1. |
- Agnafors, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Effect of gene, environment and maternal depressive symptoms on pre-adolescence behavior problems : a longitudinal study
- 2013
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In: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1753-2000. ; 7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND:Depression is a common and disabling condition with a high relapse frequency. Maternal mental health problems and experience of traumatic life events are known to increase the risk of behavior problems in children. Recently, genetic factors, in particular gene-by-environment interaction models, have been implicated to explain depressive etiology. However, results are inconclusive.METHODS:Study participants were members of the SESBiC-study. A total of 889 mothers and their children were followed during the child's age of 3 months to 12 years. Information on maternal depressive symptoms was gathered postpartum and at a 12 year follow-up. Mothers reported on child behavior and traumatic life events experienced by the child at age 12. Saliva samples were obtained from children for analysis of 5-HTTLPR and BDNF Val66Met polymorphisms.RESULTS:Multivariate analysis showed a significant association between maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety, and internalizing problems in 12-year-old children (OR 5.72, 95% CI 3.30-9.91). Furthermore, carriers of two short alleles (s/s) of the 5-HTTLPR showed a more than 4-fold increased risk of internalizing problems at age 12 compared to l/l carriers (OR 4.73, 95% CI 2.14-10.48). No gene-by-environment interaction was found and neither depressive symptoms postpartum or traumatic experiences during childhood stayed significant in the final model.CONCLUSIONS:Concurrent maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety are significant risk factors for behavior problems in children, which need to be taken into account in clinical practice. Furthermore, we found a main effect of 5-HTTLPR on internalizing symptoms in 12-year-old children, a finding that needs to be confirmed in future studies.
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2. |
- Agnafors, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Symptoms of Depression Postpartum and 12 years Later-Associations to Child Mental Health at 12 years of Age
- 2013
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In: Maternal and Child Health Journal. - : Springer Verlag (Germany). - 1092-7875 .- 1573-6628. ; 17:3, s. 405-414
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Children of depressed mothers have been shown to express behaviour problems to a greater extent than children of non-depressed mothers. The purpose of this study was to examine the persistence of depressive symptoms in mothers and to evaluate the relative importance of symptoms of postpartum depression (PPD) and concurrent maternal symptoms of depression, on child behaviour at age 12. A birth cohort of 1,707 children and their mothers was followed from 3 months after birth to 12 years after birth. Self-reported symptoms of depression in mothers were assessed at baseline and 12-year follow-up where 893 mothers (52.3 %) and their children participated. The mothers reports on the behaviour of their children at age 12 were used. Multivariate analysis was used to assess factors that increased the risk of child behaviour problems. At baseline, 10.4 % scored above the cutoff for symptoms of postpartum depression. At follow up, 18.2 % scored above the cutoff for depressive symptoms. Multivariate analysis showed that ongoing maternal symptoms of depression, as distinct from PPD-symptoms, was the strongest predictor of child behaviour problems at age 12. The gender of the child and socio-demographic factors at baseline were additional factors that affected the risk of behaviour problems in the 12 year old children. Children of mothers who reported symptoms of depression, both postpartum and at follow-up, were at a greater risk of behaviour problems compared to children of women with no depressive symptoms on either occasion. Our findings indicate that recurrent and ongoing maternal depressive symptoms significantly increase the risk of child behaviour problems as reported by mothers, while symptoms of PPD do not seem to result in an increased risk of behaviour problems in 12 year olds. High maternal socio-demographic life stress at childbirth constitutes an important risk factor for later child behaviour problems.
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3. |
- Bladh, Marie, et al.
