Offspring Of Parents Research Articles

Why regulate? Understanding the role of perceived parental emotion regulation in offspring emotional development

ABSTRACTObjectiveThe current study aimed to examine the role of perceived parental emotion regulation in adult–offspring internalizing symptoms, investigating emotional intelligence (EI) as a mediator and gender as a moderator.BackgroundEI is well researched and associated with numerous benefits including academic achievement, physical and mental health, and success throughout life. While some research suggests EI can be taught, the relationship between perceived parent emotionality and offspring EI has yet to be empirically tested.MethodsTo increase participant diversity, two samples were collected and combined: one from a southwestern university and a second through Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Participants (N = 866) reported their EI and internalizing symptoms along with their perception of parents' emotion regulation during childhood.ResultsResults showed a significant relationship between perceived parental emotion regulation and internalizing symptoms that was mediated by EI, with gender serving as a significant moderator.ConclusionBoth maternal and paternal regulation play important roles in offspring EI and internalizing symptoms but perceived maternal emotion regulation may be particularly beneficial for women.ImplicationsFuture research is needed to investigate the intricacies of specific emotions, gender, and culture, as well as the impact of discrepancies in emotionality between parents and frequency of regulation versus dysregulation.

Maternal, Paternal, and Dual-Parental Alcohol Exposures Result in Both Overlapping and Distinct Impacts on Behavior in Adolescent Offspring.

Emerging research reveals that alcohol use by fathers before conception can affect the growth and development of their offspring. Here, we used a C57BL/6J mouse model to study the effects of alcohol exposure on the behavior of the first-generation (F1) offspring, comparing the impacts of alcohol exposure by mothers, fathers, and both parents. Our goal was to determine how alcohol exposure by each parent or both parents influences the behavior of the offspring. We found that adolescent male offspring of alcohol-exposed fathers showed reduced anxiety-like behaviors as they spent more time in the center of the testing arena during the open field test. Both maternal and paternal alcohol exposure caused sex-specific increases in the nestlet shredding test while decreasing the number of buried marbles in the marble burying test. Interestingly, dual-parental alcohol exposure did not produce any significant changes in these same tests. However, during novel object recognition testing, we found that dual-parental male and female offspring exhibit an increased preference for novel objects, suggesting an increased risk preference. Finally, at sixteen weeks, male offspring of dual-exposed parents exhibited decreased voluntary physical activity on running wheels during the active phase, suggesting alterations in their circadian rhythms. Although differences in parental exposure histories between treatment groups make interpretation challenging, our findings suggest that exposure to alcohol by both parents may have unique effects on behavior and that studying both maternal and paternal alcohol use is essential for understanding the full range of factors influencing the penetrance and severity of alcohol-related phenotypes.

Depression in High-Risk Offspring: The Mediating Role of Sleep Problems.

Parental depression is associated with offspring depression and sleep problems are prospectively associated with the development of depression. However, little work has examined sleep problems in the offspring of depressed parents and whether these problems partially account for the association between parent and offspring depression. This longitudinal study examined the indirect effect of sleep problems on the association between parent psychopathology and offspring depression in a sample of 10,953 10 to 12-year-old children participating in the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Controlling for age, sex, and other forms of parent psychopathology, we found significant indirect effects of parent to offspring depression through parent and youth reports of youth insomnia and hypersomnia. We also found indirect effects of parent history of anxiety and drug use problems to offspring depression through insomnia, and indirect effects of parent history of anxiety, drug use problems, and alcohol use problems to offspring depression through hypersomnia. Our findings show that sleep may be a mechanism of the transmission of parent depression, anxiety, drug use problems, and alcohol use problems to offspring depression. Mitigating sleep problems represents a potential avenue for preventative interventions in youth with a heightened susceptibility to depression.

Big-Hearted Invaders: The Impacts of Range Expansion and Parasite Infection on Heart Mass in Cane Toads.

