephone interview and health-care professionals were interviewed by the same investigator. Only 39% of mothers were aware of SIDS. Forty-six percent of the mothers preferred a supine sleeping position for their infant and 16% of the parents were bed-sharing with their infants. Seventy-three percent of health professionals selected side, 17% supine and 10% prone sleeping position as the safest sleeping position. Frequencies for awareness of risk factors were: bed-sharing (75%), soft bedding (70%), pillow use (52%), toys in bed (90%), high room temperature (67%) and smoking (88%). Total knowledge score of health professionals who selected supine sleeping position as the safest was significantly higher (P sleeping position for their infant. Only 72% of health professionals recommended a certain sleeping position during family interviews. Health professionals are more often recommending the side sleeping position or prone. Education of families and health professionals for the risk factors of SIDS may reduce the number of deaths from SIDS in Istanbul. © 2011 The Authors. Pediatrics International © 2011 Japan Pediatric Society.

Assessing the accuracy and stability of variable selection methods for random forest modeling in ecology

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Random forest (RF) modeling has emerged as an important statistical learning method in ecology due to its exceptional predictive performance. However, for large and complex ecological datasets there is limited guidance on variable selection methods for RF modeling. Typically, e...

Optimization of the Dutch Matrix Test by Random Selection of Sentences From a Preselected Subset

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Rolph Houben

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Matrix tests are available for speech recognition testing in many languages. For an accurate measurement, a steep psychometric function of the speech materials is required. For existing tests, it would be beneficial if it were possible to further optimize the available materials by increasing the function’s steepness. The objective is to show if the steepness of the psychometric function of an existing matrix test can be increased by selecting a homogeneous subset of recordings with the steepest sentence-based psychometric functions. We took data from a previous multicenter evaluation of the Dutch matrix test (45 normal-hearing listeners. Based on half of the data set, first the sentences (140 out of 311 with a similar speech reception threshold and with the steepest psychometric function (≥9.7%/dB were selected. Subsequently, the steepness of the psychometric function for this selection was calculated from the remaining (unused second half of the data set. The calculation showed that the slope increased from 10.2%/dB to 13.7%/dB. The resulting subset did not allow the construction of enough balanced test lists. Therefore, the measurement procedure was changed to randomly select the sentences during testing. Random selection may interfere with a representative occurrence of phonemes. However, in our material, the median phonemic occurrence remained close to that of the original test. This finding indicates that phonemic occurrence is not a critical factor. The work highlights the possibility that existing speech tests might be improved by selecting sentences with a steep psychometric function.

Status of iodine nutrition among pregnant mothers in selected districts of Uttarakhand, India

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Umesh Kapil

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Uttarakhand state is a known endemic area for iodine deficiency. Objective: The present study was conducted with an objective to assess the iodine nutritional status amongst pregnant mothers (PMs in districts: Pauri (P, Nainital (N and Udham Singh Nagar (USN of Uttarakhand state. Materials and Methods: Thirty clusters from each district were selected by utilizing the population proportionate to size cluster sampling methodology. A total of 1727 PMs from P (481, N (614 and USN (632 were included. The clinical examination of the thyroid of each PM was conducted. Urine and salt samples were collected from a sub samples of PMs enlisted for thyroid clinical examination. Results: The total Goiter rate was found to be 24.9 (P, 20.2 (N and 16.1 (USN%. The median urinary iodine concentration (UIC levels were found to be 110 μg/L (P, 117.5 μg/L (N and 124 μg/L (USN. The percentage of PMs consuming salt with iodine content of 15 ppm and more was found to be 57.9 (P, 67.0 (N and 50.3 (USN. Conclusion: The findings of the present study revealed that the PMs in all three districts had low iodine nutritional status as revealed by UIC levels of less than 150 μg/L.

Study protocol: intervention in maternal perception of preschoolers' weight among Mexican and Mexican-American mothers.

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Flores-Peña, Yolanda; He, Meizi; Sosa, Erica T; Avila-Alpirez, Hermelinda; Trejo-Ortiz, Perla M

2018-05-30

Childhood obesity is a public health issue negatively affecting children's physical and psychosocial health. Mothers are children's primary caregivers, thus key players in childhood obesity prevention. Studies have indicated that mothers underestimate their children's weight. If mothers are unaware of their children's weight problem, they are less likely to participate in activities preventing and treating excess weight. The "Healthy Change" intervention is designed to change maternal perception of child's weight (MPCW) through peer-led group health education in childcare settings. The "Healthy Change" is a multicenter two-arm randomized trial in four centers. Three centers are in Mexican States (Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas). The fourth center is in San Antonio, Texas, USA. A total of 360 mother-child pairs (90 pairs per center) are to be randomly and evenly allocated to either the intervention or the control group. Intervention group will receive four-session group obesity prevention education. Control group will receive a four-session personal and food hygiene education. The education is delivered by trained peer-mother promotoras. Data will be collected using questionnaires and focus groups. The primary outcome is a change in proportion of mothers with accurate MPCW. Secondary outcomes include change in maternal feeding styles and practices, maternal self-efficacy and actions for managing child excessive weight gain. McNemar's Test will be used to test the primary outcome. The GLM Univariate procedure will be used to determine intervention effects on secondary outcomes. The models will include the secondary outcome measures as the dependent variables, treatment condition (intervention/control) as the fixed factor, and confounding factors (e.g., mother's education, children's gender and age) as covariates. Sub-analyses will be performed to compare intervention effects on primary and secondary outcomes between the samples from Mexico and Texas, USA

Mother-child language style matching predicts children's and mothers' emotion reactivity.

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Rasmussen, Hannah F; Borelli, Jessica L; Smiley, Patricia A; Cohen, Chloe; Cheung, Ryan Cheuk Ming; Fox, Schuyler; Marvin, Matthew; Blackard, Betsy

2017-05-15

Co-regulation of behavior occurring within parent-child attachment relationships is thought to be the primary means through which children develop the capacity to regulate emotion, an ability that is protective across development. Existing research on parent-child co-regulation focuses predominantly on parent-infant dyads, and operationalizes co-regulation as the matching of facial expressions; however, matching can occur on other behaviors, including vocal tone, body movement, and language. Studies with young children find that greater matching is associated with children's lower emotion reactivity, but with unknown impacts on parents. In this study we examine a recently-developed metric of behavioral matching, language style matching (LSM), a composite measure of the similarity of function word use in spoken or written language between two or more people. We test whether LSM between mothers and their school-aged children is associated with children's and mothers' physiological and subjective emotion reactivity. Children completed a standardized stressor task while their mothers observed; children's and mother's cortisol and cardiovascular reactivity were assessed, as were their subjective reports of emotion reactivity. Following the stressor, children and mothers completed independent interviews about the experience, later assessed for LSM. Higher mother-child LSM was associated with lower emotion reactivity (lower cortisol reactivity, lower reports of negative emotion) for children, and with higher maternal cardiovascular but not cortisol or subjective reactivity. Further, higher LSM was more strongly associated with lower child cortisol reactivity when mothers were more reactive themselves. We conclude that mother-child LSM, thought to reflect a history of co-regulated interaction, confers protective benefits for children, but heightened reactivity for mothers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Some problems of parametric neutron activation analysis based on the use of radioactive daughters of longer-lived mothers with low mother/daughter half-life ratios

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohen, I.M.

2012-01-01

The theoretical and practical aspects of the use of radioactive daughters originated from the decay of longer-lived radioactive mothers in parametric activation analysis, when the ratio: mother half-life to daughter half-life is less than 10, are discussed. The mother-daughter relationships: 47 Ca/ 47 Sc; 95 Zr/ 95 Nb; 140 Ba/ 140 La; 99 Mo/ 99m Tc and 115 Cd/ 115m In are selected as models for the study. The cases when the radionuclide of interest is formed through both direct and indirect routes are also analyzed. As illustrative example, the direct reaction and the reaction chain: 47 Ti(n,p) 47 Sc/ 46 Ca(n,γ) 47 Ca(β - ) 47 Sc are evaluated with respect to the determination of the elements involved and their reciprocal interferences. (author)

Random drift versus selection in academic vocabulary: an evolutionary analysis of published keywords.

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Bentley, R Alexander

2008-08-27

The evolution of vocabulary in academic publishing is characterized via keyword frequencies recorded in the ISI Web of Science citations database. In four distinct case-studies, evolutionary analysis of keyword frequency change through time is compared to a model of random copying used as the null hypothesis, such that selection may be identified against it. The case studies from the physical sciences indicate greater selection in keyword choice than in the social sciences. Similar evolutionary analyses can be applied to a wide range of phenomena; wherever the popularity of multiple items through time has been recorded, as with web searches, or sales of popular music and books, for example.

Impact of Maternal Attachment Style on Mother to Infant Attachment

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V Moghaddam Hoseini

2012-05-01

Full Text Available

Background and Objectives: Maternal attachment has the potential to affect both child development and parenting. As such, mother-infant attachment has been considered an important topic in recent years. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between maternal adult attachment style, the maternal obstetric and demographic characteristics and mother-infant attachment.

Methods: In this descriptive-correlational study, 102 women who had referred to health centers in Mashhad in 2008 and who had inclusion criteriawere selected using stratified cluster sampling. After interview about obstetric and demographic characteristics, they were asked to complete the "Revised Adult Attachment Scale" and "Mother to Infant Attachment Inventory" for assessment of maternal attachment style and mother-infant attachment 4-5 weeks after delivery. Data were analyzed by Pearson Correlation, Kruskal-wallis and Mann-whitney statistical tests.

Results: In this study, themean of mother-infant attachment was found to be 97.48±6.12 and the mean of secure adult attachment was higher than that of other styles (16.89±3.97. Although, there were negative significant relationship between maternal avoidant style and mother-infant attachment (p=0.037,r=-0/20, there were no relationship between maternal age and education, parity, type of delivery and mother-infant attachment.

Conclusion: The results of this research show that maternal attachment style is one of the factors of mother -infant attachment.

Mothers' Experiences with a Mother-Child Education Programme in Five Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Bekman, Sevda; Koçak, Aylin Atmaca

2013-01-01

Although previous quantitative studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of the mother-child education programme (MOCEP) that originated in Turkey in 1993, the study reported here uses a qualitative approach to gain an in-depth understanding of mothers' views of the outcomes of the programme. The study was conducted with 100 mothers from five…

Materials selection for oxide-based resistive random access memories

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guo, Yuzheng; Robertson, John [Engineering Department, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB2 1PZ (United Kingdom)

2014-12-01

The energies of atomic processes in resistive random access memories (RRAMs) are calculated for four typical oxides, HfO{sub 2}, TiO{sub 2}, Ta{sub 2}O{sub 5}, and Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, to define a materials selection process. O vacancies have the lowest defect formation energy in the O-poor limit and dominate the processes. A band diagram defines the operating Fermi energy and O chemical potential range. It is shown how the scavenger metal can be used to vary the O vacancy formation energy, via controlling the O chemical potential, and the mean Fermi energy. The high endurance of Ta{sub 2}O{sub 5} RRAM is related to its more stable amorphous phase and the adaptive lattice rearrangements of its O vacancy.

Comparing interventions for selective mutism: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Manassis, Katharina; Tannock, Rosemary

2008-10-01

To examine the outcome within 6 to 8 months of medical and nonmedical intervention for children with severe selective mutism (SM). Children with SM (n = 17) and their mothers, seen in a previous study, attended follow-up appointments with a clinician. Obtained by maternal report were: treatment received, current diagnosis (based on semi-structured interview), speech in various environments, and global improvement. An independent clinician also rated global functioning. The diagnosis of SM persisted in 16 children, but significant symptomatic improvement was evident in the sample. All children had received school consultations. Children who had been treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) (n = 10) showed greater global improvement, improvement in functioning, and improvement in speech outside the family than children who were unmedicated (n = 7). No differences were evident for children receiving and not receiving additional nonmedical intervention. The findings suggest the potential benefit of SSRI treatment in severe SM, but randomized comparative treatment studies are indicated.

Lone mothers in Sweden

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Burström, B; Diderichsen, Finn; Shouls, S

1999-01-01

To study trends in the health and socioeconomic circumstances of lone mothers in Sweden over the years 1979-1995, and to make comparisons with couple mothers over the same period.......To study trends in the health and socioeconomic circumstances of lone mothers in Sweden over the years 1979-1995, and to make comparisons with couple mothers over the same period....

Evaluation of the galactogogue effect of silymarin on mothers of preterm newborns (<32 weeks

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Chiara Peila

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Hypogalactia has a relative high frequency in women having delivered preterm infants, who often have difficulties in maintaining a sufficient production of milk for their infants’ needs over prolonged periods of time. Recent studies have shown a potential galactogogue effect of silymarin on milk production in animal models (cows and rats and in humans (mothers of term newborns; nonetheless, none of the studies conducted on humans consisted of double-blind randomized clinical trials and no data are available concerning mothers who delivered preterm infants. The aim of our study was to assess the efficacy of silymarin (BIO-C® as galactogogue and its tolerability in mothers who delivered preterm infants. We enrolled 50 mothers at 10±1 days post-partum who had delivered infants at ® and placebo arms. No adverse events were observed in the 2 arms among mothers and infants, and silymarin and its metabolites were not detectable in the analyzed human milk samples. Further investigation on specific patient groups affected by hypogalactia, defined according to stricter criteria, should be planned to assess the efficacy of the product in increasing milk production.

Mother/child bond in mothers of overweight and eutrophic children: depression and socioeconomic factors

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Patricia Vieira Spada

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Objective: To verify the presence of depression, age, level of schooling, occupation, marital status, number of children and nutritional status (maternal and of the child in mothers of overweight and eutrophic children and relate the data to mother/child bonding. Methods: A total of 120 mothers of children aged up to 10 years participated; 30 of them were overweight and 30 were eutrophic (low-income bracket; 30 were overweight and 30 eutrophic (high-income bracket. The control group was composed of eutrophic children paired according to sex, age, level of schooling, and social condition. Data collection was made through interviews. The assessment instruments were: Mother/Child Bonding Assessment Protocol and Beck Depression Inventory. The nutritional classification was defined by calculation of the body mass index, as per the curves of the World Health Organization. For statistics, McNemar, χ2, and Fisher’s exact tests were used. A 5% level of rejection of the null hypothesis was set. Results: There was no significant result between mother/child bonding and the variables studied, or between the presence of depression and level of schooling, marital status, occupation, and maternal nutritional status. Nevertheless, mothers of eutrophic children (high-income bracket showed less depression than mothers of eutrophic children (low-income bracket. Mothers with three or more children displayed more depression than mothers with less than three children. Mothers under 30 years of age showed more depression than mothers aged 30 years or older. Conclusion: There was no significant result between mother/child bonding and the variables studied, but the bond was compromised in all mothers of the sample. There was a significant result regarding the presence of depression.

Teen Mothers' Mental Health.

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SmithBattle, Lee; Freed, Patricia

2016-01-01

Psychological distress is common in teen mothers. High rates of distress are attributed to teen mothers' childhood adversities and the challenges of parenting in the context of chronic stress, cumulative disadvantage, and limited social support. We describe the prevalence of psychological distress in teen mothers; what is known about its origins and impact on mothers and children; factors that promote teen mothers' mental health and resilience; and the many barriers that make it difficult to obtain traditional mental healthcare. We also briefly review the few studies that test interventions to improve teen mothers' mental health. Because barriers to traditional mental health treatment are ubiquitous and difficult to remedy, the second article in this two-part series calls for nurses in healthcare settings, schools, and home visiting programs to screen pregnant and parenting teens for adverse childhood experiences and psychological distress, and to integrate strength-based and trauma-based principles into their practice. Creating a supportive setting where past traumas and psychological distress are addressed with skill and sensitivity builds upon teen mothers' strengths and their aspirations to be the best parents they can be. These approaches facilitate the long-term health and development of mother and child.

Determination of Mother Centriole Maturation in CPAP-Depleted Cells Using the Ninein Antibody

OpenAIRE

Lee, Miseon; Rhee, Kunsoo

2015-01-01

Background Mutations in centrosomal protein genes have been identified in a number of genetic diseases in brain development, including microcephaly. Centrosomal P4.1-associated protein (CPAP) is one of the causal genes implicated in primary microcephaly. We previously proposed that CPAP is essential for mother centriole maturation during mitosis. Methods We immunostained CPAP-depleted cells using the ninein antibody, which selectively detects subdistal appendages in mature mother centrioles. ...

Using baby books to change new mothers' attitudes about corporal punishment.

