Oxytocin receptors in dioestrous and anoestrous canine uteri.

The aim of the study was to localize oxytocin receptors (OTR) and measure mRNA expression of OTR in the canine uterus with and without the influence of progesterone. Uterine samples were taken from nine anoestrous and eight dioestrous bitches during ovariohysterectomy. Histological changes were evaluated in haematoxylin and eosin (HE)-stained samples. Purified polyclonal antibody for OTR was used in immunohistochemistry to localize receptors in uterine layers. Relative mRNA concentration of OTR was evaluated with real-time PCR from full-thickness uterine samples taken from the middle horn and the body. Myometrial smooth muscle cells, endometrial luminal epithelium (LE) and deep and superficial glandular epithelium were positively stained for oxytocin receptors in non-pregnant animals. No significant difference in staining intensity was detected between uterine middle horn and body. However, the staining intensity of LE was significantly higher in dioestrous than in anoestrous uteri (p < .05). Leucocytes and endothelium of blood vessels were also positively stained for OTR. Real-time PCR showed no significant differences in OTR mRNA expression between the middle horn and the body of the uterus, or between anoestrous and dioestrous uterus. No correlation was noted between OTR mRNA expression and blood progesterone concentration. In conclusion, despite the apparent inactivity, the uterus of the non-pregnant bitch expresses OTR. The distribution or relative expression of OTR does not differ between uterine horn and body in dioestrus or anoestrus except in LE. LE may have more oxytocin-dependent activity during dioestrus than anoestrus.

A polyorchid dog.

The case of a polyorchid Irish Setter is presented here. Castration and intra-abdominal testis removal were performed one year of age when one scrotal and one cryptorchid testis near the right inguinal canal were removed. Later it became apparent that there was still testosterone production. A third testis, abdominal cryptorchid, was found on the right side cranially and right to the bladder. The third testis had a strong cranial suspensory ligament and the tail of the epididymis was elongated. The ductus deferens did not enter the prostate but followed the gubernaculum to the inguinal canal near the stump of the previous operation on the caudal right testis. This suggests that two right cryptorchid testes had common ductus deferens.

Childhood bullying behaviors at age eight and substance use at age 18 among males. A nationwide prospective study.

Childhood bullying behaviors (bullying and victimization) were studied as risk factors for substance use among Finnish males. The study design was a nationwide prospective general population study, where information was collected in 1989 and 1999. Bullying behaviors and childhood psychopathology at age eight were collected from teachers, parents and boys themselves. At age 18, self-reports of frequent drunkenness (once a week or more often), daily heavy smoking (10 cigarettes or more per day), and illicit drug use during the past six months were obtained from 78% of the boys attending the study at age eight (n=2946). Being frequently victimized at age eight predicted daily heavy smoking, and this was evident even after adjusting for childhood family background, psychopathology at age eight and at age 18, and other forms of substance use. In multivariate analysis, bullying others frequently predicted illicit drug use, while being a victim of bullying associated with a lower occurrence of illicit drug use. Bullying behaviors had no association with frequent drunkenness independent of other factors. Accordingly, being a victim of bullying predisposes in particular to subsequent smoking. Bullying others in childhood can be regarded as an early indicator to illicit drug use later in life. The screening and intervention possibilities in order to recognize the risk group for later health compromising behaviors are emphasized.

Do mental health problems in childhood predict chronic physical conditions among males in early adulthood? Evidence from a community-based prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have documented associations between mental and physical health problems in cross-sectional studies, yet little is known about these relationships over time or the specificity of these associations. The aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between mental health problems in childhood at age 8 years and physical disorders in adulthood at ages 18-23 years. METHOD: Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between childhood mental health problems, reported by child, parent and teacher, and physical disorders diagnosed by a physician in early adulthood. RESULTS: Significant linkages emerged between childhood mental health problems and obesity, atopic eczema, epilepsy and asthma in early adulthood. Specifically, conduct problems in childhood were associated with a significantly increased likelihood of obesity and atopic eczema; emotional problems were associated with an increased likelihood of epilepsy and asthma; and depression symptoms at age 8 were associated with an increased risk of asthma in early adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide the first evidence of an association between mental health problems during childhood and increased risk of specific physical health problems, mainly asthma and obesity, during early adulthood, in a representative sample of males over time. These data suggest that behavioral and emotional problems in childhood may signal vulnerability to chronic physical health problems during early adulthood.