The invasion of cane toads (Rhinella marina) across tropical Australia has resulted in the rapid evolution of traits that enable higher rates of dispersal, and that adapt toads to hot dry climates. In anurans, a larger heart facilitates both locomotor activity and desiccation tolerance. Heart size is also often affected, either directly or indirectly, by parasite infections. To test the effects of invasion history and parasite exposure on heart size, we studied common garden-reared toads whose parents were sourced from diverse locations, and experimentally exposed them to larvae of a nematode lungworm (Rhabdias pseudosphaerocephala). Offspring of invasion-front parents had larger hearts than did conspecifics from long-established populations. Exposure to infective lungworm larvae decreased heart mass in toads from all populations. Our study suggests that cardiovascular function, like other traits, has evolved rapidly during the toad invasion; and that lungworm parasites can modify the cardiovascular function and hence aerobic capacity of their host.

Parental effects provide an opportunity for coral resilience following major bleaching events.

Identifying processes that promote coral reef recovery and resilience is crucial as ocean warming becomes more frequent and severe. Sexual reproduction is essential for the replenishment of coral populations and maintenance of genetic diversity; however, the ability for corals to reproduce may be impaired by marine heatwaves that cause coral bleaching. In 2014 and 2015, the Hawaiian Islands experienced coral bleaching with differential bleaching susceptibility in the species Montipora capitata, a dominant reef-building coral in the region. We tested the hypothesis that coral bleaching resistance enhances reproductive capacity and offspring performance by examining the reproductive biology of colonies that bleached and recovered (B) and colonies that did not bleach (NB) in 2015 in the subsequent spawning seasons. The proportion of colonies that spawned was higher in 2016 than in 2017. Regardless of parental bleaching history, we found eggs with higher abnormality and bundles with fewer eggs in 2016 than 2017. While reproductive output was similar between B and NB colonies in 2016, survivorship of offspring that year were significantly influenced by the parental bleaching history (egg donor × sperm donor: B × B, B × NB, NB × B, and NB × NB). Offspring produced by NB egg donors had the highest survivorship, while offspring from previously bleached colonies had the lowest survivorship, highlighting the negative effects of bleaching on parental investment and offspring performance. While sexual reproduction continues in M. capitata post-bleaching, gametes are differentially impacted by recovery time following a bleaching event and by parental bleaching resistance. Our results demonstrate the importance of identifying bleaching resistant individuals during and after heating events. This study further highlights the significance of maternal effects through potential egg provisioning for offspring survivorship and provides a baseline for human-assisted intervention (i.e., selective breeding) to mitigate the effects of climate change on coral reefs.

Prevention of Mutagenesis, Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in first Generation Male Rats whose Parents are Exposed to Gamma Radiation and Hexavalent Chromium

Introduction: Children exposed to radiation chemical agents or born to exposed parents faced elevated risks of stochastic pathologies, including genetic disorders, tumours, and leukaemia. These risks were attributed to mutations and latent genomic damage caused by such exposures. Methods: This six-month experimental study at NAO ZKMU in Kazakhstan evaluated Burdock Root Oil's protective effects against gamma radiation and hexavalent chromium-induced damage in 100 Wistar rats, analyzed using Statistica 10.Results: The findings revealed that the offspring of parents exposed to combined chromium and gamma irradiation (Cr⁶⁺ + γ) exhibited a 33% increase in micronuclei (6.3 ±1.16‰, P ≤ 0.01) compared to controls (4.56 ± 1.18‰), indicating significant genotoxicity. Burdock Root Oil reduced micronuclei levels to 5.34 ± 0.792‰ (P≥ 0.05), comparable to control levels. Chromosomal aberrations in the Cr⁶⁺+ γgroup increased by 54% (2.77 ± 0.537%, P ≤ 0.001), while Burdock Root Oil reduced total aberrations by 19.5% (P ≤ 0.005). Markers of oxidative stress showed significant improvement; superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity increased by 16.7%, catalase by 22.6%, and sulfhydryl groups by 23% (P≤ 0.05), while malondialdehyde levels decreased by 16% (P ≤ 0.05). The SH/MDA ratio increased by 45% (P ≤ 0.05).Conclusions: Burdock Root Oil effectively mitigated genotoxic, oxidative, and inflammatory effects in the offspring of parents exposed to gamma radiation and chromium. It restored immune balance, reduced oxidative stress, and preserved genomic stability

