Sensitive Periods Of Development Research Articles

Estimated human intake of endogenous and exogenous hormones from beef in the United States.

Endogenous and exogenous hormones may be present in beef. Human consumption of hormones has been linked to adverse health effects. To estimate daily intake of hormonal growth promotants (HGP) from beef consumed by the US population. We combined self-reported beef consumption information from a nationally-representative survey with concentrations of 12 HGP measured in 397 samples of retail beef/fat purchased in California. We defined typical, high, and maximum intake scenarios assuming self-reported consumed beef contained the mean, 95th percentile, and maximum concentrations of each HGP, respectively. We estimated distributions of usual (i.e., long-term) daily intake and short-term daily intake (µg/kg/day). We calculated the hazard quotient (HQ), or ratio of estimated intake to the World Health Organization's acceptable daily intake (ADI) for the HGP. The highest estimated HQs were found for melengestrol acetate (MGA). For usual daily intake under the typical intake scenario, no HQ exceeded 0.02 (0.00047 µg MGA/kg/day). Under the maximum intake scenario, the highest HQ was 0.29 (0.0087 µg MGA/kg/day), corresponding to the 99th percentile of intake among young boys (ages 1-5). The highest short-term intake estimates for MGA under the maximum intake scenario were the 99th percentile of intake among young girls and boys, which equaled (HQ = 1.00) or exceeded (HQ = 1.29) the ADI for MGA, respectively. Hormonal growth promotants (HGP) are used to increase beef production and have been linked to adverse reproductive effects. We estimated daily intake of MGA and several other HGP using US nationally-representative beef consumption data collected between 2015-2018 and HGP concentrations in retail beef. Estimated intake was highest for young children, but estimates were generally very low compared to current health-based intake limits. However, these limits are typically based on studies in adult animals, and further study of potential adverse effects during sensitive developmental periods, such as in early life, may be warranted to ensure recommended intake limits are health-protective.

Schizophrenia pathology reverse-translated into mouse shows hippocampal hyperactivity, psychosis behaviors and hyper-synchronous events.

Decades of research into the function of the medial temporal lobe has driven curiosity around clinical outcomes associated with hippocampal dysfunction, including psychosis. Post-mortem analyses of brain tissue from human schizophrenia brain show decreased expression of the NMDAR subunit GluN1 confined to the dentate gyrus with evidence of downstream hippocampal hyperactivity in CA3 and CA1. Little is known about the mechanisms of the emergence of hippocampal hyperactivity as a putative psychosis biomarker. We have developed a reverse-translation mouse to study critical neural features. We had previously studied a dentate gyrus (DG)-specific GluN1 KO, which displays hippocampal hyperactivity and a psychosis-relevant behavioral phenotype. Here, we expressed an inhibitory DREADD (pAAV-CaMKIIa-hM4D(Gi)-mCherry) in granule cells of the mouse dentate gyrus, and continuously inhibited the region for 21 days in adolescent (6 weeks) and adult (10 weeks) C57BL/6 J mice with DREADD agonist Compound 21 (C21). Following this period, we quantified activity in the hippocampal subfields by assessing cFos expression, hippocampally mediated behaviors, and hippocampal local field potential with an intracerebral probe with continual monitoring over time. DG inhibition during adolescence generates an increase in hippocampal activity in CA3 and CA1, impairs social cognition and spatial working memory, as well as shows evidence of increased activity in local field potentials as spontaneous synchronous bursts of activity, which we term hyper-synchronous events (HSEs) in hippocampus. The same DG inhibition delivered during adulthood in the mouse lacks these outcomes. These results suggest a sensitive period in development in which the hippocampus is susceptible to DG inhibition resulting in hippocampal hyperactivity and psychosis-like behavioral outcomes.