Visits by the family to the neonatal intensive care unit.

AIM: To investigate visiting frequency of family members, including mother, father, siblings and grandparents and associated factors during hospitalisation of preterm infants. METHODS: The study included all premature (< 37 weeks) infants born in Tampere University Hospital in 1997-1998 admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with a birth weight less than 2500 g (n = 210). Maternal and infant data and visits made by family members were compiled from the infants' hospital records. RESULTS: The length of the infants' hospitalisation varied from 2 to 133 days (median 26, quartiles 19, 45). Mothers visited the NICU on average 6.7 days/week; fathers 4.8 days/week. Mothers visited less frequently the lower the gestational age and the longer the distance between home and hospital. Fathers visited less frequently if distance from home to hospital was longer and if the infant had siblings. A total of 92% of siblings and 80% of grandparents visited the hospital. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed active visiting by the parents in the NICU. A lower gestational age was associated with lower visiting frequency for mothers. In contrast, more practical limitations such as geographical distance and other children to be taken care of had greater effect on the visiting frequency for fathers.

Temporal changes in concentrations of serum amyloid-A and haptoglobin and their associations with weight gain in neonatal reindeer calves.

Age-related changes in serum concentrations of two acute phase proteins (APPs), haptoglobin (Hp) and serum amyloid-A (SAA) were investigated in newborn reindeer calves. Repeated blood samples were obtained from 51 reindeer calves at ages 0-32 days (2-4 samples from each calf). An increase of SAA concentrations was observed during the first 2 weeks of life. However, by the end of the observation period, SAA concentrations had decreased to levels below those of the first week. Serum Hp concentrations increased throughout the observation period. SAA concentrations in the second week had a negative association with weight gain during the entire study period (4 months). These time-related changes in APP concentrations suggest that these proteins have a role in the defence and adaptation mechanisms of newborn reindeer calves. Possible reasons for these changes include the presence of APP mediators in the colostrum, exposure to environmental pathogens after birth and age-related changes in hepatic synthesis of APP.

Infant-mother interaction as a predictor of child's chronic health problems.

BACKGROUND: Psychological stress is associated with physical illnesses like asthma or infections. For an infant, situations perceived as stressful are highly dependent on the relationship with the caregiver. Constantly poor mother-infant interaction increases the child's vulnerability to stressful conditions and experiences. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of the quality of early mother-infant interaction on the subsequent physical health of the child. Poor mother-infant interaction was hypothesized to be associated with chronic or recurrent health problems in the child. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-seven mother-infant dyads from families at risk of psychosocial problems and 63 from non-risk families, altogether 120 dyads, participated in the study. Families were drawn from normal population, from well-baby clinics in the city of Tampere, Finland. Infants were full-term and healthy, families with severe risks like psychotic illnesses of the parents or a history of child protection concerns were excluded from the study. METHODS: After the initial interview with the mother, the mother-infant interaction was videotaped when the infants were 8-11 weeks of age and the interaction was assessed using the Global Rating Scale for Mother-Infant Interaction (Murray et al. 1996a). After the 2-year follow-up mothers were interviewed again and the health problems of the child were elicited. RESULTS: Poor dyadic mother-infant interaction and infant's poor interactive behaviour assessed at two months were separately associated with the physical health of the child during the two-year follow-up. After adjusting for other factors in the logistic regression analysis infant's poor interactive behaviour remained as a significant predictor of chronic or recurrent health problems in the child. Infant's health problems at the time of the initial interview and day care centre attendance were also significant predictors. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that interactional issues between a mother and her infant are related to the child's subsequent physical health. Children with recurrent or chronic health problems may have relationship difficulties with which they need help. Also, early avoidant behaviour of the infant should be regarded as an indicator of the infant's distress with possibly adverse outcomes in the child's physical health, among other consequences.

