Mental Distress Among Norwegian Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Predictors in Initial Response and Subsequent Trajectories.

Objectives: To identify factors associated with change in mental distress at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, relative to pre-pandemic levels, and with changes during the following 1.5 years. Methods: The prospective Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study collected eight waves of data during the pandemic (March 2020-September 2021) in 105,972 adult participants used for this analyses. A piecewise latent growth model was fitted to identify initial level and longitudinal changes in mental distress. Results: Mental distress peaked at the beginning of the pandemic. Factors associated with initial increases were: medical conditions, living alone, history of psychiatric disorders, lower education, female sex, younger age, and obesity. Being quarantined or infected with SARS-CoV-2 were associated with increasing distress while being vaccinated was associated with reduced mental distress. Conclusion: Having a chronic disease and being quarantined or infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus were associated with more mental distress during the pandemic. This knowledge is important for planning interventions to support individuals during future pandemics and other societal crises.

Gender gaps in preschool age: A study of behavior, neurodevelopment and pre-academic skills.

Background: Female educational advantage is evident from elementary school and throughout the education system. Understanding the gender differences that precede school entry might provide important insight as to why girls outperform boys later in their educational careers. Aims: The aim of this study was to explore gender differences in early literacy and numeracy skills, as well as a range of neurodevelopmental and behavioral domains between the age of five and six years. Methods: We used questionnaire data from preschool teachers in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study reported for 7467 children attending the final year in preschool, to explore gender differences and age patterns by fitting flexible regression models predicting pre-academic, behavioral and neurodevelopmental outcomes. Results: We found gender differences favoring girls for all outcomes except internalizing behavior. For neurodevelopment and behavior, differences in adjusted standardized scores ranged from 46% of a standard deviation (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.41, 0.50) in overall school readiness to 31% of a standard deviation difference in externalizing behavior problems (CI 0.21, 0.41). We found gender differences for all literacy skills in favor of girls. The gender gap in naming and adding numbers was small, but in favor of girls. Increasing age was associated with improved pre-academic skills and school readiness, as well as reduction of attention problems and language difficulties, the latter especially for boys. Conclusions: We conclude that gender differences favoring girls exist prior to school entry for a broad range of pre-academic, behavioral and neurodevelopmental skills relevant to school functioning.

In utero exposure to analgesic opioids and language development in 5-year old children.

PURPOSE: An increasing consumption of opioids has been reported. The primary aim of the present study was follow-up of neurocognitive development in children exposed to analgesic opioids during pregnancy, using three different validated instruments to assess language and communication development at 5 years. METHODS: The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) prospectively included pregnant women 1999 to 2008. Participants reported medication use at pregnancy week 17/18 and 30, and 6 months after birth. Children's language competence and communication skills at 5 years were reported by mothers on three different validated scales; The Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ), The Speech and Language Assessment Scale (SLAS) and The Twenty Statements about Language-Related Difficulties list (Language20Q). RESULTS: A total of 27 428 women with 33 407 singleton pregnancies were included. Use of analgesic opioids was reported in 584 pregnancies (1.7%). No associations between opioid use and lower language competence or communication skills were found. For ASQ, the OR of being in the lowest category vs the group with maximum mean score was 0.82 (95%CI 0.57, 1.17), for SLAS the OR of scoring worse than typical for age vs better than typical for age was 0.84 (0.61, 1.17) in children exposed to opioids in utero. For Language20Q using the best performance category as reference, the OR of scoring in the lower performance category was 0.57 (0.35, 0.91) with exposure to opioids. CONCLUSION: Use of analgesic opioids in pregnant women does not seem to negatively affect language development or communication skills in children at 5 years.

Maternal Thyroid Hormone Replacement Therapy Exposure and Language and Communication Skills of Offspring at 8 Years of Age.