Longitudinal Changes in Epigenetic Age Acceleration Across Childhood and Adolescence

Individuals exposed to discrimination may exhibit greater epigenetic age acceleration (ie, cellular indicators of premature aging) over time, but few studies have examined longitudinal changes in epigenetic age acceleration, the heterogeneity in these changes for diverse groups of youths, and contextual explanations (ie, discrimination) for differences by ethnicity or race. To provide a descriptive illustration of changes in epigenetic age acceleration across childhood and adolescence among an ethnically and racially diverse sample of youths. This cohort study leveraged longitudinal data on a large sample of youths from low-income households in 20 large urban US cities who provided repeated assessments of saliva tissue samples at ages 9 and 15 years for DNA methylation analysis. Of 4898 youths from the Future of Families and Child Well-Being study, an ongoing study that oversampled children born to unmarried parents from 1998 to 2000, 2039 were included in the present analysis, as these youths had salivary DNA methylation data assayed and publicly available. Analyses were conducted from March 2023 to June 2024. Racialized intrusive encounters with police (eg, stop and frisk and racial slurs). Analyses were conducted to examine longitudinal changes in salivary epigenetic age acceleration over time, whether such changes varied across ethnically and racially diverse groups of youths, and whether police intrusion was associated with variation across ethnic and racial groups. Among 2039 youths (mean [SD] age at baseline, 9.27 [0.38] years; 1023 [50%] male and 1016 [50%] female; 917 [45%] Black, 430 [21%] Hispanic or Latino, 351 [17%] White, and 341 [17%] other, including multiple races and self-identified other) with salivary epigenetic clocks at 9 and 15 years of age, longitudinal results showed that White youths exhibited less accelerated epigenetic aging over time than did Black and Hispanic or Latino youths and those reporting other or multiple races or ethnicities from ages 9 to 15 years, particularly in the Hannum (B, 1.54; 95% CI, 0.36-2.18), GrimAge (B, 1.31; 95% CI, 0.68-1.97), and DunedinPACE epigenetic clocks (B, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.11-0.44). Across these clocks and the PhenoAge clock, police intrusion was associated with Black youths' more accelerated epigenetic aging (Hannum: B, 0.11; 95% CI, 0.03-0.23; GrimAge: B, 0.09; 95% CI, 0.03-0.18; PhenoAge: B, 0.08; 95% CI, 0.02-0.18; DunedinPACE: B, 0.01; 95% CI, 0.01-0.03). The transition from childhood to adolescence may represent a sensitive developmental period when racism can have long-term deleterious impacts on healthy human development across the life span. Future research should build on the present study and interrogate which social regularities and policies may be perpetuating discrimination against ethnically and racially minoritized adolescents.

The enduring effects of antimicrobials and lipopolysaccharide on the cellular mechanisms and behaviours associated with neurodegeneration in pubertal male and female CD1 mice

Puberty is a sensitive developmental period during which stressors can cause lasting brain and behavioural deficits. While the acute effects of pubertal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and antimicrobial (AMNS) treatments are known, their enduring impacts on neurodegeneration-related mechanisms and behaviours remain unclear. This study examined these effects in male and female mice. At five weeks old, mice received 200ul of either broad-spectrum antimicrobials or water through oral gavage twice daily for seven days. At six weeks of age, they received an intraperitoneal injection of either saline or LPS. Four weeks later, adult mice underwent neurodegeneration-related behavioural tests, including the rotarod, forepaw stride length, reversed grid hang, open field, and buried pellet tests. Two days after the final test, brain and ileal samples were collected. Results showed that female mice treated with both AMNS and LPS exhibited deficits in neuromuscular strength, while males treated with LPS alone showed increased anxiety-like behaviours. Males treated with AMNS alone had decreased sigma-1 receptor (S1R) expression in the cornu ammonis 1 (CA1) and dentate gyrus (DG), while females treated with both AMNS and LPS had decreased S1R expression. Additionally, males treated with either LPS or AMNS had lower glial-derived neurotrophic factor receptor alpha-1 (GFRA1) expression in the primary motor cortex (M1) than females. Mice treated with LPS alone had decreased GFRA1 expression in the DG and decreased S1R expression in the secondary motor cortex (M2). These findings suggest that pubertal AMNS and LPS treatments may lead to enduring changes in biomarkers and behaviours related to neurodegeneration.

Identifying Person-Specific Drivers of Depression in Adolescents: Protocol for a Smartphone-Based Ecological Momentary Assessment and Passive Sensing Study.

