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Maternal Influence (maternal + influence)
Selected AbstractsPaternal and Maternal Influences on Problem Behaviors Among Homeless and Runaway YouthAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 1 2009Judith A. Stein PhD Using an Attachment Theory conceptual framework, associations were investigated among positive paternal and maternal relationships, and recent problem behaviors among 501 currently homeless and runaway adolescents (253 males, 248 females). Homeless and runaway youth commonly exhibit problem behaviors such as substance use, various forms of delinquency and risky sex behaviors, and report more emotional distress than typical adolescents. Furthermore, attachments to their families are often strained. In structural equation models, positive paternal relationships significantly predicted less substance use and less criminal behavior, whereas maternal relationships did not have a significant effect on or association with either behavior. Positive maternal relationships predicted less survival sex behavior. Separate gender analyses indicated that among the females, a longer time away from home was significantly associated with a poorer paternal relationship, and more substance use and criminal behavior. Paternal relations, a neglected area of research and often not addressed in attachment theory, should be investigated further. Attachments, particularly to fathers, were protective against many deleterious behaviors. Building on relatively positive relations and attachments may foster family reunifications and beneficial outcomes for at-risk youth. [source] Artificial rearing alters the response of rats to natural and drug-mediated rewardsDEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2006Anna M. Lomanowska Abstract Artificial rearing (AR) of infant rats permits precise control over key features of the early environment without maternal influence. The present study examined the behavioral response of AR rats towards natural and drug-mediated rewards, as well as their exploratory and affective behaviors. Adolescent AR rats showed increased preference for sucrose consumption relative to chow and demonstrated greater activity in the open field and in the elevated plus-maze compared to maternally reared (MR) rats. With respect to measures of emotionality, AR rats showed enhanced avoidance of the open arms of the plus-maze, indicating increased anxiety, but they did not differ from MR rats in exploring the center of the open field. Adult AR rats displayed a stronger conditioned response to morphine in a place preference test. These findings support the potential of the AR model to contribute to understanding the role of early experience in the development of behavioral motivation. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psyshobiol 48: 301,314, 2006. [source] Maternal Genotype Influences Stress Reactivity of Vasopressin-Deficient Brattleboro RatsJOURNAL OF NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 12 2003D. Zelena Abstract The role of vasopressin, cosecreted with corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), in stress is debated, because both normal as well as reduced adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) rise to an acute challenge has been reported in Brattleboro rats genetically lacking vasopressin (di/di). Because di/di pups could be born either from di/+ (heterozygous) or from di/di mothers, and maternal influence is known to modify adult responsiveness, we investigated whether the influence of maternal genotype could explain the variability. Adult rats from mothers with different genotypes were stressed with 60 min restraint and trunk blood was collected for measuring hormone content by radioimmunoassay at the end of stress. All offspring of di/+ mothers had similar ACTH responses to restraint, while the di/di rats born to, and raised by di/di mothers showed reduced ACTH reactivity to restraint. The di/di rats showed elevated water turnover and required a daily cage cleaning every day, which meant frequent handling. To offset the role of handling, all rats had daily cage cleaning in the next series, but the results were the same as in the first series. To investigate whether lactation, the behaviour of the mother or some other factor during the pregnancy is responsible for the differences, pups from di/+ dams were raised by di/di foster mothers and vice versa. We found that the genotype of parental mother is more important than that of the foster mother. The corticosterone and prolactin elevation normally seen after acute stress was unchanged by family history, maternal or personal genotype. Furthermore, in studies with mutant animals, the rearing conditions should be controlled by the experimenter. In experiments with Brattleboro rats, the use of homozygous and heterozygous rats from the same litters of di/+ dams and di/di males is recommended. Our results suggest that vasopressin is not indispensable for ACTH release, and that the di/di genotype of the parental mother can decrease the stress reactivity of the di/di Brattleboro rats. [source] Maternal capital and the metabolic ghetto: An evolutionary perspective on the transgenerational basis of health inequalitiesAMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2010Jonathan C.K. Wells There is particular interest in understanding socioeconomic and ethnic variability in health status. The developmental origins of disease hypothesis emphasize the importance of growth patterns across the life-course in relation to noncommunicable disease risk. The physiological components of cardiovascular risk, collectively termed the metabolic syndrome, derive in part from a disparity between the homeostatic "metabolic capacity" of vital organs and the "metabolic load" induced by large tissue masses, a rich diet and sedentary behavior. From an evolutionary perspective, the risk of such disparity is decreased by maternal physiology regulating offspring growth trajectory during gestation and lactation. Maternal capital, defined as phenotypic resources enabling investment in the offspring, allows effective buffering of the offspring from nutritional perturbations and represents the environmental niche initially occupied by the offspring. Offspring growth patterns are sensitive to the magnitude of maternal capital during early windows of plasticity. Offspring life-history strategy can then respond adaptively to further factors across the life-course, but only within the context of this initial maternal influence on growth. Maternal somatic capital is primarily gained or lost across generations, through variable rates of fetal and infant growth. I argue that the poor nutritional experience of populations subjected to colonialism resulted in a systematic loss of maternal capital, reflected in downward secular trends in stature. Accelerating the recovery of somatic capital within generations overloads metabolic capacity and exacerbates cardiovascular risk, reflected in increased disease rates in urbanizing and emigrant populations. Public health policies need to benefit metabolic capacity without exacerbating metabolic load. