ORCID Profile
0000-0003-0547-7740
Current Organisation
Deakin University
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2019.02.004
Abstract: To determine the extent to which the transition to parenthood protects against heavy and problematic alcohol consumption in young men and women. Integrated participant-level data analysis from three population-based prospective Australasian cohort studies. General community participants from the Australian Temperament Study, the Christchurch Health and Development Study, and the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study. Recent binge drinking, alcohol abuse/dependence and number of standard drinks consumed per occasion. 4015 participants (2151 females 54%) were assessed on four occasions between ages 21 and 35. Compared to women with children aged <12 months, women who had not transitioned to parenthood were more likely to meet the criteria for alcohol abuse/dependence (fully adjusted risk ratio [RR] 3.5 95% CI 1.5-7.9) and to report recent binge drinking (RR 3.0 95% CI 2.1-4.3). The proportion of women meeting the criteria for alcohol abuse/dependence and/or binge drinking increased with the age of participants' youngest child, as did the mean number of standard drinks consumed on each occasion (1.8 if the youngest child was <1 year of age vs. 3.6 for 5+ years of age). Associations between parenthood and male drinking behaviour were considerably weaker. For most women in their twenties and thirties, parenting a child <1 year of age was associated with reduced alcohol consumption. However, this protective effect diminished after 12 months with drinking levels close to pre-parenthood levels after five years. There was little change in male drinking with the transition to parenthood.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2020
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-08-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-021-95460-2
Abstract: There is increasing evidence that the life-course origins of health and development begin before conception. We examined associations between timing and frequency of preconception cannabis and tobacco use and next generation preterm birth (PTB), low birth weight (LBW) and small for gestational age. 665 participants in a general population cohort were repeatedly assessed on tobacco and cannabis use between ages 14–29 years, before pregnancy. Associations were estimated using logistic regression. Preconception parent (either maternal or paternal) daily cannabis use age 15–17 was associated with sixfold increases in the odds of offspring PTB (aOR 6.65, 95% CI 1.92, 23.09), and offspring LBW (aOR 5.84, 95% CI 1.70–20.08), after adjusting for baseline sociodemographic factors, parent sex, offspring sex, family socioeconomic status, parent mental health at baseline, and concurrent tobacco use. There was little evidence of associations with preconception parental cannabis use at other ages or preconception parental tobacco use. Findings support the hypothesis that the early life origins of growth begin before conception and provide a compelling rationale for prevention of frequent use during adolescence. This is pertinent given liberalisation of cannabis policy.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-06-2018
DOI: 10.1111/ADD.14263
Abstract: Studies have linked adolescent alcohol use with adverse consequences in adulthood, yet it is unclear how strong the associations are and to what extent they may be due to confounding. Our aim was to estimate the strength of association between different patterns of adolescent drinking and longer-term psychosocial harms taking into account in idual, family and peer factors. Participant-level data were integrated from four long-running longitudinal studies: Australian Temperament Project, Christchurch Health and Development Study, Mater Hospital and University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy and Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study. Australia and New Zealand. Participants were assessed on multiple occasions between ages 13 and 30 years (from 1991 to 2012). Number of participants varied (up to n = 9453) by analysis. Three patterns of alcohol use (frequent, heavy episodic and problem drinking) were assessed prior to age 17. Thirty outcomes were assessed to age 30 spanning substance use and related problems, antisocial behaviour, sexual risk-taking, accidents, socio-economic functioning, mental health and partner relationships. After covariate adjustment, weekly drinking prior to age 17 was associated with a two- to threefold increase in the odds of binge drinking [odds ratio (OR) = 2.14 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.57-2.90], drink driving (OR = 2.78 95% CI = 1.84-4.19), alcohol-related problems (OR = 3.04 95% CI = 1.90-4.84) and alcohol dependence (OR = 3.30 95% CI = 1.69-6.47) in adulthood. Frequency of drinking accounted for a greater proportion of the rate of most adverse outcomes than the other measures of alcohol use. Associations between frequent, heavy episodic and problem drinking in adolescence and most non-alcohol outcomes were largely explained by shared risk factors for adolescent alcohol use and poor psychosocial functioning. Frequency of adolescent drinking predicts substance use problems in adulthood as much as, and possibly more than, heavy episodic and problem drinking independent of in idual, family and peer predictors of those outcomes.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-01-2021
DOI: 10.1111/DAR.13239
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.JAD.2016.11.022
