Factors affecting the well-being of adolescents living with unemployed parents in times of economic recession: findings from the Portuguese HBSC study.

OBJECTIVES: Using a national representative sample of adolescents with unemployed parents, this study examined which factors (sociodemographic and of satisfaction with family life and peers) are related to the negative effect of parents' unemployment on emotional well-being. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey study. METHODS: Data on adolescents (14.1 ± 1.7 years old), with at least one parent unemployed (n = 1311, 53.2% girls), was provided by the Portuguese Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: A high proportion of adolescents reported being emotionally affected by father's unemployment but not by their mother's. Older boys and older girls were more likely to report that their same-gender parent's unemployment situation (sons-fathers and daughters-mothers) has had a negative effect on their well-being. Girls from low socio-economic status and with poor family satisfaction were more likely to report negative emotional well-being related to parental unemployment. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents evidence on factors that can shape adolescents' emotional well-being related to parents' unemployment situation. Given the recessionary context and high unemployment rates, these insights are valuable to assist the design of an action to improve the levels of well-being of Portuguese adolescents from unemployed families.

Sleep variability and fatigue in adolescents: Associations with school-related features.

This study aims to evaluate the influences of sleep duration and sleep variability (SleepV), upon adolescents' school-related situations. The Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey is based on a self-completed questionnaire. The participants were 3164 pupils (53.7% girls), attending the 8th and 10th grades, 14.9 years old, and were inquired about subjective sleep duration during the week and weekends, SleepV, fatigue, difficulties in sleep initiation, school achievement, feelings towards schools, pressure with school work and skipping classes. Multiple regression models used, as dependent variables: (a) school achievement, (b) disliking school, (c) pressure with school work and (d) skipping classes, using as independent variables, each of the remaining school-related variables, fatigue, total sleep duration and difficulties in sleep initiation. The average sleep duration in the week and during weekdays was lower than recommended for these age groups, and almost half of students had high SleepV between weekdays and weekends. A logistic model revealed that the absence of SleepV was associated with lower perception of school work pressure, less frequent skipping classes, more infrequent fatigue and more infrequent difficulties in sleep initiation. Poor sleep quality, SleepV and insufficient sleep duration affected negatively school-related variables.

Actividad de las enzimas antioxidantesen el riñon de la rata con preeclampsia experimental / Rat kidney antioxidant enzyme activities in experimental preeclampsia

La preeclampsia (PE) es un trastorno multisistémico del embarazo caracterizado por hipertensión, proteinuria y edema. La PE se asocia con la disfunción endotelial, el estrés oxidativo y con la disminución de la actividad de la sintasa del óxido nítrico (SON) endotelial. Los mecanismos de la vasodilatación asociada al embarazo normal sugieren que el óxido nítrico (NO) es el más importante mediador en la reducción de la resistencia vascular, mientras que en la PE la respuesta dilatadora dependiente de endotelio y mediada por el NO se encuentra reducida. Se ha demostrado que la inhibición de la síntesis del NO mediante la administración crónica de LNAME en ratas preñadas, resulta en un modelo animal que ocasiona un síndrome similar a la PE, el cual cursa con hipertensión, proteinuria, trombocitopenia y retardo de crecimiento intrauterino. Con el fin de caracterizar las alteraciones renales que ocurren durante la PE, empleamos este modelo animal de preeclampsia inducido por la inhibición de la SON, en ratas de 13 días de gestación. Se cuantifico la posible alteración en la actividad de las enzimas antioxidantes como la catalasa (CAT), superoxido dismutasa (SOD) y glutatión peroxidasa (GPx), así como la SON renal. El tratamiento crónicocon L-NAME en ratas preñadas incrementó la PAM (+20mmHg), produjo proteinuria, sin embargo no altero significativamente el número y el peso de los fetos. El estudio histológico de los riñones de animales pre-eclámpticos mostró que los mismos presentan tumefacción turbia de epitelios tubulares, focos hemorrágicos y congestión de capilares glomerulares. El tratamiento crónico con L-NAME en las ratas preñadas redujo la actividad de las tres enzimas antioxidantes evaluadasy de la SON renal. Estos hallazgos sugieren que la PE experimental cursa con alteración renal asociada con la reducciónde la actividad antioxidante y la inhibición de la SON.

