BACKGROUND Empirical evidence has demonstrated adverse associations between parental nonstandard ... more BACKGROUND Empirical evidence has demonstrated adverse associations between parental nonstandard work schedules (i.e., evenings, nights, or weekends) and child developmental outcomes. However, there are mixed findings concerning the relationship between parental nonstandard employment and children's body mass index (BMI), and few studies have incorporated information on paternal work schedules. OBJECTIVE This paper investigated BMI trajectories from early to middle childhood (ages 3-11) by parental work schedules at 9 months of age, using nationally representative cohort data from the United Kingdom. This study is the first to examine the link between nonstandard work schedules and children's BMI in the United Kingdom. METHODS We used data from the Millennium Cohort Study (2001-2013, n = 13,021) to estimate trajectories in BMI, using data from ages 3, 5, 7, and 11 years. Joint parental work schedules and a range of biological, socioeconomic, and psychosocial covariates were assessed in the initial interviews at 9 months.
Adverse childhood experiences and the association with illicit drug use in adolescence in the UK; the moderating role of socioeconomic position and ethnicity
There is increasing awareness of the role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on several educ... more There is increasing awareness of the role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on several educational, physical and mental health outcomes around the globe (1-5). However, the role of ACEs on drug use during adolescence in a contemporary UK context is less clear. Only one study, using the ALSPAC cohort, has explored such associations (2) . Illicit drug use starts with experimentation or voluntary use during adolescence. For some adolescents the use is infrequent, and drugs are usually obtained and used with friends in response to peer pressure to drink or use drugs. Some adolescents in this stage can stop for themselves. Yet for others illicit drug use becomes regular and it may lead to multiple deleterious health outcomes, such as sexually transmitted diseases, human immunodeficiency virus, viral hepatitis, and numerous social and mental health problems among adolescents and adults (6, 7). Therefore, improved understanding of the influences on illicit drug use in adolescence is ...
Additional file 1 of Association of childhood out-of-home care status with all-cause mortality up to 42-years later: Office of National Statistics Longitudinal Study
Additional file 1: Table S1. Distribution of observations in childhood by census year, ONS Longit... more Additional file 1: Table S1. Distribution of observations in childhood by census year, ONS Longitudinal Study. Table S2. Distribution of observations in out-of-home care by census year, ONS Longitudinal Study.
Testing lifecourse theories characterising associations between maternal depression and offspring depression in late adolescence: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children
Background: Maternal depression influences offspring mental health. Yet little is understood abou... more Background: Maternal depression influences offspring mental health. Yet little is understood about how the duration and timing of maternal depression shapes youth risk for depressive symptoms, which if understood could inform when best to intervene. Consequently, this study aimed to determine how the timing and duration of maternal depression was related to offspring depression in late adolescence, and variations by sex.Methods: We used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (a prenatal cohort in the Avon area of England, 1991-2003), n=3,301. We applied a structured lifecourse modelling approach to maternal depression (assessed at thirteen points from prenatal period to adolescence) and late adolescent depressive symptoms (age 21). Lifecourse models assessed were accumulation (sum of timepoints when maternal depression was reported), sensitive periods (each period assessed as one during which maternal depression has a stronger effect) and instability (frequent...
Background: To analyse whether Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) are associated with an increas... more Background: To analyse whether Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) are associated with an increased risk of cancer. Methods: The National child development study (NCDS) is a prospective birth cohort study with data collected over 50 years. The NCDS included all live births during one week in 1958 (n = 18558) in Great Britain. Self-reported cancer incidence was based on 444 participants reporting having had cancer at some point and 5694 reporting never having cancer. ACE was measured using reports of: 1) child in care, 2) physical neglect, 3) child’s or family’s contact with the prison service, 4) parental separation due to divorce, death or other, 5) family experience of mental illness & 6) family experience of substance abuse. The resulting variable had three categories, no ACEs / one ACE / 2 + ACEs and was used to test for a relationship with cancer. Information on socioeconomic characteristics, pregnancy and birth were extracted as potential confounders. Information on adult heal...
Inflammation is one of key mechanisms linking childhood experiences to later chronic disease risk... more Inflammation is one of key mechanisms linking childhood experiences to later chronic disease risk. Childhood adversity is associated with inflammation, but little is known about positive experiences. We examine how adverse and positive experiences are associated with inflammatory markers in late childhood, and whether they have an interaction effect. Data sources: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC; N = 1237) and Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC; N = 3488). Exposures: Adverse and positive experiences assessed from 0 to 11 (LSAC) and 0-14 years (ALSPAC). Adversity indicators included parent legal problems, family violence, mental illness, substance abuse, harsh parenting, parental divorce, neighbourhood violence, family member death, and bullying victimization. Positive experiences included positive parenting practice, trusting and supportive relationships, supportive neighbourhood and home learning environments, social engagement and enjoyment. Ou...