Adolescence is marked by an increasing risk of depression and is an optimal window for prevention and early intervention. Personalizing interventions may be one way to maximize therapeutic benefit, especially given the marked heterogeneity in depressive presentations. However, empirical evidence that can guide personalized intervention for youth is lacking. Identifying person-specific symptom drivers during adolescence could improve outcomes by accounting for both developmental and individual differences. This study leverages adolescents' everyday smartphone use to investigate person-specific drivers of depression and validate smartphone-based mobile sensing data against established ambulatory methods. We describe the methods of this study and provide an update on its status. After data collection is completed, we will address three specific aims: (1) identify idiographic drivers of dynamic variability in depressive symptoms, (2) test the validity of mobile sensing against ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and actigraphy for identifying these drivers, and (3) explore adolescent baseline characteristics as predictors of these drivers. A total of 50 adolescents with elevated symptoms of depression will participate in 28 days of (1) smartphone-based EMA assessing depressive symptoms, processes, affect, and sleep; (2) mobile sensing of mobility, physical activity, sleep, natural language use in typed interpersonal communication, screen-on time, and call frequency and duration using the Effortless Assessment of Risk States smartphone app; and (3) wrist actigraphy of physical activity and sleep. Adolescents and caregivers will complete developmental and clinical measures at baseline, as well as user feedback interviews at follow-up. Idiographic, within-subject networks of EMA symptoms will be modeled to identify each adolescent's person-specific drivers of depression. Correlations among EMA, mobile sensor, and actigraph measures of sleep, physical, and social activity will be used to assess the validity of mobile sensing for identifying person-specific drivers. Data-driven analyses of mobile sensor variables predicting core depressive symptoms (self-reported mood and anhedonia) will also be used to assess the validity of mobile sensing for identifying drivers. Finally, between-subject baseline characteristics will be explored as predictors of person-specific drivers. As of October 2023, 84 families were screened as eligible, of whom 70% (n=59) provided informed consent and 46% (n=39) met all inclusion criteria after completing baseline assessment. Of the 39 included families, 85% (n=33) completed the 28-day smartphone and actigraph data collection period and follow-up study visit. This study leverages depressed adolescents' everyday smartphone use to identify person-specific drivers of adolescent depression and to assess the validity of mobile sensing for identifying these drivers. The findings are expected to offer novel insights into the structure and dynamics of depressive symptomatology during a sensitive period of development and to inform future development of a scalable, low-burden smartphone-based tool that can guide personalized treatment decisions for depressed adolescents. DERR1-10.2196/43931.

Hypothetical involvement of stress hormones-induced reprograming of adult stem/progenitor cells in tumorigenesis

Stress is a state of threatened or perceived as threatened homeostasis that can be induced by various external and internal stimuli such as psychosocial factors, inflammatory or injurious conditions, and infections. In order to restore body homeostasis, adrenal glands produce and secrete glucocorticoids (GCs) and catecholamines (CAs), which are the main stress hormones that support the survival and adaptation of the organisms to the new environment. In contrast to the rather beneficial impact of acute and short-lasting stress, chronic stress and related dysregulation of the stress system is implicated in the development of many non-communicable diseases, including cancer. Particularly, ever-increasing experimental and clinical evidence implicates the involvement of CAs and GCs as well as the overexpression of their receptors in the activation of the major pathways involved in tumour development, metastasis, and resistance to various therapies. More importantly, results of experimental and epidemiological studies revealed that overexposure to stress hormones during pre- and early postnatal life might induce life-long or even transgenerational dysregulation of the stress system and predispose it to the development of various tumours. Although the exact mechanisms involved in the latter process are not yet fully known, it has been demonstrated that GC-induced epigenetic modifications can change the expression of several key genes involved in the regulation of the stress system, tumour initiation, and epigenetic imprinting. When such alterations occur in stem/progenitor cells (SPCs), this might not only lead to long-term dysfunction of the stress system but might promote the generation of cancer stem cells (CSCs). This review article discusses a hypothesis that stress hormones-mediated epigenetic reprograming of various SPCs during sensitive developmental periods, might contribute to their dysfunction and increased sensitivity to malignant transformation, thereby promoting tumorigenesis.