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] A longitudinal study of diurnal variation in baseline fetal heart rate in one dichorionic-diamniotic twin pregnancyPSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES, Issue 3 2001Masami Muro MD Abstract A longitudinal study to analyse the diurnal variations in baseline fetal heart rate (FHR) and sustained fetal tachycardia (SFT) in twin pregnancy was performed on one dichorionic twin. Twenty-four hour FHR recordings on twins were made at 32, 34 and 36 weeks of gestation simultaneously. Significant diurnal variations were found in both twins in all gestational weeks. The diurnal variations in baseline FHR of twins were highly correlated with no phase-lag. No coincidence was recognized in the appearance of SFT between twins. These results suggest the maternal influence equally affects FHR in each fetus of dichorionic twin since 32 weeks of gestation, while the appearance of SFT might be independent from maternal influence. [source] Exploration correlates with settlement: red squirrel dispersal in contrasting habitatsJOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY, Issue 6 2004DIANE L. HAUGHLAND Summary 1Dispersers in heterogeneous habitat theoretically should target the habitat(s) where reproduction and survival (i.e. fitness) will be highest. However, the cues that dispersing animals respond to are not well understood: differences in habitat quality ultimately may be important, but whether animals respond to these differences may be influenced by their own familiarity with different habitats. 2To determine if dispersers reacted to differences in habitat, we documented the exploratory movements, dispersal, and settlement patterns of juvenile North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) originating in adjacent patches of different habitats. 3Dispersers originating in mature, closed-canopy forest (linked to higher female reproductive success and smaller territories) did not explore contrasting open forest with lower tree densities, and the magnitude of the dispersers' explorations was relatively similar. In contrast, dispersers from the open forest habitat made explorations that carried them into contrasting, mature forest habitat, and their explorations were more variable across individuals. 4When settlement occurred, it was strongly philopatric in all groups of dispersers, although the distances and directions favoured during the exploratory phase of dispersal remained strong predictors of where settlement occurred. Overall, processes favouring philopatry (i.e. maternal influences, competitive advantages, etc.) appeared to dominate the dispersal of our study animals, even those that were exposed to higher quality habitat during their explorations. 5Secondarily, annual stochasticity (or some correlate) affected the scale of exploration and timing of settlement more than the relative quality of habitat in which dispersers were born. 6Studies such as this that seek to understand the relative importance of individual experience, habitat familiarity, and habitat quality are important to ultimately understanding how individual animals and populations react to habitat heterogeneity. [source] Early maternal, genetic and environmental components of antioxidant protection, morphology and immunity of yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) chicksJOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2006D. RUBOLINI Abstract Maternal effects mediated by egg quality are important sources of offspring phenotypic variation and can influence the course of evolutionary processes. Mothers allocate to the eggs diverse antioxidants that protect the embryo from oxidative stress. In the yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis), yolk antioxidant capacity varied markedly among clutches and declined considerably with egg laying date. Analysis of bioptic yolk samples from clutches that were subsequently partially cross-fostered revealed a positive effect of yolk antioxidant capacity on embryonic development and chick growth, but not on immunity and begging behaviour, while controlling for parentage and common environment effects. Chick plasma antioxidant capacity varied according to rearing environment, after statistically partitioning out maternal influences mediated by egg quality. Thus, the results of this study indicate that egg antioxidants are important mediators of maternal effects also in wild bird populations, especially during the critical early post-hatching phase. [source] Growth in colony living anubis baboon infants and its relationship with maternal activity budgets and reproductive statusAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Cécile Garcia Abstract Early growth is of interest because it is susceptible to maternal effects and linked to fitness components for a range of species. Here we present anthropometric measurements on 23 infant olive baboons born into a captive colony in order to describe growth over the first 2 years of life, to explore maternal influences on growth, and to assess the impact of growth profiles on maternal reproduction. Six main findings emerged: 1) Infant growth rates in our colony were higher than those reported for wild populations but comparable to those observed for food-enhanced animals. 2) The ratio of infant mass to maternal mass was positively associated with reproductive parameters, such as duration of post-partum amenorrhea and interbirth interval. 3) Mothers resumed cycling and reconceived when their infants attained a relatively consistent threshold mass. 4) Infant mass-for-age was associated with maternal rank and, independently, with maternal mass such that females of high dominance rank and heavy females had relatively large infants at their resumption of cycling. 5) Low-ranking and lighter females had longer investment periods but smaller infants. They continued investment in infant through prolonged lactation until their infants reached a mass similar to that of infants of high-ranking/heavy mothers, suggesting that the lengthening of investment is essentially compensatory for slow early growth. 6) There was no relationship between infant growth and maternal activity budgets. Maternal physical and social factors, not energetics, contributed to differences among infants in growth trajectories, and infant growth temporally influenced successive reproductive events. Am J Phys Anthropol 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Maternal Transmission of Nicotine Dependence: Psychiatric, Neurocognitive and Prenatal FactorsTHE AMERICAN JOURNAL ON ADDICTIONS, Issue 1 2001Raymond Niaura Ph.D. This paper reviews the literature on maternal influences on smoking behaviors of offspring from the perspective of neuropsychiatric deficits that may be transmitted from mother to child. In particular, we review what is known regarding associations between: (1) in-utero exposure to smoking, (2) adolescent neurocognitive functioning and psychiatric comorbidity, and (3) the patterns of smoking and progression of nicotine dependence. Furthering our knowledge of these differences in susceptibility to nicotine dependence among youth will provide additional avenues for prevention and intervention efforts targeted toward those at high risk for dependence. [source] | |||||||||||||