(author)
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Hospitalization in Adolescence and Young Adulthood Among Twins and Singletons : A Swedish Cohort Study of Subjects Born Between 1973 and 1983
- 2013
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In: Twin Research and Human Genetics. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 1832-4274 .- 1839-2628. ; 16:3, s. 707-715
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Children born with non-optimal birth characteristics — that is, are small for gestational age and/or preterm — have an increased risk for several long-term effects such as neurological sequelae and chronic disease. The purpose of this study was to examine whether twins exhibited a different outcome, compared with singletons, in terms of hospitalization during adolescence and early adulthood, and to what extent differences remain when considering the divergence in birth characteristics between singletons and twins. Persons born between 1973 and 1983 in Sweden and surviving until age 13 were included and followed until the end of 2006. Data on birth characteristics, parental socio-demographic factors, and hospitalizations were collected from national registers. Adjusting for parental socio-demographic factors, twins had a higher risk of being hospitalized than singletons (odds ratio, OR = 1.17, 95% confidence interval, CI = 1.10–1.25) and more often due to ‘Congenital anomalies’ (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.06–1.28), ‘Infections’ (OR = 1.14; 95% CI = 1.08–1.20), ‘External causes of illness’ (OR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.06–1.15), and ‘Diseases of the nervous system’ (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.10–1.26). Stratifying for birth characteristics, this difference diminishes, and for some diagnoses non-optimal twins seem to do slightly better than non-optimal singletons. Thus, twins with non-optimal birth characteristics had a lower risk of hospitalization than non-optimal singletons on, for example, ‘Congenital anomalies’ and ‘Diseases of the nervous system’ (OR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.77–0.96; OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.81–0.97, respectively) and Total (any) hospitalization (OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.83–0.92). Among those with optimal birth characteristics, twins had an increased hospitalization due to ‘External causes of illness’ (OR = 1.07, 95% CI = 1.02–1.13) compared with optimal singletons. Twins have higher hospitalization rates than singletons. In stratifying for birth characteristics, this difference diminishes, and for some diagnoses, non-optimal twins seem to do less poorly than non-optimal singletons.
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4. |
- Bladh, Marie, et al.
(author)
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Reproductive patterns among twins : a Swedish register study of men and women born 1973-1983
- 2013
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In: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2393 .- 1471-2393. ; 13
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BackgroundDuring the last decades there has been a steady increase of twin births. A combination of improved medical treatment of preterm and small-for-gestational age children has contributed to a higher number of surviving twins. Prematurity is known to affect reproduction in a negative way. Few studies have focused on the potential effect twinning may have on future reproduction. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of being born a twin compared to being born a singleton have on future reproduction.MethodsIn a national population-based register study, all individuals born between 1973–1983 who were alive and living in Sweden at 13 years of age (n = 1 016 908) constituted the sample. Data on each study subject’s own birth as well as the birth of their first offspring, and parental socio-demographic factors were collected from Swedish population based registers. Hazard ratios and corresponding 95% CI was calculated using Cox proportional hazards model.ResultsTwins, both men and women, had a reduced likelihood of reproducing compared to singletons (women: HR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.86-0.93; men: HR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.87-0.97). This difference in birth rates can only partly be explained by diverging birth characteristics. Amongst men and women born very preterm, twins had an increased likelihood of reproducing compared to singletons (women: HR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.02-1.62; men: HR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.01-1.78).ConclusionsTwins have lower reproduction rates compared to singletons, which only to a certain degree can be explained by diverging birth characteristics.
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5. |
- Borneskog, Catrin, et al.
(author)
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Symptoms of anxiety and depression in lesbian couples treated with donated sperm : a descriptive study
- 2013
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In: British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1470-0328 .- 1471-0528. ; 120:7, s. 839-846
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ObjectiveTo investigate symptoms of anxiety and depression in lesbian couples undergoing assisted reproductive treatment (ART), and to study the relationship of demographic data, pregnancy outcome and future reproductive plans with symptoms of anxiety and depression.DesignDescriptive, a part of the prospective longitudinal ‘Swedish study on gamete donation’.SettingAll university clinics in Sweden performing gamete donation.PopulationA consecutive sample of 214 lesbian couples requesting assisted reproduction, 165 of whom participated.MethodsParticipants individually completed three study-specific questionnaires and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS): time point 1 (T1), at commencement of ART; time point 2 (T2), approximately 2 months after treatment; and time point 3 (T3), 2–5 years after first treatment.Main outcome measuresAnxiety and depression (HADS), pregnancy outcome and future reproductive plans.ResultsThe vast majority of lesbian women undergoing assisted reproduction reported no symptoms of anxiety and depression at the three assessment points. A higher percentage of the treated women, compared with the partners, reported symptoms of anxiety at T2 (14% versus 5%, P = 0.011) and T3 (10% versus 4%, P = 0.018), as well as symptoms of depression at T2 (4% versus 0%, P = 0.03) and T3 (3% versus 0%, P = 0.035). The overall pregnancy outcome was high; almost three-quarters of lesbian couples gave birth 2–5 years after sperm donation treatments. Open-ended comments illustrated joy and satisfaction about family building.ConclusionLesbian women in Sweden reported good psychological health before and after treatment with donated sperm.
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6. |
- Brynhildsen, Jan, et al.