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Reich, Stephanie M; Penner, Emily K; Duncan, Greg J; Auger, Anamarie

2012-02-01

Research has found corporal punishment to have limited effectiveness in altering child behavior and the potential to produce psychological and cognitive damage. Pediatric professionals have advocated reducing, if not eliminating its use. Despite this, it remains a common parenting practice in the US. Using a three-group randomized design, this study explored whether embedding educational information about typical child development and effective parenting in baby books could alter new mothers' attitudes about their use of corporal punishment. Low-income, ethnically diverse women (n=167) were recruited during their third trimester of pregnancy and followed until their child was 18 months old. Findings from home-based data collection throughout this period suggest that educational baby books compared with non-educational baby books or no books can reduce new mothers' support for the use of corporal punishment (respective effect sizes=.67 and .25) and that these effects are greater for African-American mothers (effect sizes=.75 and .57) and those with low levels of educational attainment (high school diploma, GED, or less) (effect sizes=.78 and .49). Given their low cost and ease of implementation, baby books offer a promising way to change new mothers' attitudes and potentially reduce the use of corporal punishment with infants and toddlers. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Parenting behaviour described by mothers in a general population sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Margaret J J; Raynor, Alex; Cornah, Deborah; Stevenson, Jim; Sonuga-Barke, Edmund J S

2002-03-01

To collect mothers' reports of the range of behaviours used by them in the management of their children's difficult behaviour. A cross-sectional study using an interview with both semi-structured and open-ended question routes. SAMPLING FRAME: The population of mothers with 10-year-old children living in the New Forest region of Hampshire, UK. Mothers (n=67), selected from the sampling frame, were interviewed about the range of parenting behaviours they used in the management of their children's difficult behaviour. Mothers reported a wide range of behaviours. Both authoritative (e.g. reasoning was mentioned by 42%) and authoritarian (e.g. the use of physical punishment was mentioned by 37%) behaviours were mentioned frequently. Although the different behaviours within these domains were intercorrelated, there was little overlap between the two domains. The use of praise for good behaviour seemed to be independent of other behaviours. There was no association between mothers' parenting behaviours and the behaviour problems of their children. These data suggest that parenting takes many forms, with variations of behaviour across the 'normal' range being unlikely to represent a significant risk to children's development. Public funding for parenting education should be targeted at those children who are at significant risk from extreme forms of parenting.

[Parents' unemployment, selected life conditions, adolescents' wellbeing and perceived health].

Science.gov (United States)

Supranowicz, Piotr

2005-01-01

Unemployment in Poland is one of the most negative outcomes of the economical transformations taking place in the last decade of the XX and first years of the XXI century. Therefore, the study on an influence of parents' unemployment upon adolescents' life conditions and health was undertaken in Health Promotion and Postgraduate Training Department of the National Institute of Hygiene. The data were collected from randomly selected sample of 783 students aged 14-15 years attending to ten private and public secondary schools (gymnasiums) in Warsaw. A part of the questionnaire elaborated in Health Promotion and Postgraduate Department covered information about negative life events, which had occurred in the previous year, also about a loss of the job by father or mother. The self-assessment of health, and physical and psychical wellbeing measured the perceived health. The study showed that significantly higher percentage of the students, whose father or mother had lost a job in the previous year, noticed also occurrence of father and mother health disorders, lack of support from father and mother, frequent quarrels between parents, too much of home duties, worsening a housing conditions, lack of possibilities to travel away on vacation and lack of own money. The differences were higher, if both the parents were unemployed. Moreover, the children of unemployed parents significantly lower assessed their health, and physical and psychical wellbeing. It is necessary to help immediately the students, whose parents are unemployed, with financial and psychological support in frame of the programmes of unemployment overcoming.

40 CFR 761.306 - Sampling 1 meter square surfaces by random selection of halves.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 30 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Sampling 1 meter square surfaces by...(b)(3) § 761.306 Sampling 1 meter square surfaces by random selection of halves. (a) Divide each 1 meter square portion where it is necessary to collect a surface wipe test sample into two equal (or as...

Self-Criticism as a Mechanism Linking Childhood Maltreatment and Maternal Efficacy Beliefs in Low-Income Mothers With and Without Depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Michl, Louisa C; Handley, Elizabeth D; Rogosch, Fred; Cicchetti, Dante; Toth, Sheree L

2015-11-01

The primary aim of the current study was to examine self-criticism as a potential mechanism mediating the relation between mothers' own childhood maltreatment history and changes in subsequent maternal efficacy beliefs in a diverse sample of low-income mothers with and without major depressive disorder. Longitudinal data were drawn from a larger randomized clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of interpersonal psychotherapy for depression among low-income mothers and their 12-month-old infant. Results indicated that higher levels of maltreatment in childhood led mothers to hold more self-critical judgments in adulthood. Additionally, mothers who had experienced more extensive childhood maltreatment histories perceived themselves as less efficacious in their role as mother. Structural equation modeling indicated that self-criticism mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mothers' decreased perceived competency in her maternal role from when her child was an infant to the more demanding toddler years. Finally, this relationship held over and above the influence of mothers' depressive diagnostic status. Directions for future research and the clinical implications of these findings are discussed. © The Author(s) 2015.

Work related determinants of breastfeeding discontinuation among employed mothers in Malaysia

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Darus Azlan

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This cross-sectional study assesses factors that contribute to discontinuing breastfeeding among employed mothers in Malaysia. Methods A structured questionnaire was used in conducting this study involving all government health clinics in Petaling district between July and September 2006. Respondents were Malaysian women with children between the ages of six to twelve months who were formally employed. Factors studied were selected socio-demographic and work-related characteristics. Results From a total of 290 respondents, 51% discontinued breastfeeding. The majority (54% of mothers who discontinued breastfeeding had breastfed their babies for less than three months. Compared to Malay mothers, the risk of breastfeeding discontinuation were higher among Chinese (AOR 3.7, 95% CI: 1.7, 7.8 and Indian mothers (AOR 7.3, 95% CI 1.9, 27.4. Not having adequate breastfeeding facilities at the workplace was also a risk factor for breastfeeding discontinuation (AOR 1.8, 95% CI: 1.05, 3.1. Conclusion It is important that workplaces provide adequate breastfeeding facilities such as a room in which to express breast milk and a refrigerator, and allow mothers flexible time to express breast milk.

[Single-parent mothers, poverty and mental health: review of the literature].

Science.gov (United States)

Langlois, J; Fortin, D

1994-01-01

The goal of this article is to discuss an overview of literature published from 1968 to 1993 and dealing with links between single-parenting, poverty and mental health. A total of 56 articles were selected based on the most current data banks. Results show that the population of single-parent mothers is growing and that they are becoming increasingly poor. Of the six mental health variables listed by the author, four (psychological distress, self-esteem, perception of one's own skills and psychological isolation) clearly demonstrate that single-parent mothers are in a less healthy mental state than are mothers in two-parent families. Results also indicate that self-esteem, distress and psychological well-being are affected by economic variables. Results therefore vary according to the variable being measured. Although single-parent mothers experience more psychological discomfort than mothers in two-parent families, they do not seem to experience more serious mental health problems. The authors argue that future research on the subject should take into consideration a certain number of aspects, discussed in the conclusion of this article, which account for links between single-parenting, poverty and mental health.

Timely referral saves the lives of mothers and newborns: Midwifery led continuum of care in marginalized teagarden communities – A qualitative case study in Bangladesh

Science.gov (United States)

Biswas, Animesh; Anderson, Rondi; Doraiswamy, Sathyanarayanan; Abdullah, Abu Sayeed Md.; Purno, Nabila; Rahman, Fazlur; Halim, Abdul

2018-01-01

Background: Prompt and efficient identification, referral of pregnancy related complications and emergencies are key factors to the reduction of maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality. As a response to this critical need, a midwifery led continuum of reproductive health care was introduced in five teagardens in the Sylhet division, Bangladesh during 2016. Within this intervention, professional midwives provided reproductive healthcare to pregnant teagarden women in the community.  This study evaluates the effect of the referral of pregnancy related complications. Methods: A qualitative case study design by reviewing records retrospectively was used to explore the effect of deploying midwives on referrals of pregnancy related complications from the selected teagardens to the referral health facilities in Moulvibazar district of the Sylhet division during 2016.  In depth analyses was also performed on 15 randomly selected cases to understand the facts behind the referral. Results: Out of a total population of 450 pregnant women identified by the midwives, 72 complicated mothers were referred from the five teagardens to the facilities. 76.4% of mothers were referred to conduct delivery at facilities, and 31.1% of them were referred with the complication of prolonged labour. Other major complications were pre-eclampsia (17.8%), retention of the placenta with post-partum hemorrhage (11.1%) and premature rupture of the membrane (8.9%). About 60% of complicated mothers were referred to the primary health care centre, and among them 14% of mothers were delivered by caesarean section. 94% deliveries resulted in livebirths and only 6% were stillbirths. Conclusions: This study reveals that early detection of pregnancy complications by skilled professionals and timely referral to a facility is beneficial in saving the majority of baby’s as well as mother’s lives in resource-poor teagardens with a considerable access barrier to health facilities. PMID:29707205

From Protocols to Publications: A Study in Selective Reporting of Outcomes in Randomized Trials in Oncology

Science.gov (United States)

Raghav, Kanwal Pratap Singh; Mahajan, Sminil; Yao, James C.; Hobbs, Brian P.; Berry, Donald A.; Pentz, Rebecca D.; Tam, Alda; Hong, Waun K.; Ellis, Lee M.; Abbruzzese, James; Overman, Michael J.

2015-01-01

Purpose The decision by journals to append protocols to published reports of randomized trials was a landmark event in clinical trial reporting. However, limited information is available on how this initiative effected transparency and selective reporting of clinical trial data. Methods We analyzed 74 oncology-based randomized trials published in Journal of Clinical Oncology, the New England Journal of Medicine, and The Lancet in 2012. To ascertain integrity of reporting, we compared published reports with their respective appended protocols with regard to primary end points, nonprimary end points, unplanned end points, and unplanned analyses. Results A total of 86 primary end points were reported in 74 randomized trials; nine trials had greater than one primary end point. Nine trials (12.2%) had some discrepancy between their planned and published primary end points. A total of 579 nonprimary end points (median, seven per trial) were planned, of which 373 (64.4%; median, five per trial) were reported. A significant positive correlation was found between the number of planned and nonreported nonprimary end points (Spearman r = 0.66; P < .001). Twenty-eight studies (37.8%) reported a total of 65 unplanned end points; 52 (80.0%) of which were not identified as unplanned. Thirty-one (41.9%) and 19 (25.7%) of 74 trials reported a total of 52 unplanned analyses involving primary end points and 33 unplanned analyses involving nonprimary end points, respectively. Studies reported positive unplanned end points and unplanned analyses more frequently than negative outcomes in abstracts (unplanned end points odds ratio, 6.8; P = .002; unplanned analyses odd ratio, 8.4; P = .007). Conclusion Despite public and reviewer access to protocols, selective outcome reporting persists and is a major concern in the reporting of randomized clinical trials. To foster credible evidence-based medicine, additional initiatives are needed to minimize selective reporting. PMID:26304898

Distinct mechanisms eliminate mother and daughter centrioles in meiosis of starfish oocytes.

Science.gov (United States)

Borrego-Pinto, Joana; Somogyi, Kálmán; Karreman, Matthia A; König, Julia; Müller-Reichert, Thomas; Bettencourt-Dias, Mónica; Gönczy, Pierre; Schwab, Yannick; Lénárt, Péter

2016-03-28

Centriole elimination is an essential process that occurs in female meiosis of metazoa to reset centriole number in the zygote at fertilization. How centrioles are eliminated remains poorly understood. Here we visualize the entire elimination process live in starfish oocytes. Using specific fluorescent markers, we demonstrate that the two older, mother centrioles are selectively removed from the oocyte by extrusion into polar bodies. We show that this requires specific positioning of the second meiotic spindle, achieved by dynein-driven transport, and anchorage of the mother centriole to the plasma membrane via mother-specific appendages. In contrast, the single daughter centriole remaining in the egg is eliminated before the first embryonic cleavage. We demonstrate that these distinct elimination mechanisms are necessary because if mother centrioles are artificially retained, they cannot be inactivated, resulting in multipolar zygotic spindles. Thus, our findings reveal a dual mechanism to eliminate centrioles: mothers are physically removed, whereas daughters are eliminated in the cytoplasm, preparing the egg for fertilization. © 2016 Borrego-Pinto et al.

Joint random beam and spectrum selection for spectrum sharing systems with partial channel state information

KAUST Repository

Abdallah, Mohamed M.

2013-11-01

In this work, we develop joint interference-aware random beam and spectrum selection scheme that provide enhanced performance for the secondary network under the condition that the interference observed at the primary receiver is below a predetermined acceptable value. We consider a secondary link composed of a transmitter equipped with multiple antennas and a single-antenna receiver sharing the same spectrum with a set of primary links composed of a single-antenna transmitter and a single-antenna receiver. The proposed schemes jointly select a beam, among a set of power-optimized random beams, as well as the primary spectrum that maximizes the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of the secondary link while satisfying the primary interference constraint. In particular, we consider the case where the interference level is described by a q-bit description of its magnitude, whereby we propose a technique to find the optimal quantizer thresholds in a mean square error (MSE) sense. © 2013 IEEE.

Joint random beam and spectrum selection for spectrum sharing systems with partial channel state information

KAUST Repository

Abdallah, Mohamed M.; Sayed, Mostafa M.; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim; Qaraqe, Khalid A.

2013-01-01

In this work, we develop joint interference-aware random beam and spectrum selection scheme that provide enhanced performance for the secondary network under the condition that the interference observed at the primary receiver is below a predetermined acceptable value. We consider a secondary link composed of a transmitter equipped with multiple antennas and a single-antenna receiver sharing the same spectrum with a set of primary links composed of a single-antenna transmitter and a single-antenna receiver. The proposed schemes jointly select a beam, among a set of power-optimized random beams, as well as the primary spectrum that maximizes the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of the secondary link while satisfying the primary interference constraint. In particular, we consider the case where the interference level is described by a q-bit description of its magnitude, whereby we propose a technique to find the optimal quantizer thresholds in a mean square error (MSE) sense. © 2013 IEEE.

The RANDOM computer program: A linear congruential random number generator

Science.gov (United States)

Miles, R. F., Jr.

1986-01-01

The RANDOM Computer Program is a FORTRAN program for generating random number sequences and testing linear congruential random number generators (LCGs). The linear congruential form of random number generator is discussed, and the selection of parameters of an LCG for a microcomputer described. This document describes the following: (1) The RANDOM Computer Program; (2) RANDOM.MOD, the computer code needed to implement an LCG in a FORTRAN program; and (3) The RANCYCLE and the ARITH Computer Programs that provide computational assistance in the selection of parameters for an LCG. The RANDOM, RANCYCLE, and ARITH Computer Programs are written in Microsoft FORTRAN for the IBM PC microcomputer and its compatibles. With only minor modifications, the RANDOM Computer Program and its LCG can be run on most micromputers or mainframe computers.

Pain Control Interventions in Preterm Neonates: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

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Shukla, Vivek V; Bansal, Satvik; Nimbalkar, Archana; Chapla, Apurva; Phatak, Ajay; Patel, Dipen; Nimbalkar, Somashekhar

2018-04-15

To compare individual efficacy and additive effects of pain control interventions in preterm neonates. Randomized controlled trial. Level-3 University affiliated neonatal intensive care unit. 200 neonates (26-36 wk gestational age) requiring heel-prick for bedside glucose assessment. Exclusion criteria were neurologic impairment and critical illness precluding study interventions. Neonates were randomly assigned to Kangaroo mother care with Music therapy, Music therapy, Kangaroo Mother care or Control (no additional intervention) groups. All groups received expressed breast milk with cup and spoon as a baseline pain control intervention. Assessment of pain using Premature Infant Pain Profile (PIPP) score on recorded videos. The mean (SD) birth weight and gestational age of the neonates was 1.9 (0.3) kg and 34 (2.3) wk, respectively. Analysis of variance showed significant difference in total PIPP score across groups (P<0.001). Post-hoc comparisons using Sheffe's test revealed that the mean (SD) total PIPP score was significantly lower in Kangaroo mother care group [7.7 (3.9) vs. 11.5 (3.4), 95% CI(-5.9, -1.7), P<0.001] as well as Kangaroo mother care with Music therapy group [8.5 (3.2) vs. 11.5 (3.4), 95%CI (-5.1, -0.9), P=0.001] as compared to Control group. PIPP score was not significantly different between Control group and Music therapy group. Kangaroo mother care with and without Music therapy (with expressed breast milk) significantly reduces pain on heel-prick as compared to expressed breast milk alone. Kangaroo mother care with expressed breast milk should be the first choice as a method for pain control in preterm neonates.

Analysis and applications of a frequency selective surface via a random distribution method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xie Shao-Yi; Huang Jing-Jian; Yuan Nai-Chang; Liu Li-Guo

2014-01-01

A novel frequency selective surface (FSS) for reducing radar cross section (RCS) is proposed in this paper. This FSS is based on the random distribution method, so it can be called random surface. In this paper, the stacked patches serving as periodic elements are employed for RCS reduction. Previous work has demonstrated the efficiency by utilizing the microstrip patches, especially for the reflectarray. First, the relevant theory of the method is described. Then a sample of a three-layer variable-sized stacked patch random surface with a dimension of 260 mm×260 mm is simulated, fabricated, and measured in order to demonstrate the validity of the proposed design. For the normal incidence, the 8-dB RCS reduction can be achieved both by the simulation and the measurement in 8 GHz–13 GHz. The oblique incidence of 30° is also investigated, in which the 7-dB RCS reduction can be obtained in a frequency range of 8 GHz–14 GHz. (condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties)

Random drift versus selection in academic vocabulary: an evolutionary analysis of published keywords.

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R Alexander Bentley

Full Text Available The evolution of vocabulary in academic publishing is characterized via keyword frequencies recorded in the ISI Web of Science citations database. In four distinct case-studies, evolutionary analysis of keyword frequency change through time is compared to a model of random copying used as the null hypothesis, such that selection may be identified against it. The case studies from the physical sciences indicate greater selection in keyword choice than in the social sciences. Similar evolutionary analyses can be applied to a wide range of phenomena; wherever the popularity of multiple items through time has been recorded, as with web searches, or sales of popular music and books, for example.

On theoretical models of gene expression evolution with random genetic drift and natural selection.

