Infant externalizing behavior and parent depressive symptoms: Prospective predictors of parental pandemic related distress.

Understanding predictors and effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic is a top-priority in research endeavors. The impact of COVID-19 on all components of family life and mental health cannot be overstated. This study emphasizes the need to investigate predictors of parents' responses to disaster by conceptualizing the depth of the impact of the pandemic using Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Systems Model. We evaluate parents of infants as the center of the microsystem and discuss the importance of parents' responses to the pandemic for children's development. Specifically, utilizing a prospective design involving a sample of 105 infant-mother-father triads, we test the predictive effects of mothers' and fathers' mental health and infant externalizing behavior assessed prior to the pandemic when infants were 16-months on later pandemic related distress (PRD) approximately 1 year later. Results indicate that for both mothers and fathers, more depressive symptoms during their child's infancy predicted more PRD. Although mothers' reports of more child externalizing behavior significantly predicted more PRD, fathers' reports of externalizing were strongly, positively correlated with their concurrent depressive symptoms but not directly related to PRD. We demonstrate the importance of pre-existing mental health and parents' perceptions of their children's behavior as early as 16 months, in coping with disaster.

Associations Between Children's Emotion Regulation, Mindful Parenting, Parent Stress, and Parent Coping During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Stress among parents has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research prior to the pandemic indicates that parents of children who struggle with emotion regulation (ER) and who themselves are less mindful report more stress and diminished coping abilities. We know little, however, about these associations in the context of COVID-19. To prevent COVID-related deteriorations in parent well-being and child outcomes and to support parents during this potentially challenging time, it is important to understand the factors that are associated with increased stress as well as adaptive coping. This paper discusses the association between children's ER, mindful parenting (MP), parent stress, and parents' coping with parenting during the pandemic in a sample of 217 caregivers of school-aged children (91.0% mothers). Results indicated that children's ER was associated with parents' self-reported coping with parenting in the pandemic but was not associated with increased stress. Further, MP moderated the association between children's ER and coping, such that parents who were the most mindful and had children with better ER skills reported significantly greater ability to cope with pandemic parenting. Coping was lower for other combinations of ER and mindful parenting. These findings contradict those from before COVID, suggesting the relationship between children's ER and parent outcomes may differ in the COVID-19 context, and offering insights into which parents may be most likely to struggle with coping with pandemic parenting.

Approaches to mitochondrially mediated cancer therapy.

For some malignant cancers even combined surgical, radiotherapeutic and chemotherapeutic approaches are not curative, indeed, in certain tumour types even a modest survival benefit is difficult to achieve. There are various biological reasons which underlie this profound resistance but the propensity of cancer cells to repair breaks caused by DNA-damaging radiation and cytotoxic drugs is of major significance in this context. Such highly resistant tumours include the malignant gliomas which are intrinsic to and directly affect the brain and spinal cord. In evaluating approaches which do not elicit tumour cell death directly by DNA damage, it is intriguing to consider mitochondrially mediated apoptosis as a potentially effective alternative. Since the mitochondrial membrane potentials in cancer cells are frequently reduced in comparison with those of non-neoplastic cells this allows a window of opportunity for small molecule agents to enter the tumour cell mitochondria and reduce oxygen consumption with subsequent release of cytochrome c and activation of a caspase pathway to apoptosis which is cancer cell specific. In the quest for agents which can selectively destroy neoplastic cells in this manner, whilst leaving normal adjacent cells intact, various tricyclic drugs have come under scrutiny. In a range of laboratory assays we, and others, have established that certain cancers and, in particular, malignant glioma, are intrinsically sensitive to this approach. We have also established the cellular, molecular and biochemical mechanisms underlying this process. While such archival tricyclics as the antidepressants, clomipramine and amitriptyline, have been used in these experiments their commercial development in cancer therapy has not been forthcoming and their clinical use in glioma has been confined to anecdotal cases. In addition, the dose-dependant role of agents such as anticonvulsants and steroids commonly used in glioma patients in modulating efficacy of the tricyclics is a matter for continued investigation. Other ways of targeting the mitochondrion for cancer therapy include exploitation of the 18kDa translocator protein (peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor) within the mitochondrial permeability transition pore and enzymatic or molecular modification of a species of ganglioside (GD3/GD3(A)) expressed on the surface of neoplastic cells which are determinants of mitochondrially mediated apoptosis. It is hoped that such approaches may lead to clinical programmes which will improve the prognosis for patients suffering from highly resistant neoplasms.