Biomedical subjects

Jeanne Brooks-Gunn

Publications and source records attributed to Jeanne Brooks-Gunn.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Racial and ethnic differentials in overweight and obesity among 3-year-old children.

OBJECTIVES: We estimated racial/ethnic differences in overweight and obesity in a national sample of 3-year-olds from urban, low-income families and assessed possible determinants of differences. METHODS: Survey, in-home observation, and interview data were collected at birth, 1 year, and 3 years. We used logistic regression analyses and adjusted for a range of covariates in examining overweight and obesity differentials according to race/ethnicity. RESULTS: Thirty-five percent of the study children were overweight or obese. Hispanic children were twice as likely as either Black or White children to be overweight or obese. Although we controlled for a wide variety of characteristics, we were unable to explain either White-Hispanic or Black-Hispanic differences in overweight and obesity. However, birthweight, taking a bottle to bed, and mother's weight status were important predictors of children's overweight or obesity at age 3 years. CONCLUSIONS: Children's problems with overweight and obesity begin as early as age 3, and Hispanic children and those with obese mothers are especially at risk.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

The mental health of married, cohabiting, and non-coresident parents with infants.

OBJECTIVES: We compared recent parents (married, cohabiting, not cohabiting but romantically involved, and not romantically involved) to examine the association between mental health problems and relationship status. METHODS: We analyzed data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study that followed a cohort of approximately 4900 births in large US cities. Our study included a large oversample of nonmarital births (n=3700) and interviews with both mothers and fathers. We used the Composite International Diagnostic Interview Short Form to assess depression and generalized anxiety 1 year after the birth. Self reports were used to measure heavy drinking, illicit drug use, incarceration, and partner violence. RESULTS: Unmarried parents reported more mental health and behavioral problems than did married parents, and unmarried parents whose relationships ended before the birth reported more impairment compared with other groups of unmarried parents. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial number of children are born to unmarried parents and are at risk for poor parenting and poor developmental outcomes. Government initiatives aimed at increasing marriage rates among low-income couples need to consider the mental health status of unmarried parents.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Couples' immigration status and ethnicity as determinants of breastfeeding.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated how couples' immigration status and ethnicity determined the decision to initiate breastfeeding and to breastfeed at 6 months. METHODS: From data collected on 4207 mothers and 3013 fathers participating in a longitudinal birth cohort study, we used linear regression and covariate-adjusted proportions to estimate the determinants of breastfeeding behaviors. The sample was divided by immigration status (either foreign born or born in the United States) and further subdivided by ethnicity (Mexican Hispanic, non-Mexican Hispanic, and non-Hispanic). RESULTS: Mothers born in the United States had an 85% reduction in the odds of breastfeeding as compared to foreign-born mothers and a 66% reduction in the odds of breastfeeding at 6 months. Each additional year of US residency decreased the odds of breastfeeding by 4%. These differences by immigration status were seen for Mexicans, other Hispanics, and non-Hispanics. CONCLUSION: The Hispanic paradox may extend to other non-Hispanic immigrants for breastfeeding behaviors, but may not be true for Hispanic mothers born in the United States. Low rates of breastfeeding for Hispanic American mothers indicate that they should not be overlooked by breastfeeding promotion programs.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

G. Stanley Hall's contribution to science, practice and policy: The child study, parent education, and child welfare movements.

G. Stanley Hall influenced several social movements that had great implications for child wellbeing: the Child Study, Parent Education, and Child Welfare Movements. However, while Hall laid much of the foundation for the field of scientific child study and policy-relevant research, his legacy is virtually nonexistent. The current article reviews the life and contributions of G. Stanley Hall, and the dual role Hall played in history as a revered leader of the Child Study Movement and a controversial figure in the landscape of early child psychology.