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Osamu Ogasawara

2009-11-01

Full Text Available The relative contributions of natural selection and random genetic drift are a major source of debate in the study of gene expression evolution, which is hypothesized to serve as a bridge from molecular to phenotypic evolution. It has been suggested that the conflict between views is caused by the lack of a definite model of the neutral hypothesis, which can describe the long-run behavior of evolutionary change in mRNA abundance. Therefore previous studies have used inadequate analogies with the neutral prediction of other phenomena, such as amino acid or nucleotide sequence evolution, as the null hypothesis of their statistical inference.In this study, we introduced two novel theoretical models, one based on neutral drift and the other assuming natural selection, by focusing on a common property of the distribution of mRNA abundance among a variety of eukaryotic cells, which reflects the result of long-term evolution. Our results demonstrated that (1 our models can reproduce two independently found phenomena simultaneously: the time development of gene expression divergence and Zipf's law of the transcriptome; (2 cytological constraints can be explicitly formulated to describe long-term evolution; (3 the model assuming that natural selection optimized relative mRNA abundance was more consistent with previously published observations than the model of optimized absolute mRNA abundances.The models introduced in this study give a formulation of evolutionary change in the mRNA abundance of each gene as a stochastic process, on the basis of previously published observations. This model provides a foundation for interpreting observed data in studies of gene expression evolution, including identifying an adequate time scale for discriminating the effect of natural selection from that of random genetic drift of selectively neutral variations.

Short-term and delayed effects of mother death on calf mortality in Asian elephants.

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Lahdenperä, Mirkka; Mar, Khyne U; Lummaa, Virpi

2016-01-01

Long-lived, highly social species with prolonged offspring dependency can show long postreproductive periods. The Mother hypothesis proposes that a need for extended maternal care of offspring together with increased maternal mortality risk associated with old age select for such postreproductive survival, but tests in species with long postreproductive periods, other than humans and marine mammals, are lacking. Here, we investigate the Mother hypothesis with longitudinal data on Asian elephants from timber camps of Myanmar 1) to determine the costs of reproduction on female age-specific mortality risk within 1 year after calving and 2) to quantify the effects of mother loss on calf survival across development. We found that older females did not show an increased immediate mortality risk after calving. Calves had a 10-fold higher mortality risk in their first year if they lost their mother, but this decreased with age to only a 1.1-fold higher risk in the fifth year. We also detected delayed effects of maternal death: calves losing their mother during early ages still suffered from increased mortality risk at ages 3-4 and during adolescence but such effects were weaker in magnitude. Consequently, the Mother hypothesis could account for the first 5 years of postreproductive survival, but there were no costs of continued reproduction on the immediate maternal mortality risk. However, the observed postreproductive lifespan of females surviving to old age commonly exceeds 5 years in Asian elephants, and further studies are thus needed to determine selection for (postreproductive) lifespan in elephants and other comparably long-lived species.

From Protocols to Publications: A Study in Selective Reporting of Outcomes in Randomized Trials in Oncology.

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Raghav, Kanwal Pratap Singh; Mahajan, Sminil; Yao, James C; Hobbs, Brian P; Berry, Donald A; Pentz, Rebecca D; Tam, Alda; Hong, Waun K; Ellis, Lee M; Abbruzzese, James; Overman, Michael J

2015-11-01

The decision by journals to append protocols to published reports of randomized trials was a landmark event in clinical trial reporting. However, limited information is available on how this initiative effected transparency and selective reporting of clinical trial data. We analyzed 74 oncology-based randomized trials published in Journal of Clinical Oncology, the New England Journal of Medicine, and The Lancet in 2012. To ascertain integrity of reporting, we compared published reports with their respective appended protocols with regard to primary end points, nonprimary end points, unplanned end points, and unplanned analyses. A total of 86 primary end points were reported in 74 randomized trials; nine trials had greater than one primary end point. Nine trials (12.2%) had some discrepancy between their planned and published primary end points. A total of 579 nonprimary end points (median, seven per trial) were planned, of which 373 (64.4%; median, five per trial) were reported. A significant positive correlation was found between the number of planned and nonreported nonprimary end points (Spearman r = 0.66; P medicine, additional initiatives are needed to minimize selective reporting. © 2015 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Affect recognition and the quality of mother-infant interaction: understanding parenting difficulties in mothers with schizophrenia.

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Healy, Sarah J; Lewin, Jona; Butler, Stephen; Vaillancourt, Kyla; Seth-Smith, Fiona

2016-02-01

This study investigated the quality of mother-infant interaction and maternal ability to recognise adult affect in three study groups consisting of mothers with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, mothers with depression and healthy controls. Sixty-four mothers were recruited from a Mother and Baby Unit and local children's centres. A 5-min mother-infant interaction was coded on a number of caregiving variables. Affect recognition and discrimination abilities were tested via a series of computerised tasks. Group differences were found both in measures of affect recognition and in the mother-infant interaction. Mothers with schizophrenia showed consistent impairments across most of the parenting measures and all measures of affect recognition and discrimination. Mothers with depression fell between the mothers with schizophrenia and healthy controls on most measures. However, depressed women's parenting was not significantly poorer than controls on any of the measures, and only showed trends for differences with mothers with schizophrenia on a few measures. Regression analyses found impairments in affect recognition and a diagnosis of schizophrenia to predict the occurrence of odd or unusual speech in the mother-infant interaction. Results add to the growing body of knowledge on the mother-infant interaction in mothers with schizophrenia and mothers with depression compared to healthy controls, suggesting a need for parenting interventions aimed at mothers with these conditions. While affect recognition impairments were not found to fully explain differences in parenting among women with schizophrenia, further research is needed to understand the psychopathology of parenting disturbances within this clinical group.

A pacifier-activated music player with mother's voice improves oral feeding in preterm infants.

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Chorna, Olena D; Slaughter, James C; Wang, Lulu; Stark, Ann R; Maitre, Nathalie L

2014-03-01

We conducted a randomized trial to test the hypothesis that mother's voice played through a pacifier-activated music player (PAM) during nonnutritive sucking would improve the development of sucking ability and promote more effective oral feeding in preterm infants. Preterm infants between 34 0/7 and 35 6/7 weeks' postmenstrual age, including those with brain injury, who were taking at least half their feedings enterally and less than half orally, were randomly assigned to receive 5 daily 15-minute sessions of either PAM with mother's recorded voice or no PAM, along with routine nonnutritive sucking and maternal care in both groups. Assignment was masked to the clinical team. Ninety-four infants (46 and 48 in the PAM intervention and control groups, respectively) completed the study. The intervention group had significantly increased oral feeding rate (2.0 vs. 0.9 mL/min, P improves oral feeding skills in preterm infants without adverse effects on hormonal stress or growth.

Comparison outcomes of sick babies born to teenage mothers with those born to adult mothers.

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Chotigeat, Uraiwan; Sawasdiworn, Siraporn

2011-08-01

Adolescent period is the transitional stage of physical and mental development from childhood to adulthood. Pregnancy in teenage girls is generally classified to have a higher risk than those in adults. In many previous studies reported only the outcome of teenage mothers but no comparative outcome between sick babies born to teen mothers and adult mothers, so the authors conducted the present study. To compare the outcomes of sick infants born to teenage mothers with those born to adult mothers (age > or = 20 years). This prospective study was carried out from October 1st, 2006 to September 30th, 2009. The study group consisted of sick babies born to teenage mothers and admitted at Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health (QSNICH). These babies were compared to sick babies (control group) born to adult mothers during the same period. The demographic data of mothers and sick babies in both groups were recorded in the designed case record forms. Developmental assessment was done until two years of age. A total of 6,342 deliveries took place in Rajavithi Hospital during the study period of which 697 babies were born to teenage mothers. The incidence of teenage pregnancy was 10.99%. The number of sick babies from teenage mothers and adult mothers were 78 and 147 cases, respectively. There was a significantly higher mortality in the study group (7 cases, 9%) than the control group (4 cases, 2.7%). There was statistically significant difference in most of the demographic characteristics between the teenage and adult mothers except anemia, PROM and MSAF (meconium stain amniotic fluid). Although there was a trend of more cases of anemia and MSAF in teenage mothers than in adult mothers, there was no statistically significant difference. There was a shorter interval time from marriage to pregnancy in teen mothers than in adult mothers and a lower number of antenatal care visits with late antenatal care among the teenage mothers too. On comparing the data in infants

Randomized Controlled Trial of DHA Supplementation during Pregnancy: Child Adiposity Outcomes

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Foster, Byron A.; Escaname, Elia; Powell, Theresa L.; Larsen, Benjamin; Siddiqui, Sartaj K.; Menchaca, John; Aquino, Christian; Ramamurthy, Rajam; Hale, Daniel E.

2017-01-01

Investigating safe and effective interventions in pregnancy that lower offspring adiposity is important given the burden of obesity and subsequent metabolic derangements. Our objective was to determine if docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) given during pregnancy to obese mothers results in lower offspring adiposity. This study was a long-term follow-up of a randomized trial of mothers with gestational diabetes or obesity who were randomized to receive DHA supplementation at 800 mg/day or placebo (corn/soy oil) starting at 25–29 weeks gestation. Anthropometric measures were collected at birth and maternal erythrocyte DHA and arachidonic (AA) levels were measured at 26 and 36 weeks gestation. At two- and four-year follow-up time points, offspring adiposity measures along with a diet recall were assessed. A significant increase in erythrocyte DHA levels was observed at 36 weeks gestation in the supplemented group (p < 0.001). While no significant differences by measures of adiposity were noted at birth, two or four years by randomization group, duration of breastfeeding (p < 0.001), and DHA level at 36 weeks (p = 0.002) were associated with body mass index z-score. Our data suggest that DHA supplementation during pregnancy in obese mothers may have long-lasting effects on offspring measures of adiposity. PMID:28574453

Excess mortality in mothers of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Louwers, Y. V.; Roest-Schalken, M. E.; Kleefstra, N.; van Lennep, J. Roeters; van den Berg, M.; Fauser, B. C. J. M.; Bilo, H. J. G.; Sijbrands, E. J. G.; Laven, J. S. E.

STUDY QUESTION: Do diabetic parents of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) encounter excess mortality compared with the mortality of men and women with type 2 diabetes, recruited without selection for PCOS? SUMMARY ANSWER: Type 2 diabetes among mothers of PCOS patients results in excess

Motherhood in adolescent mothers: maternal attachment, mother-infant styles of interaction and emotion regulation at three months.

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Riva Crugnola, Cristina; Ierardi, Elena; Gazzotti, Simona; Albizzati, Alessandro

2014-02-01

Early motherhood is considered a risk factor for an adequate relationship between mother and infant and for the subsequent development of the infant. The principal aim of the study is to analyze micro-analytically the effect of motherhood in adolescence on the quality of mother-infant interaction and emotion regulation at three months, considering at the same time the effect of maternal attachment on these variables. Participants were 30 adolescent mother-infant dyads compared to 30 adult mother-infant dyads. At infant 3 months, mother-infant interaction was video-recorded and coded with a modified version of the Infant Caregiver Engagement Phases and the Adult Attachment Interview was administered to the mother. Analysis showed that adolescent mothers (vs. adult mothers) spent more time in negative engagement and their infants spent less time in positive engagement and more time in negative engagement. Adolescent mothers are also less involved in play with their infants than adult mothers. Adolescent mother-infant dyads (vs. adult mother-infant dyads) showed a greater duration of negative matches and spent less time in positive matches. Insecure adolescent mother-infant dyads (vs. insecure adult mother-infant dyads) demonstrated less involvement in play with objects and spent less time in positive matches. To sum up adolescent mother-infant dyads adopt styles of emotion regulation and interaction with objects which are less adequate than those of dyads with adult mothers. Insecure maternal attachment in dyads with adolescent mothers (vs. adult mother infant dyads) is more influential as risk factor. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

High Entropy Random Selection Protocols

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H. Buhrman (Harry); M. Christandl (Matthias); M. Koucky (Michal); Z. Lotker (Zvi); B. Patt-Shamir; M. Charikar; K. Jansen; O. Reingold; J. Rolim

2007-01-01

textabstractIn this paper, we construct protocols for two parties that do not trust each other, to generate random variables with high Shannon entropy. We improve known bounds for the trade off between the number of rounds, length of communication and the entropy of the outcome.

The Role of Relaxation Training to Pregnant Mothers on Health Index of Infants

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SA Mosaviasl

2009-07-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT: Introduction & Objective: Investigations have shown that the emotional stress during the pregnancy period could have sustainable effects on the embryo. Different factors such as family members, spouse, supporting friends could relive these effects, but coping skills especially relaxation could be more effective on stress. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of relaxation training to pregnant mothers on health index such as Apgar index, weight, height, and cowlick grade in infants. Materials & Methods: This is a clinical trail in which 100 pregnant women who referred to health center of Yasuj (2006-2008 were selected using simple sampling method and assigned randomly to case and control groups. The relaxation was taught to the case group whereas nothing was taught to control groups. At the time of delivery the above mentioned indices were assessed. The gathered data was analyzed using SPSS software. Results: The results showed a significant difference between two groups in weight, height, cephalic index, and colic grade (with better situation in case group. There was no significant difference between two groups in Apgar scores. Conclusion: Considering the results of this study, it seems that teaching of relaxation to pregnant women could be effective in health index of children especially in the time of delivery. Therefore attention should be paid to different methods for reducing the stress in this group of mothers. Keywords: relaxation, pregnant women, infants, Apgar scores

Faranak Parent-Child Mother Goose Program: Impact on Mother-Child Relationship for Mothers of Preschool Hearing Impaired Children

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Rogayeh Koohi

2016-12-01

Discussion: The Frank parent-child Mother Goose program could help families with hearing-impaired children in this 12-week community-based program, wherein parents learned skills that affect the relationship between mother and child.

Lesbian mothers and their children: a comparison with solo parent heterosexual mothers and their children.

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Green, R; Mandel, J B; Hotvedt, M E; Gray, J; Smith, L

1986-04-01

Two types of single-parent households and their effects on children ages 3-11 years were compared. One type comprised 50 homosexual mothers and their 56 children, and the other was a group of 40 heterosexual mothers and their 48 children. There were 30 daughters and 26 sons of homosexual mothers and 28 daughters and 20 sons of heterosexual mothers. The sexual identity and social relationships of the children were assessed in relation to the sexual orientation of the mothers. The samples consisted of families from rural and urban areas in 10 American states. All have lived without adult males (18 years or older) in the household for a minimum of 2 years (average 4). Families with heterosexual mothers were matched to families with homosexual mothers on age and race of mother; length of mother and child separation from father; educational level and income of mother; and number, age, and sex of children. Data are reported from childrens' tests designed to provide information on general intelligence, core-morphologic sexual identity, gender-role preferences, family and peer group relationships, and adjustment to the single-parent family. No significant differences were found between the two types of households for boys and few significant differences for girls. Concerns that being raised by a homosexual mother might produce sexual identity conflict and peer group stigmatization were not supported by the research findings. Data also revealed more similarities than differences in parenting experiences, marital history, and present living situations of the two groups of mothers. The postulated compromised parental fitness of lesbian mothers, commonly asserted in child custody cases, is not supported by these data.

Efficacy of Management Skills Group Training for Mothers on Self-Esteem and Anxiety of Their Children With Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder

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Narguesse Saliminia

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Background Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD has a profound impact on lives of thousands of children and their families. Objectives Aim of this study was to determine effectiveness of training for mothers, on these children. Materials and Methods In this quasi-experimental research, 30 mothers were randomly divided into control and experimental groups and the experimental group received Barkley management skills training in 9 sessions. Results Findings showed that anxiety in children of trained mothers was decreased and self-esteem was increased. Conclusions The training program for mothers can be an effective method for treatment of psychological disorders in children with ADHD.

Contributing Factors to Older Teen Mothers' Academic Success as Very Young Mothers

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Hernandez, Jennifer; Abu Rabia, Hazza M.

2017-01-01

This qualitative study explores the factors contributed to 13 older teen mothers' academic success as very young mothers. The participants were older teen mothers who were pregnant and gave birth at the age of 16 years old or younger, and who have achieved a college degree from an accredited college or university while they raised their…

Observing Iranian Mother-Child Interaction in a Playing Situation

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حمیده زارع

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Extensive studies in the fields of culture and parenting in recent years have shown that parent’s goals and values of parenting lead to differences in their parental behaviors. This study was designed to observe Iranian mothers’ interaction with their children in a playing situation. This study was a qualitative study in which 30 pairs of mothers and children (15 girls and 15 boys were selected purposely. To observe the parent-child interaction, a playing situation was designed and recorded by video camera. Observational data were analyzed based on qualitative analysis methods. Through coding and categorizing the observed data of the parent-child interaction, verbal (positive, negative and facilitator and nonverbal (positive, negative and communicative behavioral patterns were extracted and named by the investigator. Based on scoring the determined codes, facilitator verbal behaviors and negative nonverbal behaviors were the most frequent. The mothers’ behavior that facilitated child’s playing process and diminished child’s practical and mental activities were named facilitator behaviors, and were the most frequent among Iranian mothers. Based on the same previous research, Iranian mothers’ parenting behaviors are similar to those of Japanese, Chinese and Latin mothers rather than American, British and Australian mothers.

