Avon study

Early-life adversity as neglect or low socioeconomic status is associated with negative physical/mental health outcomes and plays an important role in health trajectories through life. The early-life environment has been shown to be encoded as changes in epigenetic markers that are retained for many years.We investigated the effect of maternal major financial problems (MFP) and material deprivation (MD) on their children's epigenome in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort. Epigenetic aging, measured with epigenetic clocks, was weakly accelerated with increased MFP...

Objective: The objective of the present study was to examine whether exposure to prenatal psychoactive substances is associated with psychological outcomes and deviant behaviour. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of 7,769 mother-child dyads in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) who were followed until the children were aged approximately 12 years. Parental characteristics and maternal use of various substances were collected in pregnancy and entered as predictors of psychological outcomes in childhood and deviant behaviours in early adolescence...

BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence suggests that air pollution exposure contributes to the development of mental health problems, including psychosis and depression. However, little is known about the importance of early-life exposure, nor the potential role of noise pollution, a correlate of air pollution. We examined the association of exposure to air and noise pollution from pregnancy to age 12 years with three mental health problems assessed at ages 12, 18, and 24 years. METHODS: Data were from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), which tracks the development of about 14 000 babies who had expected delivery dates between April 1, 1991, and Dec 31, 1992, in Avon, UK...

BACKGROUND: Evidence supports associations between polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and psychosis. However, PUFA trajectories in the general population have not been characterised and associations with psychosis-spectrum outcomes in early adulthood are unknown. background METHODS: Plasma omega-6:omega-3 ratio and DHA %total fatty acids were measured by nuclear magnetic spectroscopy at 7,15,17 and 24years in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children...

BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are well-established risk factors for self-harm and depression. However, despite their high comorbidity, there has been little focus on the impact of developmental timing and the duration of exposure to ACEs on co-occurring self-harm and depression. METHODS: Data were utilised from over 22,000 children and adolescents participating in three UK cohorts, followed up longitudinally for 14-18 years: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) and the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study...

UNLABELLED: Many people experience traumatic or negative events, but few develop mental health issues as a result. This study investigated whether newborn DNA methylation (DNAm) previously associated with maternal childhood physical abuse by her father affected the child's mental health and physical growth, as well as whether it mediated or moderated developmental outcomes. METHODS: Study sample ( N  = 903) and data came from Bristol University's Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children...

BACKGROUND: The causal relationship between maternal smoking in pregnancy and reduced offspring birth weight is well established and is likely due to impaired placental function. However, observational studies have given conflicting results on the association between smoking and placental weight. We aimed to estimate the causal effect of newly pregnant mothers quitting smoking on their placental weight at the time of delivery. METHODS: We used one-sample Mendelian randomization, drawing data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) (N = 690 to 804) and the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) (N = 4267 to 4606)...

There is evidence that tissue concentrations of mercury (Hg) and selenium (Se) are predicted by numerous dietary, sociodemographic, environmental, and genetic factors. This study aimed to estimate the relative importance of predictors of Hg and Se concentrations in blood samples taken from pregnant women. The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) in the UK measured whole blood Hg and Se concentrations in 3,972 pregnant women. We identified 30 potential predictors of Hg and 24 of Se, which were evaluated using cross-validated random forests to identify the optimal models for predictive power...

Epigenetic age acceleration (EAA), defined as the difference between chronological age and epigenetically predicted age, was calculated from multiple gestational epigenetic clocks (Bohlin, EPIC overlap, and Knight) using DNA methylation levels from cord blood in three large population-based birth cohorts: the Generation R Study (The Netherlands), the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (United Kingdom), and the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (Norway). We hypothesized that a lower EAA associates prospectively with increased ADHD symptoms...

BACKGROUND: Observational studies have reported that Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori ) infection is associated with a series of pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. However, the results have been inconsistent, and the causal effect is unknown. METHODS: A two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study was performed using summary-level statistics for anti- H. pylori IgG levels from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children Cohort. Outcome data for pregnancy (miscarriage, preeclampsia-eclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, placental abruption, premature rupture of membranes, postpartum hemorrhage) and neonates (birthweight, gestational age, and preterm birth) were sourced from genome-wide association meta-analysis as well as the FinnGen and Early Growth Genetics Consortium...

