[Mental health of teenage mothers: impact on the next generation]. / Psychische Gesundheit von Teenagermüttern: Auswirkungen auf die nächste Generation.

BACKGROUND: Motherhood in adolescence is associated with risks for both the young mother and the children. OBJECTIVE: Presentation of the current state of research on the mental health of adolescent mothers and its effects on the development of their children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Electronic database search in PubMed using various combined key terms such as "teenage pregnancy", "adolescent pregnancy", "teenage mother", "child development", "mother-child interaction". Review of the literature of the sources found and discussion of current publications and databases of public institutions. RESULTS: In addition to psychosocial risks such as fewer education years due to family formation and lower incomes, young mothers also suffer more frequently from mental disorders, both before pregnancy and due to the additional burden of motherhood in their own developmental phase of youth. These can have unfavorable effects on the mother-child interaction and on the psychosocial and cognitive development of the children, thereby leading to the transgenerational transmission of risk factors. CONCLUSION: In addition to primary prevention by avoiding teenage pregnancies, early identification of adolescent mothers and children at risk for early treatment and intervention is necessary.

Effect of tryptophan-rich egg protein hydrolysate on brain tryptophan availability, stress and performance.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Reduced brain serotonin function is involved in stress-related disturbances and may particularly occur under chronic stress. Although serotonin production directly depends on the availability of its plasma dietary amino acid precursor tryptophan (TRP), previously described effects of tryptophan-rich food sources on stress-related behavior are rather modest. Recently, an egg protein hydrolysate (EPH) was developed that showed a much greater effect on brain TRP availability than pure TRP and other TRP-food sources and therefore may be more effective for performance under stress. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of EPH compared to placebo protein on plasma amino acids, stress coping and performance in subjects with high and low chronic stress vulnerabilities. METHODS: In a placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover study, 17 participants with high and 18 participants with low chronic stress vulnerabilities were monitored for mood and performance under acute stress exposure either following intake of EPH or placebo. RESULTS: EPH significantly increased plasma TRP availability for uptake into the brain, decreased depressive mood in all subjects and improved perceptual-motor and vigilance performance only in low chronic stress-vulnerable subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The acute use of a TRP-rich egg protein hydrolysate (EPH) is an adequate method to increase plasma TRP for uptake into the brain and may be beneficial for perceptual-motor and vigilance performance in healthy volunteers.