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Biomedical subjects

D M Fergusson

Publications and source records attributed to D M Fergusson.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

The effect of maternal depression on maternal ratings of child behavior.

There have been continuing concerns about the extent to which maternal depression may influence maternal reports of child behavior. To examine this issue, a series of structural equation models of the relationships between maternal depression and errors in maternal reports of child behavior was proposed and tested. These models assumed that (a) maternal depression was unrelated to maternal reporting behavior; (b) maternal depression causally influenced maternal reporting accuracy; (c) maternal depression was correlated with reporting accuracy. These models were fitted to data on maternal depression and multiple-informant (mother, teacher, child) reports of conduct disorder and attention deficit behaviors for a birth cohort of 12- and 13-year-old New Zealand children. The results of model fitting suggested the presence of small to moderate correlations (r = +.13 to +.40) between maternal depression and maternal reporting errors, indicating the presence of a tendency for increasing maternal depression to be associated with a tendency for mothers to over-report child behavior problems. However, independently of any effects of maternal depression on maternal reporting errors there was evidence of small but significant associations (r = .10 to .17; p < .05) between maternal depression and child conduct disorder and attention deficit behaviors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

The effects of lead levels on the growth of word recognition in middle childhood.

The relationship between dentine lead levels and the development of word recognition abilities from 8 to 12 years of age was studied in a sample of 636 children drawn from a birth cohort of 1265 New Zealand children. Data were analysed by growth curve modelling methods to characterize the relationship between early lead levels and subsequent development of word recognition abilities. The results of this analysis showed: i) Before adjustment for confounding and other factors children who had lead levels of > or V 8 p.p.m. had mean test scores which were consistently 5 points lower than children with levels of 0-3 p.p.m. There was no evidence to suggest either catch-up or deterioration in the performance of those with levels of > or = 8 p.p.m. ii) After adjustment for both confounding covariates and potential sample selection bias these differences reduced to about 3 points between those with levels of > or = 8 p.p.m. and those with levels of 0-3 p.p.m. These differences, however, remained statistically significant (P < 0.05) or marginally significant (P < 0.10). It was estimated that the 3-point difference in word recognition skills amounted to approximately 4-6 months' delay in the word recognition abilities of those with mildly elevated lead levels. The results of this study are generally consistent with the view that early exposure to lead results in very small, statistically detectable but apparently enduring deficits in cognitive abilities.

Child↗
PubMed1993

Prevalence and comorbidity of DSM-III-R diagnoses in a birth cohort of 15 year olds.

OBJECTIVE: To document the prevalence and comorbidities of a range of DSM-III-R diagnoses in a birth cohort of approximately 1,000 New Zealand children. METHOD: Parent and child reports were obtained on levels of DSM-III-R symptomatology in the child for five major groups of diagnoses: anxiety disorders, mood disorders, conduct/oppositional disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and substance abuse/dependence. Two methods, optimal informant and latent class modeling, were used to combine parent and child reports to produce a "best estimate" of the prevalence of disorder. RESULTS: Both methods produced very similar results. Overall approximately 25% of children met criteria for at least one DSM-III-R diagnosis. Rates of disorder were higher for girls (33% approximately) than for boys (20% approximately), this difference being largely owing to higher rates of anxiety and mood disorders among girls. There were strong tendencies for disruptive behavior and substance use disorders to cluster together and more diffuse tendencies for anxiety and mood disorders to be comorbid with each other and with other disorders. Only a minority (21%) of children with disorders were in contact with any service for their problems. CONCLUSION: These findings are consistent with a number of other studies of adolescent populations, both in terms of the prevalence of disorder and the comorbidities between disorders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Maternal age and cognitive and behavioural outcomes in middle childhood.

The relationships between maternal age and childhood cognitive and behavioural outcomes were analysed in a birth cohort of New Zealand children studied until the age of 13 years. Increasing maternal age was associated with increasing scores on tests of cognitive ability and achievement and with decreasing reports of conduct problems. The correlations between maternal age and childhood cognitive/behavioural outcomes ranged from 0.11 to 0.21 with a median value of 0.18. These associations were adjusted statistically for the effects of maternal social background at the time of birth and for childhood history subsequent to birth. This analysis suggested that the poorer outcomes for children born to younger mothers reflected the cumulative effects of two sets of factors which placed these children at a disadvantage. Firstly, the offspring of younger mothers tended to be born into relatively poorly educated, socially disadvantaged families and secondly, these children were exposed to less nurturant and more changeable home environments. The net effects of differences in social background at birth and childrearing environments subsequent to birth were sufficient to explain most of the apparent correlation between maternal age and childhood cognitive/behavioural outcomes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Early dentine lead levels and subsequent cognitive and behavioural development.