Preeclampsia (PE) is a multisystem disorder of pregnancy characterized by hypertension, proteinuria and edema. PE is associated with endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress and decreased endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity. The mechanisms of normal pregnancy-associated vasodilation suggest that nitric oxide (NO) is the most important mediator for the reduction of vascular resistance. Many studies demonstrat ereduction of endothelium-dependent dilator response mediated by NO in PE. Inhibition of NO synthesis is an animal model which results in a PE-like syndrome, hypertension, proteinuria, thrombocytopenia and intrauterine growth retardation. In order to assess the possible renal alteration in this animal model of preeclampsia induced by chronic administration of L-NAME, we determined the antioxidant enzymes activities (catalase, superoxide dismutase and gluthation peroxidase) and nitric oxide sinthase in the rat kidney. Chronic L-NAME treatment in pregnant rats increased MAP (+20mm Hg), produced proteinuria and did not change the number and weight of fetuses. Histological examination of the kidneys showed cloudy swelling PE tubular epithelia, hemorrhagic fociand congestion of glomerular capillaries. In addition, L-NAME treatment reduced CAT, SOD, GPx and NOS activity in the kidney. These findings suggest that in experimental preeclampsia, renal alterations are associated with a reduction in the antioxidant enzyme and NOS activities.

How much does overweight impact the adolescent developmental process?

BACKGROUND: To analyse the associations between body mass index (BMI) and health-related behaviours among Portuguese adolescents based on the three waves of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey conducted in Portugal. METHODS: Data were derived from the three waves (1998, 2002 and 2006) of the World Health Organization collaborative cross-national survey HBSC, including 17, 024 public school students (6th, 8th and 10th grades). Separate analyses of the variables under study were individually conducted for each of the three waves of the survey, and for the total sample according to BMI (normal-weight and overweight/obese) using Chi square. At a second step, a multivariate logistic regression model was tested using all the variables that were significantly associated with normal or excess BMI values at a bivariate level, in order to determine whether they would predict being overweight, when controlling for all the others in the model. RESULTS: Overweight adolescents reported their health as fair or poor more often, reported a poorer perception of academic achievement, were more likely than their peers to describe themselves as 'unhappy', and reported irritability or bad temper more often. According to our findings, being overweight can be predicted by being a male, being younger, having low body satisfaction, having a perception of poor academic achievement, of poor personal health and of being unhappy. Being overweight was not significantly predicted by the year of data collection. CONCLUSIONS: Overweight adolescents were consistently far more likely to exhibit difficulties with their physical and emotional health when compared with their non-overweight peers. Although the effects of overweight on psychosocial functioning remain incompletely defined, they may constitute important determinants of overweight persistency, as well as have a detrimental effect on the adolescent's developmental process.

Validity of BMI based on self-reported weight and height in adolescents.

AIM: To assess in a subset of a nationally representative sample of Portuguese adolescents, the validity of Body Mass Index (BMI) based on self-reported weight and height. METHODS: This study included 462 students in grades 6, 8 and 10 (mean age 14.0 +/- 1.9 years) from 12 public schools randomly selected from the list of schools which took part in the 2006 Health Behaviour in School Aged Children Portuguese survey, corresponding to approximately 10% of the sample. Self-reported weight and height were recorded and then measured. RESULTS: Prevalence of normal weight, overweight and obesity based on self-report compared with that of measured values was not significantly different for boys and girls, and among age groups. BMI based on measured weight and height was underestimated compared with BMI based on self-reported data, both among girls and boys. Larger limits of agreement were found for boys, indicating a higher variability of self-reported BMI in estimating measured BMI, specifically below the age of 14 years. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that BMI based on self-reported weight and height is not accurate for BMI prediction at an individual level. However, self-reported BMI may be used as a simple and valid tool for BMI estimates of overweight and obesity in epidemiological studies.

Alcohol use and abuse in adolescence: proposal of an alternative analysis.

BACKGROUND: A national, representative, school-based sample of Portuguese youths was used to examine the prevalence of alcohol use in this population and to analyse differences between demographic variables such as gender and age, as well as to propose a statistical procedure that optimally quantifies categorical variables. METHODS: Data on 6109 state school students from Portugal, in the 6th, 8th and 10th grades, aged 11-18, who participated in the 2002 (Health Behaviour in School-aged Children/WHO) survey of adolescent health, were analysed. Adolescents aged between 11 and 14 were placed in the younger group, and those 15-18 years old were placed in the older group. Optimal scaling was used to optimize the computation of factor scores, which were subsequently submitted to multiple regression analysis in order to analyse the impact of gender and age on alcohol use. RESULTS: The results of this study show that the majority of Portuguese school-aged adolescents attending regular school at 6th, 8th and 10th grades do not drink alcoholic beverages (beer, wine or spirits) on a regular basis (at least once a month). However, about 8% of these adolescents do drink beer, 3% do drink wine and 12% do drink spirits on a regular basis. With regard to age and gender, about a quarter of the older boys stated that they drink beer or spirits regularly. The multiple regression analysis showed that age and gender had a significant impact on alcohol use. CONCLUSION: Alcohol - in particular spirits - is a substance used by some Portuguese adolescents. Alcohol use and abuse is more frequent in boys and increases with age. The importance of these findings for health promotion strategies is discussed.