Children born very or extremely preterm transitioning to school: a cross-sectional study examining predictors of school readiness, school adjustment, and support needs

ABSTRACT The transition to school is a sensitive developmental period for young children. Although children born very/extremely preterm have increased risk of health and developmental concerns, predictors of their school readiness and adjustment remain largely unexamined. Parents of very/extremely preterm-born children (aged 3–7 years; pre-transition n = 114, post-transition n = 112) completed an online survey assessing their perceptions of children’s school readiness (pre-transition) or adjustment (post-transition), support needs, child behaviour, parent distress, and parent confidence. Poorer school readiness and adjustment and greater needs for support correlated with child health/developmental condition/s; hyperactivity, peer problems, conduct problems, emotional symptoms, and less prosocial behaviour; and lower parent confidence. Using hierarchical linear regression, parent confidence emerged as the strongest common predictor of school readiness (pre-transition) and school adjustment (post-transition), followed by low hyperactivity, high parent education (tertiary), and no diagnosed child health/developmental condition/s. Results will be used to identify families needing support and develop tailored support strategies.

New Directions in Geroscience: Integrating Social and Behavioral Drivers of Biological Aging.

The "geroscience hypothesis" posits that slowing the physiological processes of aging would lead to delayed disease onset and longer healthspan and lifespan. This shift from a focus on solely treating existing disease to slowing the aging process is a shift toward prevention, including a focus on risk factors found in the social environment. Although geroscience traditionally has focused on the molecular and cellular drivers of biological aging, more fundamental causes of aging may be found in the social exposome-the complex array of human social environmental exposures that shape health and disease. The social exposome may interact with physiological processes to accelerate aging biology. In this commentary, we review the potential of these insights to shape the emerging field of translational geroscience. The articles in this special issue highlight how social stress and social determinants of health are associated with biomarkers of aging such as inflammation, epigenetic clocks, and telomeres, and spotlight promising interventions to mitigate stress-related inflammation. For geroscience to incorporate the social exposome into its translational agenda, studies are needed that elucidate and quantify the effects of social exposures on aging and that consider social exposures as intervention targets. The life course perspective allows us to measure both exposures and aging biology over time including sensitive periods of development and major social transitions. In addition, given rapid changes in the measurement of aging biology, which include machine learning techniques, multisystem phenotypes of aging are being developed to better reflect whole body aging, replacing reliance on single system biomarkers. In this expanded and more integrated field of translational geroscience, strategies targeting factors in the social exposome hold promise for achieving aging health equity and extending healthy longevity.

Environmental phenol exposures in 6- to 12-week-old infants: The Infant Feeding and Early Development (IFED) study

BackgroundExposure to phenols, endocrine-disrupting chemicals used in personal care and consumer products, is widespread. Data on infant exposures are limited despite heightened sensitivity to endocrine disruption during this developmental period. We aimed to describe distributions and predictors of urinary phenol concentrations among U.S. infants ages 6–12 weeks. MethodsThe Infant Feeding and Early Development (IFED) study is a prospective cohort study of healthy term infants enrolled during 2010–2013 in the Philadelphia region. We measured concentrations of seven phenols in 352 urine samples collected during the 6- or 8- and/or 12-week study visits from 199 infants. We used linear mixed models to estimate associations of maternal, sociodemographic, infant, and sample characteristics with natural-log transformed, creatinine-standardized phenol concentrations and present results as mean percent change from the reference level. ResultsMedian concentrations (μg/L) were 311 for methylparaben, 10.3 for propylparaben, 3.6 for benzophenone-3, 2.1 for triclosan, 1.0 for 2,5-dichlorophenol, 0.7 for BPA, and 0.3 for 2,4-dichlorophenol. Geometric mean methylparaben concentrations were approximately 10 times higher than published estimates for U.S. children ages 3–5 and 6–11 years, while propylparaben concentrations were 3–4 times higher. Infants of Black mothers had higher concentrations of BPA (83%), methylparaben (121%), propylparaben (218%), and 2,5-dichorophenol (287%) and lower concentrations of benzophenone-3 (−77%) and triclosan (−53%) than infants of White mothers. Triclosan concentrations were higher in breastfed infants (176%) and lower in infants whose mothers had a high school education or less (−62%). Phenol concentrations were generally higher in summer samples. ConclusionsWidespread exposure to select environmental phenols among this cohort of healthy U.S. infants, including much higher paraben concentrations compared to those reported for U.S. children, supports the importance of expanding population-based biomonitoring programs to infants and toddlers. Future investigation of exposure sources is warranted to identify opportunities to minimize exposures during these sensitive periods of development.