Fordyce Happiness Program and Happiness in Mothers of Children with a Cleft Lip and Palate

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Zeinab Hemati

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Facial deformities and aesthetic and functional anomalies in children may be a cause of real distress in families. Problems faced by parents in coping with a child’s anomaly can be upsetting and lead parents to exhibit over-severe behavior. The present study was conducted in order to study the effect of happiness program on the happiness of the mothers of children with a cleft lip and palate.   Materials and Methods: In this semi-experimental study, 64 mothers of children with a cleft lip and palate enrolled by convenience random sampling were assigned to an intervention or control group based on a simple random sampling. Then, a program of happiness training was implemented consisting of 10 sessions of 2 hours each. A demographic questionnaire and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire were completed prior to and 2 months after the last session of intervention. The data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics, consisting of a paired t-test, independent t-test and Chi-square test using SPSS version 20.   Results: The independent t-test indicated a significant difference in mean happiness score after training between the intervention and control groups (P0.05.   Conclusion: In light of the efficacy of happiness training on the promotion of happiness in the mothers of children with a cleft lip and palate, this model is recommended as a healthcare intervention to decrease stress in mothers following the birth of an infant with a cleft lip and palate.

Fordyce Happiness Program and Happiness in Mothers of Children with a Cleft Lip and Palate.

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Hemati, Zeinab; Mosavi Asl, Fatemeh-Sadat; Abbasi, Samira; Ghazavi, Zohre; Kiani, Davood

2016-11-01

Facial deformities and aesthetic and functional anomalies in children may be a cause of real distress in families. Problems faced by parents in coping with a child's anomaly can be upsetting and lead parents to exhibit over-severe behavior. The present study was conducted in order to study the effect of happiness program on the happiness of the mothers of children with a cleft lip and palate. In this semi-experimental study, 64 mothers of children with a cleft lip and palate enrolled by convenience random sampling were assigned to an intervention or control group based on a simple random sampling. Then, a program of happiness training was implemented consisting of 10 sessions of 2 hours each. A demographic questionnaire and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire were completed prior to and 2 months after the last session of intervention. The data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics, consisting of a paired t-test, independent t-test and Chi-square test using SPSS version 20. The independent t-test indicated a significant difference in mean happiness score after training between the intervention and control groups (Phappiness score between before and after training in the intervention group, although the difference was not statistically significant for the control group (P>0.05). In light of the efficacy of happiness training on the promotion of happiness in the mothers of children with a cleft lip and palate, this model is recommended as a healthcare intervention to decrease stress in mothers following the birth of an infant with a cleft lip and palate.

Integrated Behavior Therapy for Selective Mutism: a randomized controlled pilot study.

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Bergman, R Lindsey; Gonzalez, Araceli; Piacentini, John; Keller, Melody L

2013-10-01

To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a novel behavioral intervention for reducing symptoms of selective mutism and increasing functional speech. A total of 21 children ages 4 to 8 with primary selective mutism were randomized to 24 weeks of Integrated Behavior Therapy for Selective Mutism (IBTSM) or a 12-week Waitlist control. Clinical outcomes were assessed using blind independent evaluators, parent-, and teacher-report, and an objective behavioral measure. Treatment recipients completed a three-month follow-up to assess durability of treatment gains. Data indicated increased functional speaking behavior post-treatment as rated by parents and teachers, with a high rate of treatment responders as rated by blind independent evaluators (75%). Conversely, children in the Waitlist comparison group did not experience significant improvements in speaking behaviors. Children who received IBTSM also demonstrated significant improvements in number of words spoken at school compared to baseline, however, significant group differences did not emerge. Treatment recipients also experienced significant reductions in social anxiety per parent, but not teacher, report. Clinical gains were maintained over 3 month follow-up. IBTSM appears to be a promising new intervention that is efficacious in increasing functional speaking behaviors, feasible, and acceptable to parents and teachers. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of a Supportive Educational Program on Self-Efficacy of Mothers with Epileptic Children

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Sepideh Gholami

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Background: In the aftermath of de-institutionalisation and the move to community management of epilepsia, mothers play an increasing role in the management of the illness. Mothers often complain of being misinformed and ill equipped to aid in the treatment. Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a Supportive Educational Program on self-efficacy of mothers with epileptic children. Method: This randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on two groups of 50 mothers with epileptic children admitted to Ghaem Hospital in the city of Mashhad in 2014. Maternal self-efficacy was measured before and 6 weeks after intervention through Steffen’s Revised Scale for Caregiving Self-Efficacy as the research instrument. The Supportive Educational Program was implemented for the experimental group during five 60-minute sessions with an interval of 4 days. The control group received the routine care. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 11.5. Results: The mean age of mothers in the experimental and control groups were 32.8±6.9 and 32.8±6.8 years, respectively. The findings of the independent t-test revealed significant differences between the two control (47.4±15.06 and experimental (66.5±11.5 groups following the intervention (p

The application of autogenic training in counseling center for mother and child in order to promote breastfeeding.

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Vidas, Mercedes; Folnegović-Smalc, Vera; Catipović, Marija; Kisić, Marko

2011-09-01

The aim of this study was to investigate whether mothers with newborn children, the usage of autogenic training with advice on breastfeeding effect on: the decision and the duration of breastfeeding, increase maternal confidence and support. It was assumed that the above result in a higher percentage of mothers who exclusively breastfed baby during the first six months of child's life. The survey was conducted in the Association "For a healthy and happy childhood"-Counseling center for mother and child, in Bjelovar in 2010. The Counseling center was attended by 100 nursing mothers with children aged up to two months. They randomly went to the study or control group. Mothers of both groups were advised to successful breastfeeding. Study group has practiced autogenic training until the child's age of six months. In parallel, by using psychotherapeutic interview and specific questionnaires we collected data on the somatic, psychological and social situation of the mother, discovered mother's mental changes (anxiety, depression) that were treated. The results at the end of the study confirm the initial expected benefits from the application of autogenic training. Mothers of the study group were significantly more emotionally balanced with a higher self-esteem. Autogenous training with the advices for successful breastfeeding conducted in this counseling center contributed in significantly higher rate of breastfeeding children up to six months of life, improved mental and physical health of mother and child and their peculiar relationship.

Life Satisfaction Moderates the Effectiveness of a Play-Based Parenting Intervention in Low-Income Mothers and Toddlers.

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Brock, Rebecca L; Kochanska, Grazyna; O'Hara, Michael W; Grekin, Rebecca S

2015-10-01

This multi-method multi-trait study examined moderators and mediators of change in the context of a parenting intervention. Low-income, diverse mothers of toddlers (average age 30 months; N = 186, 90 girls) participated in a play-based intervention (Child-Oriented Play versus Play-as-Usual) aimed at increasing children's committed compliance and reducing opposition toward their mothers, observed in prohibition contexts, and at reducing mother-rated children's behavior problems 6 months after the intervention. Mothers' subjective sense of life satisfaction and fulfillment during the intervention and objective ratings of psychosocial functioning by clinicians, obtained in a clinical interview were posed as moderators, and mothers' observed power-assertive discipline immediately following the intervention was modeled as a mediator of its impact. We tested moderated mediation using structural equation modeling, with all baseline scores (prior to randomization) controlled. Mothers' subjective sense of life satisfaction moderated the impact of the intervention, but clinicians' ratings did not. For mothers highly satisfied with their lives, participating in Child-Oriented Play group, compared to Play-as-Usual group, led to a reduction in power-assertive discipline which, in turn, led to children's increased compliance and decreased opposition and externalizing problems. There were no effects for mothers who reported low life satisfaction. The study elucidates the causal sequence set in motion by the intervention, demonstrates the moderating role of mothers' subjective life satisfaction, highlights limitations of clinicians' ratings, and informs future prevention and intervention efforts to promote adaptive parenting.

Field-based random sampling without a sampling frame: control selection for a case-control study in rural Africa.

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Crampin, A C; Mwinuka, V; Malema, S S; Glynn, J R; Fine, P E

2001-01-01

Selection bias, particularly of controls, is common in case-control studies and may materially affect the results. Methods of control selection should be tailored both for the risk factors and disease under investigation and for the population being studied. We present here a control selection method devised for a case-control study of tuberculosis in rural Africa (Karonga, northern Malawi) that selects an age/sex frequency-matched random sample of the population, with a geographical distribution in proportion to the population density. We also present an audit of the selection process, and discuss the potential of this method in other settings.

Resourcefulness training intervention: a promising approach to improve mental health of mothers with technology-dependent children.

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Toly, Valerie Boebel; Musil, Carol M; Zauszniewski, Jaclene A

2014-02-01

The population of children dependent on medical technology such as mechanical ventilation, feeding tubes, and supplemental oxygen continues to grow in the United States. These children are frequently cared for by their mothers at home following hospital discharge. Research indicates that these mothers are at high risk for negative mental health outcomes that affect both caregiver and care recipient. The purpose of this randomized controlled pilot trial was to determine the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of resourcefulness training (RT), a cognitive-behavioral intervention, among mothers of technology-dependent children. RT was found to be a feasible and acceptable intervention with this population during the 6 week study. The effect size in this pilot study demonstrates initial efficacy and indicates areas for strengthening the intervention protocol. RT is a promising intervention that can be employed by pediatric nurses to assist mothers in the home management of technology-dependent children. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

My Mother and Me: Why Tiger Mothers Motivate Asian Americans But Not European Americans.

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Fu, Alyssa S; Markus, Hazel Rose

2014-06-01

"Tiger Mother" Amy Chua provoked a culture clash with her claim that controlling parenting in Asian American (AA) contexts produces more successful children than permissive parenting in European American (EA) contexts. At the heart of this controversy is a difference in the normative models of self that guide behavior. Ideas and practices prevalent in AA contexts emphasize that the person is and should be interdependent with one's close others, especially one's mother. In contrast, EA contexts emphasize the person as independent, even from one's mother. We find that AA compared with EA high school students experience more interdependence with their mothers and pressure from them, but that the pressure does not strain their relationship with their mothers. Furthermore, following failure, AAs compared with EAs are more motivated by their mothers, and AAs are particularly motivated by pressure from their mothers when it conveys interdependence. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Depression improvement and parenting in low-income mothers in home visiting.

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Ammerman, Robert T; Altaye, Mekibib; Putnam, Frank W; Teeters, Angelique R; Zou, Yuanshu; Van Ginkel, Judith B

2015-06-01

Research on older children and high-resource families demonstrates that maternal improvement in depression often leads to parallel changes in parenting and child adjustment. It is unclear if this association extends to younger children and low-income mothers. This study examined if In-Home Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (IH-CBT), a treatment for depressed mothers participating in home visiting programs, contributes to improvements in parenting and child adjustment. Ninety-three depressed mothers in home visiting between 2 and 10 months postpartum were randomly assigned to IH-CBT (n = 47) plus home visiting or standard home visiting (SHV; n = 46). Mothers were identified via screening and subsequent diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD). Measures of depression, parenting stress, nurturing parenting, and child adjustment were administered at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 3 months follow-up. Results indicated that there were no differences between IH-CBT and controls on parenting and child adjustment. Low levels of depression were associated with decreased parenting stress and increased nurturing parenting. Improvement in depression was related to changes in parenting in low-income mothers participating in home visiting programs. IH-CBT was not independently associated with these improvements, although to the extent that treatment facilitated improvement; there were corresponding benefits to parenting. Child adjustment was not associated with maternal depression, a finding possibly attributed to the benefits of concurrent home visiting or measurement limitations. Future research should focus on longer-term follow-up, implications of relapse, and child adjustment in later years.

Antenatal Care Seeking Behaviour among Slum Mothers: A Study of Rajshahi City Corporation, Bangladesh.

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Rahman, Mahfuzar; Islam, Rafiqul; Rahman, Mosfequr

2010-04-01

The study aimed to identify the important effects of some selected variables in antenatal care (ANC) seeking behaviour among slum mothers. The data for the study were collected in 2006 from 700 mothers in the slum areas of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC), Bangladesh. The results indicate that tetanus toxoid (TT) is relatively widespread in slum areas of RCC. Serious health implications were observed for the mothers and their children who lived in the study areas because more than half of the respondents (56.1%) were not assisted at their last childbirth by any health professional. The respondents were too poor to buy iron tablets/syrup and vitamin tablets/syrup during their last pregnancy. The application of a logistic regression model suggested that demographic and socio-economic factors were associated with ANC seeking behaviour among slum mothers. Respondents' education, place of treatment, husband's occupation, family's income, and exposure to mass media had highly significant effects on mothers seeking medical checkups during their last pregnancy.

Experiences of Korean mothers of children with cancer: A Photovoice study.

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Kim, Min Ah; Yi, Jaehee; Sang, Jina; Kim, Soo Hyun; Heo, InYoung

2017-01-01

Using Photovoice, a participatory action research methodology, we investigated Korean mothers' lives postdiagnosis of their child with cancer. Photovoice was used to understand the mothers' perceptions of how they have adapted to their children's illnesses. Five mothers of children with cancer participated in five sessions of the Photovoice project, during which they took and shared photographs and narratives about their experiences and joined weekly group discussions on their selected themes. The following themes and subthemes emerged: "What I would like to do (taking a break, socializing with friends, spending time with other family members, developing my career)," "My child and food (whatever my child wants to eat, love of family)," "My days for my child (doing what my child wants to do, being a playmate, changing for my child)," and "Power sources for me (family, courage of children, mom is strong, hope)." Having a child with cancer greatly affects the mother's social and work lives as well as emotional well-being. Services and programs such as respite care, parenting education, and psychological support are recommended based on the study findings.

Treatment selection in a randomized clinical trial via covariate-specific treatment effect curves.

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Ma, Yunbei; Zhou, Xiao-Hua

2017-02-01

For time-to-event data in a randomized clinical trial, we proposed two new methods for selecting an optimal treatment for a patient based on the covariate-specific treatment effect curve, which is used to represent the clinical utility of a predictive biomarker. To select an optimal treatment for a patient with a specific biomarker value, we proposed pointwise confidence intervals for each covariate-specific treatment effect curve and the difference between covariate-specific treatment effect curves of two treatments. Furthermore, to select an optimal treatment for a future biomarker-defined subpopulation of patients, we proposed confidence bands for each covariate-specific treatment effect curve and the difference between each pair of covariate-specific treatment effect curve over a fixed interval of biomarker values. We constructed the confidence bands based on a resampling technique. We also conducted simulation studies to evaluate finite-sample properties of the proposed estimation methods. Finally, we illustrated the application of the proposed method in a real-world data set.

Antecedents and consequences of caregiving structure on young mothers and their infants.

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Arnold, Anna; Lewis, Jessica; Maximovich, Alexey; Ickovics, Jeannette; Kershaw, Trace

2011-10-01

This study describes the multigenerational caregiving structure of infants born to young women, the prenatal predictors of caregiving structure, and the effects of caregiving structure on the health of young mothers and their infants 6 months postpartum. The sample consisted of 784 young mothers involved in a longitudinal study in two U.S. cities. Women were classified into eight caregiving structure groups based on the mother's report of herself as a caregiver and her selection of the baby's father and/or grandparents as caregivers. ANCOVA analyses identified predictors and 6 month postpartum outcomes of caregiving structure. Planned comparisons explored the relationships among caregiving structure groups. A majority of women reported caregiving structures other than herself and the father as caregivers (87.1%). Grandparents were indicated as caregivers by most women (62.2%). Postpartum caregiving groups differed on prenatal social support, self-esteem, attachment avoidance and anxiety, relationship status, and living with the baby's father. While mother's self esteem significantly predicted father involvement, there were no differences on predictors between when the mother and father were caregivers, versus when the mother and grandparents were caregivers. Differences existed between groups on mother and child outcomes, including parenting stress, distress, and child dysfunction. Women reported significantly less parenting stress, child dysfunction, and negative child emotions when she and the father were caregivers, versus when she and grandparents were caregivers. The family system and the intergenerational dynamics within a multigenerational caregiving structure are critical to the health and well-being of both mothers and their children.

Vertical mother-neonate transfer of maternal gut bacteria via breastfeeding.

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Jost, Ted; Lacroix, Christophe; Braegger, Christian P; Rochat, Florence; Chassard, Christophe

2014-09-01

Breast milk has recently been recognized as source of commensal and potential probiotic bacteria. The present study investigated whether viable strains of gut-associated obligate anaerobes are shared between the maternal and neonatal gut ecosystem via breastfeeding. Maternal faeces, breast milk and corresponding neonatal faeces collected from seven mothers-neonate pairs at three neonatal sampling points were analyzed by culture-independent (pyrosequencing) and culture-dependent methods (16S rRNA gene sequencing, pulsed field gel electrophoresis, random amplified polymorphic DNA and repetitive extragenic palindromic polymerase chain reaction. Pyrosequencing allowed identifying gut-associated obligate anaerobic genera, like Bifidobacterium, Bacteroides, Parabacteroides and members of the Clostridia (Blautia, Clostridium, Collinsella and Veillonella) shared between maternal faeces, breast milk and neonatal faeces. Using culture, a viable strain of Bifidobacterium breve was shown to be shared between all three ecosystems within one mother-neonate pair. Furthermore, pyrosequencing revealed that several butyrate-producing members of the Clostridia (Coprococcus, Faecalibacterium, Roseburia and Subdoligranulum) were shared between maternal faeces and breast milk. This study shows that (viable) obligate gut-associated anaerobes may be vertically transferred from mother to neonate via breastfeeding. Thus, our data support the recently suggested hypothesis of a novel way of mother-neonate communication, in which maternal gut bacteria reach breast milk via an entero-mammary pathway to influence neonatal gut colonization and maturation of the immune system. © 2013 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Effectiveness of a Psychoeducation Intervention delivered via WhatsApp for mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A randomized controlled trial.

