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Biomedical subjects

S L Leech

Publications and source records attributed to S L Leech.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Prenatal alcohol exposure predicts continued deficits in offspring size at 14 years of age.

BACKGROUND: Growth deficits are among the cardinal features for the diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome. Growth deficits have also been noted among those who were exposed to alcohol prenatally but who do not have fetal alcohol syndrome. Few studies have observed subjects past early and middle childhood, however, to evaluate the longer-term effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on growth in adolescence. This is a report of the effects of alcohol exposure during gestation on the size of the offspring at 14 years of age. METHODS: Women were recruited in their fourth prenatal month. These women were interviewed in the fourth and seventh months of pregnancy and at delivery. The women and their children were seen when the offspring were 14 years of age. RESULTS: Growth deficits associated with prenatal alcohol exposure were identified among the offspring at 14 years of age. Weight, height, head circumference, and skinfold thickness continued to be significantly affected by prenatal alcohol exposure after controlling for other significant predictors of size. These effects exhibited a dose-response pattern, and significant effects were found at levels below one drink per day. For example, first trimester alcohol exposure predicted weights of 152 lbs for the offspring of abstainers, 149 lbs for the offspring of light drinkers (>0 and <0.2 drinks per day), 143 lbs for the offspring of moderate drinkers (>0.2 and <0.89 drinks per day), and 136 lbs for the offspring of heavy drinkers (>0.89 drinks per day). CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal alcohol exposure continues to affect size at age 14 years in this cohort of children followed since their fourth month of gestation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Prenatal tobacco exposure: is it a risk factor for early tobacco experimentation?

Few studies have considered the etiological role of the fetal environment on the offspring's substance use. This prospective study examines the relations between the mother's prenatal and current smoking and the offspring's smoking experimentation. A low SES birth cohort of 589 10-year-olds, who have been followed since their gestation, completed a self-report questionnaire about their substance use. Half were female, and 52% were African-American. Detailed data on exposure to tobacco and other substances in the prenatal and postnatal periods were collected from the mothers. During pregnancy, 52.6% of the mothers were smokers; 59.7% were smokers when their children were 10. Six per cent of the children (37/589) reported ever smoking cigarettes, 3% had had one full alcoholic drink, and none had started to use other drugs. Maternal smoking during pregnancy was significantly associated with an increased risk of the child's tobacco experimentation. Offspring exposed to more than 1/2 pack per day during gestation had a 5.5-fold increased risk for early experimentation. Structural equation modeling showed that prenatal tobacco exposure had a direct and significant effect on the child's smoking and that maternal current smoking was not significant. Prenatal tobacco exposure also predicted child anxiety/depression and externalizing behaviors, and these outcomes affected child smoking through the mediating effect of peer tobacco use.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Susceptibility to peer pressure as an explanatory variable for the differential effectiveness of an alcohol misuse prevention program in elementary schools.

A school-based alcohol misuse prevention program had differential effects on students' susceptibility to peer pressure, depending on prior experience with alcohol. These effects paralleled those on alcohol use and misuse, indicating program effects on use and misuse were mediated by reductions in the rate of increase on susceptibility to peer pressure. Experimental group students with prior unsupervised use of alcohol showed a significantly greater reduction than their controls in the rate of increase in susceptibility to peer pressure, alcohol use, and alcohol misuse. This difference was not found among students without prior unsupervised use of alcohol.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Differential effectiveness of an elementary school-based alcohol misuse prevention program.

An elementary school social skills/peer pressure resistance curriculum for the prevention of alcohol misuse was developed, implemented, and evaluated. Schools were randomly assigned to curriculum and control groups, with half of each group pretested prior to intervention and all students posttested two months, 14 months, and 26 months following intervention. Students in grade five at the beginning of the study were randomly assigned to treatment, treatment plus booster, and control conditions. Students in grade six were randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions. Three way repeated measures analyses of covariance (treatment condition by type of prior drinking experience by occasion) were conducted for each grade level on indices of "frequency/quantity of alcohol use" and "total alcohol misuse." Results indicated the intervention was effective in reducing the rate of increase of alcohol use and misuse among grade six students who entered the study with prior unsupervised as well as supervised alcohol use. After corrections for intraclass correlations on the dependent variables, the significant finding regarding the alcohol misuse variable was maintained.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1984

Health locus of control and self-esteem as related to adolescent health behavior and intentions.

A health behavior and attitudes questionnaire was administered to 246 fifth-grade and 265 sixth-grade students during class time. The questions included 20 children's health locus of control (CHLC) items reported by Parcel and Meyer (1978), 17 children's self-esteem (CSE) items modified from those reported by Coopersmith (1967), and questions concerning past and current behavior and future intentions with respect to cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and marijuana use. The results indicate that the relationships between dimensions of children's health locus of control and self-esteem and their behaviors and intentions are not large enough to suggest that intervention programs directed at the prevention of detrimental health behaviors focus on the enhancement of self-esteem or the internal locus of control. An appropriate test of the efficacy of such an approach requires a longitudinal rather than a cross-sectional study, monitoring changes in the levels of self-esteem and health locus of control and associated changes in health behavior.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Dimensions of children's health beliefs.

Health beliefs interviews were conducted with 250 children aged 6-17 years. A factor analysis of the items resulted in six correlated factors which were interpreted as 1) specific health concerns, 2) general health concerns, 3) perceived parental concern, 4) perceived general susceptibility, 5) perceived susceptibility to specific conditions, and 6) perceived seriousness of and susceptibility to disease. Factor scores were computed and two-way analyses of variance (by age and sex of child) were conducted on six sets of factor scores. No significant sex differences or sex by age interaction effects were noted. Younger children scored significantly higher on "specific health concerns" and "perceived general susceptibility," while older children scored significantly higher on "perceived parental concern." Tests of differences among variances showed a tendency for the variability to be greater among younger children. The results are interpreted as providing partial support for a model of children's health beliefs and as a basis for further operationalization of concepts which are central to an understanding of motivated health behavior. Implications for practice are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prenatal substance exposure: effects on attention and impulsivity of 6-year-olds.

Attention and impulsivity of prenatally substance-exposed 6 year olds were assessed as part of a longitudinal study. Most of the women were light to moderate users of alcohol and marijuana who decreased their use after the first trimester of pregnancy. Tobacco was used by a majority of women and did not change during pregnancy. The women, recruited from a prenatal clinic, were of lower socio-economic status, and over half were African American. Attention and impulsivity were assessed using a Continuous Performance Task. Second and third trimester tobacco exposure and first trimester cocaine use predicted increased omission errors. Second trimester marijuana use predicted more commission errors and fewer omission errors. There were no significant effects of prenatal alcohol exposure. Lower Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale composite scores, male gender, and an adult male in the household also predicted more errors of commission. Lower SBIS composite scores, younger child age, maternal work/ school status, and higher maternal hostility scores predicted more omission errors. These findings indicate that prenatal substance use has an effect on attentional processes.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Demographic correlates of SI assessments of type A behavior.

A survey interview and the structured Type A interview (SI) were administered to 903 residents of Washtenaw County, Michigan aged 18 or older selected by a multistage probability sample of households. No bivariate relationship was found between Type A behavior and sex or marital status. Type A behavior was positively related to income and education. The prevalence of Type A behavior was highest among those who were employed in white-collar occupations. There was an inverted U-shaped relationship between age and Type A behavior. A slightly higher prevalence of Type A behavior was noted among whites than among nonwhites. Multivariate analysis showed the seven demographic variables to account for 6.8% of the overall variation in Type A behavior, with family income being the strongest demographic predictor.

Adolescent↗