The Protective Role of Resilience on Cardiovascular Health in Young Adults Exposed to Adverse Childhood Experiences

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are strong emotional or physical stressors that occur during sensitive developmental periods and are associated with reduced cardiovascular health (CVH). Resilience, or the psychological capacity of individuals to cope with adversity, has been recently shown to have a positive influence on CVH. Despite the dose-dependent detrimental impact of ACEs on CVH, it is unknown whether resilience exerts a protective cardiovascular effect against early stress. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the impact that resilience may have on CVH in young adults who experienced ACEs. Methods: Eighteen young and apparently healthy adults (22±3 yo) with a history of severe ACE exposure (≥4) participated in this study and provided self-reported data about resilience. CVH was assessed non-invasively through transcutaneous arterial tonometry to evaluate arterial stiffness (pulse-wave velocity, PWV), myocardial oxygen demand (Systolic Pressure Time Index, SPTI), myocardial oxygen supply (Diastolic Pressure Time Index, DPTI) and myocardial perfusion (Subendocardial Viability Ratio, SEVR). Circulating biomarkers related to CVH were also evaluated (high-sensitive C-reactive protein, hsCRP). Results: Eleven participants reported high resilience (HR: resilience score≥95), while seven reported low resilience (LR: resilience score<95). Young adults with high resilience presented with a significantly lower myocardial oxygen demand (SPTI; HR: 1866±111 vs. LR: 2227±117mmHg·s/min, p=0.047) and higher myocardial perfusion (SEVR; HR: 168±13 vs.LR: 127 ±9% , p=0.034) than those with low resilience and a positive association between SEVR and resilience was identified ( r=0.492; p=0.045). No differences in myocardial oxygen supply ( p=0.225) or arterial stiffness ( p=0.614) were observed between groups. However, circulating hsCRP was also significantly lower in the HR group than the LR (0.89±0.3 vs. 2.96±1 mg/dL, p=0.041) and negatively associated with resilience ( r=-0.511; p=0.051). Conclusions: Our data suggests that, among young and apparently healthy adults exposed to childhood adversity, those who are psychologically more resilient exhibit higher myocardial perfusion and overall better CVH than those less resilient despite a history of severe ACEs. These findings suggest that resilience may protect, at least partially, against the early impact of ACEs on CVH. Future studies are thus warranted to further explore the relationship between resilience and CVH. Supported in part by the Child Health Research Institute at VCU. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Experiences of Adversity and Validity of Baseline Concussion Testing.

Neurocognitive testing is a critical tool in the management of sport-related concussions. Adversity during childhood and adolescence affects cognitive tasks, behavioral outcomes, and academic performance. Adversity may be important in baseline concussion test validity as well; however, the influence of these experiences is not well understood. To examine the relationship between individual-level experiences of adversity and baseline test validity of Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT). We hypothesized that experiences of poverty, maltreatment, or extreme neighborhood deprivation would be associated with lower odds of baseline test validity. Case-control study. Cuyahoga County, Ohio. A total of 6495 student-athletes born from 1995 through 2005 who completed a baseline ImPACT test between 10 and 18 years old and were identified in the Child-Household Integrated Longitudinal Data system, a comprehensive data system with demographic and social service usage outcomes for children in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Baseline concussion test validity was determined using the ImPACT built-in validity measure. Experiences of adversity during the sensitive developmental periods of early childhood and adolescence were key independent variables. Our findings suggested that social mobility may play an important role in baseline validity. Youth with upward social mobility (ie, poverty or neighborhood deprivation in early childhood only) were not different from youth without such experiences (odds ratio [OR] = 0.91, P = .74). Youth with persistent adversity across childhood or downward social mobility (ie, poverty or high neighborhood deprivation in adolescence only) had 50% to 72% lower odds of achieving a valid baseline test (persistent poverty, OR = 0.59, P = .05; adolescent poverty only, OR = 0.50, P = .004; adolescent neighborhood deprivation only, OR = 0.28, P < .001). Maltreatment had no significant effect on test validity. These findings indicated that certain patterns of adversity may predispose youth to invalid baseline testing scores, potentially increasing their risk of inappropriate injury management and poor outcomes.