Child↗

PubMed2006

Early intervention in low birth weight premature infants: results at 18 years of age for the Infant Health and Development Program.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether improvements in cognitive and behavioral development seen in preschool educational programs persist, we compared those in a multisite randomized trial of such a program over the first 3 years of life (INT) to those with follow-up only (FUO) at 18 months of age. METHODS: This was a prospective follow-up of the Infant Health and Development Program at 8 sites heterogeneous for sociodemographic characteristics. Originally 985 children were randomized to the INT (n = 377) or FUO (n = 608) groups within 2 birth weight strata: heavier low birth weight (HLBW; 2001-2499 g) and lighter low birth weight (LLBW; < or = 2000 g). Primary outcome measures were the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-III), reading and mathematics subscales of the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement, youth self-report on the Total Behavior Problem Index, and high-risk behaviors on the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS). Secondary outcomes included Weschler full-scale IQ, caregiver report on the Total Behavior Problem Index, and caregiver and youth self-reported physical health using the Medical Outcome Study measure. Assessors were masked as to study status. RESULTS: We assessed 636 youths at 18 years (64.6% of the 985, 72% of whom had not died or refused at prior assessments). After adjusting for cohort attrition, differences favoring the INT group were seen on the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement in math (5.1 points), YRBSS (-0.7 points), and the PPVT-III (3.8 points) in the HLBW youth. In the LLBW youth, the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement in reading was higher in the FUO than INT group (4.2). CONCLUSIONS: The findings in the HLBW INT group provide support for preschool education to make long-term changes in a diverse group of children who are at developmental risk. The lack of observable benefit in the LLBW group raises questions about the biological and educational factors that foster or inhibit sustained effects of early educational intervention.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Breastfeeding and verbal ability of 3-year-olds in a multicity sample.

OBJECTIVES: Our goal was to analyze the effect of maternal verbal ability and education on the association between breastfeeding and children's cognitive functioning. First, we hypothesized that maternal verbal abilities account for a large portion of the association between breastfeeding and child verbal abilities. Second, we hypothesized that after adjusting for maternal verbal abilities, a positive effect of breastfeeding will be most evident among highly educated mothers, because these mothers may have more opportunity to engage in cognitively stimulating parenting than do mothers with less education. PATIENTS AND METHODS: With data on 1645 American-born mothers participating in a longitudinal birth cohort study, we used linear regression to determine the influence of breastfeeding for at least 1 month on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third Edition scores of 3-year-old children. Models were adjusted for an extensive set of demographic characteristics, including mother's Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment score. Mothers were categorized into 1 of 3 educational-status groups: no high school diploma, high school diploma, and some post-secondary education. RESULTS: In unadjusted mean comparisons, breastfed children had Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test scores that were 6.6 points higher than children who were not breastfed. After adjusting for demographic characteristics and maternal verbal ability, the coefficient dropped to 1.72. Among mothers with education beyond high school, the children's Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test scores in adjusted models were 2.2 points higher for breastfed children. Among mothers with a high school diploma or less, there were no significant differences in the children's Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test scores by breastfeeding status. These results were consistent in white, black, and Hispanic children. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test scores mediate much of the association between breastfeeding and child verbal abilities. The beneficial effects of breastfeeding on children's cognition may emerge only when breastfeeding is done in conjunction with other positive parenting behaviors. The advantageous effects of breastfeeding do not seem to be solely attributable to the superior nutrient content of breast milk.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Neighborhood residence and mental health problems of 5- to 11-year-olds.

CONTEXT: Little research has investigated possible effects of neighborhood residence on mental health problems in children such as depression, anxiety, and withdrawal. OBJECTIVE: To examine whether children's mental health is associated with neighborhood structural characteristics (concentrated disadvantage, immigrant concentration, and residential stability) and whether neighborhood social processes (collective efficacy and organizational participation) underlie such effects. DESIGN AND SETTING: The Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods is a multilevel, longitudinal study of a representative sample of children aged 5 to 11 years in the late 1990s recruited from 80 neighborhoods. A community survey assessing neighborhood social processes was conducted with an independent sample of adult residents in these 80 neighborhoods and is used in conjunction with US census data to assess neighborhood conditions. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2805 children (18.1% European American, 33.8% African American, and 48.1% Latino) and their primary caregivers were seen twice. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Child Behavior Checklist total raw and clinical cutoff scores for internalizing behavior problems (depression, anxiety, withdrawal, and somatic problems). RESULTS: The percentages of children above the clinical threshold were 21.5%, 18.3%, and 11.5% in neighborhoods of low, medium, and high socioeconomic status, respectively. A substantial proportion of variance in children's total internalizing scores (intraclass correlation, 11.1%) was attributable to between-neighborhood differences. Concentrated disadvantage was associated with more mental health problems and a higher number of children in the clinical range, after accounting for family demographic characteristics, maternal depression, and earlier child mental health scores. Neighborhood collective efficacy and organizational participation were associated with better mental health, after accounting for neighborhood concentrated disadvantage. Collective efficacy mediated the effect of concentrated disadvantage. CONCLUSIONS: A large number of children in poor neighborhoods have mental health problems. The mechanism through which neighborhood economic effects operated was community social control and cohesion, which may be amenable to intervention.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2005

The timing of changes in girls' sexual cognitions and behaviors in early adolescence: a prospective, cohort study.

