Exploring the impact of parents' face-mask wearing on dyadic interactions in infants at higher likelihood for autism compared with general population.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, both the public and researchers have raised questions regarding the potential impact of protective face-mask wearing on infants' development. Nevertheless, limited research has tested infants' response to protective face-mask wearing adults in real-life interactions and in neurodiverse populations. In addition, scarce attention was given to changes in interactive behavior of adults wearing a protective face-mask. The aims of the current study were (1) to examine differences in 12-month-old infants' behavioral response to an interactive parent wearing a protective face-mask during face-to-face interaction, (2) to investigate potential differences in infants at higher likelihood for autism (HL-ASD) as compared with general population (GP) counterparts, and (3) to explore significant differences in parents' behaviors while wearing or not wearing a protective face-mask. A total of 50 mother-infant dyads, consisting of 20 HL-ASD infants (siblings of individuals with autism) and 30 GP infants, participated in a 6-min face-to-face interaction. The interaction was videotaped through teleconferencing and comprised three 2-min episodes: (a) no mask, (b) mask, and (c) post-mask. Infants' emotionality and gaze direction, as well as mothers' vocal production and touching behaviors, were coded micro-analytically. Globally, GP infants exhibited more positive emotionality compared with their HL-ASD counterparts. Infants' negative emotionality and gaze avoidance did not differ statistically across episodes. Both groups of infants displayed a significant increase in looking time toward the caregiver during the mask episode. No statistically significant differences emerged in mothers' behaviors. These findings suggest that the use of protective face-masks might not negatively affect core dimensions of caregiver-infant interactions in GP and HL-ASD 12-month-old infants.

Exposure to pollution during the first thousand days and telomere length regulation: A literature review.

Telomere length (TL) is a biomarker for cellular senescence and TL erosion is predictive of the risk for age-related diseases. Despite being genetically determined at birth, TL may be susceptible to modifications through epigenetic mechanisms. Pollutant agents are considered one of the major threats to both human and planetary health. Their ability to cross the placental barrier and induce oxidative stress in fetal cells is particularly concerning and it may be associated with early TL erosion. In consideration of the timely relevance of this topic, we conducted a literature review on the impact of prenatal exposure to pollutant agents on newborn TL. The search yielded a total of 1099 records, of which only 32 met the inclusion criteria for the review. These criteria included the participation of human subjects, a longitudinal design or collection of longitudinal data, reporting of original TL data, and a focus on exposure to pollutant agents. The majority of the studies reported a significant inverse association between prenatal exposure to pollutant agents and TL. Furthermore, the second trimester of pregnancy emerged as a special sensitive period for the occurrence of pollutant agent-driven TL modifications. Sex differences were inconsistently reported across studies. This review contributes to highlighting biochemical pathways for the threats of environmental pollution to human health. Future research is warranted to further highlight potential buffering mechanisms.