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Hemdi, A; Daley, D

2017-11-01

Mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) report high levels of stress and lower levels of well-being than parents of typically developing children. Current interventions for ASD typically focus on working with the child rather than delivering strategies to help support parents. To evaluate the effectiveness of a psychoeducation intervention developed to support mothers of children with ASD in Saudi Arabia. Sixty-two mothers (23-52 years) of children (26-78 months) were recruited to a multisite randomized controlled trials of the intervention. The intervention consisted of one face-to-face session (60 min) and four virtual sessions (30 min each) delivered using WhatsApp. Parenting stress was the primary outcome, with secondary outcomes focusing on maternal depression, anxiety, and happiness, and child behaviour problems and ASD symptoms. Data were collected at baseline T1, immediately postintervention T2 and 8-week follow-up T3. One-way analysis of covariance was used at T2 and T3 with T1 scores entered as a covariate. Improvements were found at T2 for stress (F = 234.34, p = .00, and d = -1.52) and depression (F = 195.70, p = .00, and d = -2.14) but not anxiety, and these results were maintained at T3. Changes in child behaviour problems were limited to improvements in hyperactivity at T2 (F = 133.66, p = .00, and d = -1.54). Although changes in stress and depression were statistically significant, change to clinically normal levels was limited to depression. None of the participants had recovered after the intervention (Parent Stress Index Short Form stress scores), whereas 23 mothers (71.87%) in the intervention group had recovered at T2 and 22 (68.75%) at T3 (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale depression scores). This intervention with WhatsApp support is beneficial but may need to be augmented with other forms of support for mothers of children with ASD including more condensed sessions on stress and interventions

Mothers' perceptions about the nutritional status of their overweight children: a systematic review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caliandra Francescatto

2014-07-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: this systematic review aims to explore and describe the studies that have as a primary outcome the identification of mothers' perception of the nutritional status of their children. SOURCES: the PubMed, Embase, LILACS, and SciELO databases were researched, regardless of language or publication date. The terms used for the search, with its variants, were: Nutritional Status, Perception, Mother, Maternal, Parents, Parental. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS: after screening of 167 articles, 41 were selected for full text reading, of which 17 were included in the review and involved the evaluation of the perception of mothers on the nutritional status of 57,700 children and adolescents. The methodological quality of the studies ranged from low to excellent. The proportion of mothers who inadequately perceived the nutritional status of their children was high, and was the most common underestimation for children with overweight or obesity. CONCLUSION: despite the increasing prevalence of obesity in pediatric age, mothers have difficulty in properly perceiving the nutritional status of their children, which may compromise referral to treatment programs.

Sperm selection in natural conception: what can we learn from Mother Nature to improve assisted reproduction outcomes?

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Sakkas, Denny; Ramalingam, Mythili; Garrido, Nicolas; Barratt, Christopher L.R.

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND In natural conception only a few sperm cells reach the ampulla or the site of fertilization. This population is a selected group of cells since only motile cells can pass through cervical mucus and gain initial entry into the female reproductive tract. In animals, some studies indicate that the sperm selected by the reproductive tract and recovered from the uterus and the oviducts have higher fertilization rates but this is not a universal finding. Some species show less discrimination in sperm selection and abnormal sperm do arrive at the oviduct. In contrast, assisted reproductive technologies (ART) utilize a more random sperm population. In this review we contrast the journey of the spermatozoon in vivo and in vitro and discuss this in the context of developing new sperm preparation and selection techniques for ART. METHODS A review of the literature examining characteristics of the spermatozoa selected in vivo is compared with recent developments in in vitro selection and preparation methods. Contrasts and similarities are presented. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS New technologies are being developed to aid in the diagnosis, preparation and selection of spermatozoa in ART. To date progress has been frustrating and these methods have provided variable benefits in improving outcomes after ART. It is more likely that examining the mechanisms enforced by nature will provide valuable information in regard to sperm selection and preparation techniques in vitro. Identifying the properties of those spermatozoa which do reach the oviduct will also be important for the development of more effective tests of semen quality. In this review we examine the value of sperm selection to see how much guidance for ART can be gleaned from the natural selection processes in vivo. PMID:26386468

The effectiveness of cognitive-function stress management training in glycemic control in children and in mental health of mother caring for child with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

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Saghaei, Mozhdeh; Omidi, Pouya; Dehkordi, Elham Hashemi; Safavi, Parvin

2017-12-01

The study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a training course of cognitive-behavioral stress management in glycaemia regulation in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus as well as in mental health status of their mothers. Fifty children with type 1 diabetes mellitus and their mothers were selected and randomly assigned into two groups. A group of mothers (n=25; as experimental one besides their children) passed a course, eight 2-h sessions, on the cognitive-behavioral and stress management, and the control group received the usual care. To evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention, before and after holding the course, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) test was done on both groups of children, and also some information was collected from the mothers through interview and the DASS (depression, anxiety, stress scale) and PSI (parenting stress index) questionnaires. After the intervention, HbA1c level decreased in the experimental group. Feeling of depression, anxiety and stress was significantly lower than the control group. Furthermore, training for parenting stress management positively affected on the sense of demanding, reinforcement, and adaptability in child domain and also on attachment, competence, depression, relationship with spouse and family health in parent domain. The intervention program was significantly effective in reducing the amount of HbA1c in diabetic children, and also reduced the intensity of psychosocial problems such as depression, anxiety and stress in the mothers caring for children with type 1 diabetes. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The mood variation in mothers of preterm infants in Kangaroo mother care and conventional incubator care.

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de Macedo, Elizeu Coutinho; Cruvinel, Fernando; Lukasova, Katerina; D'Antino, Maria Eloisa Famá

2007-10-01

Preterm babies are more prone to develop disorders and so require immediate intensive care. In the conventional neonatal intensive care, the baby is kept in the incubator, separated from the mother. Some actions have been taken in order to make this mother-child separation less traumatic. One of these actions is the Kangaroo mother care (KMC) characterized by skin-to-skin contact between a mother and her newborn. The objective of this study was to compare the mood variation of mothers enrolled in the KMC program to those in the conventional incubator care. In one general hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 90 mothers were evaluated before and after contact with the baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The participants were divided into three groups: 30 mothers of term newborns (TG), 30 mothers of preterm infants included in KMC program (PGK) and 30 preterms with incubator placement (PGI). The Brazilian version of the Visual Analogue Mood Scale (VAMS) was used for the assessment before and after the infant's visit. Results showed that TG mothers reported fewer occurrences of depressive states than PGK and PGI mothers. A significant mood variation was observed for PGK and PGI after the infant's visit. PGK mothers reported feeling calmer, stronger, well-coordinated, energetic, contented, tranquil, quick-witted, relaxed, proficient, happy, friendly and clear-headed. The only variation showed by PGI mothers was an increase in feeling clumsy. This study shows a positive effect of the KMC on the mood variation of preterm mothers and points to the need of a more humane experience during the incubator care.

Mothers Reporting I: For Whom and Why is the Mother-Child Education Program Effective?

OpenAIRE

Bekman, Prof. Dr. Sevda; Atmaca Koçak, Aylin

2011-01-01

This article presents the results of the qualitative research conducted with 100 mothers, all participants of Mother-Child Education Program, (from five different countries). The aim was to investigate the characteristics of the participant mothers, their reasons for participation, and why and how the program was effective. Data, collected through in-depth interviews, revealed that participant mothers were determined and open to change. Mothers’ experiences with the group process, the Cogniti...

Amygdala Response to Mother

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Tottenham, Nim; Shapiro, Mor; Telzer, Eva H.; Humphreys, Kathryn L.

2012-01-01

In altricial species, like the human, the caregiver, very often the mother, is one of the most potent stimuli during development. The distinction between mothers and other adults is learned early in life and results in numerous behaviors in the child, most notably mother-approach and stranger wariness. The current study examined the influence of…

Emotional Disclosure through Journal Writing: Telehealth Intervention for Maternal Stress and Mother-Child Relationships

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Whitney, Rondalyn V.; Smith, Gigi

2015-01-01

This study examines emotional disclosure through the activity of journaling as a means of coping with maternal stress associated with parenting a child with disruptive behaviors. Through a randomized control and pre-test post-test study design of an online journal writing intervention, change to maternal stress and quality of mother-child…

Attitudes toward working mothers: accommodating the needs of mothers in the work force.

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Albright, A

1992-10-01

More women, including mothers, are part of the work force than ever before. In the workplace, barriers often exist that restrict promotion and advancement of mothers. Mothers often are penalized in attempting to meet the demands of parent and worker roles. Parenting practices have been considered primarily the domain of mothers. However, nurturing may be done effectively by fathers or other motivated adults. Policies of employers must change to accommodate needs of families. Examples of supportive practices may include flexible working hours, parental leave, and on-site child care.

A new approach to oxidative stress and inflammatory signaling during labour in healthy mothers and neonates.

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Díaz-Castro, Javier; Florido, Jesus; Kajarabille, Naroa; Prados, Sonia; de Paco, Catalina; Ocon, Olga; Pulido-Moran, Mario; Ochoa, Julio J

2015-01-01

The objective of the current study was to investigate for the first time and simultaneously the oxidative stress and inflammatory signaling induced during the delivery in healthy mothers and their neonates. 56 mothers with normal gestational course and spontaneous delivery were selected. Blood samples were taken from mother (before and after delivery) both from vein and artery of umbilical cord. Lower antioxidant enzymes activities were observed in neonates compared with their mothers and lower oxidative stress in umbilical cord artery with respect to vein. There was an overexpression of inflammatory cytokines in the mother, such as IL-6 and TNF-α, and, in addition, PGE2 was also increased. Neonates showed lower levels of IL-6 and TNF-α and higher values of sTNF-RII and PGE2 in comparison with their mothers. Parturition increases oxidative damage in the mother, although the indicators of oxidative damage were lower in umbilical cord artery with respect to umbilical vein. The overexpression of inflammatory cytokines reveals that fetus suffers its own inflammatory process during parturition.

A New Approach to Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Signaling during Labour in Healthy Mothers and Neonates

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Javier Díaz-Castro

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of the current study was to investigate for the first time and simultaneously the oxidative stress and inflammatory signaling induced during the delivery in healthy mothers and their neonates. 56 mothers with normal gestational course and spontaneous delivery were selected. Blood samples were taken from mother (before and after delivery both from vein and artery of umbilical cord. Lower antioxidant enzymes activities were observed in neonates compared with their mothers and lower oxidative stress in umbilical cord artery with respect to vein. There was an overexpression of inflammatory cytokines in the mother, such as IL-6 and TNF-α, and, in addition, PGE2 was also increased. Neonates showed lower levels of IL-6 and TNF-α and higher values of sTNF-RII and PGE2 in comparison with their mothers. Parturition increases oxidative damage in the mother, although the indicators of oxidative damage were lower in umbilical cord artery with respect to umbilical vein. The overexpression of inflammatory cytokines reveals that fetus suffers its own inflammatory process during parturition.

Mothers' Behaviors and Sons' Reading Achievement and Projected Feelings.

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Oidick, Michael Stanley

Two groups of fourth-grade boys, one group reading at grade level or above, the other reading below grade level, were selected for this study. All boys in both groups had scored at the 30th percentile or below on a kindergarten reading-readiness test. The mothers of these boys were interviewed to assess their participation, instigation, and level…

Pilot trial of a parenting and self-care intervention for HIV-positive mothers: the IMAGE program.

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Murphy, Debra A; Armistead, Lisa; Payne, Diana L; Marelich, William D; Herbeck, Diane M

2017-01-01

A pilot study was conducted to assess the effects of the IMAGE pilot intervention (Improving Mothers' parenting Abilities, Growth, and Effectiveness) on mothers living with HIV (MLH). Based on Fisher and Fisher's IMB model [1992. Changing AIDS risk behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 455-474], the intervention focused on self-care and parenting behavior skills of MLH that affect maternal, child, and family outcomes. A randomized pre-test-post-test two-group design with repeated assessments was used. MLH (n = 62) and their children aged 6-14 (n = 62; total N = 124) were recruited for the trial and randomized to the theory-based skills training condition or a standard care control condition. Assessments were conducted at baseline with follow-ups at 3, 6, and 12 months. Maternal, child, and family outcomes were assessed. Results show significant effects of the intervention for improving parenting practices for mothers. The intervention also improved family outcomes, and showed improvements in the parent-child relationship. IMAGE had a positive impact on parenting behaviors, and on maternal, child, and family outcomes. Given MLH can be challenged by their illness and also live in under-resourced environments, IMAGE may be viewed as a viable way to improve quality of life and family outcomes.

Comparison of Attachment Styles and Personality Characteristics in Mothers of Normal and ADHD Students

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Shima Ghalamzan

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Background: The present study has done with the purpose of comparing secure attachment styles and personality characteristics in normal boy student mothers and ADHD students mothers in Isfahan city. Materials and Methods: The present study has done with ex-Post facto method. Two groups of mothers (30 normal students mothers and 30 ADHD students mothers, were selected using cluster sampling method for normal group and simple sampling method for ADHD group. Participants completed the attachment styles of Hazan and Shaver, NEO five-factor Inventory (NEO-FFI, and conners questionnaire. Data was analyzed using multi variance analysis (MANOVA. Results: The results of this study showed that significant differences were evident between normal group and ADHD group in ambivalent insecure and secure (p<0.01; also the results showed that there was a meaningful difference among the neuroticism and conscientiousness in these 2 groups. Conclusion: The results were indicating that in comparison with normal group mothers the ADHD student mothers were more endangered with insecure attachment. It was also important to mention that the ambivalent insecure attachment style was more in the groups with ADHD. The results were also indicating that neuroticism was more in the group with ADHD, and conscientiousness was more the normal group.

Selective decontamination in pediatric liver transplants. A randomized prospective study.

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Smith, S D; Jackson, R J; Hannakan, C J; Wadowsky, R M; Tzakis, A G; Rowe, M I

1993-06-01

Although it has been suggested that selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) decreases postoperative aerobic Gram-negative and fungal infections in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), no controlled trials exist in pediatric patients. This prospective, randomized controlled study of 36 pediatric OLT patients examines the effect of short-term SDD on postoperative infection and digestive tract flora. Patients were randomized into two groups. The control group received perioperative parenteral antibiotics only. The SDD group received in addition polymyxin E, tobramycin, and amphotericin B enterally and by oropharyngeal swab postoperatively until oral intake was tolerated (6 +/- 4 days). Indications for operation, preoperative status, age, and intensive care unit and hospital length of stay were no different in SDD (n = 18) and control (n = 18) groups. A total of 14 Gram-negative infections (intraabdominal abscess 7, septicemia 5, pneumonia 1, urinary tract 1) developed in the 36 patients studied. Mortality was not significantly different in the two groups. However, there were significantly fewer patients with Gram-negative infections in the SDD group: 3/18 patients (11%) vs. 11/18 patients (50%) in the control group, P < 0.001. There was also significant reduction in aerobic Gram-negative flora in the stool and pharynx in patients receiving SDD. Gram-positive and anaerobic organisms were unaffected. We conclude that short-term postoperative SDD significantly reduces Gram-negative infections in pediatric OLT patients.

Employed Mothers: Combining Work and Parenthood = Nguoi Me Giua Hai Trong Trach: Gia Dinh Va Nghe Nghiep.

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Cudaback, Dorothea; Sagert, Janis

This bilingual booklet is intended to help female Vietnamese refugees learn to combine the tasks of work and motherhood. Included in the booklet are Vietnamese and English translations of a discussion of the effects of a working mother on her family, suggestions for employed mothers, and guidelines for learning about and selecting from available…

Video interaction guidance inviting transcendence of postpartum depressed mothers' self-centered state and holding behavior.

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Vik, Kari; Braten, Stein

2009-05-01

By sometimes evoking self-absorbed and avoidance behaviors in new mothers, postnatal depression affects the quality of mother-infant interaction, which in turn may invoke distress and avoidance in the infant and cause even more lasting impairment in the child's development. Three depressed mothers, A, B, and C, are reported upon after having been offered counseling in accordance with the Marte Meo approach through jointly watching with the therapist video replays of themselves interacting with their newborns. Clinical vignettes are offered which indicate how empathic and positive support of a sensitive therapist can be helpful in inviting the mother's recognition of her importance to her infant and facilitating mutually gratifying interaction between mother and child. Protocol analyses of select sessions of video-related therapy reveal that two of the mothers sometimes complete the therapist's unfinished statements in an other-centered manner, thereby transcending their initial self-centered state. This is most dramatic in the case of Mother A, who starts out in the first session almost incapable of speech, merely nodding or shaking her head. In addition to other indications of improved mother-infant interaction, comparison of pre- and postguidance windows regarding the three mothers' holding behaviors reveals a shift from an avoidance or anxious stance to closer and more secure holding. Copyright © 2009 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

Feeding styles and child weight status among recent immigrant mother-child dyads.