Abstract: Prior anxiety and depression have been identified as risk factors for maternal perinatal mental health problems, but other preconception mental disorders have not been prospectively examined. This study investigated prospectively whether women with preconception personality disorder have increased rates of antenatal anxiety and/or depressive symptoms. 244 women in a population cohort were assessed for personality disorder at age 24 using the Standardised Assessment of Personality. Five to twelve years later, women were screened with the Clinical Interview Schedule, Revised Anxiety Subscale and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale during the third trimester of 328 pregnancies. Preconception personality disorder was associated with a three-fold increase in the odds of antenatal anxiety symptoms, which remained with adjustment for preconception background factors and preconception common mental disorder (adjusted OR 2.84, 95% CI 1.31-6.15). Preconception personality disorder was associated with doubled odds of antenatal depressive symptoms, however this was attenuated with adjustment for preconception background factors and preconception common mental disorder (adjusted OR 1.98, 95% CI 0.81-4.81). Our findings are restricted to pregnant women aged 29-35 years. Anxiety and depression may have been under-identified because they were assessed at a single antenatal time point. Residual confounding of the associations by preconception common mental disorder at other time points may have occurred. Women with personality disorder are at heightened risk of anxiety symptoms in pregnancy, over and above risks associated with prior common mental disorder. This raises a possibility that pregnancy brings particular emotional challenges for women with personality disorders.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-07-2018
DOI: 10.1111/DAR.12840
Abstract: To estimate the prevalence and frequency of hetamine use in a cohort of Australians aged in their mid-30s. Cross-sectional analysis of wave 10 data collected in 2014 from the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study: a s le of 1435 persons originally selected in a stratified, random community survey of secondary school students from the state of Victoria that commenced in 1992. Weighted multinomial regression models were used to evaluate the social, health and other substance-use correlates of lifetime and current (12-month) hetamine use and current frequency of use. Lifetime hetamine use was reported by 23.2% (95% confidence interval 21.0-25.5%) of respondents, and 6.5% (95% confidence interval 5.2-7.8%) reported current (12-month) use. A quarter (26%) of those currently using hetamines, 1.7% (95% confidence interval 1.0-2.4%) of all respondents, reported frequent (at least weekly) use. Men reported greater hetamine use than women. Current hetamine use was associated with disrupted family circumstances, socioeconomic adversity, polydrug use and high levels of drug use within the social and familial environment. Frequent use was associated with greater likelihood of multiple adversity, unemployment, anxiety disorders and use of mental health services. The current results show that lifetime, current and frequent hetamine use was common amongst adults in the fourth decade of life in this cohort, and associated with the experience of social disadvantage, poor mental health and living in a social context in which drug use is the norm.
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 07-2019
DOI: 10.1136/BMJOPEN-2017-020264
Abstract: To describe a well-established marker of cardiovascular risk, carotid intima–media thickness (IMT) and related measures (artery distensibility and elasticity) in children aged 11–12 years old and mid-life adults, and examine associations within parent–child dyads. Cross-sectional study (Child Health CheckPoint), nested within a prospective cohort study, the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Assessment centres in seven Australian major cities and eight selected regional towns, February 2015 to March 2016. Of all participating CheckPoint families (n=1874), 1489 children (50.0% girls) and 1476 parents (86.8% mothers) with carotid IMT data were included. Survey weights and methods were applied to account for LSAC’s complex s le design and clustering within postcodes and strata. Ultrasound of the right carotid artery was performed using standardised protocols. Primary outcomes were mean and maximum far-wall carotid IMT, quantified using semiautomated edge detection software. Secondary outcomes were carotid artery distensibility and elasticity. Pearson’s correlation coefficients and multivariable linear regression models were used to assess parent–child concordance. Random effects modelling on a subset of ultrasounds (with repeated measurements) was used to assess reliability of the child carotid IMT measure. The average mean and maximum child carotid IMT were 0.50 mm (SD 0.06) and 0.58 mm (SD 0.05), respectively. In adults, average mean and maximum carotid IMT were 0.57 mm (SD 0.07) and 0.66 mm (SD 0.10), respectively. Mother–child correlations for mean and maximum carotid IMT were 0.12 (95% CI 0.05 to 0.23) and 0.10 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.21), respectively. For carotid artery distensibility and elasticity, mother–child correlations were 0.19 (95% CI 0.10 to 0.25) and 0.11 (95% CI 0.02 to 0.18), respectively. There was no strong evidence of father–child correlation in any measure. We provide Australian values for carotid vascular measures and report a modest mother–child concordance. Both genetic and environmental exposures are likely to contribute to carotid IMT.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 10-04-2019
DOI: 10.1017/S0033291719000709