PURPOSE: This small, prospective cohort study of 162 12- to 15-year-old girls examines timing of changes in sexual cognitions and behaviors (breast fondling, genital contact, and sexual intercourse) over a 1-year period. METHODS: Girls from community sites in New York City provided information about sexual experiences and related cognitions (arousability, sexual agency, abstinence attitudes, perceived parental and peer approval, and sexual self-esteem) in 2 interviews 1 year apart. RESULTS: Percentages who reported breast fondling, genital contact, and sexual intercourse (18%, 24%, and 6%) increased significantly over the year (42%, 44%, and 19%) and with age. For each behavior, analyses compared girls who did not report the behavior at either Time 1 or 2, those who reported by Time 2 but not 1, or those who reported at both time points. Girls with no breast fondling experience at either time point had stronger abstinence values, and lower arousability, agency, peer approval, and sexual self-esteem scores compared to girls who initiated breast fondling over the year (transitioners). Transitioners were markedly similar in sexual cognitions to girls with this experience before Time 1, suggesting that changes in sexual cognitions precede actual experience. A similar pattern was found between groups for genital contact. Few differences between groups by comparison were noted for sexual intercourse, which occurs later in the trajectory. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual experiences that occur before intercourse (e.g., breast fondling) are central to research on sexual development and related to greater changes in girls' sexual cognitions than is intercourse. Changes in cognitions precede, rather than follow, new sexual experiences.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Maternal employment and child development: a fresh look using newer methods.

The employment rate for mothers with young children has increased dramatically over the past 25 years. Estimating the effects of maternal employment on children's development is challenged by selection bias and the missing data endemic to most policy research. To address these issues, this study uses propensity score matching and multiple imputation. The authors compare outcomes across 4 maternal employment patterns: no work in first 3 years postbirth, work only after 1st year, part-time work in 1st year, and full-time work in 1st year. Our results demonstrate small but significant negative effects of maternal employment on children's cognitive outcomes for full-time employment in the 1st year postbirth as compared with employment postponed until after the 1st year. Multiple imputation yields noticeably different estimates as compared with a complete case approach for many measures. Differences between results from propensity score approaches and regression modeling are often minimal.

Child↗

PubMed2005

The effectiveness of early head start for 3-year-old children and their parents: lessons for policy and programs.

Early Head Start, a federal program begun in 1995 for low-income pregnant women and families with infants and toddlers, was evaluated through a randomized trial of 3,001 families in 17 programs. Interviews with primary caregivers, child assessments, and observations of parent-child interactions were completed when children were 3 years old. Caregivers were diverse in race-ethnicity, language, and other characteristics. Regression-adjusted impact analyses showed that 3-year-old program children performed better than did control children in cognitive and language development, displayed higher emotional engagement of the parent and sustained attention with play objects, and were lower in aggressive behavior. Compared with controls, Early Head Start parents were more emotionally supportive, provided more language and learning stimulation, read to their children more, and spanked less. The strongest and most numerous impacts were for programs that offered a mix of home-visiting and center-based services and that fully implemented the performance standards early.

Acculturation↗

PubMed2005

Neighborhood poverty and public policy: a 5-year follow-up of children's educational outcomes in the New York City moving to opportunity demonstration.