(author)
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Leptin and adiponectin in cord blood from children of normal weight, overweight and obese mothers
- 2013
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In: Acta Paediatrica. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0803-5253 .- 1651-2227. ; 102:6, s. 620-624
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aim To study cord blood concentrations of adiponectin and leptin in children born by normal weight, overweight and obese mothers and to study these parameters in relation to a weight gain intervention programme for obese mothers. Methods Ten millilitre cord blood was collected and analysed for leptin and adiponectin concentrations in children with gestational age andgt;37weeks born by 60 normal weight, 45 overweight and 145 obese mothers. 82 obese mothers took part in a weight gain intervention programme. Results Concentrations of leptin and adiponectin were higher in cord blood from children of overweight and obese mothers compared with children of normal weight mothers (leptin: Md 13.2, 30, 3 and 90.2ng/mL respectively, pandlt;0.001; adiponectin 35.9, 205.4, 213.8ng/L pandlt;0.001). No differences were found between overweight and obese mothers. The weight gain intervention programme for obese pregnant women had significant effects on the weight gain during pregnancy but had no effects on cord blood serum concentrations of leptin and adiponectin. Conclusion Cord blood leptin and adiponectin concentrations were higher in children born by overweight or obese women compared with children of normal weight mothers. A weight gain intervention programme for obese pregnant women did not affect these results. Intrauterine exposition to high concentrations of leptin and adiponectin may play a role in weight development later in life.
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7. |
- Jarkman Björn, Gunilla, et al.
(author)
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Brief Family Therapy for Refugee Children
- 2013
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In: The Family Journal. - : Sage Publications. - 1066-4807 .- 1552-3950. ; 21:3, s. 272-278
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this study was to compare refugee children’s psychological well-being before and after brief family therapy. Families from Bosnia-Herzegovina with one child aged 5–12 years received three family therapy sessions. Psychological assessments using the Erica play-diagnostic method and parental interviews were made before and after the intervention. The main finding was that more children built normal sandboxes (showing no pathological findings)after the intervention than before, indicating that the rather short intervention had a positive effect on the children’s psychological well-being. To conclude, it might be valuable to offer refugee families a few family therapy sessions even if the children do not have psychiatric symptoms with the aim of helping them adapt to a new system of society.
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8. |
- Jarkman Björn, Gunilla, et al.
(author)
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Family therapy sessions with regugee families : a qualitative study
- 2013
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In: Conflict and Health. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1752-1505. ; 7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BackgroundDue to the armed conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s many families escaped to other countries. The main goal of this study was to explore in more detail the complexity of various family members’ experiences and perceptions from their life before the war, during the war and the escape, and during their new life in Sweden. There is insufficient knowledge of refugee families’ perceptions, experiences and needs, and especially of the complexity of family perspectives and family systems. This study focused on three families from Bosnia and Herzegovina who came to Sweden and were granted permanent residence permits. The families had at least one child between 5 and 12 years old.MethodFamily therapy sessions were videotaped and verbatim transcriptions were made. Nine family therapy sessions were analysed using a qualitative method with directed content analysis.ResultsThree main categories and ten subcategories were found - 1. Everyday life at home, with two subcategories: The family, Work and School/preschool; 2. The influence of war on everyday life, with three subcategories: The war, The escape, Reflections; 3. The new life, with five subcategories: Employment, Health, Relatives and friends, Limited future, Transition to the new life.ConclusionsHealth care and social welfare professionals need to find out what kind of lives refugee families have lived before coming to a new country, in order to determine individual needs of support. In this study the families had lived ordinary lives in their country of origin, and after experiencing a war situation they escaped to a new country and started a new life. They had thoughts of a limited future but also hopes of getting jobs and taking care of themselves and their families. When analysing each person’s point of view one must seek an all-embracing picture of a family and its complexity to tie together the family narrative. To offer refugee families meetings with family-oriented professionals to provide the opportunity to create a family narrative is recommended for the health and social welfare sector. Using this knowledge by emphasizing the salutogenic perspectives facilitates support to refugee families and individuals. This kind of support can help refugee families to adapt to a new system of society and recapture a sense of coherence, including all three components that lead to coherence: comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness. More studies are needed to further investigate the thoughts, experiences and needs of various refugee families and how refugee receiving societies can give the most effective support.