Insulin secretion, sensitivity, and clearance in normoglycemic Black and White adults with parental type 2 diabetes: association with incident dysglycemia

IntroductionEthnic disparities in the prevalence and pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes are well documented, but prospective data on insulin dynamics vis-à-vis pre-diabetes/early dysglycemia risk in diverse populations are scant.Research design...

Examining the Relationship Between Parental Broader Autism Phenotype Traits, Offspring Autism, and Parental Mental Health.

Broader Autism Phenotype (BAP) traits may be present in parents of children on the autism spectrum. However, the prevalence and impact of these traits on parental mental health is poorly understood. We explore BAP traits and its relationship to mental health in 228 fathers and 261 mothers from a sample of 266 scholars from the EPINED study (Spain) grouped as follows: non-autism (N = 122), autism traits (N = 93: 38 subthreshold autism and 55 autism symptoms) and autism (N = 51). BAP rates were higher in fathers (36.9%) than in mothers (26.1%). Moreover, BAP was significantly more frequent in fathers of autistic children (52.3%) than in fathers of children without autistic traits (28.0%), with no differences between autistic conditions groups. Mothers of autistic children exhibited higher psychological distress (36.0%) than mothers of comparison group (19.2%). Fathers with BAP obtained significantly higher scores in emotional problems than fathers without BAP. Multivariate analyses showed that, fathers' emotional problems were associated with their BAP traits, whereas in mothers they were associated with having a child with autism as well as the child's emotional dysregulation. Identifying BAP in parents of autistic conditions children can help professionals to provide specific strategies for improving the well-being of children and parents.

Association Between Parental Adverse Childhood Experiences and Offspring's Risk of Suboptimal Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Previous reviews and meta-analysis have not adequately explored the impact of specific parental adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) subtypes on offspring's health. This updated systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the association between parental ACE subtypes and various offspring health outcomes. A comprehensive search was conducted in electronic databases including PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, WANFANG, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure for studies published in English and Chinese from January 1, 1998, until July 18, 2023. Two independent reviewers screened studies, extracted data, and assessed study quality using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. A random-effects model was applied to generate pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). A total of 47 eligible studies were included in the final analysis. Overall, parental ACEs were significantly associated with several offspring's health outcomes, including preterm birth (PTB), low birth weight (LBW), total developmental delay, social-emotional problems, and behavioral problems (total, externalizing and internalizing behaviors), with ORs ranging from 1.06 to 3.02. Specific subtypes of parental ACEs, such as household dysfunction, sexual abuse, and physical abuse (but not emotional abuse) were significantly associated with PTB. Household dysfunction was notably linked to delayed cognition ability in offspring. Parental sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and emotional neglect were significantly correlated with social-emotion problems, with the expception of household dysfunction. Regarding total behavioral problems, parental household dysfunction, physical abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, and peer bullying were all significantly associated with children's behavioral issues, except for emotional neglect. There is a positive correlation between parental household dysfunction, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect, peer bullying, and neighborhood-related adversity and their children's externalizing behavior problems. These findings underscore the significant impacts of parental ACEs on multiple adverse health outcomes in children, with specific parental ACEs subtypes exerting unique effects. This highlight the significance of comprehending the intergenerational effects of different ACE subtypes, and emphasizes the urgency of interventions to address these issues.

