ABSTRACT
AIM: To determine the association between intrauterine exposure to timing and sources of caffeine and inattention/overactivity, suggesting ADHD in the child. METHOD: This study used prospectively collected data from the large population-based study, The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Participants were 25 343 mothers and their 18-month-old children. Mothers reported on consumption of a number of caffeine sources at the 17th week and 30th week of gestation, as well as child inattention/overactivity at 18 months. Data were analysed using univariate analyses of covariance (ancova). RESULTS: Once we controlled for confounders, there was a small effect of caffeine intake at 17th week of gestation on inattention/overactivity combined, and both 17th and 30th week of gestation on overactivity, when investigated separately from inattention. Surprisingly, the caffeine effect was only found for soft drinks, not tea or coffee. CONCLUSION: Intrauterine exposure to soft drinks rather than coffee, the traditional focus, is associated with maternal reports of overactive behaviour in children aged 18 months.
Subject(s)
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/etiology , Caffeine/adverse effects , Infant Behavior , Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects , Adolescent , Adult , Analysis of Variance , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/epidemiology , Female , Gestational Age , Humans , Infant , Male , Middle Aged , Pregnancy , Prospective Studies , Risk Factors , Surveys and Questionnaires , Young AdultABSTRACT
Low informant agreement is of particular concern in clinical settings, since diagnoses and interventions are largely based on reports from parents and/or youths. This study explores youth-parent consistencies in an at-risk sample of youths (n = 42), several from immigrant and refugee families, all with stressful background experiences. Data from a community sample (n = 165) was used to contrast the clinical results. Results showed that correlations between clinical youths and parents were within the same range as those in the community sample. Consistencies concerning absolute level of behavior were higher in the clinical sample. However, interesting differences in informant consistencies were found on difficulties and resources between the two samples. This study adds to the picture that there is no simple relationship between severity of behavior deviance and informant agreement. Asking about behavioral resources as well as difficulties may provide valuable additional information regarding differences in the perspectives of at-risk youths and parents.
Subject(s)
Mass Screening , Social Behavior Disorders/prevention & control , Surveys and Questionnaires , Adolescent , Child , Emigration and Immigration , Female , Humans , Male , Multivariate Analysis , Norway , Observer Variation , Parents , Refugees , Reproducibility of Results , Self-AssessmentABSTRACT
Recurrent pain in children is a universal phenomenon, which occurs in about 50 percent of all children. The most prevalent pain areas are the stomach, head, back and neck/shoulders. A somatic cause of the symptoms is seldom found, but the pain is often related to other discomforts, problems or lack of family functioning. There has been a common belief that "pain runs in families". In our investigation of 358 mother-father-child trios, where the members reported on their own symptoms, we found little support for this hypothesis. There is a need for further research on these problems, where the study design and measure instruments should be carefully validated.
