Catarina Canivet

Infantile colic—less common than previously estimated?

A two‐part population‐based study investigating the occurrence of infantile colic was undertaken. in which 92% of mothers with newborn healthy infants were reached. In the prospective part 152 mothers (“diary group”) registered crying and fussing in their infants during 12 weeks. In the retrospective part 224 mothers (“interview group”) were contacted by telephone at an infant age of 5‐7 months. The colic occurrence was determined according to four different definitions; the rates varied from 3.3 to 17.1%. The classical “Wessel‐type” colic was present in 9.3%. Colic defined as “crying seen as a problem by parent” was present in 12.1% of the “interview group”, but in only 3.3% of the “diary group”. Some earlier studies may have overestimated colic occurrence. Another possibility is an actual decline. The contributive part of preventive measures is discussed.

Infantile colic. Follow-up at four years of age : still more emotional

This paper presents a follow‐up at 4 y of formerly colicky infants and controls, with respect to behaviour, temperament, eating and sleeping habits, psychosomatic complaints, number of hospital stays, growth and “family climate”. There were no differences between the two groups in most parameters studied. However, ex‐colicky children displayed more negative emotions according to the temperament scale. There were also more negative moods during meals, and more reported stomach‐ache. Although relationships regarding crying and mother‐infant interaction remain extremely complex, the findings point toward a possible temperamental contribution to the pathogenesis of the infantile colic syndrome.

Sleeping problems as a risk factor for subsequent musculoskeletal pain and the role of job strain: Results from a one-year follow-up of the Malmö shoulder neck study cohort

Background: The role of sleeping problems in the causal pathway between job strain and musculoskeletal pain is not clear.Purpose: To investigate the impact of sleeping problems and job strain on the one-year risk for neck, shoulder, and lumbar pain.Method: A prospective study, using self-administered questionnaires, of a healthy cohort of 4,140 vocationally active persons ages 45–64, residing in the city of Malmö.Results: At follow-up, 11.8% of the men and 14.8% of the women had developed pain. The odds ratios (OR) for pain at follow-up and sleeping problems at baseline were 1.72 (95% CI: 1.13–2.61) in men and 1.91 (1.35–2.70) in women. Regarding exposure to job strain, ORs were 1.39 (0.94–2.05) for men and 1.63 (1.18–2.23) for women. These statistically significant risks remained so when controlled for possible confounding. A modest synergistic effect was noted in women with concurrent sleeping problems and job strain, but not in men.Conclusion: One in 15–20 of all new cases of chronic pain in the population could be attributed to sleeping problems. No evidence was found for a causal chain with job strain leading to musculoskeletal pain by the pathway of sleeping problems.

Infantile colic and the role of trait anxiety during pregnancy in relation to psychosocial and socioeconomic factors

Aims: A study was undertaken to assess the impact of psychological, psychosocial and socioeconomic factors on the risk of having a child with infantile colic. Methods: Psychosocial and psychological factors were assessed by self-administered questionnaires in the 17th, and by telephone interviews in the 35th—37th pregnancy weeks; infantile colic occurrence was assessed by telephone interviews at infant age 5 weeks; subjects were 1,099 mother—infant dyads. Results: High trait anxiety increased the colic risk; OR 2.04 (95% CI: 1.16, 3.59), and so did affirming a perceived risk of spoiling young infants with too much physical contact; OR 1.77 (1.07, 2.91). In the final step of a multivariate model, not cohabiting with the childs father was the factor with the strongest association with colic; OR 3.48 (1.38, 8.77). Analyses of effect modification showed that high education seemed to protect from the influence of high trait anxiety. Young women were particularly high in trait anxiety, and being exposed to both these risk factors seemed to act synergistically on the risk of having a colicky infant; OR 2.41 (1.12, 5.18). Conclusions: Psychological and psychosocial factors were found to be significantly related to an increased risk for infantile colic, and these factors interacted with age, parity, social support, and educational level in a complex manner. Even though no single most important psychosocial risk factor was identified, the findings lend support to the strategy of offering special attention in terms of information and support in the maternal healthcare system to very young women, women who do not cohabit with the father, and women with high trait anxiety.