Love on the developing brain: Maternal sensitivity and infants' neural responses to emotion in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Infancy is a sensitive period of development, during which experiences of parental care are particularly important for shaping the developing brain. In a longitudinal study of N=95 mothers and infants, we examined links between caregiving behavior (maternal sensitivity observed during a mother-infant free-play) and infants' neural response to emotion (happy, angry, and fearful faces) at 5 and 7 months of age. Neural activity was assessed using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), a region involved in cognitive control and emotion regulation. Maternal sensitivity was positively correlated with infants' neural responses to happy faces in the bilateral dlPFC and was associated with relative increases in such responses from 5 to 7months. Multilevel analyses revealed caregiving-related individual differences in infants' neural responses to happy compared to fearful faces in the bilateral dlPFC, as well as other brain regions. We suggest that variability in dlPFC responses to emotion in the developing brain may be one correlate of early experiences of caregiving, with implications for social-emotional functioning and self-regulation. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Infancy is a sensitive period of brain development, during which experiences with caregivers are especially important. This study examined links between sensitive maternal care and infants' neural responses to emotion at 5-7 months of age, using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Experiences of sensitive care were associated with infants' neural responses to emotion-particularly happy faces-in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Investment by maternal grandmother buffers children against the impacts of adverse early life experiences

Exogenous shocks during sensitive periods of development can have long-lasting effects on adult phenotypes including behavior, survival and reproduction. Cooperative breeding, such as grandparental care in humans and some other mammal species, is believed to have evolved partly in order to cope with challenging environments. Nevertheless, studies addressing whether grandparental investment can buffer the development of grandchildren from multiple adversities early in life are few and have provided mixed results, perhaps owing to difficulties drawing causal inferences from non-experimental data. Using population-based data of English and Welsh adolescents (sample size ranging from 817 to 1197), we examined whether grandparental investment reduces emotional and behavioral problems in children resulting from facing multiple adverse early life experiences (AELEs), by employing instrumental variable regression in a Bayesian structural equation modeling framework to better justify causal interpretations of the results. When children had faced multiple AELEs, the investment of maternal grandmothers reduced, but could not fully erase, their emotional and behavioral problems. No such result was observed in the case of the investment of other grandparent types. These findings indicate that in adverse environmental conditions the investment of maternal grandmothers can improve child wellbeing.

The Study of Adolescent Resilience (SOAR): a research protocol

BackgroundAdolescence is a particularly sensitive period of development for military-connected youth, given the socioemotional and physical changes that occur against the backdrop of the military career of their parent(s). Military-connected adolescents face unique stressors relative to their civilian counterparts, such as military relocations, parental absence due to deployments and trainings, and parental military-related physical and mental injury. These stressors may change family dynamics and disrupt social support networks, which can have lasting implications for adolescent health and well-being. At present, very little is known about how the current generation of military-connected adolescents are faring regarding their psychological and physical health, academic achievement, and educational or career aspirations. As part of the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to military families, the U.S. Department of Defense pledged to address these major knowledge gaps by supporting the Study of Adolescent Resilience (SOAR). SOAR's longitudinal design provides a powerful tool for evaluating the effects of military family life on adolescent well-being into early adulthood.Methods and designSOAR is embedded within the larger Millennium Cohort Study, the first U.S. population-based prospective study to investigate long-term health effects of military service among active duty service members. Nearly 40,000 Millennium Cohort participants with adolescent children were invited to complete a web-based self-report survey that included items across interpersonal, socioenvironmental, and health domains, among others. Military parents provided referral information for their adolescent child and another primary parental figure, when available, to be invited to SOAR. This approach allowed survey data to be linked between these three family members (service member, spouse, and adolescent) to promote a comprehensive, family systems-based understanding of military-connected adolescent experiences and determinants of health, risk, and resilience.DiscussionResearch findings will shed light on the enduring impact of military life on adolescents and the nature of associations between military-specific experiences and psychosocial health and well-being. Further, this research will assess modifiable risk and protective factors that may elucidate differences in military-connected adolescent psychosocial development and physical health, academic achievement, and educational and military career aspirations over time.ConclusionsFindings gleaned from this research will be used to inform existing policy and programs designed to promote adolescent resilience.

White matter microstructure in transmasculine and cisgender adolescents: A multiparametric and multivariate study.