While a number of studies have reported associations between lead levels and cognitive development and behaviour in cross-sectionally studied child samples, there have been relatively few studies of the long term effects of early lead exposure. This issue was studied in a birth cohort of 1265 New Zealand children who were assessed with respect to: (a) dentine lead levels at ages 6-8 years; (b) cognitive and behavioural outcomes at 12, 13 years; (c) various confounding factors. The results of the analysis show: (a) the presence of small but consistent bivariate associations (ranging in absolute size from r = .08 to .20) between early lead levels and later school performance and behaviour; (b) after adjustment for both errors of measurement in test scores and lead levels and adjustment for confounding factors these correlations reduced to between .07 and .14. Nonetheless these correlations remained statistically significant. The evidence is consistent with the view that early mildly elevated lead levels are associated with small but relatively long term deficits in cognitive ability and attentional behaviours.

Achievement↗
PubMed1993

The structure, stability and correlations of the trait components of conduct disorder, attention deficit and anxiety/withdrawal reports.

A general model for describing the structure of multiple trait measures reported by multiple sources and observed at multiple times is developed. This model is applied to data on conduct disorder/oppositional behaviour, attention deficit and anxiety/withdrawal reported by three sources (child, mother, teacher) at three ages (8, 10 and 12 years) for a birth cohort of 1265 New Zealand children. This model was shown to fit the observed data adequately. The major conclusions of the analysis were: (a) reports of child behaviour derived from a specific source at a given time were of limited validity as measures of the child's behavioural tendencies; (b) reports of child behaviour derived from the same source were subject to correlated errors of measurement; (c) there was evidence of strong correlations (r = .80-.85) between conduct disorder/oppositional behaviour and attention deficit and weaker correlations (r = .30) between externalising traits and anxiety/withdrawal; and (d) when due allowance was made for errors of measurement in the report data, conduct disorder/oppositional behaviour, attention deficit and anxiety/withdrawal emerged as having very high stability across measurement periods. The implications of the results for a range of issues relating to the validity of report data, the interpretation of inter-informant correlations, the correlation/comorbidity of child behaviour problems and the stability of behaviour are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

The effects of conduct disorder and attention deficit in middle childhood on offending and scholastic ability at age 13.

The relationship between conduct disorder and attention deficit behaviours in middle childhood (6, 8 and 10 years) and juvenile offending and academic achievement were examined in a birth cohort of New Zealand children. The application of structural equation modelling methods suggested that early behavioural tendencies are related to later developmental outcomes by two highly correlated but distinct developmental progressions. In the first such progression, early conduct disorder behaviours acted as a precursor of future offending patterns but these behaviours were unrelated to later school performance when the correlation between conduct disorder and attention deficit was taken into account. In the second developmental progression early attentional/cognitive behaviours were related to future school performance but were unrelated to the development of antisocial behaviours when the correlations between conduct disorder and cognitive/attentional variables were taken into account. The implications of these findings for validating the distinction between conduct disorder and attention deficit behaviours is discussed and the problems of analysing and explaining the high comorbidity between conduct disorder and attention deficit behaviours are considered.

Achievement↗
PubMed1993

Conduct problems and attention deficit behaviour in middle childhood and cannabis use by age 15.