Abstract: Maternal mental health during pregnancy and postpartum predicts later emotional and behavioural problems in children. Even though most perinatal mental health problems begin before pregnancy, the consequences of preconception maternal mental health for children's early emotional development have not been prospectively studied. We used data from two prospective Australian intergenerational cohorts, with 756 women assessed repeatedly for mental health problems before pregnancy between age 13 and 29 years, and during pregnancy and at 1 year postpartum for 1231 subsequent pregnancies. Offspring infant emotional reactivity, an early indicator of differential sensitivity denoting increased risk of emotional problems under adversity, was assessed at 1 year postpartum. Thirty-seven percent of infants born to mothers with persistent preconception mental health problems were categorised as high in emotional reactivity, compared to 23% born to mothers without preconception history (adjusted OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.4–3.1). Ante- and postnatal maternal depressive symptoms were similarly associated with infant emotional reactivity, but these perinatal associations reduced somewhat after adjustment for prior exposure. Causal mediation analysis further showed that 88% of the preconception risk was a direct effect, not mediated by perinatal exposure. Maternal preconception mental health problems predict infant emotional reactivity, independently of maternal perinatal mental health while associations between perinatal depressive symptoms and infant reactivity are partially explained by prior exposure. Findings suggest that processes shaping early vulnerability for later mental disorders arise well before conception. There is an emerging case for expanding developmental theories and trialling preventive interventions in the years before pregnancy.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 20-03-2021
Abstract: Many epidemiological questions concern potential interventions to alter the pathways presumed to mediate an association. For ex le, we consider a study that investigates the benefit of interventions in young adulthood for ameliorating the poorer mid-life psychosocial outcomes of adolescent self-harmers relative to their healthy peers. Two methodological challenges arise. First, mediation methods have hitherto mostly focused on the elusive task of discovering pathways, rather than on the evaluation of mediator interventions. Second, the complexity of such questions is invariably such that there are no well-defined mediator interventions (i.e. actual treatments, programs, etc.) for which data exist on the relevant populations, outcomes and time-spans of interest. Instead, researchers must rely on exposure (non-intervention) data, that is, on mediator measures such as depression symptoms for which the actual interventions that one might implement to alter them are not well defined. We propose a novel framework that addresses these challenges by defining mediation effects that map to a target trial of hypothetical interventions targeting multiple mediators for which we simulate the effects. Specifically, we specify a target trial addressing three policy-relevant questions, regarding the impacts of hypothetical interventions that would shift the mediators’ distributions (separately under various interdependence assumptions, jointly or sequentially) to user-specified distributions that can be emulated with the observed data. We then define novel interventional effects that map to this trial, simulating shifts by setting mediators to random draws from those distributions. We show that estimation using a g-computation method is possible under an expanded set of causal assumptions relative to inference with well-defined interventions, which reflects the lower level of evidence that is expected with ill-defined interventions. Application to the self-harm ex le in the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study illustrates the value of our proposal for informing the design and evaluation of actual interventions in the future.
Publisher: Royal College of Psychiatrists
Date: 03-2018
DOI: 10.1192/BJO.2017.10
Abstract: We examined prospective associations between men's common mental disorders in the decades prior to offspring conception and subsequent paternal antenatal mental health problems. Data came from a prospective intergenerational cohort study which assessed common mental disorder nine times from age 14 to 29 years, and in the third trimester of subsequent pregnancies to age 35 years ( N = 295 pregnancies to 214 men). Men with histories of adolescent and young adult common mental disorders were over four times more likely to experience antenatal mental health problems. Future research identifying modifiable perinatal factors that counteract preconception risk would provide further targets for intervention. None.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2018.08.042
Abstract: To examine the longitudinal patterns of hetamine use over twenty years from adolescence to the mid-thirties and identify adolescent antecedents of future problematic patterns of use. Ten-wave longitudinal study following participants from age 15 to age 35 in Victoria, Australia. Participants (N = 1755 47% males) first enrolled in the Victoria Adolescent Health Cohort Study in 1992. Outcome: Self-reported frequency of hetamine use. Gender, depression and anxiety, peer alcohol and tobacco use self-reported alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use, self-reported adolescent antisocial behavior. Three different longitudinal patterns were identified: Non-user (83.7%) Occasional user (14.5%) Regular user (1.8%). Among the two user patterns, hetamine use was commonly initiated in late teenage years or early 20s, peaked at mid-20s, and declined substantially by mid-30s. Participants who used cannabis and had smoking peers during adolescence were at significantly more likely to become an occasional or regular user (p < .05). Regular cannabis use and peer tobacco use during adolescence were the two strongest predictors of a longitudinal pattern of regular hetamine use in the mid-30s. This suggests that prevention programs could be implemented around or before mid-adolescence and interventions to reduce hetamine harms focus on high-risk in iduals in their 20s when hetamine use was at its peak.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2017
No related grants have been discovered for Denise Becker.