Importance: Hypothyroidism during pregnancy is associated with neurodevelopmental delays in the offspring. However, it remains unknown whether prenatal thyroid hormone replacement therapy (THRT) has benefits regarding children's language and communication skills. Objective: To quantify associations between prenatal THRT exposure and risk of language impairment diagnosis and parent-reported symptoms of language and communication skill deficits in offspring at 8 years of age. Design, Setting, and Participants: The Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), a nationwide population-based cohort study, recruited pregnant women from throughout Norway between June 1999 and December 2008. MoBa was linked to several nationwide registries: the Norwegian Medical Birth Registry, Norwegian Prescription Database, and Norwegian Patient Registry. For this study, the analyzed cohort was restricted to singleton pregnancies resulting in a live-born infant, enrolled in the MoBa between 2005 and 2008. Statistical analysis was performed from January 2 to May 7, 2019. Exposures: In both study samples, mother-child pairs were categorized into 3 mutually exclusive groups: THRT exposure during pregnancy, based on dispensed prescription records; unexposed to THRT during pregnancy (population comparison); and mothers initiating THRT after delivery (THRT after delivery), comprising incident postpartum THRT users. Main Outcomes and Measures: Two defined study samples were analyzed with different outcome measures. In the Norwegian Patient Registry sample, outcome was defined by a diagnosis of language and speech impairment. In the MoBa sample, children were followed up until age 8 years via parental self-completed questionnaires. Hazard ratios were calculated for language impairment diagnosis, estimated by Cox proportional hazards regression. Standardized mean score (ß) was calculated for parent-reported symptoms of language and communication deficits, estimated using generalized linear models. Results: The Norwegian Patient Registry sample included 53 862 mother-child pairs (mean [SD] age, 30.4 [4.6] years; offspring, 26 145 girls and 27 717 boys; 1204 pairs exposed to THRT [2.2%]) and the MoBa sample included 23 686 mother-child pairs (mean [SD] age, 30.8 [4.4] years; offspring, 11 536 girls and 12 150 boys; 532 pairs exposed to THRT [2.2%]). Language and speech impairment diagnosis was not significantly associated with prenatal THRT exposure compared with the unexposed group (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.38-1.43) or the THRT after delivery group (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.26-1.53). Language outcomes also did not significantly differ between these groups. Conclusions and Relevance: There was no significant difference in child outcomes between children exposed to THRT in the prenatal period compared with children in the population comparison group. These results support current guidelines recommending hypothyroidism treatment during pregnancy. Future research should further examine the use of THRT after delivery or a proper disease comparison group.

Language delay and poorer school performance in children of mothers with inadequate iodine intake in pregnancy: results from follow-up at 8 years in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: Some studies indicate that mild-to-moderate iodine deficiency in pregnant women might negatively affect offspring neurocognitive development, including previous results from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort study (MoBa) exploring maternally reported child development at age 3 years. The aim of this follow-up study was to investigate whether maternal iodine intake in pregnancy is associated with language and learning at 8 years of age. METHODS: The study sample includes 39,471 mother-child pairs participating in MoBa with available information from a validated food frequency questionnaire covering the first half of pregnancy and a questionnaire on child neurocognitive development at 8 years. Multivariable regression was used to explore associations of iodine intake from food and supplements with maternally reported child outcomes. RESULTS: Maternal iodine intake from food less than ~ 150 µg/day was associated with poorer child language skills (p-overall = 0.013), reading skills (p-overall = 0.019), and writing skills (p-overall = 0.004) as well as poorer school test result in reading (p < 0.001), and increased likelihood of the child receiving special educational services (p-overall = 0.042) (in non-iodine supplement users). Although significant, differences were generally small. Maternal use of iodine supplements in pregnancy was not significantly associated with any of the outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Low habitual iodine intake in pregnant women, i.e., lower than the recommended intake for non-pregnant women, was associated with mothers reporting poorer child language, school performance, and increased likelihood of special educational services. We found no indications of benefits or harm of using iodine-containing supplements in pregnancy. Initiating use in pregnancy might be too late.