Multiple systematic reviews have investigated the relation between socioeconomic position (SEP) a... more Multiple systematic reviews have investigated the relation between socioeconomic position (SEP) and body mass index (BMI) throughout the life course. However, BMI does not capture quantity and distribution of fat and muscle, which are better indicators of obesity than BMI, and have been independently linked to adverse health outcomes. Less is known about the relation between SEP and body composition, and the literature has not been reviewed. We therefore systematically reviewed the literature on the association between life course SEP and body composition in adulthood. A protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42019119937), and the review followed PRISMA guidelines. An electronic search of three databases (MEDLINE, Embase Classic + Embase and SPORTDiscus) was conducted. Original studies in the English language were included that examine the association between any recognised measure of SEP at any age and body composition (fat mass, fat-free mass, ratio and distribution) in adulthood...
AimsThe main objective of this study was to investigate distributional shifts underlying observed... more AimsThe main objective of this study was to investigate distributional shifts underlying observed age and cohort differences in mean levels of psychological distress in the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts.MethodsThis study used data from the 1958 National Child Development Study and 1970 British birth cohort (n=24,707). Psychological distress was measured by the Malaise Inventory at ages 23, 33, 42 and 50 in the 1958 cohort and 26, 34, 42 and 46-48 in the 1970 cohort.ResultsThe shifts in the distribution across age appear to be mainly due to changing proportion of those with moderate symptoms, except for midlife (age 42-50) when we observed polarisation in distress – increased proportions of people with no or multiple symptoms. The elevated levels of distress in the 1970 cohort, compared with the 1958 cohort, appeared to be due to an increase in the proportion of individuals with both moderate and high symptoms. For instance, at age 33/34 34.2% experienced no symptoms in 1970 co...
BackgroundChildren who spent time in non-parental care report poor outcomes in many aspects of th... more BackgroundChildren who spent time in non-parental care report poor outcomes in many aspects of their later lives on average, but less is known about differences by ethnicity. We examined whether the health, socioeconomic, family, and living arrangements of adults who had been in non-parental care across the first three decades of adult life varied by ethnicity (White, Black, South Asian).MethodsWe used longitudinal data from the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (LS). Participants were aged<18 years and had never been married at baseline of each census year from 1971-2001 (n= 672,648). Separately for each adult follow-up age group (20 to 29; 30 to 39; 40 to 49), multi-level regression models were used to compare socioeconomic, family, and living arrangements by non-parental care and ethnicity interactions.ResultsAdverse adult outcomes following an experience of non-parental care were conditional on the interaction of non-parental care with ethnicity, mainly in the...
Non-parental care in childhood and health up to 30 years later: ONS Longitudinal Study 1971–2011
European Journal of Public Health
Background Children who spend time in non-parental care report worse health later in life on aver... more Background Children who spend time in non-parental care report worse health later in life on average, but less is known about differences by type of care. We examined whether self-rated health of adults who had been in non-parental care up to 30 years later varied by type of care. Methods We used longitudinal data from the office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study. Participants were aged <18 and never-married at baseline of each census year from 1971 to 2001. Separately for each follow-up period (10, 20 and 30 years later), multi-level logistic regression was used to compare self-rated health outcomes by different care types. Results For combined census years, sample sizes were 157 896 dependent children with 10 years of follow-up, 166 844 with 20 years of follow-up and 173 801 with 30 years of follow-up. For all follow-up cohorts, longitudinal study members who had been in care in childhood, had higher odds of rating their health as ‘not good’ vs. ‘good’; with highest od...
Does the association of child maltreatment with adult cardiovascular disease differ by gender?
Heart
Childhood maltreatment (abuse and neglect) is a preventable risk factor associated with a range o... more Childhood maltreatment (abuse and neglect) is a preventable risk factor associated with a range of health outcomes. There is now extensive evidence on links between childhood maltreatment and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in adulthood.1 It is known that the occurrence of maltreatment and distributions of some CVD outcomes differ by gender, raising the question as to whether the association of childhood maltreatment with adult CVD differs by gender, and importantly, the reasons and potential mechanisms for such differences. Yet few studies have explicitly compared the association between men and women. Understanding whether gender modifies the relationship will have important implications on deciding whether intervention aiming to reduce the risk of CVD should be tailored differently for maltreated men and women. The study by Soares and colleagues2 using the large UK Biobank cohort adds to our understanding on the impact of gender on CVD risk in adults who have experienced maltreatment in childhood. The authors investigated the associations of individual type of maltreatment (also number of types) with three CVD outcomes (hypertensive disease, ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease) and tested gender differences in the associations. The outcomes were derived from both self-reported and objective measures of CVD, the latter of which included hospital and death register data. The large sample size provides statistical power and enables …
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Papers by Rebecca Lacey