Poor sleep and psychiatric symptoms at school: an epidemiological study.

The objective of this study was to evaluate associations between sleep problems and psychiatric symptoms at school. A random sample consisting of 5813 eight- to nine-year-old children was selected from ordinary schools. Both parents' and children's reports of sleep problems were taken into account. The psychiatric symptoms were addressed according to the teachers' reports (the Rutter Scale B). Children with severe sleep problems were more likely to have a psychiatric disturbance according to the Rutter B Scale (OR 2.45, 95% CI 1.85-3.25). Logistic regression models showed that severe sleep problems were highly associated with emotional problems (OR 2.74, 95% CI 1.84-4.13), school attendance problems (OR 2.53, 95% OR 1.45-4.41), behavioural problems (OR 2.44, 95% CI 1.59-3.75) and hyperactivity (OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.30-3.13). Over 95% of severe sleep problems were reported only by the children themselves. In conclusion, children with severe sleep problems have substantially more teacher-reported psychiatric symptoms than those with no or mild sleep complaints. In diagnosing sleep disorders, it is important to include children as informants because relevant information may be overlooked when only parents are questioned.

Longitudinal study of maternal depressive symptoms and child well-being.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether prenatal, postnatal, and/or current maternal depressive symptoms are associated with low level of psychosocial functioning or high level of emotional/behavioral problems in school-age children. METHOD: As part of a prospective longitudinal study, maternal depressive symptoms were screened with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale prenatally, postnatally, and when the children were 8 to 9 years old. The original sample of 349 mothers was collected in 1989-1990 in Tampere, Finland. Of the 270 mother-child pairs at the latest stage of the study in 1997-1998, 188 mother-child pairs participated and 147 were included. The associations between maternal depressive symptoms at different points in time and the level of children's psychosocial functioning and problems reported on the Child Behavior Checklist and Teacher's Report Form were examined. RESULTS: Children's low social competence and low adaptive functioning were associated with concurrent maternal depressive symptoms. Maternal postnatal depressive symptoms predicted low social competence. The presence of prenatal depressive symptoms in the mother was a strong predictor of child's high externalizing and total problem levels (odds ratio 3.1, 95% confidence interval 1.1-8.9 and odds ratio 8.5, 95% confidence interval 2.7-26.5). Prenatal as well as recurrent maternal depressive symptoms were associated with the least favorable child outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal depressive symptomatology at any time, especially prenatally, is a risk factor for the child's well-being. This should be noted already in prenatal care. The timing and the recurrence of maternal depressive symptoms affect the outcome for the child.

Sleep problems of school-aged children: a complementary view.

The aim of this population-based multicentre study was to evaluate the prevalence rates of sleep problems among 8-9-y-old children. The sample consisted of 5813 Finnish children, making up 10% of the age cohort. Both parents and children provided information. Disturbed sleep was reported by 21.7% of parents. Most of the problems were mild; only 0.3% were serious. Dyssomnias were frequent: 11.1% had difficulties with sleep onset, 7.1% with night waking and 2.3% with waking too early. Multiple sleep problems were present in 9.1% of the children. 17.8% of children reported disturbed sleep, 12.7% had problems many nights and 5.1% every night. In 32.0% of cases, either the parent or the child reported disturbed sleep; 7.4% of these reports came from both the parent and the child, 14.1% from the parent only and 10.3% from the child only. The correspondence between informants was poor (kappa = 0.224). Sleeping problems were associated with somatic and psychiatric problems. It is concluded that by restricting questioning to parents only, one-third of all potential cases of sleep problems may go unnoticed. In order to increase the sensitivity of screening children's sleep problems, both parents and children should provide information in epidemiological settings as well as in clinical work.