The relationship between conduct problems and attention deficit behaviours at ages 6, 8, 10 and 12 years and the early onset of cannabis usage by the age of 15 years was studied in a birth cohort of New Zealand children. The analysis showed that while conduct problems during middle childhood were significantly associated with later cannabis use (p < 0.05) there was no association between early attention deficit behaviours and cannabis use (p > 0.40) when the associations between conduct problems and attention deficit behaviours were taken into account. It was estimated that children who showed tendencies to conduct disorder behaviour in middle childhood were between 2.1 to 2.7 times more likely to engage in early cannabis use than children not prone to conduct problems even when a range of factors including family social background, parental separation and parental conflict were taken into account. It is concluded that early conduct disorder behaviours are a risk factor for later cannabis use when due allowance is made for social and contextual factors associated with both early conduct problems and later cannabis use.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Maternal smoking before and after pregnancy: effects on behavioral outcomes in middle childhood.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this research was to examine the extent to which maternal smoking before and after pregnancy was associated with childhood disruptive behaviors when due allowance was made for potentially confounding factors which may have been associated with both maternal smoking habits and childhood problem behaviors. METHODS: During the course of a 15-year longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 1265 New Zealand children, the following measures were obtained: (1) measures of daily cigarette intake during pregnancy and after pregnancy; (2) measures of childhood disruptive behaviors including conduct problems and attention deficit behaviors based on both maternal and teacher report data; and (3) measures of a series of potentially confounding family, social, parental, and related factors. RESULTS: Before adjustments for confounding, maternal smoking both before and after pregnancy was found to be associated with significant increases in rates of childhood problem behaviors: children whose mothers smoked in excess of 20 cigarettes per day had mean problem behavior scores that were between 0.16 and 0.56 standard deviations higher than those of children whose mothers were nonsmokers. The results were then adjusted using regression methods to take account of (1) correlations between pregnancy and postpregnancy smoking and (2) potentially confounding factors. The results of regression adjustment suggested that maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with small but statistically detectable increases in rates of childhood problem behaviors, with children whose mothers smoked in excess of 20 cigarettes per day having mean scores that were 0.10 to 0.36 standard deviations higher than those of the offspring of nonsmokers, even after adjustment for a series of confounding factors. However, smoking after pregnancy was not significantly associated with increased rates of childhood problem behavior after adjustment for sources of confounding. CONCLUSION: The results are generally consistent with the hypothesis that smoking during pregnancy may be associated with small but detectable increases in the risks of problem behaviors in childhood. This suggests that possible adverse effects on childhood behavioral adjustment should be added to the growing list of adverse consequences of parental smoking for childhood health and well-being.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Attention deficit and reading achievement.

A model for estimating possible reciprocal relationships between attention deficit and reading achievement is proposed. This model is fitted to data for a birth cohort of New Zealand children studied at 10 and 12 years on measures of attention deficit and reading achievement. Model estimates suggest that at the age of 12 years the predominant direction of causality is that attention deficits influence reading achievement and there is no evidence to suggest that reading achievement influenced attention deficit levels. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Achievement↗
PubMed1992

Family change, parental discord and early offending.

The relationship between exposure to family change, exposure to parental discord during the period from birth to 10 years and risks of offending by the age of 13 years was studied in a birth cohort of New Zealand children. This analysis showed that while exposure to parental discord during middle and early childhood led to increased risks of early offending, exposure to family change in the absence of parental discord did not lead to increased risks of offending. The results also suggested that children with a history of early conduct problems were particularly susceptible to parental discord but that the effects of discord did not vary with the child's gender. These results persisted when errors of measurement in the reporting of offending were taken into account using latent class methods.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Smoking during pregnancy and its effects on child cognitive ability from the ages of 8 to 12 years.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy and subsequent child cognitive development and ability were examined in a birth cohort of New Zealand children studied to the age of 12 years. Analysis at a bivariate level showed that children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy scored significantly lower on standardised tests of intelligence, reading and mathematical ability than children whose mothers did not smoke. However, after adjustment for confounding covariates, the results showed no detectable relationship between smoking during pregnancy and child cognitive ability. These results suggest that children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy fared worse on tests of cognitive ability not because of possible causal effects of smoking, but rather because these children tended to come from families which provided a relatively disadvantaged home environment.

Child↗
PubMed1991

Confirmatory factor models of attention deficit and conduct disorder.

The paper presents four alternative confirmatory factor models to represent the structure of measures of attention deficit and conduct disorder obtained from multiple sources. These models range in complexity from a simple one-factor model with no method effects to a two-factor model with method effects. These models were fitted to data gathered on maternal, teacher and self-report of attention deficit and conduct disorder for a sample of New Zealand children studied at ages 9 and 10 years. The analysis strongly suggests that the best representation of the data was a two-factor model in which there were distinct factors of attention deficit and conduct disorder with these factors being highly correlated (r = 0.87-0.88). It is suggested that the most suitable clinical nomenclature may be to describe conduct disorder and attention deficit generically as externalizing disorders, subscripting this classification with clauses which describe the relative contributions of conduct disorder and attention deficit. The implications of this finding for the measurement, classification and explanation of conduct disorder and attention deficit disorder are discussed.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗
PubMed1990

A model of stability and change in minor psychiatric symptoms: results from three longitudinal studies.