Data from the Moving to Opportunity Program, a randomized mobility experiment in which a subset of low-income minority families living in public housing in high-poverty neighborhoods were given vouchers to move to low-poverty neighborhoods, were used to evaluate 1 policy approach for improving children's educational outcomes. Four hundred twenty-five New York City children were seen 2 1/2 and 5 years following relocation (mean age=14.64 years, SD=3.21 years). Analyses examining program effects on 5-year educational outcomes, accounting for 2 1/2-year outcomes, revealed that program effects on adolescent boys' achievement found at 2 1/2 years were not sustained at 5 years. Rather, male and female youths 14-20 years of age in low-poverty neighborhoods reported lower school grades and engagement relative to youths in high-poverty neighborhoods. From a policy standpoint, the complexity of enhancing low-income minority children's educational outcomes is underscored by the multiple dynamics involved--family, neighborhood, housing, and school.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Measurement equivalence and differential item functioning in family psychology.

Several hypotheses in family psychology involve comparisons of sociocultural groups. Yet the potential for cross-cultural inequivalence in widely used psychological measurement instruments threatens the validity of inferences about group differences. Methods for dealing with these issues have been developed via the framework of item response theory. These methods deal with an important type of measurement inequivalence, called differential item functioning (DIF). The authors introduce DIF analytic methods, linking them to a well-established framework for conceptualizing cross-cultural measurement equivalence in psychology (C.H. Hui and H.C. Triandis, 1985). They illustrate the use of DIF methods using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). Focusing on the Caregiver Warmth and Environmental Organization scales from the PHDCN's adaptation of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment Inventory, the authors obtain results that exemplify the range of outcomes that may result when these methods are applied to psychological measurement instruments.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

The contribution of parenting to ethnic and racial gaps in school readiness.

The authors describe various parenting behaviors, such as nurturance, discipline, teaching, and language use, and explain how researchers measure them. They note racial and ethnic variations in several behaviors. Most striking are differences in language use. Black and Hispanic mothers talk less with their young children than do white mothers and are less likely to read to them daily. They also note some differences in harshness. When researchers measuring school readiness gaps control for parenting differences, the racial and ethnic gaps narrow by 25-50 percent. And it is possible to alter parenting behavior to improve readiness. The authors examine programs that serve poor families-and thus disproportionately serve minority families--and find that home- and center-based programs with a parenting component improve parental nurturance and discipline. Programs that target families with children with behavior problems improve parents' skills in dealing with such children. And certain family literacy programs improve parents' skills in talking with their children. Several interventions have significantly reduced gaps in the parenting behavior of black and white mothers. Not all improvements in parenting translate to improved school readiness. Home-based programs affect the mother but do not appear to affect the child, at least in the short term. But center-based programs with a parenting component enhance both parenting and school readiness. And some family literacy programs also improve readiness. Because these successful interventions serve a greater share of minority than nonminority families and have more positive effects for blacks than for whites, they offer promise for closing the ethnic and racial gaps in school readiness.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

It's not what you say, it's how many different ways you can say it: links between divergent peer resistance skills and delinquency a year later.

PURPOSE: To examine whether generation of 'socially appropriate' responses or divergent responses to continued peer pressure is a more effective deterrent of actual delinquency. METHODS: The sample of 129 urban adolescents included both boys and girls (51.9% male) and was predominantly black (48.%) and Hispanic (28.7%). They were studied longitudinally from seventh to eighth grade in New York City from 2000-2001. Resistance strategies to offers to smoke and to shoplift were assessed in two separate videotaped role-plays. Socially appropriate responses were defined as assertive and nonaggressive, including the use of a simple no; direct, declarative statements; and offering prosocial alternatives. Divergent responses were defined as multiple unique response types within the same situation regardless of appropriateness. Data were analyzed using hierarchical logistic regressions. RESULTS: High use of divergent responses was consistently associated favorably with changes in delinquency from seventh to eighth grade. High use of divergent responses was associated with lowered likelihood to vandalize, steal or shoplift, and commit multiple acts of any type of delinquency, even after controlling for seventh grade delinquency. Socially appropriate responses showed little association to any delinquent behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Different social pressure situations and contexts may require different responses. As trying to teach effective responses for every single potential peer pressure situation would be impossible, promoting divergent thinking may be an attractive alternative.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Short-term effects of moving from public housing in poor to middle-class neighborhoods on low-income, minority adults' outcomes.