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Tovar, Alison; Hennessy, Erin; Pirie, Alex; Must, Aviva; Gute, David M; Hyatt, Raymond R; Kamins, Christina Luongo; Hughes, Sheryl O; Boulos, Rebecca; Sliwa, Sarah; Galvão, Heloisa; Economos, Christina D

2012-05-29

Research has shown that parental feeding styles may influence children's food consumption, energy intake, and ultimately, weight status. We examine this relationship, among recent immigrants to the US. Given that immigrant parents and children are at greater risk for becoming overweight/obese with increased time in the US, identification of risk factors for weight gain is critical. Baseline data was collected on 383 mother-child dyads enrolled in Live Well, a community-based, participatory, randomized controlled lifestyle intervention to prevent weight gain in recent immigrant mothers. Socio-demographic information together with heights and weights were collected for both mother and child. Acculturation, behavioral data, and responses to the Caregiver's Feeding Styles Questionnaire (CFSQ) were also obtained from the mother. The children's average age was 6.2 ± 2.7 years, 58% male. Mothers had been in the country for an average of 6.0 ± 3.3 years, and are Brazilian (36%), Haitian (34%) and Latino (30%). Seventy-two percent of the mothers were overweight/obese, while 43% of the children were overweight/obese. Fifteen percent of mothers reported their feeding style as being high demanding/high responsive; 32% as being high demanding/low responsive; 34% as being low demanding/high responsive and 18% as being low demanding/low responsive. In bivariate analyses, feeding styles significantly differed by child BMIz-score, ethnic group, and mother's perceived stress. In multiple linear regression, a low demanding/high responsive feeding style was found to be positively associated (ß = 0.56) with a higher child weight as compared to high demanding/high responsive, controlling for known covariates (p = 0.01). Most mothers report having a low demanding/high responsive feeding style, which is associated with higher child weight status in this diverse immigrant population. This finding adds to the growing literature that suggests this type of feeding style may be a risk

The role of virologic and immunologic factors in mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1.

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Colognesi, C; Halapi, E; Jansson, M; Hodara, V; Steuer, G; Tresoldi, E; Leitner, T; Scarlatti, G

1997-09-01

More than 90% of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in children is acquired by mother-to-child transmission. However, infection of the child occurs in between 14 and 35% of cases. To understand the mechanisms involved in HIV-1 transmission, we have investigated the antigenic, molecular, and phenotypic characteristics of the virus harbored in infected mothers and their children. A clear correlation was observed between the transmission of the virus and the isolation of viral variants with a rapidly replicating and syncytium-inducing phenotype from the mother. Furthermore, non-transmitting mothers were able to neutralize several primary isolates more frequently than transmitting mothers. The comparison of the viral phenotype and genotype of mother-child pairs showed that the transmitted virus did not have common features, suggesting that transmission is usually not a selective process. This study suggests that transmission is governed by an interaction of both viral and immunological factors. The results obtained indicate that different strategies can be applied for the prevention of transmission.

The life-world of mothers who care for mentally retarded children: the Katutura township experience.

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Ntswane, A M; van Rhyn, L

2007-03-01

This article reports on a research study done in Katutura Township, near Windhoek. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was followed to answer the research question investigating experiences of mothers caring for mentally retarded children at home. Phenomenological interviews were conducted with a purposefully selected sample of twelve mothers. The meaning of their experiences was analysed by using Teschxs method (1990 in Creswell, 1994:155) of analysing qualitative data. The results indicated various emotions and challenges experienced by these mothers during the care of their children. Feelings of shock, despondency and sadness dominated the early stages when the retarded children were still young. During later years, as the children were growing up, the mothers felt shame, fear, frustration, anger, disappointment and worry. However, acceptance followed, as the children grew older. Stigma seemed to affect all the respondents. Support in any form or lack thereof seemed to be the decisive factor-positioning mothers along a continuum of two extremes, namely despairing isolation and integrated happiness. Recommendations were made regarding the improvement of heath care services and education of the mothers and their families.

Day-ahead load forecast using random forest and expert input selection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lahouar, A.; Ben Hadj Slama, J.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A model based on random forests for short term load forecast is proposed. • An expert feature selection is added to refine inputs. • Special attention is paid to customers behavior, load profile and special holidays. • The model is flexible and able to handle complex load signal. • A technical comparison is performed to assess the forecast accuracy. - Abstract: The electrical load forecast is getting more and more important in recent years due to the electricity market deregulation and integration of renewable resources. To overcome the incoming challenges and ensure accurate power prediction for different time horizons, sophisticated intelligent methods are elaborated. Utilization of intelligent forecast algorithms is among main characteristics of smart grids, and is an efficient tool to face uncertainty. Several crucial tasks of power operators such as load dispatch rely on the short term forecast, thus it should be as accurate as possible. To this end, this paper proposes a short term load predictor, able to forecast the next 24 h of load. Using random forest, characterized by immunity to parameter variations and internal cross validation, the model is constructed following an online learning process. The inputs are refined by expert feature selection using a set of if–then rules, in order to include the own user specifications about the country weather or market, and to generalize the forecast ability. The proposed approach is tested through a real historical set from the Tunisian Power Company, and the simulation shows accurate and satisfactory results for one day in advance, with an average error exceeding rarely 2.3%. The model is validated for regular working days and weekends, and special attention is paid to moving holidays, following non Gregorian calendar

A Role Model Mother/caregiver Programme to Expand Home-based ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In Nigeria, a Role Model Mother/Caregiver (RMM/C) programme was initiated by the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) to provide home-based management of malaria. Criteria for RMM/C selection were developed centrally by the Nigerian NMCP for community use. RMM/Cs were identified and recruited by the ...

Mother-grandmother coparenting relationships in families with incarcerated mothers: a pilot investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Jason; McHale, James; Strozier, Anne; Cecil, Dawn

2010-06-01

Using new methods designed to assess coparenting between incarcerated mothers of preschool-aged children and the maternal grandmothers caring for the children during their absence, we examined relationships between coparenting quality during the mother's jail stay and both concurrent child behavior problems and later coparenting interactions following mothers' release and community reentry. Forty mother-grandmother dyads participated in joint coparenting discussions during the incarceration, with a smaller subset completing a parallel activity at home 1 month postrelease. Both women also participated in individual coparenting interviews during the incarceration, and reported on child behavior problems. Mother-grandmother coparenting interactions exhibited an overall structure similar to that documented in nuclear families, with population-specific dynamics also evident. The observational system demonstrated good interrater and internal reliability, and showed associations with maternal (but not grandmother) reports and descriptions of the coparenting relationship via interview. Greater coparenting relationship quality during incarceration was associated with fewer concurrent child externalizing behavior problems, and predicted more positive coparenting interactions postrelease. Findings suggest that the coparenting assessments were useful for understanding mother-grandmother coparenting relationships in these families and that importantly, these relationships were tied to children's functioning. Avenues for future research and considerations for intervention efforts are discussed.

Comprehensive intensive therapy for Chinese gestational diabetes benefits both newborns and mothers.

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Cao, Xiaopei; Wang, Zilian; Yang, Chijiao; Mo, Xiaoqing; Xiu, Lingling; Li, Yangbing; Xiao, Haipeng

2012-11-01

This study identified the impact of intensive therapy on neonatal outcomes in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and determined the effects on the postpartum metabolic status of the mothers. In total, 127 pregnant women with GDM were randomly selected to receive an intensive treatment regimen, which included one-to-one education, lifestyle intervention, scheduled clinic visits, strict glucose control, and frequent glucose self-monitoring. Meanwhile, 148 age-matched pregnant women with GDM were selected as controls and given the standard treatment regimen. Pregnancy outcomes including parameters related to the GDM mothers and to their neonates were comparatively analyzed between the two treatment groups. GDM patient follow-up (range, 1-3 years after delivery) included an oral glucose tolerance test and measurements of lipid concentration and insulin secretion. The insulinogenic index (ΔInsulin(30 min)/ΔBlood glucose(30 min)) and homeostasis model assessment index of β-cell function and insulin resistance were calculated. The patients' demographic and anthropometric data were also recorded for comparative analysis. Compared with GDM patients receiving standard treatment, GDM patients receiving intensive treatment had lower instances of premature delivery (2.4% vs. 8.3%, P<0.05) and neonatal care unit admission (21.3% vs. 33.3%, P<0.05) and lower neonatal birth weight (3.26±0.53 vs. 3.45±0.55 kg, P<0.0001). At follow-up, GDM patients from the intensive treatment group had a smaller waist circumference (75.83±3.11 vs. 78.34±4.20 cm, P<0.01), lower 30-min glucose levels after a 75-g glucose load (8.26±1.85 vs. 9.46±2.74 mmol/L, P<0.05), and higher high-density lipoprotein levels (1.30±0.24 vs. 1.18±0.23 mmol/L, P<0.05). The intensive GDM treatment regimen led to healthier outcomes for the women, the neonates, and the birth event and was associated with better maternal metabolic situations in the months and years after delivery.

Maternal anaemia and duration of zidovudine in antiretroviral regimens for preventing mother-to-child transmission: a randomized trial in three African countries.

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Sartorius, Benn K D; Chersich, Matthew F; Mwaura, Mary; Meda, Nicolas; Temmerman, Marleen; Newell, Marie Louise; Farley, Timothy M M; Luchters, Stanley

2013-11-06

Although substantiated by little evidence, concerns about zidovudine-related anaemia in pregnancy have influenced antiretroviral (ARV) regimen choice for preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1, especially in settings where anaemia is common. Eligible HIV-infected pregnant women in Burkina Faso, Kenya and South Africa were followed from 28 weeks of pregnancy until 12-24 months after delivery (n = 1070). Women with a CD4 count of 200-500 cells/mm(3) and gestational age 28-36 weeks were randomly assigned to zidovudine-containing triple-ARV prophylaxis continued during breastfeeding up to 6-months, or to zidovudine during pregnancy plus single-dose nevirapine (sd-NVP) at labour. Additionally, two cohorts were established, women with CD4 counts: 500 cells/mm(3) received zidovudine during pregnancy plus sd-NVP at labour. Mild (haemoglobin 8.0-10.9 g/dl) and severe anaemia (haemoglobin anaemia occurred subsequently in 194 (18.1%) women, mostly in those with low baseline haemoglobin, lowest socio-economic category, advanced HIV disease, prolonged breastfeeding (≥ 6 months) and shorter ARV exposure. Severe anaemia incidence was similar in the randomized arms (equivalence P-value = 0.32). After 1-2 months of ARV's, severe anaemia was significantly reduced in all groups, though remained highest in the low CD4 cohort. Severe anaemia occurs at a similar rate in women receiving longer triple zidovudine-containing regimens or shorter prophylaxis. Pregnant women with pre-existing anaemia and advanced HIV disease require close monitoring. ISRCTN71468401.

Rationale and methods for a randomized controlled trial of a movement-to-music video program for decreasing sedentary time among mother-child pairs.

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Tuominen, Pipsa P A; Husu, Pauliina; Raitanen, Jani; Luoto, Riitta M

2015-10-05

Measured objectively, under a quarter of adults and fewer than half of preschool children meet the criteria set in the aerobic physical activity recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Moreover, adults reportedly are sedentary (seated or lying down) for most of their waking hours. Importantly, greater amounts of sedentary time on parents' part are associated with an increased risk of more sedentary time among their children. A randomized controlled trial targeting mother-child pairs has been designed, to examine whether a movement-to-music video program may be effective in reducing sedentary time and increasing physical activity in the home environment. Mother-child pairs (child age of 4-7 years) will be recruited from among NELLI lifestyle-modification study five-year follow-up cohort participants, encompassing 14 municipalities in Pirkanmaa region, Finland. Accelerometer and exercise diary data are to be collected for intervention and control groups at the first, second and eighth week after the baseline measurements. Background factors, physical activity, screen time, motivation to exercise, and self-reported height and weight, along with quality of life, will be assessed via questionnaires. After the baseline and first week measurements, the participants of the intervention group will receive a movement-to-music video program designed to reduce sedentary time and increase physical activity. Intervention group mother-child pairs will be instructed to exercise every other day while watching the video program over the next seven weeks. Information on experiences of the use of the movement-to-music video program will be collected 8 weeks after baseline. Effects of the intervention will be analyzed in line with the intention-to-treat principle through comparison of the changes in the main outcomes between intervention and control group participants. The study has received ethics approval from the Pirkanmaa Ethics Committee in Human

Mother-daughter communication about sex: the influence of authoritative parenting style.

Science.gov (United States)

Askelson, Natoshia M; Campo, Shelly; Smith, Sandi

2012-01-01

Parent-child communication about sex has been shown to delay sexual activity and increase contraceptive and condom use. The influence of authoritative parenting style and mothers' perception of daughters' risk on communication about sex was examined in this study. Mothers in a random sample (n=283) with daughters aged 9-15 years were mailed surveys asking about communication with their daughters regarding 11 sex-related topics. Multivariate linear regression was used to assess the influence of authoritative parenting style and mothers' perceptions of risk on the number of topics communicated about and age of the daughter at time of communication for a variety of sexual health communication topics. Authoritative parenting style was related to the number of topics communicated about and was a predictor of age of daughter at the time of communication about sexual intercourse, menstruation, dating/relationships, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV/AIDS, alcohol, contraceptives, and abstinence, while perceptions of risk were not significant influencers of age at the time of communication for any topics. This research points to the importance of parenting style in determining the timing of parent-child communication about sexual and other risk behaviors.

Development of an Evidence-Informed Blog to Promote Healthy Eating Among Mothers: Use of the Intervention Mapping Protocol.

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Dumas, Audrée-Anne; Lemieux, Simone; Lapointe, Annie; Provencher, Véronique; Robitaille, Julie; Desroches, Sophie

2017-05-19

Low adherence to dietary guidelines and a concurrent rise of obesity-related chronic diseases emphasize the need for effective interventions to promote healthy eating. There is growing recognition that behavior change interventions should draw on theories of behavior change. Online interventions grounded in theory lead to increased effectiveness for health behavior change; however, few theory-driven social media-based health promotion interventions have been described in the literature. The objective of this study was to describe the application of the Intervention Mapping (IM) protocol to develop an evidence-informed blog to promote healthy eating among French-Canadian mothers of preschool and school-aged children. The following six steps of the IM protocol were performed. In Step 1, a preliminary needs assessment included a literature search on theoretical domains predicting Vegetables and Fruits intakes and Milk and Alternatives intakes in adults (ie, knowledge, beliefs about capabilities, beliefs about consequences, intention/goals) and a qualitative study including focus groups to identify female Internet users' perceptions of their use of healthy eating blogs. In Step 2, two behavioral outcomes were selected (ie, increase daily intakes of Vegetables and Fruits and Milk and Alternatives of mothers to reach Canadian dietary recommendations) and subsequently divided into six performance objectives inspired by national and international dietary recommendations such as planning for healthy meals. A matrix of change objectives was then created by crossing performance objectives with theoretical domains predicting Vegetables and Fruits intakes and Milk and Alternatives intakes in adults. Step 3 consisted of selecting theory-based intervention methods (eg, modeling and goal setting) and translating them into practical applications for the context of a dietary intervention delivered through a blog. A 6-month intervention was developed in Step 4 in which we aimed to

Impacts of mothers' occupation status and parenting styles on levels of self-control, addiction to computer games, and educational progress of adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Abedini, Yasamin; Zamani, Bibi Eshrat; Kheradmand, Ali; Rajabizadeh, Ghodratollah

2012-01-01

Addiction to computer (video) games in adolescents and its relationship with educational progress has recently attracted the attention of rearing and education experts as well as organizations and institutes involved in physical and mental health. The current research attempted to propose a structural model of the relationships between parenting styles, mothers' occupation status, and addiction to computer games, self-control, and educational progress of secondary school students. Using multistage cluster random sampling, 500 female and male secondary school students in Kerman (Iran) were selected and studied. The research tools included self-control, parenting styles, and addiction to computer games questionnaires and a self-made questionnaire containing demographic details. The data was analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha coefficient and route analysis (in LISREL). We found self-control to have a linking role in the relationship between four parenting styles and educational progress. Mothers' occupation status was directly and significantly correlated with addiction to computer games. Although four parenting styles directly and significantly affected addiction to computer games, the findings did not support the linking role of addiction to computer games in the relationship between four parenting styles and educational progress. In agreement with previous studies, the current research reflected the impact of four parenting styles on self-control, addiction to computer games, and educational progress of students. Among the parenting styles, authoritative style can affect the severity of addiction to computer games through self-control development. It can thus indirectly influence the educational progress of students. Parents are recommended to use authoritative parenting style to help both self-management and psychological health of their children. The employed mothers are also recommended to have more supervision and control on the degree

When Schoolgirls Become Mothers: Reflections from a Selected Group of Teenage Girls in Durban

Science.gov (United States)

Bhana, Deevia; Mcambi, Sithembile Judith

2013-01-01

Schools are obliged to support young women who become mothers. Drawing from an interview study of young women in a Durban school, this article shows how their experience is situated within discourses of shame and stigma. Such shame works to reduce their agency and increase their vulnerability to drop out of school. Both teachers and peers are…

Mother-Child Interactional Patterns in High- and Low-Risk Mothers.

Science.gov (United States)

Dolz, Laura; Cerezo, M. Angeles; Milner, Joel S.

1997-01-01

A study of 10 high-risk (of child physical abuse) and 10 demographically similar low-risk Spanish mother-child dyads investigated interactional patterns in the home. High-risk mothers made fewer neutral approaches to their children, displayed more negative behaviors toward their children, and made more indiscriminate responses to their children's…

Mothering and anxiety: Social support and competence as mitigating factors for first-time mothers.

Science.gov (United States)

Chavis, Llena

2016-07-01

This study investigated anxiety as a phenomenon distinct from depression and evaluated several variables that influence anxiety in first-time mothers. This explored the relationship between maternal sense of competence (both of mothering and efficacy) and perceived social support (from family, friends, and significant others) and first-time mothers' postpartum anxiety, when depression, socioeconomic status (SES), and marital status were controlled for. The population studied were 86 first-time mothers made up of women with children 24 months or younger in two populations of Kentucky and Michigan. The constructs of maternal sense of competence and perceived social support were found to be significant in explaining first-time mothers' anxiety. The study concluded that a combined association of perceived social support and maternal sense of competence were associated with a 34% (change in R-squared = .339) decrease of a first-time mothers' anxiety. However, not all types of social support, or maternal competence appeared to be equally important with regards to maternal anxiety: social support from friends and family and maternal sense of competence in regard to productivity appeared to be most significant. Lastly, some recommendations for health practitioners who work with mothers are provided.