A statistical model designed to estimate the contributions of stable and changing symptomatology to levels of minor psychiatric symptoms is developed. This model is fitted to data obtained from three longitudinal studies. These studies involved subjects from Canberra (Australia), Christchurch (New Zealand) and Groningen (Holland). Data from all three data sets were shown to fit the proposed model adequately. However, there were systematic differences in the findings of the study. The findings from the Canberra and Groningen studies suggested that a large amount (50-75%) of the variance in symptom levels could be attributed to between subject difference in stable levels of symptomatology. In contrast the Christchurch study suggested a smaller contribution of stable symptomatology. These differences may be explained by the nature of the samples studied. All three studies showed evidence of strong correlations (0.79-0.94) between stable levels of symptomatology and the measure of trait neuroticism. It is concluded on the basis of this evidence that the neuroticism may be little more than a way of measuring the subject's characteristic level of minor psychiatric symptoms. The model also made it possible to secure estimates of the extent to which measures of neuroticism were contaminated by short-term mental state. Estimates of contamination effects varied between studies. For the Canberra data contamination was negligible, for the Groningen data mild contamination effects were present but for the Christchurch data contamination was larger. These differences may be explained by differences in the nature of the samples studied.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Secondary enuresis in a birth cohort of New Zealand children.

The development of secondary enuresis was examined in a birth cohort of New Zealand children studied to the age of 10 years. By this age, 7.9% of children had developed secondary enuresis. Analysis suggested two risk factors were involved in secondary enuresis. First, children who were late to attain nocturnal bladder control had significantly higher risks of secondary enuresis than children who attained early nocturnal bladder control. Secondly, the child's level of exposure to adverse life events was associated with the onset of secondary enuresis. Children who attained bladder control after 5 years were 3.39 (1.76-6.56) times more likely to develop secondary enuresis than those who attained bladder control before the age of 3 years (P less than 0.001); children who were exposed to four or more life events in a given year were 2.56 (1.18-5.50) times more likely to develop secondary enuresis in that year (P less than 0.05). These results suggest that the rate at which the child acquires primary bladder control acts as a vulnerability factor which determines the child's susceptibility to developing secondary enuresis when exposed to stress.

Child↗
PubMed1990

Vulnerability to childhood problems and family social background.

The relationship between family social background and risks of problems in the areas of health, education, behaviour and offending was examined in a birth cohort of New Zealand children studied to the age of 11 years. The analysis showed the presence of small consistent correlations between family social background and individual outcomes on a range of childhood measures. These correlations ranged from 0.12 to 0.31 with a median value of 0.18. The association between family social background and childhood outcomes was modelled using LISREL modelling methods which assumed that this association was mediated by common non-observed vulnerability processes. This analysis suggested that while variations in family social background act as relatively weak determinants of specific problem outcomes, these factors had a relatively strong influence on the child's generalized vulnerability to a wide range of childhood problems. The implications of these results for research into social background and childhood are discussed.

Achievement↗
PubMed1990

Early solid feeding and recurrent childhood eczema: a 10-year longitudinal study.

The relationship between early solid feeding practices and risks of recurrent or chronic eczema in childhood was examined in a birth cohort of New Zealand children studied to the age of 10. By the age of 10 years, 7.5% of children had chronic or recurrent eczema. There were clear and consistent associations between the diversity of the child's diet during the first 4 months and risks of eczema. Even when due allowance was made for a range of confounding factors--including parental atopic illness, atopic illness in siblings, the child's early milk diet, and family social background--children exposed to four or more different types of solid food before 4 months had risks of recurrent or chronic eczema that were 2.9 times those of children who were not exposed to early solid feeding. It is concluded that early exposure to a diet diverse in potential food antigens may act to predispose susceptible children to recurrent or chronic childhood eczema.

Chronic Disease↗