This study reports results from a quasi-experimental residential mobility study in Yonkers, NY, in which low-income minority families residing in public and private housing in high-poverty neighborhoods were randomly assigned via lottery to relocate to publicly funded attached rowhouses in seven middle-class neighborhoods. One hundred seventy-three Black and Latino families who moved and 142 demographically similar families who remained in the original high-poverty neighborhoods were interviewed approximately 2 years after movers relocated; no baseline data were available. Multiple regression analyses controlling for individual- and family-level background characteristics revealed that adults who moved to low-poverty neighborhoods were less likely to be exposed to violence and disorder, experience health problems, abuse alcohol, receive cash assistance, and were more likely to report satisfaction with neighborhood resources, experience higher housing quality, and be employed, when compared with adults who remained in high-poverty neighborhoods. Adults who moved to low-poverty neighborhoods were less likely than those who stayed in high-poverty neighborhoods to socialize informally with neighbors. No program effects were found on adults' symptoms of depression and anxiety. These early program effects inform housing policy initiatives for low-income families.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

A randomized study of neighborhood effects on low-income children's educational outcomes.

Experimental data from the Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing Demonstration were used to examine (a) if moving from high- to low-poverty neighborhoods (via randomization) was associated with low-income minority children's achievement, grade retention, and suspensions/expulsions; (b) if moving minimized gender differences in these outcomes; and (c) potential mediators of observed program effects. Data on school-age children (mean age = 11.79 years, SD = 3.26) were obtained from standardized assessments and parent and adolescent interviews during the New York City site's 3-year follow-up evaluation (N = 588). Moving to low-poverty neighborhoods had positive effects on 11-18-year-old boys' achievement scores compared with those of their peers in high-poverty neighborhoods. These male adolescents' scores were comparable to females' scores, whereas male adolescents in high-poverty neighborhoods scored 10 points lower than female peers. Homework time and school safety partially accounted for program effects. From a policy perspective, the program benefited disadvantaged male adolescents at high risk for dropping out of school.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Is pubertal timing associated with psychopathology in young adulthood.

OBJECTIVE: This investigation tested whether the timing of puberty continued to be associated with experiences of psychopathology (symptoms and disorders) from mid-adolescence into young adulthood. METHOD: At age 24, 931 participants from a large community sample, who had been interviewed twice during adolescence, completed a telephone interview (assessing Axis I disorders and elevated antisocial and borderline personality traits) and a mailed questionnaire battery. RESULTS: Analyses tested whether pubertal timing was associated with lifetime and current history of mental disorders and psychosocial functioning in young adulthood. As expected, young women who had been early maturers had higher rates of lifetime history of disorder along with current elevation of psychosocial symptoms compared with women who were on-time maturers. Young men who had been late maturers, compared with other men, had elevated onset of disruptive behavior and substance use disorders during the transition to adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: Early maturing females are at unique risk of persistent difficulty during adolescence and should be targeted for preventive efforts. Late maturation among males may be associated with a late-onset pathway for deviant behavior or substance abuse.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2004

Links between pubertal timing and neighborhood contexts: implications for girls' violent behavior.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate links between girls' violent behavior, pubertal timing, and neighborhood characteristics. METHOD: A total of 501 Hispanic, black, and white adolescent girls and their parents were interviewed twice over a 3-year period (1995-1998). Violent behavior was assessed using the Self-Report of Offending Scale and pubertal timing was measured via menarche. This probability sample was drawn from Chicago. To characterize neighborhoods, neighborhood clusters were created. U.S. Census data were mapped onto each neighborhood cluster to represent levels of concentrated disadvantage, immigrant concentration, and residential mobility. The response rate was approximately 70%. RESULTS: More than 25% of girls engaged in violent behavior at the second interview. Controlling for demographic indicators, previous violence, and other psychological factors, no differences were found in violent behavior as a function of menarcheal timing or neighborhood characteristics. Instead, results revealed that early maturers engaged in violent behavior only if they lived in neighborhoods characterized by high concentrated disadvantage. Early maturers in neighborhoods characterized by high concentrated disadvantaged engaged in three times the number of violent acts as early maturers in less disadvantaged neighborhoods. Depressive symptoms and previous violent behavior were also associated with girls' subsequent violent behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicated that girls who experience a double vulnerability--early maturation and neighborhoods of disadvantage--are susceptible to engaging in violent behavior. This suggests the need for clinical evaluation to examine the implications of pubertal timing and the context of girls' behavior.

Adolescent↗