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9. |
- Jarkman Björn, Gunilla, 1980-
(author)
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Refugee Children and Families : Psychological Health, Brief Family Intervention and Ethical Aspects
- 2013
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Background: There are more than 45 million refugees and displaced people in the world. Children constitute almost half of the refugee population. It is an enormous challenge and a complex situation for refugee children and families escaping from their home country, to a new system of society to which they have to adapt and where they have to recapture a sense of coherence. This thesis focuses on the psychological health of younger refugee children before and after an intervention with family therapy sessions. The experiences and perceptions of refugee families who fled to Sweden as a result of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995 and who have permanent residence permits were explored. The ethical aspects of treatment of traumatized refugee children and families were also analysed.Aims: To investigate parent-child agreement on the psychological symptoms of the refugee children; to explore refugee children’s well-being before and after three sessions of family therapy; to explore, in more detail, the complexity of various family members’ experiences and perceptions of their life before the war, during the war and their escape, and in their new life in Sweden; and also to highlight ethical issues and conduct ethical analyses using basic ethical principles that take into account the varying perspectives of the actors involved with regard to the psychological treatment of refugee children and families.Methods: Data was collected using parental interviews and psychological assessments of children aged five to twelve years. In the first study, 13 children were assessed using the Erica Method and compared with a Swedish reference group consisting of 80 children. In the second study, the Erica Method assessments from before and after an intervention with brief family therapy were compared for ten out of those 13 children, complemented by parental interviews. Family therapy sessions were videotaped, and in the third study, the verbatim transcripts of nine family therapy sessions were analysed using a qualitative method with directed content analysis. Finally, the basic ethical principles in two case studies of teenage refugee children concerning psychological treatment were analysed taking into account the varying perspectives of the actors involved in the treatment.Results: Parents’ assessments of their children’s psychological health according to a symptom and behaviour interview did not correlate with the findings of the psychological assessments of children using the Erica Method. The majority of the parents were unaware of their children’s psychological problems, as identified in the psychological assessments. There was a higher rate of not-normal sandboxes (Erica Method) in this group of refugee children, compared to the Swedish reference group. A statistically significant number of cases had improved after a brief family therapy intervention when evaluated with Erica Method. Three main categories emerged from the analysis of the family therapy sessions: “Everyday life at home”, “Influence of war on everyday life”, and “The new life”. The three main categories were comprised of a total of ten subcategories: the family, work and school/preschool, the war, the escape, reflections, employment, health, relatives and friends, a limited future, and transition to the new life. A structured ethical analysis concerning the principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice is feasible and valuable when dealing with refugee children and families in clinical practice as well as in research.Conclusion: The findings from these studies show the importance of highlighting individual perspectives from the point of view of children, parents, and siblings in order to better understand the complexity of family systems. Family interventions could be beneficial for refugee children and families, even if the children do not present with overt psychological problems. Salutogenic perspectives facilitate the provision of support to refugee families. Such support helps refugee families to adapt to a new system of society and recapture a sense of coherence. In research as well as in treatment sessions, basic ethical principles, from the point of view of all actors involved, is recommended to be taken into consideration.
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10. |
- Josefsson, Ann, et al.
(author)
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Risk for congenital malformations in offspring of women who have undergone bariatric surgery. A national cohort
- 2013
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In: British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1470-0328 .- 1471-0528. ; 120:12, s. 1477-1482
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ObjectiveTo study the risk for congenital anomalies in the first child of women after bariatric surgery compared with all other women giving birth to their first child and divided by maternal body mass index (BMI) groups.DesignProspective, population-based register study.SettingSweden.SampleAll firstborn children to women born 1973–83 were studied to determine if they had a congenital anomaly and a mother who had undergone bariatric surgery before pregnancy.MethodsA total of 270 805 firstborns; of which 341 had mothers who had had bariatric surgery before delivery. We retrieved information on the women's marital or cohabitation status, smoking, BMI, diabetes and hypertension during pregnancy.Main outcome measuresCongenital malformations.ResultsOf the firstborn children to mothers who had had bariatric surgery before pregnancy, 4.1% (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 2.2–6.0) were malformed compared with 3.4% (95% CI 3.3–3.5) of those whose mothers had not undergone bariatric surgery. The risk for congenital malformation in firstborn children increased with increasing maternal BMI. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for congenital malformation among children whose mothers' BMI ranged between 25 and 29 kg/m2 was 1.09 (95% CI 1.03–1.15), whose mothers' BMI ranged between 30 and 34 kg/m2 was 1.14 (1.05–1.24) and whose mothers' BMI was ≥35 kg/m2 was 1.30 (95% CI 1.16–1.45) compared with those whose mothers had a normal BMI. Bariatric surgery before pregnancy did not have any effect on the odds ratio for having congenital malformation (OR = 1.09, 95% CI 0.63–1.91).ConclusionsPreconception bariatric surgery does not seem to affect the risk for congenital malformations but a high to very high BMI does appear to increase the risk.
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