BACKGROUND: Skin neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) produce signs and symptoms that are often physically challenging, stigmatizing and have a negative impact on the mental wellbeing of people affected. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), little is known about the mental wellbeing experiences of people affected by skin NTDs and support is lacking. We collaborated with ongoing NTD programs, the Ministry of Health and people affected to evidence experiences and opportunities for change and co-developed a mental wellbeing support package for people affected and local health system actors...

BACKGROUND: Mental health and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are critical in healthcare systems, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Several policies are planned or designed by health stakeholders to address the mental health needs of people affected by NTDs. Still, the impact of such policies seems to be of no consequence. METHODS: The GAD-7 and PHQ-9 tools were used to determine the rate of depression and anxiety, respectively, among people affected by skin NTDs (leprosy and lymphatic filariasis [LF]) in Zamfara State, North-west Nigeria...

UNLABELLED: The association between newborn DNA methylation (DNAm) and asthma acquisition (AA) during adolescence has been suggested. Lung function (LF) has been shown to be associated with asthma risk and its severity. However, the role of LF in the associations between DNAm and AA is unclear, and it is also unknown whether the association between DNAm and AA is consistent with that between DNAm and LF. We address this question through assessing newborn epigenetic features of preadolescence LF and of AA during adolescence, along with their biological pathways and processes...

BACKGROUND: Vaccines reduce the severity of symptoms, and risk of hospitalisation and death from infectious diseases. Yet, vaccination hesitancy persists. Research identifying psychological risk factors for vaccination hesitancy is limited and reports conflicting results. This study sought to address these inconsistencies and explore the role of personality and cognitive ability in COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy and uptake in a prospective cohort study. METHODS: Data came from young adults (Generation-1; G1) and their mothers (Generation-0; G0) in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH)-style dietary patterns in childhood and cardiometabolic risk (CMR) in adolescence/early adulthood. DESIGN: Data were obtained from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) prospective cohort. Diet diary data collected at 7, 10 and 13 years were used to calculate DASH-style diet scores (DDS). Multivariable linear regression models were used to investigate the associations between the DDS at 7, 10 and 13 years and CMR scores, calculated at 17 and 24 years...

AIMS: We examined the longitudinal associations of sedentary time (ST), light physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) from childhood with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), a measure of arterial stiffness and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). METHODS: We studied 1339 children, aged 11 years from Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, UK, followed up for 13 years. Accelerometer-based ST, LPA, and MVPA were assessed at ages 11, 15, and 24 years clinic visits...

BACKGROUND: Although APOE ε4 allele carriage confers a risk for coronary artery disease, its persistence in humans might be explained by certain survival advantages (antagonistic pleiotropy). METHODS: Combining data from ~ 37,000 persons from three older age British cohorts (1946 National Survey of Health and Development [NSHD], Southall and Brent Revised [SABRE], and UK Biobank) and one younger age cohort (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children [ALSPAC]), we explored whether APOE ε4 carriage associates with beneficial or unfavorable left ventricular (LV) structural and functional metrics by echocardiography and cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR)...

Global understanding of plastid gene expression has always been impaired by its complexity. RNA splicing, editing, and intercistronic processing create multiple transcripts isoforms that can hardly be resolved using traditional molecular biology techniques. During the last decade, the wide adoption of RNA-seq-based techniques has, however, allowed an unprecedented understanding of all the different steps of chloroplast gene expression, from transcription to translation. Current strategies are nonetheless unable to identify and quantify full length transcripts isoforms, a limitation that can now be overcome using Nanopore Sequencing...

BACKGROUND: Emotional problems, especially anxiety, have become increasingly common in recent generations. Few population-based studies have examined trajectories of emotional problems from early childhood to late adolescence or investigated differences in psychiatric and functional outcomes. METHODS: Using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC, n = 8286, 50.4% male), we modeled latent class growth trajectories of emotional problems, using the parent-reported Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire emotional scale (SDQ-E) on seven occasions (4-17 years)...

The widely acknowledged detrimental impact of early adversity on child development has driven efforts to understand the underlying mechanisms that may mediate these effects within the developing brain. Recent efforts have begun to move beyond associating adversity with the morphology of individual brain regions towards determining if and how adversity might shape their interconnectivity. However, whether adversity effects a global shift in the organisation of whole-brain networks remains unclear. In this study, we assessed this possibility using parental questionnaire and diffusion imaging data from The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC, N = 913), a prospective longitudinal study spanning more than 20 years...