Association of prenatal exposure to benzodiazepines and child internalizing problems: A sibling-controlled cohort study.

BACKGROUND: During pregnancy, many women experience sleep problems and anxiety that require treatment. The long-term safety for the child of maternal benzodiazepine (BZD) and z-hypnotic use during pregnancy remains controversial. METHOD: We conducted a cohort and a sibling control study using data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. Data on use of BZD and z-hypnotics, internalizing and externalizing outcomes, and covariates were collected from mothers at gestational weeks 17 and 30 and when children were 0.5, 1.5, and 3 years of age. The total sample consisted of 71,996 children (19,297 siblings) at 1.5 years and 55,081 children (13,779 siblings) at 3 years. Short-term use was defined as use in one pregnancy period only. Long-term use was defined as use in two or more pregnancy periods. Linear full cohort random-effect and sibling-matched fixed-effect regression models were used to compare internalizing and externalizing behavior in children prenatally exposed compared to those unexposed in the full cohort of pregnancies accounting for family clusters, as well as within sibling clusters comparing pregnancies with discordant exposures. Propensity score (PS) adjustment included variables on indication for use (sleep problems, symptoms of anxiety and depression) and other potential confounding factors. RESULTS: Long-term prenatal exposure to BZD or z-hypnotics was associated with increased internalizing behavior in crude cohort analyses and at age 1.5 years after PS adjustment in sibling-matched fixed-effect models [ß 0.60, 95% confidence interval 0.17-0.95]. Analyses on specific drug groups showed that prenatal exposure to BZD-anxiolytics was associated with increased internalizing problems at both 1.5 years [ß 0.25, 0.01-0.49] and 3 years [ß 0.26, 0.002-0.52] while exposure to z-hypnotics was not associated with any adverse outcomes after adjustment. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest a moderate association between BZD-anxiolytic exposure and child internalizing problems that is not likely due to stable familial confounding factors.

Suboptimal Maternal Iodine Intake Is Associated with Impaired Child Neurodevelopment at 3 Years of Age in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.

Background: Severe iodine deficiency in pregnancy has major effects on child neurodevelopment, but less is known about the potential consequences of mild-to-moderate deficiency and iodine supplement use.Objective: We explored the associations between maternal iodine intake and child neurodevelopment at 3 y of age and the potential impact of maternal intake of iodine from supplements on the same outcomes.Methods: This population-based prospective observational study included 48,297 mother-child pairs recruited during pregnancy from 2002 to 2008. Maternal iodine intake was calculated based on a validated food-frequency questionnaire answered during midpregnancy that covered mean intake since the beginning of pregnancy. Associations between iodine intake and maternal-reported child language and motor development and behavior problems were explored by multivariable regression analyses.Results: In 33,047 mother-child pairs, excluding iodine supplement users, maternal iodine intake was associated with child language delay (P = 0.024), externalizing and internalizing behavior problems (both P < 0.001), and fine motor skills (P = 0.002) but not gross motor skills or the risk of not walking unaided at 17 mo of age. In 74% of the participants who had an iodine intake <160 µg/d (Estimated Average Requirement), suboptimal iodine intake was estimated to account for ∼5% (95% CI: -5%, 14%) of the cases of language delay, 16% (95% CI: 0%, 21%) of the cases of externalizing behavior problems >1.5 SD, and 16% (95% CI: 10%, 21%) of the cases of internalizing behavior problems >1.5 SD. In 48,297 mother-child pairs, including iodine supplement users, we found no protective effects of supplemental iodine during pregnancy on neurodevelopment.Conclusions: Maternal iodine intake below the Estimated Average Requirement during pregnancy was associated with symptoms of child language delay, behavior problems, and reduced fine motor skills at 3 y of age. The results showed no evidence of a protective effect of iodine supplementation during pregnancy.