Study protocol: fit for delivery - can a lifestyle intervention in pregnancy result in measurable health benefits for mothers and newborns? A randomized controlled trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sagedal Linda Reme

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The global obesity epidemic has led to increased attention on pregnancy, a period when women are at risk of gaining excessive weight. Excessive gestational weight gain is associated with numerous complications, for both mother and child. Though the problem is widespread, few studies have examined the effect of a lifestyle intervention in pregnancy designed to limit maternal weight gain. The Fit for Delivery study will explore the effectiveness of nutritional counseling coupled with exercise classes compared with standard prenatal care. The aims of the study are to examine the effect of the intervention on maternal weight gain, newborn birth weight, glucose regulation, complications of pregnancy and delivery, and maternal weight retention up to 12 months postpartum. Methods/design Fit for Delivery is a randomized controlled trial that will include 600 women expecting their first child. To be eligible, women must be 18 years of age or older, of less than 20 weeks gestational age, with a singleton pregnancy, and have a Body Mass Index (BMI ≥ 19 kg/m2. The women will be randomly allocated to either an intervention group or a control group. The control group will receive standard prenatal care. The intervention group will, in addition, receive nutritional counseling by phone, access to twice-weekly exercise sessions, and information on healthy eating and physical activity provided in pamphlets, evening meetings and an interactive website. Both groups will be monitored by weighing (including bioimpedance measurements of percent body fat, blood tests, self-report questionnaires and hospital record review. Discussion Weight gained in pregnancy affects the health of both the mother and her unborn child, and simple models for efficient intervention are in high demand. The Fit for Delivery intervention provides concrete advice on limiting energy intake and practical training in increasing physical activity. This lifestyle intervention

Mind-mindedness and maternal responsiveness in infant-mother interactions in mothers with severe mental illness.

Science.gov (United States)

Pawlby, S; Fernyhough, C; Meins, E; Pariante, C M; Seneviratne, G; Bentall, R P

2010-11-01

Previous cross-diagnosis studies of interaction between mothers with severe mental illness and their babies have concluded that mothers with schizophrenia have deficits in interaction, but these studies have not included healthy controls. In-patients on a mother and baby unit, with diagnoses of schizophrenia (n=15), depressive mood disorders with or without psychosis (n=23), or mood disorders where mania was the predominant feature, with or without psychosis (n=12), were observed interacting with their infants on admission and discharge. Mothers' mind-mindedness and other measures of the quality of maternal and infant behaviour were coded. Findings from this sample were compared with those from healthy mothers and their infants (n=49). Compared with healthy controls, on admission depressed mothers were marginally less likely to comment appropriately on their infants' mental states. Both the depressed and mania groups were more likely to touch their babies and engage in attention-seeking behaviours. Interactional behaviours of mothers in the schizophrenia group were not markedly different from healthy controls. On discharge there were fewer differences between the clinical and healthy groups, although the depressed group continued to engage in more attention-seeking and touching behaviour and the mania group continued to touch their infants more. Only mothers in the schizophrenia group showed changes in interactional behaviours between admission and discharge, talking more to their infants. The findings challenge previous conclusions that mothers with schizophrenia have deficits in their interactions with their babies, and demonstrate that mothers with severe mental illness are able to respond appropriately to their infants' cues.

Distribution of orientation selectivity in recurrent networks of spiking neurons with different random topologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadeh, Sadra; Rotter, Stefan

2014-01-01

Neurons in the primary visual cortex are more or less selective for the orientation of a light bar used for stimulation. A broad distribution of individual grades of orientation selectivity has in fact been reported in all species. A possible reason for emergence of broad distributions is the recurrent network within which the stimulus is being processed. Here we compute the distribution of orientation selectivity in randomly connected model networks that are equipped with different spatial patterns of connectivity. We show that, for a wide variety of connectivity patterns, a linear theory based on firing rates accurately approximates the outcome of direct numerical simulations of networks of spiking neurons. Distance dependent connectivity in networks with a more biologically realistic structure does not compromise our linear analysis, as long as the linearized dynamics, and hence the uniform asynchronous irregular activity state, remain stable. We conclude that linear mechanisms of stimulus processing are indeed responsible for the emergence of orientation selectivity and its distribution in recurrent networks with functionally heterogeneous synaptic connectivity.

Mothering and acculturation: experiences during pregnancy and childrearing of Filipina mothers married to Japanese.

Science.gov (United States)

Uayan, Maria Luisa Tumandao; Kobayashi, Sayuri; Matsuzaki, Masayo; Ota, Erika; Haruna, Megumi; Murashima, Sachiyo

2009-06-01

This study aims to describe the lived experiences of Filipina mothers married to Japanese during pregnancy and childrearing. Eight focus group interviews (FGI) were conducted among 39 Filipino mothers who are currently residing in Japan to obtain significant information with regard to their pregnancy and childrearing experiences. Content analysis was used to extract relevant themes that will describe the experiences of this group of migrant mothers. The findings revealed three major themes: 1) cultural barriers during pregnancy and childrearing; 2) mothering at the different stages of childrearing; and 3) positive adjustments to a new role in a new environment. The establishment of means of communication with migrant mothers effectively enabling them to understand important information for promoting healthy pregnancy and childrearing is strongly recommended. Provision of school information in the English language and enhancing the resilient character of the Filipina are important strategies in promoting positive pregnancy and childrearing experiences among Filipina migrant mothers.

[The importance of maternal nutrition during breastfeeding: Do breastfeeding mothers need nutritional supplements?].

Science.gov (United States)

Ares Segura, Susana; Arena Ansótegui, José; Díaz-Gómez, N Marta

2016-06-01

Breastmilk is the best food for newborns and infants. The nutritional stores of a lactating woman may be more or less depleted as a result of the pregnancy and the loss of blood during childbirth. Lactation raises nutrient needs, mainly because of the loss of nutrients, first through colostrum and then through breastmilk. Breastmilk volume varies widely. The nutrients present in this milk come from the diet of the mother or from her nutrient reserves. The conversion of nutrients in food to nutrients in breastmilk is not complete. To have good nutritional status the breastfeeding woman has to increase nutrient intake. Human breastmilk has a fairly constant composition, and is only selectively affected by the diet of the mother. The fat content of breastmilk varies somewhat. The carbohydrate, protein, fat, calcium and iron contents do not change much, even if the mother is short of these in her diet. A mother whose diet is deficient in thiamine and vitamins A and D, however, produces less of these in her milk. The mother should be given advice on consuming a mixed diet. At each postnatal visit, both the mother and the baby should be examined, and advice on the diets of both mother and infant should be provided. A satisfactory gain in the infant's weight is the best way to judge the adequacy of the diet of the infant. Mothers should not receive less than 1800 calories per day. Copyright © 2015 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Experiences of mothers of sexually abused children in North-West province, post disclosure

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Gaboipolelwe M. Masilo

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Background: Sexual violence against children is increasing at an alarming rate in South Africa. In 2010 the South African Police Service (SAPS reported 21 538 rape cases of children under 18 years. In the North-West province (NWP 5039 incidents of rape cases were reported in 2009. Mothers often experience emotional pain following child sexual abuse disclosure. It is seldom acknowledged that these mothers experience trauma and need support, post disclosure. The researcher has no known evidence of research conducted on the experiences of these mothers in NWP. Objective: The objective of the study was to explore and describe the experiences of mothers of sexually abused children post disclosure of the abuse. Method: The research design was qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual. Purposive sampling was used to select mothers of sexually abused children aged 23 to 59 years whose children ranged from 0 to 16 years. Permission to conduct the study was sought from the Provincial Department of Health and informed consent was obtained from the mothers. Interviews were conducted with a sample of n = 17 until data saturation. Data were collected through in-depth interviews using a voice recorder and field notes to enhance triangulation. Tesch’s method of open coding was used to analyse data. Results: Findings indicated that mothers experienced emotional pain post sexual abuse. They expressed shock, anger and guilt for not noticing the abuse. They showed significant depression as a result of lack of support by stakeholders. Conclusion: Mothers experienced secondary trauma that poses social and psychological challenges with far-reaching implications.

[Nutritional and sociodemographic characteristics of nursing mothers: a systematic review].

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Larissa Bueno; Nea, Ingrid Tatiana Oliveira de; Sousa, Taciana Maia de; Santos, Luana Caroline Dos

2018-02-01

A systematic review of nutritional and sociodemographic characteristics of nursing mothers, using the published literature from 2004 to 2014 in the Biblioteca Virtual de Saúde and Medline databases. Using the following key words, 561 articles were identified: "Human Milk" and "Milk Banks"; keywords: "Profile," "Nutritional," "Milk Donor," "Nursing Mother" and "Nursing Mothers"; available abstracts; date and language. From these, 84.1% were excluded for not dealing with the established subject, 1.8% for being a review and 7.5% for the unavailability of abstracts for study. Thirty-seven articles were selected, of which 18.9% analyzed the profile of the HM donor. Of the total, 89.2% reported age, the majority between 20 and 30 years of age. The level of schooling was mentioned in 32.4% ranging from elementary school and higher education. With respect to income, a higher prevalence of low socioeconomic status was observed. About the nutritional status, 45.9% of the studies measured the body mass index and 29.4% reported the predominance of excess weight. There were deficiencies, particularly of vitamin A, with frequencies between 9% and 26%. A majority of young adult mothers, varied schooling, low income and nutritional deficiencies were noted, demanding interventions to improve health and increase HM donations.

Promoting Teen Mothers' Mental Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Freed, Patricia; SmithBattle, Lee

2016-01-01

In this second article in a two-part series, we call for the integration of strengths-based and trauma-informed care into services for teen mothers. Nurses working with teen mothers in health clinics, schools and home visiting programs can play a pivotal role in promoting their mental health. Many teen mothers have high levels of psychological distress and histories of adverse experiences that cannot be ignored, and cannot solely be addressed by referral to mental health services. Nurses must be prepared to assess for trauma and be open to listening to teen mothers' experiences. Principles of strengths-based and trauma-informed care are complementary and can be integrated in clinical services so that teen mothers' distress is addressed and their strengths and aspirations are supported. Potential screening tools, interviewing skills and basic strategies to alleviate teen mothers' distress are discussed.

KNOWLEDGE OF LACTATING MOTHERS ABOUT IMPORTANCE AND NECESSITY OF BREAST FEEDING IN INFANTS - ISFAHAN PROVINCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M HASHEMIPOOR

2000-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction. In spite of high physiologic ability of lactation in mothers, most of them have not cooperation for breast feeding. Mothers' knowledge and attitude are important for lactation behavior. Although 99 percent of mothers are capable for breast feeding, but WHO's reports revealed that breast feeding is decreasing in low socioeconomic families. We decided to evaluate the knowledge of lactating mothers about the importance and necessity of breast feeding. Methods. Based on a descriptive, cross sectional study, 2799 mothers with infants younger than 15 months were selected by a cluster sampling. The study was performed in urban and rural health centers of Isfahan province. Findings. Nearly 80 percent of mothers did not know anything about the necessity of exclusive breast feeding during the first 4 months of life. Eighty five percent of mothers who worked out of home preferred formula feeding and 45 percent of mothers supposed that their milk has no good taste and is watery. More than half of mothers believed that antibiotic consumption, repregnancy and long time hospitalization are inhibitor factors for normal breast feeding. Almost 50 percent of mothers had no insight about the time of breast feeding after cesarean section delivery and the age of supplementary feeding. Knowledge about breast feeding was similar in urban and rural area. About 56 percent of mothers had not any training class and 32 percent had not been oriented in hospital about breast feeding. Conclusion. It seems that knowledge of mothers about importance of breast milk depended on their previous experience especially previous training and cultural believing and this training isn't suitable for maintenance of breast feeding. Therefore, it is necessary to promote the knowledge of mothers especially by radio and television according to their culture and educational levels.

Co-Occurring Trajectory of Mothers' Substance Use and Psychological Control and Children's Behavior Problems: The Effects of a Family Systems Intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jing; Slesnick, Natasha; Feng, Xin

2018-03-01

This study examined the effects of a family systems therapy (Ecologically-Based Family Therapy [EBFT]) on the co-occurring trajectory of mothers' substance use and psychological control, and its association with children's problem behaviors. Participants included 183 mothers with a substance use disorder who had at least one biological child in their care. Mothers were randomly assigned to one of the three intervention conditions: EBFT-home, n = 62; EBFT-office, n = 61; or Women's Health Education, n = 60. Participants were assessed at baseline, 3, 6, 12, and 18 months post-baseline. A dual-trajectory class growth analysis identified three groups of mothers in regard to their change trajectories. The majority of the mothers exhibited a synchronous decrease in substance use and psychological control (n = 107). In all, 46 mothers exhibited a synchronous increase in substance use and psychological control. For the remaining 30 mothers, substance use and psychological control remained stable. Mothers in the family therapy condition were more likely to show reduced substance use and psychological control compared to mothers in the control condition. Moreover, children with mothers who showed decreased substance use and psychological control exhibited lower levels of problem behaviors compared to children with mothers showing increased substance use and psychological control. The findings provide evidence for the effectiveness of family systems therapy, EBFT, in treating mothers' substance use, improving parenting behaviors, and subsequently improving child behavioral outcomes. © 2017 Family Process Institute.

The experience of mothers caring for their teenage daughters' young children

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N Modungwa

2000-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was firstly to explore and describe the experiences of mothers who are looking after their teenage daughters’ young children. Secondly, to formulate guidelines (based on the results obtained for psychiatric nurses in assisting these mothers to mobilise resources in order to promote, maintain and restore their mental health as an integral part of health. An exploratory, descriptive, contextual and qualitative design was used and Guba’s model for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research was applied. The phenomenological approach was used to collect and analyse data from a sample of seven respondents who were purposively selected. Three independent themes emerged from the analysis of results: Meaning of the parenting role, life-style changes and support systems. The results further show that for these mothers the problem of teenage pregnancy and parenthood ends up being their problem. Their experiences in looking after these babies, although sometimes fulfilling and meaningful, are most of the time stressful. This has implications on their mental health. Guidelines are recommended in order to facilitate these mothers to mobilise their resources for mental health.

Effects of humic acid application and mother corm weight on yield and growth of saffron (Crocus sativus L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A Koocheki

2016-03-01

during autumn of 2009 and 2010. In addition, three corm clones were selected randomly in each plot and then all replacement corms were removed after leaf withering in May, 2011. Corm measured indices were included of number of replacement corms per clone, total corms weight per clone, scale weight per clone, mean replacement corms weight and number of buds per replacement corm. Finally, data analysis was done using SAS 9.1 and means were compared by duncan’s multiple range test at 5% level of probability. Results and discussion Results showed that planting of larger mother corms improved the growth indices of replacement corms and saffron yield. The total weight of replacement corms per colon (91%, number of flowers per square (84%, flower yield (66% and stigma dry yield (154% were higher for the larger mother corm (9-10 g than small mother corm (4-5 g. This result is similar to findings of Nassiri Mahallati et al. (2008 which concluded that planting of more than 9 g mother corms improved the growth and yield of saffron. Selection of appropriate corms is the main factor in saffron cultivation, because the flowering capacity of the plant depends heavily on the weight of planted corms. Planting of small corms is not affordable because they usually do not produce flower in the first growth season (Kumar et al., 2009; Mohammad-Abadi et al., 2011. Moreover, application of different levels of humic acid had a positive effect on the growth and yield indices in saffron. In the highest level of humic acid application (100 kg.ha-1, the amounts of mean number of bud per corm (10%, mean diameter of corm (19%, mean weight of corm (70%, number of flowers per square (38%, flower yield (39% and stigma dry yield (183% were higher than control. The positive effects of humic acid on the growth of plants is related to many factors such as increased water and nutrient absorption, increasing the availability of elements, development of plant root system, higher chlorophyll content and

Relations between mothers' daily work, home, and relationship stress with characteristics of mother-child conflict interactions.

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Nelson, Jackie A; Boyer, Brittany P; Villarreal, Deyaun L; Smith, Olivia A

2017-06-01

This study examined whether daily variations in levels of mothers' work, home, and relationship stress were related to collaborative and oppositional qualities of mother-child conflict interactions across 1 week. Mothers reported on 1 specific conflict interaction with their 5- to 8-year-old child and their work, home, and relationship stress through online surveys each day for 7 consecutive days. Diary data from 142 mothers were analyzed in 6 multilevel models, each including within- and between-family levels of a stressor predicting collaborative or oppositional conflict qualities. Results suggested that families in the sample differed from each other, and also varied during the week, in collaborative and oppositional conflict qualities as well as stress in all 3 domains. Mothers reported a greater degree of oppositional conflict qualities on days characterized by higher perceptions of home chaos. Additionally, mothers who reported higher average levels of negativity in romantic relationships endorsed oppositional conflict qualities to a greater extent than mothers with lower relationship negativity. Two multilevel models including all 3 stressors in relation to collaborative and oppositional conflict revealed that for mothers managing multiple roles, average romantic relationship stress was the most important unique contributor to mother-child conflict qualities and daily relationship stress was particularly influential among mothers with sons compared to those with daughters. Results support the spillover hypothesis of stress within the family system and are discussed in terms of mothers' coping mechanisms and emotional engagement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Postpartum depression peer support: maternal perceptions from a randomized controlled trial.

