The Community Child Health Network Life Stress Interview: a brief chronic stress measure for community health research.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Chronic stress is implicated in many theories as a contributor to a wide range of physical and mental health problems. The current study describes the development of a chronic stress measure that was based on the UCLA Life Stress Interview (LSI) and adapted in collaboration with community partners for use in a large community health study of low-income, ethnically diverse parents of infants in the USA (Community Child Health Network [CCHN]). We describe the instrument, its purpose and adaptations, implementation, and results of a reliability study in a subsample of the larger study cohort. DESIGN AND METHODS: Interviews with 272 mothers were included in the present study. Chronic stress was assessed using the CCHN LSI, an instrument designed for administration by trained community interviewers to assess four domains of chronic stress, each rated by interviewers. RESULTS: Significant correlations ranging from small to moderate in size between chronic stress scores on this measure, other measures of stress, biomarkers of allostatic load, and mental health provide initial evidence of construct and concurrent validity. Reliability data for interviewer ratings are also provided. CONCLUSIONS: This relatively brief interview (15 minutes) is available for use and may be a valuable tool for researchers seeking to measure chronic stress reliably and validly in future studies with time constraints.

Efectos protectores del aceite de Nigella sativa en la lesión pulmonar inducida por hiperoxia / Protective Effects of Nigella sativa Oil in Hyperoxia-Induced Lung Injury

Antecedentes: Se cree que la lesión pulmonar inducida por el oxígeno conduce al desarrollo de una displasia broncopulmonar en los recién nacidos prematuros. Hemos evaluado los efectos favorables del aceite de Nigella sativa (NSO) en ratas con lesión pulmonar inducida por hiperoxia. Métodos: Se utilizaron 30 ratas Sprague-Dawley recién nacidas a las que se dividió aleatoriamente en 3 grupos para aplicarles hiperoxia (O2 al 95%), hiperoxia+NSO o el grupo de control (O2 al 21%). A las crías del grupo de hiperoxia+NSO se les administró NSO a una dosis de 4ml/kg al día por vía intraperitoneal durante el periodo de estudio. Se realizó una evaluación histopatológica, inmunoquímica y bioquímica (superóxido dismutasa [SOD], glutatión peroxidasa [GSH-Px], malonilaldehído [MDA] y mieloperoxidasa [MPO]). Resultados: En la evaluación histopatológica e inmunoquímica, la gravedad de la lesión pulmonar fue significativamente inferior en el grupo de hiperoxia+NOS (p<0,05). Los niveles tisulares de GSH-Px y SOD se mantuvieron significativamente preservados, y los niveles de MDA y MPO fueron significativamente inferiores en el grupo de hiperoxia+NSO (p<0,05). Conclusión: El NSO redujo significativamente la gravedad de la lesión pulmonar debida a la hiperoxia(AU)

Background: Oxygen-induced lung injury is believed to lead to the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in premature infants. We have evaluated the beneficial effects of Nigella sativa oil (NSO) on rats with hyperoxia-induced lung injury. Methods: Thirty newborn Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups as hyperoxia (95% O2), hyperoxia+NSO and control (21% O2). Pups in the hyperoxia+NSO group were administered intraperitoneal NSO at a dose of 4ml/kg daily during the study period. Histopathologic, immunochemical, and biochemical evaluations (superoxide dismutase [SOD], glutathione peroxidase [GSH-Px], malonaldehyde [MDA] and myeloperoxidase [MPO]) were performed. Results: In the histopathologic and immunochemical evaluation, severity of lung damage was significantly lower in the hyperoxia+NOS group (P<0.05). Tissue GSH-Px and SOD levels were significantly preserved, and MDA, MPO levels were significantly lower in the hyperoxia+NSO group (P<0.05). Conclusion: NSO significantly reduced the severity of lung damage due to hyperoxia(AU)

Shedding Light on the Mechanisms Underlying Health Disparities Through Community Participatory Methods: The Stress Pathway.

