The Birth and Beyond (BABY) study: protocol for a birth cohort study investigating the social and environmental determinants of pregnancy-related outcomes in Black American families.

INTRODUCTION: In the USA, Black birthing people and infants experience disproportionately worse pregnancy-related health outcomes. The causes for these disparities are unknown, but evidence suggests that they are likely socially and environmentally based. Efforts to identify the determinants of these racial disparities are urgently needed to elucidate the highest priority targets for intervention. The Birth and Beyond (BABY) study evaluates how micro-level (eg, interpersonal and family) and macro-level (eg, neighbourhood and environmental) risk and resiliency factors transact to shape birth person-infant health, and underlying psychobiological mechanisms. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The BABY study will follow 350 Black families (birthing parents, non-birthing parents and infants) from pregnancy through the first postpartum year, with research visits during pregnancy and at infant ages 6 and 12 months. Research visits comprise a combination of interview about a range of recent and life course stress and resiliency exposures and supports, psychophysiological (sympathetic, parasympathetic and adrenocortical) assessment and behavioural observations of parent-infant coregulatory behaviours. Spatial analyses are completed by mapping parent current and past residential addresses onto archival public data (eg, about neighbourhood quality and racial segregation). Finally, EMRs are abstracted for information about birthing parent relevant medical history, pregnancy conditions and infant birth outcomes. Analyses will evaluate the risk and resiliency mechanisms that contribute to pregnancy and birth-related outcomes for Black birthing people and their infants, and the protective role of individual, familial, cultural, and community supports. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The BABY study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board at Albany Medical Centre. The study team consulted with local organisations and groups comprised of stakeholders and community leaders and continues to do so throughout the study. Research results will be disseminated with the scientific and local community as appropriate.

Simulated Contact and Attitudes Toward Autistic Adults: Effects of Gender of the Autistic Adult and Mediation by Intergroup Anxiety.

PURPOSE: Neurotypical peers tend to have negative attitudes toward autistic peers, which may contribute to negative outcomes for autistic individuals. The present study was designed to build upon previous findings by testing whether simulating contact with an individual labeled as autistic and exhibiting stereotypical autistic behaviors, which has been shown to improve neurotypical individuals' attitudes toward autistic peers, depended on the gender of the imagined person. We also examined whether intergroup anxiety mediated the effects of simulated contact on these attitudes. METHODS: Neurotypical undergraduate participants (n = 194) were assigned to simulated contact scenarios in which the person in the imagined contact situation was labeled as autistic or not, exhibited stereotypical autistic behaviors or not and was given a female-identifying or male-identifying name. Participants completed questionnaires that assessed their attitudes toward autism, their previous contact with autistic individuals and their intergroup anxiety with future interactions with autistic people. RESULTS: As expected, after imagining contact with a person exhibiting stereotypical autistic behaviors, attitudes toward autistic individuals were more positive following interactions with male- but not female-identifying autistic partners. Intergroup anxiety was found to be a mediator of the effects of imagined contact on attitudes toward autistic individuals. CONCLUSION: These findings lend further support for imagined contact as a method to improve attitudes toward autistic individuals, identify intergroup anxiety as a mediator and begin to demonstrate some situations, such as imagining a female-identifying autistic individual, where imagined contact may not be effective in changing attitudes.

Peer connectedness and substance use in adolescence: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Adolescents' relationships with their peers play a pivotal role in their substance-use behaviors. As such, decades of research have examined how substance use relates to adolescents' overall levels of closeness to their peers, here termed peer connectedness, with mixed results. This report sought to determine how the operationalizations of peer connectedness and substance use affect the nature of the relationship between them. METHOD: We used a systematic review strategy to find a comprehensive set of studies investigating the relationship between peer connectedness and substance use. Three-level meta-analytic regression was used to empirically test whether the operationalization of these variables moderates effect sizes across studies. RESULTS: We found 147 studies, of which 128 were analyzed using multilevel meta-analytic regression models. Operationalizations of peer connectedness varied widely, encompassing sociometric and self-report measures. Of these measures, sociometric indices specifically pertaining to popularity were most strongly predictive of substance use. Less consistent relationships were observed between substance use and sociometric measures of friendship, as well as with self-report measures. CONCLUSIONS: Being perceived as popular by one's peers is positively related to substance use among adolescents. This relationship is stronger and more consistent than those between substance use and other peer-connectedness variables, underscoring the necessity of operationalizing these constructs specifically and clearly. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A 12-month follow-up of infant neurodevelopmental outcomes of prenatal opioid exposure and polysubstance use.

BACKGROUND: Prenatal opioid exposure has been associated with developmental deficits during infancy, but the literature is limited by simple group comparisons and lack of appropriate controls. Previously published research with the current sample documented unique associations between prenatal opioid exposure and developmental outcomes at three and six months, but less is known about associations later in infancy. METHOD: The current study examined pre- and postnatal opioid and polysubstance exposure as predictors of parent-reported developmental status at 12 months of age. Participants were 85 mother-child dyads, oversampled for mothers taking opioid treatment medications during pregnancy. Maternal opioid and polysubstance use were reported using the Timeline Follow-Back Interview during the third trimester of pregnancy or up to one month postpartum and updated through the child's first year of life. Seventy-eight dyads participated in a 12-month assessment, including 68 with parent-reported developmental status on Ages and Stages Questionnaire. RESULTS: At 12 months, average developmental scores fell within normal ranges and prenatal opioid exposure was not significantly related to any developmental outcomes. However, more prenatal alcohol exposure was significantly related to worse problem-solving scores, and this relationship remained after controlling for adjusted age and other substance exposure. CONCLUSION: Although findings await replication with larger samples and more comprehensive measures, results suggest that unique developmental risks of prenatal opioid exposure may not persist through the first year of life. Effects of prenatal exposure to co-occurring teratogens, such as alcohol, may become apparent as children exposed to opioids develop.