Parental Influence on Child Mental Health Post-Hurricane Harvey.

Purpose: Many children who face natural disasters experience significant mental health consequences. Parents play a prominent role in the likelihood of child mental health outcomes after a weather-related disaster. This study aimed to examine the relationship between parent risk factors and children's psychological well-being post Hurricane Harvey. Methods: Parents (n = 140) completed a survey that measured hurricane exposure, parental depression and anxiety, parenting behaviors, and assistance given and received during or after Hurricane Harvey. Additionally, parents were asked to complete questionnaires assessing one of their children's post-disaster psychosocial functioning and distress. Results: Results indicated that heightened parent anxiety was significantly associated with an increased risk for emotional symptoms, conduct problems, and hyperactivity-inattention symptoms in children. Additionally, inconsistency in parental discipline was significantly associated with an increased risk of child conduct problems. Further, higher numbers of assistance types received by parents-a proxy indicator of resource loss-was associated with higher child emotional distress scores. Conclusions: Broader systems-level interventions that address parents' physical and emotional needs may help mitigate maladaptive reactions in children and facilitate greater post-disaster psychosocial adjustment.

Studies toward the synthesis of 4-(2-R-ethyl)amino-2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-3-imidazoline 1-oxyls. nucleophilic substitution of bromide in the N-Alkyl chain of the 1,2,4-oxadiazol-2-one precursor.

A synthetic approach to access the new nitroxides of the amidine type exhibiting pH-dependent EPR spectra through substitution of a halide in the exo-N-halogenoalkyl chain of 1-(2-bromoethyl)-6-oxyl-5,5,7,7-tetramethyltetrahydroimidazo[1,5-b][1,2,4]oxadiazol-2-one is reported. In this approach, an oxycarbonyl moiety of the oxadiazolone heterocycle plays the role of a "protecting group" for the amidine functionality. A nucleophilic cleavage of the oxadiazolone heterocycle under mild nonbasic conditions, applicable to substrates bearing substituents vulnerable to attack by strong basic nucleophiles, is elaborated. The approach allows for the new amidine nitroxides bearing various functional groups (e.g., such as CN, N3, NH2, COOEt) to be synthesized. A series of nitroxides obtained through the Staudinger/intermolecular aza-Wittig reaction of the azido derivative is also described. The nitroxides synthesized here were found to have pH-dependent two-component EPR spectra indicative of a slow, on the EPR time scale, R* left arrow over right arrow R*H+ chemical exchange, and pKa values ranging from 2.8 to 12.5 units. The guanidine derivatives synthesized in this work show the highest pKa values (pKa = 10.2 and 12.5, respectively) ever reported for the nitroxide pH-probes of a "basic type".

Synthesis, structure, and X-band (9.5 GHz) EPR characterization of the new series of pH-sensitive spin probes: N,N-disubstituted 4-amino-2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-3-imidazoline 1-oxyls.

[reaction: see text] An approach to the synthesis of new imidazoline nitroxides bearing an N',N'-disubstituted amidine group is reported. The approach is based on the alkylation of diamagnetic 4-R-amino-1,2,2,5,5-pentamethyl-3-imidazolines with bromoacetic acid ethyl ester; the products of alkylation are further oxidized to the corresponding nitroxides. The approach allows a variety of functional groups to be introduced into the nitroxide molecule structure. Alkylation with bromoacetic acid ethyl ester was found to proceed with high regioselectivity and afford the products of exo-alkylation. The regiochemical assignment is made on the basis of 13C NMR spectra and confirmed by X-ray diffraction study. All of the nitroxides synthesized here were shown to have pH-dependent EPR spectra with pKa ranging from 3.5 to 6.2. For nitroxides 13 bearing the carboxylic group remote to the nitroxide moiety, the changes in isotropic magnetic parameters of EPR spectra due to reversible deprotonation of the carboxylic group were found to be small. For these nitroxides, we demonstrate an alternative approach for pKa determination that is based on measuring the peak-to-peak line width of the EPR spectrum in the presence of the paramagnetic broadening agent potassium ferricyanide. The partition coefficients of nitroxides in octanol/H2O and octanol/phosphate buffer solution mixtures were measured to reveal a range of their lipophilicities.