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Dennis, Cindy-Lee

2010-05-01

Peer support in the early postpartum period is effective in the prevention of postpartum depression among women identified as high-risk. To describe maternal perceptions of peer support received while participating in a trial. Cross-sectional survey of women participating in a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of peer support in the prevention of postpartum depression. Seven health regions across Ontario Canada. 701 women were recruited between November 2004 and September 2006. Women eligible for the study were all mothers with an Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale score >9 who were within 2 weeks postpartum, at least 18 years of age, able to speak English, had a live birth, and had been discharged home from the hospital. Exclusion criteria included an infant not discharged home with the mother and current use of antidepressant or antipsychotic medication. Two hundred and twenty-one mothers completed the mailed questionnaire. Women were randomly allocated to receive usual postpartum care (control group) or usual postpartum care plus telephone-based peer support (intervention group). Maternal perceptions of peer support were evaluated at 12 weeks postpartum using the validated Peer Support Evaluation Inventory. Interactions provided by the peer volunteer included the provision of emotional (92.7%), informational (72.4%), and appraisal (72.0%) support. Mothers reported high levels of positive relationship qualities such as trust (83.6%) and perceived acceptance (79.1%). Most (80.5%) mothers indicated they were very satisfied with their peer support experience. Maternal satisfaction was associated with the number and duration of peer volunteer contacts. The majority of mothers perceived their peer volunteer experience positively lending further support to telephone-based peer support as a preventative strategy for postpartum depression. The following program modifications were suggested: (a) adapt training to enhance the provision of appraisal

Mothers screening for malnutrition by mid-upper arm circumference is non-inferior to community health workers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alé, Franck G B; Phelan, Kevin P Q; Issa, Hassan

2016-01-01

Background: Community health workers (CHWs) are recommended to screen for acute malnutrition in the community by assessing mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) on children between 6 and 59 months of age. MUAC is a simple screening tool that has been shown to be a better predictor of mortality...... in acutely malnourished children than other practicable anthropometric indicators. This study compared, under program conditions, mothers and CHWs in screening for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) by color-banded MUAC tapes. Methods: This pragmatic interventional, non-randomized efficacy study took place...... in two health zones of Niger's Mirriah District from May 2013 to April 2014. Mothers in Dogo (Mothers Zone) and CHWs in Takieta (CHWs Zone) were trained to screen for malnutrition by MUAC color-coded class and check for edema. Exhaustive coverage surveys were conducted quarterly, and relevant data...

Lower polyamine levels in breast milk of obese mothers compared to mothers with normal body weight.

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Ali, M Atiya; Strandvik, B; Palme-Kilander, C; Yngve, A

2013-07-01

Obesity is associated with risks for mother and infant, and the mothers' dietary habits influence breast milk composition. Polyamines are secreted in breast milk and are essential for the regulation of intestinal and immune function in newborns and infants. The present study aimed to investigate the level of polyamines in human milk obtained from obese and normal weight mothers at different times of lactation. Breast milk from 50 mothers was obtained at day 3, and at 1 and 2 months after delivery. The mothers had normal body weight [body mass index (BMI) obese (BMI > 30 kg/m(2) ). A subgroup of obese mothers participated in a weight reduction programme during pregnancy. Polyamines were analysed using high-performance liquid chromatography. The total polyamine content was significantly lower at all times in breast milk from obese mothers compared to milk from controls. Spermine levels did not differ between groups at any time in contrast to the levels of putrescine and spermidine. Putrescine concentrations were highest on day 3 and spermidine and spermine were highest at 1 month of lactation. The obese mothers, who received dietary advice during pregnancy based on the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations, had higher concentrations of putrescine and spermidine in their milk than the obese mothers without any intervention. Polyamine concentrations were lower in breast milk from obese mothers compared to mothers with a normal weight. General dietary intervention in obese mothers increased the polyamine levels, suggesting that the low levels in obesity were at least partly associated with food habits. However, the consistency of spermine suggests a special metabolic function of this polyamine. © 2013 The Authors Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics © 2013 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

Maternal cognitions and mother-infant interaction in postnatal depression and generalized anxiety disorder.

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Stein, Alan; Craske, Michelle G; Lehtonen, Annukka; Harvey, Allison; Savage-McGlynn, Emily; Davies, Beverley; Goodwin, Julia; Murray, Lynne; Cortina-Borja, Mario; Counsell, Nicholas

2012-11-01

Postnatal depression and anxiety have been shown to increase the risk of disturbances in mother-child interaction and child development. Research into mechanisms has focused on genetics and maternal behavior; maternal cognitions have received little attention. Our aim was to experimentally determine if worry and rumination in mothers with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), diagnosed in the postnatal 6 months, interfered with maternal responsiveness to their 10-month old infants. Mothers (N = 253: GAD n = 90; MDD n = 57; control n = 106) and their infants were randomized to either a worry/rumination prime (WRP) or a neutral prime (NP); mother-infant interactions were assessed before and after priming. Type of priming was a significant predictor of maternal cognitions, with WRP resulting in more negative thoughts, higher thought recurrence and more self-focus relative to NP across the entire sample. Interaction effects between group and priming were significant for two parenting variables: Compared with controls, WRP had a more negative impact on maternal responsiveness to infant vocalization for GAD, and to a lesser extent for MDD; WRP led to decreased maternal vocalization for GAD. Also, mothers with GAD used stronger control after the NP than WRP, as well as compared with other groups, and overall post-priming, their children exhibited lower emotional tone and more withdrawal. Across the entire sample, WRP was associated with increased child vocalization relative to NP. This study demonstrated that disturbances in maternal cognitions, in the context of postnatal anxiety and to a lesser degree depression, play a significant role in mother-child interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

Attitudes toward teen mothers among nursing students and psychometric evaluation of Positivity Toward Teen Mothers scale.

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Kim, Son Chae; Burke, Leanne; Sloan, Chris; Barnett, Shannon

2013-09-01

To prepare future nurses who can deliver high quality nursing care to teen mothers, a better understanding of the nursing students' perception of teen mothers is needed. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 228 nursing students to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Positivity Toward Teen Mothers (PTTM) scale, to explore nursing students' general empathy and attitudes toward teen mothers, and to investigate the predictors of nursing students' attitudes toward teen mothers. Principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation resulted in a 19-item PTTM-Revised scale with Non-judgmental and Supportive subscales. Cronbach's alphas for the subscales were 0.84 and 0.69, respectively, and 0.87 for the total scale. Simultaneous multiple regression models showed that general empathy and having a teen mother in the family or as an acquaintance were significant predictors of positive attitudes toward teen mothers, whereas age was a significant negative predictor. The PTTM-Revised scale is a promising instrument for assessing attitudes toward teen mothers. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Why are Chinese Mothers More Controlling than American Mothers? “My Child is My Report Card”

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Ng, Florrie Fei-Yin; Pomerantz, Eva M.; Deng, Ciping

2013-01-01

Chinese parents exert more control over children than do American parents. The current research examined whether this is due in part to Chinese parents' feelings of worth being more contingent on children's performance. Twice over a year, 215 mothers and children (mean age = 12.86 years) in China and the United States (European and African Americans) reported on psychologically controlling parenting. Mothers also indicated the extent to which their worth is contingent on children's performance. Psychologically controlling parenting was higher among Chinese than American mothers, particularly European (vs. African) American mothers. Chinese (vs. American) mothers' feelings of worth were more contingent on children's performance, with this contributing to their heightened psychological control relative to American mothers. PMID:23581633

Process of becoming a mother for Iranian surrogacy-commissioning mothers: A grounded theory study.

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Zandi, Mitra; Vanaki, Zohreh; Shiva, Marziyeh; Mohammadi, Eesa

2018-01-01

Little knowledge is available about the experiences of the commissioning mothers during the process of surrogacy; thus, the present study was conducted in order to explore and analyze this process. This study was conducted in a referral institute in Tehran with a qualitative approach and using grounded theory methodology. The data were collected through 39 unstructured, in-depth interviews that were conducted with 15 gestational commissioning mothers, two of their husbands, four surrogates, and five of the personnel at centers for assisted reproduction (some participants were interviewed more than once). Sampling started purposively and then continued theoretically. The analysis revealed the main concern of these mothers to be the feeling of "insecurity about becoming a mother" and their predominant strategy for dealing with it to be "seeking security about becoming a mother," which emerged as a core concept. The consequences of the mothers' adopted strategies and the effects of the intervening factors included "reaching a state of relative peace," "a continuing threat to one's identity," and "mental and physical exhaustion." Identifying the demands of this group of mothers can help medical personnel, particularly nurses, adopt better plans for the future and to optimize the care they provide to these patients. © 2017 Japan Academy of Nursing Science.

EFFECT OF MUSA BALBISIANA COLLA EXTRACT ON BREAST MILK PRODUCTION IN BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS

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Diyan Wahyuningsih

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Musa balbisiana Colla, known as Jantung Pisang Klutuk/Pisang Batu, is considered as a traditional food that can increase breast milk production. Little is known about its benefit in Indonesia. Thus, to examine the impact of musa balbisiana colla on the production of breast milk is needed. Objective: This study aims to examine the effect of the extract of banana flower (Musa balbisiana Colla to increase milk production of breastfeeding mothers. Methods: This was a quasy-experimental study with pre-posttest control group design. This study was conducted in the working area of the Health Center (Puskesmas of Pesantren II in January – February 2017. There were 16 respondents were recruited by accidental sampling, divided to intervention group (8 respondents and control group (8 respondents. Randomization was performed to select the respondent in each group. The quantity of milk production was measured based on the volume of milk production, while the quality of milk production was based on the levels of prolactin in early (pre and late (post using Electro chemilumi-nescence Immunoassay (ECLIA method. Independent t-Test was used to analyze the data. Results: Findings showed that the mean of the volume of the breast milk production in the experiment group was 470.681 ml, and in the control group was 364.650 ml with SD 113.502. While the mean of prolactin levels in the experiment group was 35.337 nanogram, and in the control group was -38.381 nanogram. There was a significant effect of consuming Musa balbisiana Colla extract on the volume of breast milk production (p-value 0.003 and prolactin levels (p-value 0.001 (<0.05. Conclusion: There was a significant effect of banana flower (Musa balbisiana Colla extract on breast milk production and prolactin level in breastfeeding mothers. The findings of this study could be used to be alternative daily menu for postpartum mothers and a solution for midwives to deal with those who have inadequate

Comparison of psychological well-being and coping styles in mothers of deaf and normally-hearing children

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Abdollah Ghasempour

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Families who have a child with hearing deficiency deal with different challenges, and mothers have a greater responsibility towards these children because of their traditional role of caregiver; so, they deal with more psychological problems. The aim of this study was to compare the psychological well-being and coping styles in mothers of deaf and normal children.Methods: In this cross-sectional and post event study (causal-comparative method, 30 mothers of deaf students and 30 mothers of normal students from elementary schools of Ardabil, Iran, were selected using available sampling. The Ryff psychological well-being (1989 and Billings and Moos coping styles (1981 questionnaires were used in this study. The data were analyzed using MANOVA test.Results: We found that in mother's of deaf children, psychological well-being and its components was significantly lower than mothers of normal children (p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively. There was a significant difference between two groups in terms of cognitive coping style, too (p<0.01. However, mothers of deaf children used less cognitive coping style.Conclusions: It seems that child's hearing loss affects on mothers psychological well-being and coping styles; this effect can be visible as psychological problems and lower use of adaptive coping styles.

Single Mother Parenting and Adolescent Psychopathology.

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Daryanani, Issar; Hamilton, Jessica L; Abramson, Lyn Y; Alloy, Lauren B

2016-10-01

Children raised in single-mother families are at increased risk for psychopathology, but the mechanisms that help explain this relationship are understudied. In a community sample of diverse adolescents (N = 385, 52 % female, 48 % Caucasian) and their mothers, we hypothesized that single mothers would be more likely than cohabitating mothers to engage in negative parenting behaviors, which would predict adolescent psychopathology prospectively. Single mothers were more likely to engage in psychologically controlling behaviors, which predicted to their adolescent offspring experiencing higher rates of depressive symptoms and externalizing disorders. Girls were more susceptible to depressive symptoms via psychologically controlling parenting than boys in single-mother families. Further, single mothers were more likely to engage in rejecting parenting behaviors, which predicted to a higher prevalence of adolescent externalizing disorders. Surprisingly, rejection in single-mother families predicted to less severe anxiety symptoms in adolescents relative to two-parent families. It is likely that single mothers are not inherently inferior parents relative to cohabitating mothers; rather, their parenting practices are often compromised by a myriad of demands and stressors. Consistent with this postulate, low socioeconomic status was associated with single motherhood and negative parenting behaviors. Clinical implications and study limitations are discussed.

Locating Mothers: How Cultural Debates about Stay-at-Home versus Working Mothers Define Women and Home

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Dillaway, Heather; Pare, Elizabeth

2008-01-01

Most women must decide whether to work for pay while mothering or make mothering their sole social role. Often this decision is portrayed in terms of whether they will be "stay-at-home" and presumably "full-time" mothers, or "working mothers" and therefore ones who prioritize paid work over caregiving. Inferred within this construction is women's…

An Early Look at Families and Local Programs in the Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation-Strong Start: Third Annual Report. OPRE Report 2016-37

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Lee, Helen; Crowne, Sarah; Faucetta, Kristen; Hughes, Rebecca

2016-01-01

The Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation-Strong Start (MIHOPE-Strong Start) is the largest random assignment study to date to examine the effectiveness of home visiting services on improving birth outcomes and infant and maternal health care use for expectant mothers. The study includes local home visiting programs that use one of…

Stigma in mothers of deaf children.

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Ebrahimi, Hossein; Mohammadi, Eissa; Mohammadi, Mohammad Ali; Pirzadeh, Akbar; Mahmoudi, Hamzeh; Ansari, Ismail

2015-03-01

A deaf child creates a feeling of stigma in many hearing parents. Stigma in mothers can have a negative impact on a child's treatment and rehabilitation process. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the extent of stigma in mothers with deaf children. This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in 2013 among 90 mothers with deaf children. The data-collection instrument included the stigma scale in the mothers of children with disabilities. The reliability and validity of the instrument were confirmed through content validity and Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α=86%), respectively. Data were analyzed using SPSS-15 software. Results showed that most mothers suffer from stigma due to having a deaf child. The mean stigma score was 96.48 ±27.72. In total, 24.4% of mothers reported that they had received strange and mocking looks; 72.2% regarded child deafness as a sign of divine retribution; and 33.3% felt ashamed of their child's deafness. There was an inverse relationship between the mother's level of education and mean stigma scores (P<0.033). The stigma score was higher in mothers who were living independently of their relatives (P<0.029). The mean stigma score in mothers of children with a cochlear implant was lower than that of mothers of children with earphones (86.70 vs. 99.64), and this difference tended towards significance (P=0.057). This study showed that half of all mothers with deaf children were scorned and felt ashamed of having a deaf child in the family because of the stigma. The majority of mothers with deaf children felt stigmatized, and only their education and residency status affected this issue. The mothers of cochlear-implanted children perceived less stigma. Due to the various social and psychological problems caused by hearing impairment, it is necessary to consider the emotional health and psychological state of the mothers in addition to rehabilitation programs and standard services for the children themselves.

Mothering from Prison: Using Narratives in a Mother-Child Support Program

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Trost, Betty Chamness

2009-01-01

Incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women who participated in the Storybook Project of Iowa told passionate stories of how their understanding of mothering had changed. They spoke of how the Storybook Project strengthened their mothering practices and relationships with their children and families. This study was an opportunity for reflection…

Attachment behaviors in mothers of premature infants: a descriptive study in Thai mothers.

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Tilokskulchai, Fongcum; Phatthanasiriwethin, Sopida; Vichitsukon, Kannikar; Serisathien, Yaowalak

2002-12-01

Prematurity and the associated maternal-infant separation after birth can affect the attachment process. The role of nurses in facilitating the process of attachment should be based on an understanding of these behaviors. This descriptive study explored the attachment behaviors demonstrated by mothers during their first visit with their premature infant in the neonatal care unit. The results revealed that all mothers demonstrated most attachment behaviors (ie, inspection, facial expression, touching, verbal expression, and eye-to-eye contact) except holding during their first visit. However, some mothers spent little time with their infant. The findings suggest that nurses should encourage mothers to interact with their infants in order to enhance maternal-infant attachment.

The life-world of mothers who care for mentally retarded children: the Katutura township experience

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A.M. Ntswane

2007-09-01

Full Text Available This article reports on a research study done in Katutura Township, near Windhoek. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was followed to answer the research question investigating experiences of mothers caring for mentally retarded children at home. Phenomenological interviews were conducted with a purposefully selected sample of twelve mothers. The meaning of their experiences was analysed by using Teschxs method (1990 in Creswell, 1994:155 of analysing qualitative data. The results indicated various emotions and challenges experienced by these mothers during the care of their children. Feelings of shock, despondency and sadness dominated the early stages when the retarded children were still young. During later years, as the children were growing up, the mothers felt shame, fear, frustration, anger, disappointment and worry. However, acceptance followed, as the children grew older. Stigma seemed to affect all the respondents. Support in any form or lack thereof seemed to be the decisive factor-positioning mothers along a continuum of two extremes, namely despairing isolation and integrated happiness. Recommendations were made regarding the improvement of heath care services and education of the mothers and their families.