Family ward: a new therapeutic approach.

This article describes a new integrated child psychiatric family ward treatment model at the Tampere University Hospital. Theoretically, the treatment is based on an integration of systems and psychoanalytical theories as well as behavioral approach. A centerpiece of the model is a 3-week treatment period for the whole family at the family day ward. The work of the multidisciplinary team on the ward focuses on family relationships, on representational level, and on the interactional behavior of the family. Interaction and relationships are also used as tools, including a reflective working model and sharing concrete interaction with the family. So far, the family ward has offered 165 family treatment periods for 113 different families. Altogether in 63% of the total treatment periods one or both parents have had mental illness and in 15% of the total treatment periods there have been serious custody disputes with accusations of sexual abuse of the child. Helping these multi-problem families is a special challenge for our treatment model and at the moment we are developing new methods for assessment and support of parenthood.

Design and subjects of a Finnish epidemiological study on psychiatric disorders in childhood.

In an epidemiological multi-centre study, parents filled in the Rutter Parent Questionnaire (RA2) and teachers filled in the Rutter Teacher Questionnaire (RB2) for almost 6000 children. The children filled in the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). The subjects well represented the entire population of 8-9-year-old children in Finland. The material and design of the study as well as the basic demographic characteristics are presented.

Behavioural and emotional symptoms in 8-9-year-old children.

We present epidemiological data from a multi-centre study on psychiatric symptoms among 6017 8-9-year-old children representing a total annual birth cohort (N = 60007) in Finland. The results are based on three questionnaires: the Rutter Parent Scale (RA2), the Rutter Teacher Scale (RB2), the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). The proportion of children that scored above the cutoff points, indicating probable psychiatric disturbance, were 11.2% for the RA2, 13.9% for the RB2 and 6.9% for the CDI. Twenty-four percent of the subjects scored above the cutoff point on at least one of the questionnaires. Low family social status and disrupted family relations correlated strongly with high rates of symptoms in the children.

Emotional and behavioural symptoms in 8-9-year-old children in relation to family structure.

The association between family structure and behavioural and emotional symptoms in prepubertal children was studied in an epidemiological survey conducted in Finland. Five thousand eight hundred thirteen children aged 8 and 9 years were screened using the Rutter Parent Questionnaire (RA2) for parents and the Rutter Teacher Questionnaire (RB2) for teachers. Information concerning family type, birth order and sibship size were obtained from the parents. The majority of the children (84%) in the sample lived with both their biological parents, 10% with a single parent, and around 5% with a biological parent and a stepparent. Around 1% of the children lived outside their original home. The prevalence of behavioural and emotional symptoms was lowest in children living with both their biological parents and highest among children living outside their original home according to both parents' and teachers' reports. Children living with a parent and a stepparent had problems more often at home, but less often at school than children living with a single parent. Living with a single father was associated with having more externalizing, school-related problems, while living with a stepfather was associated with having more internalizing, home related problems. Having younger siblings seemed to be associated with fewer problems at school, and being the youngest child with having less problems both at home and at school.

Children's behavioural/emotional problems: a comparison of parents' and teachers' reports for elementary school-aged children.

This study assessed the agreement between parents and teachers concerning behavioural/emotional symptoms of children. 5671 children born in 1981 (mean age 8.5 years at the time of study) were studied using the Rutter Parent Questionnaire (RA2) and the Rutter Teacher Questionnaire (RB2). Boys had more behavioural symptoms on both scales, 3.6% of the boys and 2.3% of the girls were deviant on both scales. Agreement between parents and teachers on single behaviours was better for deviant girls than for deviant boys. The factors constructed from the Rutter scale items (separately of each scale) represented externalizing, internalizing and hyperactivity behaviours. For all children, moderate correlations between parents' and teachers' ratings were found in externalizing behaviour and hyperactivity. Correlations of the factors were clearly higher for deviant girls than for deviant boys. Scoring high on one of the scales increased the probability of scoring high on the second scale. The discussion focuses on factors that may affect agreement between parents and teachers when behavioural symptoms are assessed.