Psychosocial working conditions and exhaustion in a working population sample of Swedish middle-aged men and women

BACKGROUND Exhaustion is a concept of interest for both occupational health research and stress-disease theory research. The aim of the present study was to explore associations between chronic stressors, in terms of psychosocial working conditions, and exhaustion in a Swedish middle-aged population sample. METHODS A vocationally active population sample of the Malmö Shoulder and Neck Study cohort, comprising 2555 men and 2466 women between 45 and 64 years of age, was used. Psychosocial working conditions, assessed by means of the demand-control-support model, were measured longitudinally with a 1-year interval. Exhaustion was assessed by the SF-36 vitality scale and measured at follow-up, yielding a cross-sectional study design. RESULTS Exhaustion was twice as common in women as in men. High psychological job demands, low job control and low job support were independently associated with exhaustion in both men and women. These associations remained after controlling for a variety of potential confounders and mediators, including socio-demographic factors, lifestyle factors, musculoskeletal pain, disease, other work-related factors (including physical workload) and non-work-related factors. High demands in combination with low control (job strain), and job strain combined with low job support (iso-strain), increased the risk for exhaustion. CONCLUSION Psychosocial working conditions seem to contribute to exhaustion in middle-aged men and women. Future research should include exploration of exhaustion as a possible mediator between work stress and disease, as well as exploration of other chronic stressors, including non-work-related stressors, regarding their effects on exhaustion in men and women.

Synergistic interaction effect between job control and social support at work on general psychological distress

PurposeLittle is known about the interaction between job control and social support at work on common mental disorders. To examine whether there is a synergistic interaction effect between job control and social support at work on general psychological distress and whether it differs by the level of job demands.MethodsAbout 1,940 male and female workers from the Malmö Shoulder and Neck Study were chosen for this cross-sectional study. Job control, social support at work, and job demands were measured by the Swedish version of the Job Content Questionnaire, and general psychological distress was assessed by the General Health Questionnaire.ResultsA significant excessive risk increase for general psychological distress was observed when workers had both low job control and low social support at work in both men and women. The synergistic effect was stronger in women, when job demands were low (Rothman’s synergy index was 2.16 vs. 1.51 when job demands were high). However, in male workers, while a strong synergistic effect between job control and social support at work was found when job demands were low (synergy index was 9.25), there was an antagonistic effect when job demands were high (synergy index was 0.52).ConclusionsThere was a synergistic interaction effect between job control and social support at work on general psychological distress, but the synergistic effect or its effect size differed by the level of job demands and gender. An atomic, additive approach to the risk assessment of the psychosocial work characteristics on common mental disorders could be misleading or lead to a risk underestimation.

Colicky infants according to maternal reports in telephone interviews and diaries: a large Scandinavian study.

ABSTRACT. In this population-based study the colic incidence was 9.4%, according to telephone interviews with the parents made when the infants were 5 weeks of age (n = 1628), and parental concern about infant crying was common. However, 7-day diaries of colicky and control infants (n = 116 + 119) revealed low distress amounts in colicky infants in general. In the subgroup of Wessel-colicky infants (n = 37), distress episodes were frequent and long lasting, and there was a high proportion of colicky crying versus fussing and normal crying. Even if there may be a reduction in the infantile colic incidence and support for the hypothesis that infantile colic is at least partially “in the eye of the beholder,” that is, the concerned parent, a subgroup of infants may be more “genuinely colicky.” Women who had stated in late-pregnancy interviews that there is a risk of spoiling an infant with too much physical contact were more likely to have infants with colic, and their infants were more distressed, even when given the same amount of physical contact. This finding warrants further elucidation.

The role of social embeddedness for remaining in non-desired workplaces and mental health consequences: Results from Scania Public Health Cohort

Aims: The aim of the study was to investigate the role of social embeddedness on and off the job in relation to remaining in non-desired workplaces (NDWs) and the development of mental health. Method: The study used questionnaire data from the Scania Public Health cohort (N=2410) that were collected in 2000 (T1), 2005 (T2) and 2010 (T3). Logistic regression models were calculated to probe how NDWs and social embeddedness factors measured at baseline (T1) related to NDWs five years later (T2), and to investigate how NDWs and social embeddedness factors at T2 related to poor mental health at T3. Synergy indices were calculated in both analyses to test for additive v. interactive effects between NDWs and social embeddedness factors on the outcomes. Results: NDWs at baseline and low social embeddedness on and off the job was associated with NDWs at T2. For those in a desired workplace, low support from co-workers as well as low workplace affinity increased the risk to be in an NDW at T2. NDWs and low social embeddedness also associated with impaired mental health (T3). For those in an NDW, low support from co-workers as well as low workplace affinity increased the risk of poor mental health at T3. Conclusions: This study underlines the importance of social embeddedness for NDWs and the development of poor mental health over time. Particularly low social support from co-workers and low workplace affinity seem to be risk factors for future experience of an NDW and impaired mental health.