Reproducing advantage. The glass floor of the salariat class(es?) revisited

ABSTRACT Utilizing the UK Household Longitudinal Study, we explore the degree to which less-talented offspring from privileged social origins is protected against downward mobility – i.e. benefiting from a ‘glass floor effect’. We identify abilities in terms of both educational attainment and cognitive skills. Our study estimates separately the impact of salariat (upper service class) and semi-professional–technical (lower service class) origins. The motivation behind this comparison is that we should expect parents from the upper service class to command comparatively stronger cultural and socio-economic resources with which they can protect their less-gifted offspring from downward mobility. Examining mobility in terms of social class destinations as well as income differentials by gender, we find that low-ability (male) offspring of salariat class parents enjoy a significant income advantage. However, we fail to observe any statistically significant differences between salariat and the lower service class origins in terms of social class mobility. Our analyses are especially focussed on the mobility dynamics of offspring with low cognitive abilities. We include data on personality traits and find that extroversion compensates to an extent for poor cognitive skills among both men and women. Our study will focus on possible gender differences throughout.

Optimizing genetic diversity in Australian Holsteins and Jerseys: A comparative analysis of whole-genome and regional inbreeding depression effects.

Homozygosity, which can arise from several genetic mechanisms including inbreeding, is frequently observed in the offspring of related parents. This inbreeding can lead to a reduced performance, due to a phenomenon known as inbreeding depression. This study assessed inbreeding depression using whole genome and regional approaches in first-lactation Australian Holsteins and Jerseys, involving approximately 33,000 Holstein and 7,000 Jersey cows born between 2000 and 2017. These cows had phenotypic records (milk production, fertility, and survival), pedigree records, and genomic data available. We analyzed genome-wide inbreeding depression through a mixed animal model examining 4 measures of inbreeding: pedigree data, runs of homozygosity (ROH) of at least 1Mb, ROH greater than 8 Mb, and ROH exceeding 16 Mb, which indicates more recent inbreeding. Additionally, unique ROH haplotypes, identified using a sliding-window approach, were incorporated as fixed effects in the model to estimate their effect on the traits of interest. Results indicated that a 1% increase in pedigree inbreeding led to reduced performance across all traits, with estimates of inbreeding depression ranging from 0.11% to 0.45% of the phenotypic mean. In Holsteins, genome-wide estimates (FROH) were statistically significant and reasonably aligned with pedigree estimates, while more recent inbreeding (FROH > 16 Mb) had between 2.6 and 3.3 times greater effect on inbreeding depression across all traits compared with smaller FROH (≥1 Mb). In Jerseys, more recent inbreeding had a 2.2-2.3 times greater reduction in the performance of milk and protein yields for a 1% increase in genomic inbreeding. For both fitness traits in Jerseys, the effects of inbreeding on fertility and survival were not statistically significant. The most negative impacts of ROH were also noted in specific traits: Jersey and Holstein cows with unfavorable ROH took significantly longer to re-calve and showed marked reductions in production traits. Moreover, increased homozygosity in certain genomic regions, like BTA 25 in Jerseys, markedly reduced performance, highlighting the importance of genomic location in assessing the effects of homozygosity. This data informs next-generation mating programs, emphasizing avoiding inbreeding in genomic regions most susceptible to inbreeding depression, to enhance animal performance.

“We Do Not Have a Written Protocol or Flowchart for Intervention”: Social Workers’ Perceptions and Experiences of Interventions with Older Parents Subjected to Abuse by Adult Offspring with Psychiatric Disorders

ABSTRACT One in six older adults worldwide is subjected to abuse (WHO, 2022), with heightened risk among parents of offspring with mental disorders. This qualitative study explores social workers’ experiences in addressing elder abuse by these offspring. Two themes emerged: (1) “The snowball rolls: Unfolding mutual dependency and symbiosis,” describing abusive offspring’s characteristics and dynamics with aging parents, (2) “For every case, you need to match a tailor-made suit,” detailing psychosocial and legal interventions. Findings highlight the need for family-focused interventions and providing treatment to the abuser. It is recommended to develop formal guiding principles to address these complex cases effectively.