Psychiatric disorders in 8-9-year-old children based on a diagnostic interview with the parents.

Using three questionnaires, the Rutter Parent Questionnaire (RA2), The Rutter Teacher Questionnaire (RB2) and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), we screened 8-9-year-old children representing a total annual birth cohort (N = 60007) in Finland. In a second stage we interviewed the parents of 119 screen negative, and 316 screen positive children by using a structured parent interview. At the population level the overall prevalence rate for psychiatric disturbance was 21.8%, higher among boys (29.8%) than among girls (12.8%). Nine percent of the children were in urgent need of treatment and, in addition, 25% were in need of assessment. The prevalence of different levels of disturbance was: reactive 9.5%; neurotic 18.4%; borderline 3.1%; and other severe disorders 2.3%. The prevalence of different diagnostic groups were: anxiety disorder 5.2%; depressive disorder 6.2%; specific fears 2.4%; defiant and conduct disorder 4.7%; and attention-deficit hyperactivity-disorder 7.1%. The prevalence for the most common single first Axis-I DSM-III-R diagnoses were: attention-deficit hyperactivity-disorder 7%; dysthymia 4.6%; adjustment disorder with mixed disturbance of emotion and conduct 3.4%; oppositional defiant disorder 2.7%; specific fear 1.7%; anxiety disorder 1.5%; enuresis nocturnal 1.5%; and depression 1.4%. Only 3.1% of the children had visited health professionals for psychiatric problems during the previous three months. Only a minority of the children with psychiatric disturbances had ever consulted health professionals for their problems. Of all the children, 7.5% had a severe psychiatric disturbance that had lasted for more than 3 years.

Psychiatric disorders, performance level at school and special education at early elementary school age.

We assessed the relationship between psychological deviance and performance level at school among 8-year-old children. The use of special education among children with psychiatric disorders was also studied. In Stage 1, 5813 children were studied using the Rutter Parent Questionnaire (RA2), the Rutter Teacher Questionnaire (RB2) and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). In Stage 2, a subsample (n = 424) of these children were interviewed, using the Isle of Wight Interview. In Stage 1, more children defined as low achievers (LAs) came from low SES families than did average (NAs) and high achievers (HAs). They also had more psychiatric symptoms, and they scored above the cutoff (13 points on the RA2, nine points on the RB2 and 17 points on the CDI) more commonly than other children. In Stage 2, two thirds of children who received special education had some psychiatric disorder. The probability of a child with psychiatric disorder obtaining some extra tutoring or special education was 3.1-fold when compared with children without psychiatric disorders. Depressive children and children with attention deficit disorders most commonly had extra tutoring (4.8-fold) when compared with children without psychiatric disorders. The probability of getting special education was highest for attention deficit disorders (6.2-fold), thereafter for anxiety (3.1-fold), and for oppositional/conduct disorders (2.8-fold).

Behavioural/emotional symptoms among 8-9-year-old children with somatic symptoms or illnesses as reported by their teacher.

The aim of this study was to assess children's behavioural/emotional symptoms at school and to compare these symptoms of somatically healthy children with those of children with somatic illnesses or symptoms. The Rutter Teacher Questionnaire (RB2) was used for measuring psychiatric symptoms in 5813 children aged 8-9 years. The parents reported the somatic symptoms and illnesses of their children during the previous 12 months. One hundred and sixty one children had a marked or serious chronic illness, 292 had a mild chronic illness, and 92 had one or several symptoms. The findings suggest that boys with a marked or serious chronic somatic illness are prone to manifest psychiatric symptoms in their interactions with peers and teachers at school and that boys with a mild chronic illness have less psychiatric symptoms than healthy boys.