Adolescence is a sensitive developmental period for neural sex/gender differentiation. The present study used multiparametric mapping to better characterize adolescent white matter (WM) microstructure. WM microstructure was investigated using diffusion tensor indices (fractional anisotropy; mean, radial, and axial diffusivity [AD]) and quantitative T1 relaxometry (T1) in hormone therapy naïve adolescent cisgender girls, cisgender boys, and transgender boys (i.e., assigned female at birth and diagnosed with gender dysphoria). Diffusion indices were first analyzed for group differences using tract-based spatial statistics, which revealed a group difference in AD. Thus, two multiparametric and multivariate analyses assessed AD in conjunction with T1 relaxation time, and with respect to developmental proxy variables (i.e., age, serum estradiol, pubertal development, sexual attraction) thought to be relevant to adolescent brain development. The multivariate analyses showed a shared pattern between AD and T1 such that higher AD was associated with longer T1, and AD and T1 strongly related to all five developmental variables in cisgender boys (10 significant correlations, r range: 0.21-0.73). There were fewer significant correlations between the brain and developmental variables in cisgender girls (three correlations, r range: -0.54-0.54) and transgender boys (two correlations, r range: -0.59-0.77). Specifically, AD related to direction of sexual attraction (i.e., gynephilia, androphilia) in all groups, and T1 related to estradiol inversely in cisgender boys compared with transgender boys. These brain patterns may be indicative of less myelination and tissue density in cisgender boys, which corroborates other reports of protracted WM development in cisgender boys. Further, these findings highlight the importance of considering developmental trajectory when assessing the subtleties of neural structure associated with variations in sex, gender, and sexual attraction.

The effects of a large-scale home visiting programme for child development on use of health services in Brazil.

Partnership between early childhood development interventions and primary health care services can help catalyse health care uptake by socially vulnerable families. This study aimed to assess the real-life effects of a large-scale home visiting programme [Primeira Infância Melhor (PIM)] in Brazil on the use of preventive (prenatal visits, well child visits, dentist visits and vaccination) and recovery (emergency room visits and hospitalization) health services. A quasi-experiment nested in a population-based birth cohort study was conducted. The intervention group was firstly defined as all children enrolled in PIM up to age 6 months, and afterwards stratified between those enrolled during pregnancy or after birth up to 6 months. Children receiving PIM were matched with controls on propensity scores based on 27 confounders to estimate effects on health service use from prenatal to age 2 years. Double adjustment was applied in outcome Quasi-Poisson regressions. No evidence was found for effects of PIM starting anytime up to 6 months (262 pairs), or for the children enrolled only after birth (133 pairs), on outcomes occurring after age 6 months. When the programme started during pregnancy (129 pairs), there was a 13% higher prevalence of adequate prenatal visits (prevalence ratio = 1.13; 95% confidence interval 1.01-1.27), but no effect on use of any other health service. Sensitivity analyses suggested longer participation in the programme with reduced visitor turnover might improve its impact on prenatal visits. Integration between PIM and primary health care was not adequate to affect overall patterns of contacts with health services. Nevertheless, prenatal home visits showed potential to increase health service contact during a sensitive period of development, indicating the need to start such programmes before birth, when there is more time for maternal care, and family engagement in a network of services is facilitated.

Acquiescence or Redemption: CEO’s early-life experience of environmental pollution and corporate green innovation

The early-life experience of environmental pollution constitutes a prevalent negative encounter during a CEO's sensitive developmental period. However, its influence on a CEO's subsequent strategic decision-making, particularly regarding corporate green innovation, remains largely unexplored. Employing the perspectives of upper echelons theory, imprinting theory and trait activation theory, we propose that a CEO's early-life experience of environmental pollution significantly promotes green innovation within firms and such relationship could be activated by the effect of the CEO’s pollution harm aversion. Furthermore, we posit that CEO’s foreign experiences and the Confucianism circumstance may exert positively moderating effects, while institutional ownership might have a negative moderating impact on such a relationship. To test our hypotheses, a total of 344 listed private companies were selected as research subjects, and data on environmental pollution in CEOs' early-life residences were manually collected. Hierarchical regression was adopted as the analytic method, and the results largely support our hypotheses.