The function of putative appeasement behaviour for access to food in African painted dogs

Abstract In some group-living species that share food, interindividual disagreement on access to food is mediated by several types of negotiation, ranging from appeasing the current owner to reduce aggression and gain access to the food, to harassment where non-owners assert their presence and apply insistent pressure until owners give up their food. In some species, non-owners employ specific behaviours used in other social contexts during negotiation, which makes it challenging to discern their precise functions. The core prediction of the harassment hypothesis is that intense pressure by beggars makes owners abandon their food and leads to food monopolisation, which is not predicted by the appeasement hypothesis. In the African painted dog (Lycaon pictus), non-owners assume a low posture and produce high-pitched vocalisations — a suite of behaviours considered appeasement in non-feeding contexts. This study examined whether these behaviours, referred to collectively as putative appeasement behaviour (PAB), serve as appeasement in the context of feeding or whether they may also, or only, be used for harassment. To this end, we used behavioural experiments in captive parent–offspring or full sibling pairs. Individuals showed more frequent PAB when offered food that could not be easily shared (one vs. two bones). As aggression also only occurred under that condition, PAB seems to have a function in appeasement. However, we observed a positive effect of PAB on food monopolisation by PAB actors but not on co-feeding. Persistent PAB led to monopolisation, indicating that these behaviours serve as a form of harassment in feeding. We did not observe reciprocity between paired individuals, another possible form of food monopolisation besides appeasement and harassment. In conclusion, PAB in the African painted dog functions as both appeasement and harassment, and this highly tolerant species employs negotiation strategies in feeding.

Cross-talk between tissues is critical for intergenerational acclimation to environmental change in Acanthochromis polyacanthus

Organisms’ responses to environmental changes involve complex, coordinated responses of multiple tissues and potential parental influences. Here using a multi-tissue approach we determine how variation in parental behavioural tolerance and exposure to elevated CO2 influences the developmental and intergenerational molecular responses of their offspring in the coral reef fish Acanthochromis polyacanthus to future ocean acidification (OA) conditions. Gills and liver showed the highest transcriptional response to OA in juvenile fish regardless of parental OA conditioning, while the brain and liver showed the greatest intergenerational acclimation signals. Developmentally induced signals of OA, such as altered neural function in the brain, were restored to control levels after intergenerational exposure. Intergenerational CO2 exposure also enabled the offspring to adjust their metabolic processes, potentially allowing them to better meet the energetic demands of a high CO2 environment. Furthermore, offspring of OA-exposed parents differentially expressed a new complement of genes, which may facilitate intergenerational acclimatory responses. A genetic component of intergenerational plasticity also played a crucial role, with the parental behavioural phenotype largely determining the offspring’s transcriptional signals. Overall, our results reveal tissue-specific transcriptional changes underlying intergenerational plastic responses to elevated CO2 exposure, enhancing understanding of organismal acclimation to OA throughout the whole body.

Older mothers produce smaller eggs without compromising offspring quality: a study of a thelytokous mite predator (Acari: Phytoseiidae).

Negative relationships between the parental age and offspring life history traits have been widely observed across diverse animal taxa. However, there is a lack of studies examining the influence of parental age on offspring performance using mites, particularly phytoseiid predators as subjects. This study explored the influence of maternal age on offspring life history traits in Amblyseius herbicolus (Chant) (Acari: Mesostigmata), a phytoseiid predatory mite reproducing through thelytokous parthenogenesis. We hypothesised that increased maternal age negatively impacts offspring traits, including developmental duration, body size, fecundity and lifespan. Amblyseius herbicolus was reared under controlled laboratory conditions, and the life history traits of offspring from mothers of varying ages were analysed using linear mixed-effect models. Our results showed that the increase in maternal age significantly reduced individual egg volume, but did not significantly affect offspring developmental duration, body size, fecundity or lifespan. These findings indicate that while older A. herbicolus females produced smaller eggs, the subsequent performance (i.e. body size, fecundity and lifespan) of offspring remained largely unaffected, suggesting possible compensatory mechanisms in the offspring or alternative maternal provisioning strategies. The results of this study offer useful insights into the reproductive strategies of phytoseiid predators and asexually reproducing species, enhancing our understanding of how maternal age affects offspring fitness. Further studies can examine how offspring of A. herbicolus from mothers of different ages perform under adverse environmental conditions.