Health disparities are large and persistent gaps in the rates of disease and death between racial/ethnic and socioeconomic status subgroups in the population. Stress is a major pathway hypothesized to explain such disparities. The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development formed a community/research collaborative-the Community Child Health Network-to investigate disparities in maternal and child health in five high-risk communities. Using community participation methods, we enrolled a large cohort of African American/Black, Latino/Hispanic, and non-Hispanic/White mothers and fathers of newborns at the time of birth and followed them over 2 years. A majority had household incomes near or below the federal poverty level. Home interviews yielded detailed information regarding multiple types of stress such as major life events and many forms of chronic stress including racism. Several forms of stress varied markedly by racial/ethnic group and income, with decreasing stress as income increased among Caucasians but not among African Americans; other forms of stress varied by race/ethnicity or poverty alone. We conclude that greater sophistication in studying the many forms of stress and community partnership is necessary to uncover the mechanisms underlying health disparities in poor and ethnic-minority families and to implement community health interventions.

The effects of acculturation on asthma burden in a community sample of Mexican American schoolchildren.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine whether low acculturation among Mexican American caregivers protects their children against asthma. METHODS: Data were obtained from an observational study of urban pediatric asthma. Dependent variables were children's diagnosed asthma and total (diagnosed plus possible) asthma. Regression models were controlled for caregivers' level of acculturation, education, marital status, depression, life stress, and social support and children's insurance. RESULTS: Caregivers' level of acculturation was associated with children's diagnosed asthma (P = .025) and total asthma (P = .078) in bivariate analyses. In multivariate models, protective effects of caregivers' level of acculturation were mediated by the other covariates. Independent predictors of increased diagnosed asthma included caregivers' life stress (odds ratio [OR] = 1.12, P= .005) and children's insurance, both public (OR = 4.71, P= .009) and private (OR = 2.87, P= .071). Only caregiver's life stress predicted increased total asthma (OR = 1.21, P= .001). CONCLUSIONS: The protective effect of caregivers' level of acculturation on diagnosed and total asthma for Mexican American children was mediated by social factors, especially caregivers' life stress. Among acculturation measures, foreign birth was more predictive of disease status than was language use or years in country. Increased acculturation among immigrant groups does not appear to lead to greater asthma risk.

Context matters: a community-based study of maternal mental health, life stressors, social support, and children's asthma.

OBJECTIVE: Recent national survey data indicate an overall asthma prevalence of 12.2% for children who are younger than 18 years. Previous research in clinical samples of children with asthma suggests that their mothers are at greater risk for symptoms of depression. We describe the relationship between maternal symptoms of depression and having a child with asthma in a community-based sample. METHODS: After a school-based ascertainment of asthma and asthma symptoms in 15 low-income, racially/ethnically diverse public elementary schools, 1149 eligible mothers agreed to participate in a longitudinal study. Mothers either had a child with previously diagnosed asthma or a child with symptoms consistent with possible asthma or were in the randomly selected comparison group in which no child in the household had asthma. During the first interview, mothers responded to questions about their own life stressors, supports and mental health, and their children's health. RESULTS: In bivariate analyses of a community-based sample of children who share low-income neighborhoods, mothers of children with diagnosed or with possible undiagnosed asthma had more symptoms of depression than did mothers of children who have no asthma. Mothers of children with diagnosed or with possible undiagnosed asthma also experienced more life stressors than did mothers of children without asthma. Using nested linear regression, we estimated a model of maternal symptoms of depression. Most of the variation in Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression score was accounted for by life stressors and social support. There were no independent effects of either asthma status or asthma status-specific child health status on maternal symptoms of depression. CONCLUSION: Children who are under care for chronic conditions such as asthma live and manage their illness outside the clinical setting. Their social context matters, and maternal mental health is related to their children's physical health. Although having a child with asthma may be "just" another stressor in the mother's social context, complex treatment plans must be followed despite the many other pressures of neighborhood and family lives.

Child well-being in an era of welfare reform: the sensitivity of transitions in development to policy change.

This study examined the age-specific pattern of effects of welfare policies on child achievement. Drawing from 7 random-assignment welfare and antipoverty evaluations that provided more than 30,000 observations of children's achievement, this study found that times of developmental transition are the only periods sensitive to the changes in families brought about by these policies. More specifically, small positive effects of welfare and antipoverty policies were found for children making the transition into middle childhood, and small negative effects of these same policies were found for children making the transition out of middle childhood and into early adolescence. Effects were robust across various program groupings and could not be attributed to family characteristics that differ for children of different ages. This research informs the understanding of how changes in employment and income for low-income parents affect development across childhood.