French National Trends in Neurodevelopmental and Mental Health-Related Healthcare Center Visits among Youth, 2014-2022: Towards Sex Specificities in the Care Pathway

Background: Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) and mental health (MH)-related conditions among children and adolescents, represent a global public health burden, that was worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic due to disruptions in access to healthcare, support services, and increased stressors exacerbating symptoms and challenges. However, few studies have examined in France, NDD and MH’s diagnoses and care pathway in youth attending public healthcare center (HCC) services. Methods: An annual cross-sectional analysis was performed in youth aged 0 to 17 years on health information, that were extracted from the French PMSI database (DIAMANT database) between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2022, using the MH-related ICD-10 diagnosis codes, including NDD, mood-, behavior-, anxiety-, and other-disorders (sleep and eating). Trends in healthcare center visits for NDD and MH-related conditions, were evaluated according to age, sex, diagnoses, and care pathway over the 10-year period using ANOVAs. Findings: Out of the 17,707,806 total HCC-visits across a 10-year period, 289,382 visits (1,6%) were related to youth with diagnoses for NDD or MH disorders of the study interest. Among them, 57% were girls and 43% boys. The total number of pediatric HCC-visits related to NDD and MH has remained stable from 2014 to 2022. However, the proportion of visits has doubled for adolescent girls with internalizing disorders (anxiety and mood) while a 5-fold decrease in the proportion of visits for NDD, was observed for boys aged 0 to 12 years. The HCC-admission mainstream for internalizing disorders was the emergency department and was “home” for the NDD. While the HCC-discharge accounted for 9% of patients being hospitalized, most of them were sent home (90.7%) with a strong age- and sex-specificities. Interpretation: Over the last 10 years, the proportion of HCC visits for NDD and MH remained stable, but strong age- and sex-effects were found on diagnoses visits and care pathway. These findings are essential to improve emergency and outpatient service capacity dedicated to youth. They could help European and national policies to patient-tailor care pathway depending on sex and diagnosis from screening, interventions, and monitoring during this sensitive period of development.

NEW APPROACHES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN CAPITAL

In the modern world, the increasing importance of human capital and the role of education in its formation is increasingly recognized. In educational practice, there is an underestimation of the possibilities of additional education, which does not allow children to fully reveal their potential. The purpose of the study is to develop recommendations that will help increase the level of enrollment of children in additional education. The purpose of the study is to develop recommendations to help increase the level of enrollment of children in additional education in order to develop human capital. The scientific and practical significance of the work lies in the fact that in the context of discussions about the contribution of education to the development of human capital, the importance of additional education for children and possible ways to more optimally organize this system are substantiated. During the study, formal logical methods and techniques were used. The main result of the study is that it highlighted not entirely obvious opportunities for the development of a system of additional education for children and measures were proposed to help increase the indicative indicator used in public administration - the level of enrollment of children in additional education. The value and practical significance of the study is expressed in the fact that, using the example of the central part of Almaty, a conceptually new approach to organizing additional education for children was proposed, which involves the creation of a system of additional school education that provides children with greater opportunities to unlock their potential during sensitive periods of development. At the same time, a model of an indicative map of the network of additional school education has been developed and proposed, promoting the formation of human capital at a qualitatively new level.

Risk and resilience models in child development.

This chapter provides the most comprehensive review of risk and resilience models for child development thus far, synthesizing these interdisciplinary frameworks for ease of use in research and practice. This review specifically focuses on process models with broader conceptualizations of risk and resilience that have effects across multiple developmental domains. Risk and resilience models alike agree that alleviating risk factors is beneficial for children's development, including risks ranging from proximal issues with households (e.g., instability) and caregivers (e.g., insecure attachment, abuse) to relatively distal influences like structural racism and socioeconomic status. Resilience models further add that children who experience risks are not inherently doomed to poorer outcomes, but can draw upon positive factors in development to combat negative effects from risk, which cannot always be avoided. Major positive factors include loving relationships, educational resources, and cultural assets. Risk and resilience are highly multidisciplinary fields that have contributed much to our understanding of human development, with ample room for continued growth. Understanding of risk and resilience processes, especially during sensitive developmental periods like early childhood, provides valuable insight for prevention and intervention research and practices. Risk and resilience models share an interest in deciphering the developmental processes that hinder and help children across domains so that kids can live their best lives, resulting in a better off society for all.