The negative effects on mental health of being in a non-desired occupation in an increasingly precarious labour market

Precarious employment has been associated with poor mental health. Moreover, increasing labour market precariousness may cause individuals to feel ‘locked-in’, in non-desired workplaces or occupations, out of fear of not finding a new employment. This could be experienced as a ‘loss of control’, with similar negative health consequences. It is plausible that the extent to which being in a non-desired occupation (NDO) or being in precarious employment (PE) has a negative impact on mental health differs according to age group. We tested this hypothesis using data from 2331 persons, 18–34, 35–44, and 45–54 years old, who answered questionnaires in 1999/2000, 2005, and 2010. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) were calculated for poor mental health (GHQ-12) in 2010, after exposure to NDO and PE in 1999/2000 or 2005. NDO and PE were more common in the youngest age group, and they were both associated with poor mental health. In the middle age group the impact of NDO was null, while in contrast the IRR for PE was 1.7 (95% CI: 1.3–2.3) after full adjustment. The pattern was completely the opposite in the oldest age group (adjusted IRR for NDO 1.6 (1.1–2.4) and for PE 0.9 (0.6–1.4)). The population attributable fraction of poor mental health was 14.2% and 11.6%, respectively, for NDO in the youngest and oldest age group, and 17.2% for PE in the middle age group. While the consequences of PE have been widely discussed, those of NDO have not received attention. Interventions aimed at adapting work situations for older individuals and facilitating conditions of job change in such a way as to avoid risking unemployment or precarious employment situations may lead to improved mental health in this age group.

Sleeping problems, sleep duration and the risk of disability pension : A prospective study of a Swedish general population

Background: Existing models of the work-home interface and work-family conflict has traditionally considered role interference to occur from only the two domains of work and home (Carlson et al., 2000; Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985; Frone et al., 1992). However, more recent research suggests that maintaining balance between these domains requires consideration of multiple potential sources of conflict (Pocock et al., 2009). This difference in perspective is particularly relevant to family business environments which present more complex interfaces due to dual roles, blurred boundaries, and succession issues (Danes & Morgan, 2004). The aim of the current research was to explore the factors which affected role completion in the context of a farming family business. Research has suggested that the farming family work-home interface may be unique to other workplace structures and therefore likely to have a differential impact on health and well-being (McShane & Quirk, 2009). Methods: Participants (N=278) from farming families from across Australia and farming produce types were invited to complete a questionnaire package which explored the relationship between characteristics of the working environment and reported levels of psychological distress, work burnout, and life satisfaction. Findings: Factors that interfered with role completion originated from multiple sources such as personal characteristics, work demands, home demands, and external demands. Findings from correlation matrices, exploratory factor analysis and path analysis (χ² (₁₈)=23.98, p=.156) indicate that work stressors, role interference, and low commitment and identification with farming results in higher reported psychological distress and work burnout and lower reported life satisfaction. Discussion: Communication, trust and commitment to farm and family appeared to be important in reducing the impact of role interference on well-being. Outcomes of the research have resulted in a hypothesised contextually specific model of role interference for farming families of Australia.Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are very common. Regional chronic shoulder and neck pain (SNP) and widespread chronic pain due to fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) are examples of MSDs characterized by ...This research aimed to address the gap in evidence-based treatment available for cancer survivors who are experiencing cognitive dysfunction. The research aim was to test the feasibility of a group cognitive rehabilitation intervention designed to improve cognitive function and quality of life for people who have completed cancer treatment. Three groups of adults were recruited: an intervention group of 23 cancer survivors who completed a 4-week group cognitive rehabilitation treatment, a comparison group of 9 cancer survivors, and a matched community sample of 23 adults who had never experienced cancer. The manualised “ReCog” intervention was developed by the authors for this study and was delivered by a clinical health psychologist and a provisionally registered psychologist, in small groups of 4-8 participants. The two comparison groups completed assessments but did not receive the intervention. Measures of objective and subjective cognitive functions, quality of life, psychosocial distress, and illness perceptions were used. The results indicated that the intervention was effective in improving overall cognitive function, visuospatial/constructional performance, immediate memory, and delayed memory beyond practice effects alone. It was helpful in reducing participants’ perceptions of cognitive impairment and psychosocial distress, as well as promoting social functioning and understanding of cognition. The improvements were maintained at three months after the intervention. Participants reported a high level of satisfaction with the treatment. The results provided evidence for the feasibility of a brief group-based cognitive rehabilitation intervention to treat cognitive problems experienced by cancer survivors.