Alexander Grob

Maternal adjustment five months after birth: the impact of the subjective experience of childbirth and emotional support from the partner

: Recent research suggests that negative childbirth experiences may cause maternal maladjustment. The impact of intranatal emotional distress, intranatal physical discomfort and postnatal emotional evaluation of birth on symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression is investigated with regard to the moderating role of emotional support from the partner. Subjective childbirth experience measured with the German version of the Salmons Item List, obstetric characteristics and postnatal emotional support from the partner were assessed in 374 women six weeks after childbirth. Trauma symptoms and postnatal depression were measured five months after childbirth. Postnatal emotional partner support acts as a moderator of the effect of the subjective childbirth experience on the development of symptoms of avoidance, intrusive thoughts and depression. The direct influence of emotional partner support is stronger regarding symptoms of depression and hyperarousal than regarding avoidance and intrusive thoughts. No direct association between intranatal physical discomfort/labour pain and later maternal adjustment could be found. Women with a negative childbirth experience and poor emotional support from their partner are at increased risk for psychological maladjustment in the first five months after birth.

Sleep duration, positive attitude toward life, and academic achievement: the role of daytime tiredness, behavioral persistence, and school start times.

Sleep timing undergoes profound changes during adolescence, often resulting in inadequate sleep duration. The present study examines the relationship of sleep duration with positive attitude toward life and academic achievement in a sample of 2716 adolescents in Switzerland (mean age: 15.4 years, SD = 0.8), and whether this relationship is mediated by increased daytime tiredness and lower self-discipline/behavioral persistence. Further, we address the question whether adolescents who start school modestly later (20 min; n = 343) receive more sleep and report better functioning. Sleeping less than an average of 8 h per night was related to more tiredness, inferior behavioral persistence, less positive attitude toward life, and lower school grades, as compared to longer sleep duration. Daytime tiredness and behavioral persistence mediated the relationship between short sleep duration and positive attitude toward life and school grades. Students who started school 20 min later received reliably more sleep and reported less tiredness.

Life Markers in Biographical Narratives of People from Three Cohorts: A Life Span Perspective in Its Historical Context

Human development is often understood as an interplay between biological, sociohistorical, and social factors, as well as individual developmental actions. However, historical influences on development have rarely been investigated. The present study discusses societal change in the course of this century and investigates its impact on the life course by analyzing biographical narratives. This impact is illustrated by results from a study where participants from three birth cohorts (1920–25; 1945–50; 1970–75) were interviewed about important markers in their experienced and expected biographies. Although distribution of life markers over the life span was analogous across cohorts, participants from the younger cohorts perceived themselves as having more control on setting important life markers across their biographies. Their narratives referred more often to personal and less often to contextual and sociohistorical themes.

Maternal mental health in the first 3-week postpartum: the impact of caregiver support and the subjective experience of childbirth – a longitudinal path model

Objective: Acute stress reactions (ASR) and postpartum depressive symptoms (PDS) are frequent after childbirth. The present study addresses the change and overlap of ASR and PDS from the 1- to 3-week postpartum and examines the interplay of caregiver support and subjective birth experience with regard to the development of ASR/PDS within a longitudinal path model. Method: A total of 219 mothers completed questionnaires about caregiver support and subjective birth experience (Salmon’s Item List) at 48–6-h postpartum. ASR and PDS were measured for 1- and 3-week postpartum. The Impact of Event Scale (IES) was used to assess ASR, and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to assess PDS. Results: ASR was frequent 1-week postpartum (44.7%) and declined till week 3 (24.8%, p <.001), while the prevalence of PDS was continuous (14.2% week 1; 12.6% week 3; p = .380). Favorable reports of caregiver support were related to better subjective childbirth experience, which was related to lower ASR and PDS (controlled for age, mode of delivery, parity, EDA and duration of childbirth). Conclusion: High quality of intrapartum care and positive birth experiences facilitate psychological adjustment in the first 3-week postpartum.

Assessing Intellectual Giftedness with the WISC-IV and the IDS

The Hamburg Wechsler Intelligenztest fur Kinder (HAWIK-IV; the German version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition) and the newly designed Intelligence and Development Scales (IDS) were administered in counterbalanced order to 77 gifted children and 77 nongifted children, aged 6 to 10 years. Samples were matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Results reveal that both the HAWIK-IV and the IDS are able to distinguish between gifted and nongifted children. Moderate correlations between the tests indicate that the measures assess similar, but not identical constructs. Results are discussed as they pertain to the assessment and special needs of gifted children.

