Allostatic load (AL) is the cumulative physiological "cost" of prolonged stress. An AL composite measure successfully predicts morbidity and mortality among the elderly but has not been reported in "high stress" samples with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Accordingly, AL was measured in mothers (ages 29-55) of pediatric cancer survivors and control mothers of healthy children. A signific...

The current study examines racial discrimination as a predictor of depression in a sample of 414 rural, low-income African American mothers of young children. The potential moderating role of optimism and church-based social support was also examined. Mothers completed questionnaires when their child was 24-months-old. Hierarchical regression revealed that mothers' perception of racism was a si...

Teen out-of-wedlock mothers have lower education and earnings than peers who have children later. This study uses the National Educational Longitudinal Survey of 1988 (NELS) to examine the extent to which the apparent effects of out-of-wedlock teen fertility are not causal, but are due to pre-existing disadvantages of the young women and their families. We use a novel fixed-effect matching meth...

BACKGROUND Early childbearing influences women's health. This study aims to examine the effects of socio-demographic factors on nutritional status of early childbearing mothers in Bangladesh based on Body Mass Index (BMI) as the indicator. METHODS Data was extracted from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS)-2011. The survey was performed on 17,842 married women aged 15-49. We focus...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of a paraprofessional-delivered, home-visiting intervention among young, reservation-based American Indian (AI) mothers on parenting knowledge, involvement, and maternal and infant outcomes. METHOD From 2002 to 2004, expectant AI women aged 12 to 22 years (n = 167) were randomized (1:1) to one of two paraprofessional-delivered, home-visiting interventions: t...

The overall mean birth weight of the total deliveries (1986-1988) in Lundu Hospital was 2.96 kg. The mean birth weight for the male babies was 2.94 kg. The Chinese babies had a significantly higher mean birth weight (3.12 kg) than the other ethnic groups (p < 0.05). The overall incidence of low birth weight (LBW) in this study was 11.84 per cent. The Chinese again had a lower incidence of LBW o...

Brookdale Hospital and Medical Center's Prenatal Care Assistance Program (PCAP) provides oral health education and treatment to expectant mothers from a minority, impoverished, high-risk population. A chart review examined dental records for 42 children of mothers who took PCAP training versus 49 children of mothers who did not. At age 2, the children of PCAP mothers had fewer dental caries, le...

Mothers of children with bronchial asthma consecutively admitted to Aseer central hospital, Saudi Arabia (n = 171), were interviewed using a questionnaire based on the Chicago Community Asthma Survey to study their knowledge and behaviours concerning bronchial asthma. The least known information among mothers was the complications of bronchial asthma. Breathing exercises during asthma attacks w...

Mother-daughter relationships are generally characterized by frequent contact and high levels of regard. Yet little is known about what mothers and daughters find enjoyable about their contact. Forty-eight pairs of older mothers (M = 76 years) and their middle-aged daughters (M = 46 years) and 44 pairs of middle-aged mothers (M = 47 years) and their young adult daughters (M = 21 years) (N = 182...

OBJECTIVES This study explores the longitudinal trajectories of depressive symptoms in young mothers and investigate the consequences of maternal depression for children's birth outcomes and behavioral adjustment. HYPOTHESIS Antenatal depression puts children of young mothers at risk for adjustment difficulties by adversely impacting birth outcomes and maternal symptoms after birth. METHODS...