The development of a dyadic family life review intervention for the Asian diaspora: A practice article.

Intergenerational family conflict is a commonly identified issue in the Asian diaspora; however, there are limited interventions designed to address this concern. Given this gap in the literature, the authors present a practice article outlining the conceptualization, development, and delivery of a dyadic life review intervention called (Re)Cultivating Family Stories (RFS). RFS is a clinician-facilitated family intervention designed to promote connection and foster successive communication through the joint activity of developing a family story. Life review is a structured approach for reminiscing and evaluating one's life experiences and includes dyadic variants. RFS builds on dyadic life review by facilitating collaborative dialogs between a parent and adult offspring, incorporating culturally responsive elements, and focusing on developing family stories. This article provides an overview of the intervention and its theoretical foundations, along with formative feedback from a field test. Considerations for future implementation and research directions are described.

Intergenerational crosstalk of brain-gut axis in parental Nd2O3 exposure-induced offspring neurotoxicity and cognitive dysfunction: a mechanistic study.

Rare earth elements (REEs) are widely used in plenty of fields. REEs have significant neurotoxicity and it may adversely affect the development of cognitive. For example, neodymium will causing neurological damage through penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB). However, whether it disrupts the balance of brain-gut axis (BGA) crosstalk and affects the intestinal microecology disorder of host is still unclear. This study investigated the neural damage on children caused by maternal exposure to Neodymium oxide (Nd2O3) during pregnancy, and its involved mechanism of BGA injury. We used rat model to investigated the mechanisms of the offspring's neural damage that Nd2O3 exposure in pregnancy. To verify the neural damage of offspring rats, we examed BBB-related factors, such like glutamate and ROS levels in brain tissue, behavioral tests, hippocampal and cortical damage, as well as changes in gut microbiota, intestinal mucosal barrier, and SCFAs in the intestine. Also, we observed some specific indicators of intestinal immune barrier function and gut nerve-related indicators. Maternal Nd2O3 exposure reduced the content of offspring tight junction proteins, increased BBB permeability, leading to Nd accumulation and brain tissue inflammation, affecting offspring's neural development and weakening their spatial learning ability. Nd2O3 also disrupted BBB integrity by regulating SCFAs and BGA. Probiotic intervention in the offspring rats exposed to 2% Nd2O3 showed significant recovery of inflammation in both brain and colon tissues, and reduced BBB permeability. Maternal exposure to Nd2O3 affects the offspring's BGA, targeting brain and colon tissues, increasing BBB permeability, affecting neural development, causing damage to the intestinal mucosa, and impacting children's gut development. Probiotics can alleviate these effects. These findings provide valuable insights into understanding the neurodevelopmental and intestinal developmental toxicity of Nd2O3 and its prevention and treatment. It also calls for a comprehensive assessment of the health risks of susceptible populations to Nd2O3, such as pregnant women. It may providing theoretical basis for preventing and controlling neodymium-induced harm in children by examing the repair mechanism of the damage through probiotic intervention.

Parental separation penalties among university students in Italy

This paper addresses the long-standing question of whether parental separation shapes offspring school performance drawing on retrospective data from a group of university students in Italy, a country that has historically had very low separation rates yet has experienced an important rise in family dissolution over the last two decades. Using survey data from 1st-year enrollees in undergraduate courses in Economics and Statistics at two points in time (2000 and 2017), we explore whether the association between parental separation and children’s school performance (i) is observed both at the level of middle school (MS) and high school (HS); (ii) varies according to the age at which students experienced separation, and (iii) varies by parental socio-economic status (SES). Our results suggest that students whose parents separated before MS completion score on average 2 points less on the end-of-middle-school exam relative to students whose parents did not separate or separated after MS completion. Similarly, students whose parents separated before HS completion score 1 point less on the end-of-high-school exam relative to their counterpart. As such, we document a parental separation penalty both at the level of MS and HS, yet lower by half when separation occurs later in students’ life course. Moreover, for HS grade parental separation is associated with more negative consequences when students experience it at very young ages (0–5), while for MS grade heterogeneity by age is less clear-cut. Such penalties are concentrated among children of low-educated mothers, particularly for HS, providing support to the “compensatory advantage” hypothesis predicting smaller penalties for children of high-SES parents. Overall, findings from this study corroborate existing evidence suggesting that the consequences of parental separation vary depending on a combination of social background and the “selectivity” of the educational outcome considered.