Morning cortisol secretion in school-age children is related to the sleep pattern of the preceding night

Sleep disturbance in childhood is common and a risk factor for poor mental health. Evidence indicates that disturbed sleep is associated with altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) activity. Knowledge regarding the association between HPAA-activity and objective sleep measures particularly regarding sleep architecture in school-age children is missing. Sleep-electroencephalography was administered to 113 children aged 6-10 years (including 58 children born very preterm and 55 born at term) during one night at the childrens homes and sleep duration, sleep continuity, and sleep architecture were assessed. To assess the cortisol awakening response at the following morning, cortisol secretion was measured at awakening, 10, 20, and 30min later. Regression analyses controlling child age, gender, prematurity status, and the awakening time revealed that morning cortisol secretion was negatively associated with sleep duration and slow wave sleep and positively associated with the relative amount of Stage 2 sleep during the preceding night. In addition, morning cortisol secretion linearly increased with age. In conclusion, associations of sleep disturbance with poor mental health may be confounded with altered HPAA-activity.

sleep duration and subjective psychological well-being in adolescence: a longitudinal study in switzerland and Norway

Background Adolescents’ sleep duration and subjective psychological well-being are related. However, few studies have examined the relationship between sleep duration and subjective psychological well-being longitudinally across adolescence – a time of profound biological and psychosocial change. The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate whether shorter sleep duration in adolescents is predictive of lower subjective psychological well-being 6 months and 12 months later or whether lower subjective psychological well-being is predictive of shorter sleep duration. Methods Adolescents (age range, 10.02–15.99 years; mean age, 13.05±1.49 years; 51.8%, female) from German-speaking Switzerland (n=886) and Norway (n=715) reported their sleep duration and subjective psychological well-being on school days using self-rating questionnaires at baseline (T1), 6 months (T2), and 12 months from baseline (T3). Results Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses revealed that sleep duration decreased with age. Longer sleep duration was concurrently associated with better subjective psychological well-being. Crossed-lagged autoregressive longitudinal panel analysis showed that sleep duration prospectively predicted subjective psychological well-being while there was no evidence for the reverse relationship. Conclusion Sleep duration is predictive of subjective psychological well-being. The findings offer further support for the importance of healthy sleep patterns during adolescence.

Smoking Cessation during Pregnancy and Relapse after Childbirth: The Impact of the Grandmother’s Smoking Status

Objectives Smoking during pregnancy can result in negative effects in exposed children. It is well established that the smoking status of husbands is a major predictor of smoking among pregnant women. It was investigated whether the smoking status of the women’s parents and parents-in-law has an impact on smoking cessation during pregnancy and relapse after birth above the smoking status of the husband. Method An initial sample of 458 women and their husbands was assessed prospectively during a 17-month period after birth regarding smoking habits. Five months after birth the women and their husbands reported the smoking status of their own parents. Results Smoking during pregnancy was related to the smoking status of the women’s husband and mother. Women with a husband and mother who smoke were more likely to continue smoking. Relapse after smoking cessation during pregnancy was related to the smoking status of the husband and the mother-in-law. The smoking status of the women’s father and father-in-law was not related to smoking cessation or relapse. Conclusion The smoking status of the pregnant women’s mothers and mothers-in-law is related to fetal and newborn’s nicotine exposure. The findings suggest benefits of taking the smoking status of pregnant women’s mothers and mothers-in-law into account in smoking prevention programs for pregnant women and mothers with infants.

The role of sleep and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis for behavioral and emotional problems in very preterm children during middle childhood

Very preterm children are at higher risk to develop behavioral and emotional problems, poor sleep, and altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical activity (HPAA). However, knowledge on objective sleep and HPAA as well as their role for the development of behavioral and emotional problems in very preterm children is limited. Fifty-eight very preterm children (<32nd gestational week) and 55 full-term children aged 6-10 years underwent one night of in-home polysomnographic sleep assessment. HPAA was assessed with four saliva samples in the morning (morning cortisol secretion) and four saliva samples in the evening (evening cortisol secretion). Parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to assess childrens behavioral and emotional problems and a subscale of the Childrens Sleep Habits Questionnaire to assess sleep disordered breathing. Very preterm children showed more behavioral and emotional problems (SDQ total behavioral/emotional difficulties, emotional symptoms), poorer sleep (more nocturnal awakenings, more stage 2 sleep, less slow wave sleep), and faster decreasing evening cortisol secretion compared to full-term children. Across the whole sample, more stage 2 sleep and/or less slow wave sleep were associated with more SDQ total behavioral/emotional difficulties, hyperactivity-inattention, and peer problems. Lower morning cortisol secretion and lower evening cortisol secretion were associated with more conduct problems. In very preterm children, increased SDQ total behavioral/emotional difficulties was partially explained by less restorative sleep including more stage 2 sleep and less slow wave sleep. This result points to the importance of restorative sleep for the behavioral and emotional development of very preterm children during middle childhood.

Personal goals at age 25 in three generations of the twentieth century : young adulthood in historical context

The possibility of a historically determined shift in developmental tasks of young adulthood was investigated. Personal goals at age 25 of participants from three cohorts spanning twentieth-century Swiss history were studied in an interview combining current and retrospective measures. Members of the oldest cohort (Between the Wars) were born beween 1920 and 1925. Members of the middle cohort (Early Baby Boomers) were born between 1945 and 1950. Members of the youngest cohort (Generation X) were born between 1970 and 1975. Results show significant shifts in goal content which reflect well-documented historical changes. For example, BTW participants mainly mention work- and family-related goals (corresponding to classical developmental tasks). However, GEX participants mention more goals related to education and leisure, and less family-related goals than earlier generations. This suggests that classical formulations of developmental tasks of young adulthood (e.g. starting work, founding a family) may be less adequate today.