Partners with a Highly Favorable Attitude Toward Breastfeeding Contribute to Promoting Initiation and Length of Breastfeeding for More than 5 Months in a Population-Based Canadian Study.

Introduction: Promoting maternal breastfeeding for at least 6 months is important to improve children physical health during infancy and neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood. For this guideline to be followed, it is paramount to identify what factors best support the initiation and length of breastfeeding. This study estimates the contribution of various child- and parent-level factors, as well as the sociodemographic context in predicting maternal breastfeeding initiation and duration. Methods: This study draws on data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. Mothers who never breastfed when the infant was 5 months old (n = 630, 28.3%) were compared to mothers who breastfed for less than 5 months (n = 844, 38.0%) and mothers breastfeeding for more than 5 months (n = 749, 33.7%), using multivariable multinomial regression models. Results: Mothers with a partner showing a positive attitude toward breastfeeding were up to 13 times more likely to breastfeed their infant for more than 5 months. The positive attitude of partners toward breastfeeding was the strongest predictor of breastfeeding duration, followed by the maternal educational attainment and timing she returns to work. Most prenatal and perinatal child-level factors and the sociodemographic context predicted breastfeeding duration, but to a lesser extent. Discussion: This finding underscores the role of the partner's attitude in promoting initiation and length of breastfeeding. As such, educational campaigns and health practitioners could target both the mother and their partner in promoting breastfeeding.

Unraveling the effects of maternal breastfeeding duration and exclusive breast milk on children's cognitive abilities in early childhood.

Background: This study investigated the putative associations between mothers' use of exclusive breast milk and the duration of breastfeeding with child cognitive development. Methods: This study is based on 2,210 Canadian families with children assessed longitudinally from age 4 to 7 years on their memory-span and math skills. These cognitive abilities were measured with standardized tasks. Breastfeeding practices were collected via maternal reports. We applied propensity scores to control the social selection bias for breastfeeding. Results: Results adjusted for propensity scores and sample weight revealed no significant differences between non-breastfed children with those being non-exclusively breastfed for 5 months or less, and with children being exclusively breastfed for 9.2 months on average, on their early math skills and memory-span. We found that children who were non-exclusively breastfed for 6.8 months on average had a slightly higher levels of memory-span at age 4 than children who were never breastfed, and this small but significant difference lasted up to age 7. Conclusion: Our findings suggest no significant differences between children being exclusively breastfed and those fed with formula on their early math skills and memory-span. The encouragement of breastfeeding to promote child cognitive school readiness may, in some case (non-exclusive breastfeeding for more than 5 months), show a small but long-lasting advantage in early memory-span.

Associations Between Video Game Engagement and ADHD Symptoms in Early Adolescence.

OBJECTIVE: We aim to investigate the direction of causality of the association between adolescent video game playing and later development of ADHD symptoms using a population-based sample of Canadian Youth. METHOD: The present study is based on longitudinal cohort data (N = 1,467). Youth self-reported weekly hours of video game playing as well as ADHD symptoms at both 12 and 13 years of age. RESULTS: Cross-lagged panel model were estimated to examine how adolescent video game playing prospectively contributes to ADHD symptoms while simultaneously considering how adolescent ADHD symptoms may prospectively contribute to videogame playing. Analyses revealed a significant positive association between adolescent video games playing at age 12 and ADHD symptoms at age 13. Youth ADHD symptoms at age 12 did not predict video game use at age 13. CONCLUSION: Our results help clarify the direction of causality of the association between video game playing and ADHD symptoms and provide evidence that video game playing can represent a risk factor for the development of attention problems in early adolescence.

Vivências Acadêmicas e Sofrimento Psíquico de Estudantes de Psicologia / Academic Experiences and Psychological Suffering among Psychology students / Vivencias Académicas y el Sufrimiento Psíquico de los estudiantes de Psicología

Resumo A vivência estudantil na universidade é uma questão pouco investigada e discutida, especialmente nos cursos de Psicologia, assim como o sofrimento que pode acompanhá-la, decorrente sobretudo do contato com o sofrimento psíquico de outras pessoas ou os conteúdos acadêmicos mais diretamente relacionados com a subjetividade humana. Este artigo apresenta dados de uma pesquisa cujo objetivo era o levantamento das vivências acadêmicas dos estudantes de Psicologia de uma universidade pública do interior paulista. Na coleta de dados foi utilizado um instrumento, contendo uma questão de identificação sociodemográfica, um conjunto de 20 itens de múltipla escolha (formulado como numa escala do tipo likert de cinco pontos) e cinco questões abertas, que foi respondido por 119 estudantes dos cinco anos do curso. Os resultados, após serem submetidos às análises quantitativa e qualitativa, permitiram verificar que, na Escala Likert, os alunos apresentaram, no geral, percepção favorável do curso. No entanto, nas questões abertas referentes às vivências e ao sofrimento psíquico foram apresentados indicadores explícitos de mal-estar universitário. Na última questão, que indagava sobre a vivência de sofrimento psíquico, 107 dos 119 estudantes responderam afirmativamente. A partir destes dados, se discute a necessidade urgente de ações, tanto por parte dos gestores universitários quanto das entidades que fiscalizam a formação de psicólogos....(AU)

Abstract Academic experiences constitute a poorly discussed and researched subject, which is also truth for the suffering that may go along with such experiences, especially in the psychology courses, as well as the suffering that can accompany them, stemming mainly from contact with the psychic suffering of others or with an academic content more directly related to human subjectivity. This study presents data from a survey whose purpose was to map the academic experiences of psychology students, at a Brazilian public University. A questionnaire containing a question of socio-demographic identification, a set of 20 multiple-choice items (formulated as a Likert scale of five points) and five open questions was used to collect data by 119 students of the five years of the course. The results, after being subject to quantitative and qualitative analysis, allowed to verify, in Likert scale, that the students presented, in general, a favorable perception of the course. However, the open questions relating to experiences and psychological distress presented explicit indicators of university unease. In the last question, that inquired about the experience of psychological distress, 107 of 119 students responded affirmatively. From these data, we discuss the urgent need for action, both by university administrators and by the entities that oversee the training of psychologists....(AU)

Resumen La experiencia de los estudiantes en la universidad es un asunto poco investigado y discutido, sobre todo en los cursos de psicología, así como el sufrimiento que puede acompañarla, derivados principalmente del contacto con el sufrimiento psíquico de los demás, o con contenidos académicos más directamente relacionados con la subjetividad humano. Este artículo presenta datos de una encuesta cuyo objetivo fue estudiar las experiencias académicas de los estudiantes de psicología en una universidad pública de São Paulo. Para la recolección de datos se utilizó un cuestionario que contiene una pregunta de identificación sociodemográfico, un conjunto de 20 preguntas de elección múltiple (formulado como una escala Likert de cinco puntos) y cinco preguntas abiertas que fueron respondidas por 119 estudiantes de los cinco años del curso. Los resultados, después de haber sido objeto de un análisis cuantitativo y cualitativo, permiten verificar, en escala Likert, que los estudiantes presentan, en general, una percepción favorable del curso. Sin embargo, en las preguntas abiertas, relacionadas con las experiencias y los trastornos psicológicos, se presentaron indicadores explícitos de malestar universitario. En la última pregunta, que trataba acerca de la experiencia de sufrimiento psíquico, 107 de 119 estudiantes respondieron afirmativamente. A partir de estos datos, se discute la necesidad urgente de adoptar medidas, tanto por parte de los administradores de la universidad, como por parte las entidades que supervisan la formación de los psicólogos....(AU)