Parental mental disorders and ages of onset of severe mental disorders in offspring: A nationwide family-link study

ObjectiveThe current study used a retrospective study design to investigate the association between age of onset of severe mental disorders in offspring and the likelihood of diagnoses of parental mental disorder. MethodWe enrolled 212,333 people with severe mental disorder, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (BD), or major depressive disorder (MDD) and 2,123,329 controls matched for age, sex, and demographics from the National Health Insurance Database of Taiwan. Poisson regression models were used to examine the likelihood of diagnoses of five mental disorders in their parents compared to the parents of the controls (reported as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval), including schizophrenia, BD, MDD, alcohol use disorder (AUD), and substance use disorder (SUD). The study cohort was classified into child-onset, adolescent-onset, and adult-onset groups according to the onset of severe mental disorders in the offspring. ResultThe parents of people with child-, adolescent-, and adult-onset schizophrenia (OR range: 1.73–9.08, all p < 0.05) or BD (OR range: 1.97–8.17, all p < 0.05) were more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, BD, MDD, AUD, and substance use disorder (SUD) than controls except for AUD in the child-onset group. However, the parents of people with child-, adolescent-, and adult-onset depressive disorder were more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, BD, MDD, AUD, and SUD (OR range: 1.82–4.76, all p < 0.05) than controls. Sub-analyses stratified by sex showed different patterns of associations between parental mental disorders and offspring mental disorders. ConclusionNo matter when the severe mental disorder of the offsprings occurred at different onset stages, their parents had a higher likelihood of being diagnosed with schizophrenia, BD, MDD, AUD, and SUD.

Association of Seedling Vigour and Salinity Tolerance in Field Pea.

Soil salinity results in reduced productivity in field peas, making soil salinity tolerance a critical breeding objective. In this study, four pot experiments were carried out in semi-controlled environments over four consecutive years to assess the contribution of seedling vigour to salinity tolerance at the seedling stage. Split-plot designs were used to assess the effect of salt stress (sodium chloride solution at 16 dSm-1) and control conditions. Extensive sets of advanced breeding lines were used in 2018-2020 to assess growth differences in relation to the treatment, with elemental analysis used on a subset of 15 lines in 2021. A salt tolerance index (STI) was defined as a proportion of shoot biomass under salt stress (DWstress) relative to the shoot dry weight under control (DWctrl). Visual scores of salt stress were recorded on a 1-10 scale (1 = tolerant, 10 = susceptible) from salt stress treatments. The consistent positive and significant correlations (p < 0.01) between shoot DWctrl and DWstress indicated that vigorous genotypes maintained higher shoot DWstress. Both the shoot DWctrl and shoot DWstress had negative and significant (p < 0.01) correlations with visual scores of salt stress. Shoot DWstress showed strong positive correlations with STI (p < 0.01). Both the shoot DWctrl and Shoot DWstress had negative correlations (p < 0.01) with shoot Na+ whereas shoot DWstress had a positive correlation (p < 0.05) with root Na+ concentration. The results indicated that seedling vigour (measured as shoot DWctrl) contributed to salinity tolerance by maintaining improved shoot DWstress, limiting Na+ deposition in shoot and enduring less tissue damage in field pea seedlings. Additional field evaluations are required to establish the correlations of tolerance at seedling stage with yield under saline conditions. The insights obtained from this study may assist field pea breeders in identifying salt-tolerant parent plants, offspring, and breeding lines during the initial growth phases.