scholarly journals Grandparents childhood exposures and religious belief in their granddaughters: possible transgenerational associations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
jean golding ◽  
Steven Gregory ◽  
Kate Northstone ◽  
Marcus Pembrey ◽  
Genette Ellis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Religious Belief ◽  
Traumatic Events ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Adult Grandchildren ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Paternal Grandmother ◽  
Mutually Independent ◽  
Avon Longitudinal Study ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Age At Exposure

The prevalence of religious belief has fallen dramatically. A possible reason is that environmental exposures to previous generations are involved, e.g., evidence of an association between childhood exposures of grandparents and outcomes in their grandchildren including obesity, autistic traits, and survival have been reported. Generally, the associations between the grandparent’s exposure and grandchild’s outcome varied with sex of grandparent, his/her age at exposure and sex of the grandchild.Using data collected by the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) we investigate whether exposures such as smoking and/or traumatic events experienced by any of the grandparents are associated with the likelihood that their adult grandchildren have a religious belief. We show that the granddaughters (but not the grandsons) were more likely to have reported such a belief if one of their maternal grandparents had experienced traumatic events pre-puberty (age 6-11), or their paternal grandmother had experienced such events in adolescence. Conversely if their maternal grandfather had started smoking regularly during childhood or their paternal grandmother had smoked prenatally, the granddaughter was substantially less likely to be a believer. These associations were mutually independent and not explained by demographic factors. They may account for a small proportion of the fall in prevalence of religious belief over time, but the association needs confirming in other studies.

scholarly journals Have associations between mental health and health related behaviours changed between 2005 and 2015? A population based cross-cohort study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne H. Gage ◽  
Praveetha Patalay
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Cohort Study ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Weight Perception ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Avon Longitudinal Study ◽  
Over Time

AbstractBackgroundPoor adolescent mental health is a growing concern over recent decades with evidence of increasing internalising mental health problems corresponding with decrease in anti-social, smoking and alcohol behaviours. However, understanding whether and how the associations between mental health and health-related behaviours such as substance use, anti-social behaviour and obesity have changed over time is less well-understood.ObjectivesWe investigate whether the associations between different health-related outcomes in adolescence are stable or changing over time in two recent cohorts of adolescents born ten years apart.MethodData from two UK birth cohort studies, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC, born 1991-92, N=5627, 50.7% female) and Millennium Cohort Study (MCS, born 2000-1, N=11318, 50.6% female) at age 14 sweeps are used. The health outcomes of focus are depressive symptom score, substance use (alcohol, smoking, cannabis and other drugs), antisocial behaviours (assault, graffiti, vandalism, shoplifting and rowdy behaviour), weight (BMI), weight perception (perceive self as overweight) and sexual activity (had sexual intercourse).ResultsOur results suggest although directions of associations between mental-health and health-related behaviours (eg smoking) are similar over time, their strength across the distribution has changed. While smoking and alcohol use behaviours are decreasing in adolescents, those that endorse these behaviours in 2015 are more likely to have co-occurring mental-health and other problems than those born in 2005. Similarly, higher body mass index is more strongly associated with depressive symptoms in 2015.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that associations between these factors has changed over time, which has implications for public health and our understanding of the mechanisms underlying their observed associations in the population.

scholarly journals Longitudinal data on parental religious behaviour and beliefs from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmin Iles-Caven ◽  
Steven Gregory ◽  
Kate Northstone ◽  
Jean Golding
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Population Data ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Slight Reduction ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences ◽  
Christian Population ◽  
Avon Longitudinal Study

There is evidence that, in general, the West is becoming more secular. Religious belief has been shown in some studies to positively impact on outcomes such as coping with serious illness and other life events and general well-being. In this paper, we describe the data collected from parents enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) on their religious behaviour and beliefs on three occasions. These data are available for researchers to use in association with other longitudinally collected data on social, biological, genetic and epigenetic features of this culturally largely protestant Christian population. Data were collected antenatally and then subsequently at 5 and 9 years post-delivery from self-completion questionnaires completed by each parent independently.  Strong sex differences (all P<0.001) were noted regarding religious beliefs and behaviour: for example, 49.9% of women stated that they believed in God or some divine being compared with 37% of men. Almost twice as many men (28.6%) than women (14.9%) declared they were atheists. Men were less likely to have stated that they had been helped by a divine presence; to appeal to God if they were in trouble, to attend religious services or obtain help from members of religious groups. Among the 6256 women and 2355 men who answered the questions at all three time points, there was evidence of a slight reduction in professed belief and a slight increase in the proportion stating that they were atheists. Information is available from this resource, which is rich in data on the environment, traumatic incidents, health and genetic background. It can be used for research into various aspects of the antecedents and consequences of religious belief and behaviour.

scholarly journals Grandchild’s IQ is associated with grandparental environments prior to the birth of the parents

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 198
Author(s):  
Jean Golding ◽  
Gerard van den Berg ◽  
Kate Northstone ◽  
Matthew Suderman ◽  
Genette Ellis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Experiments ◽  
Education Level ◽  
Maternal Grandfather ◽  
Developmental Variation ◽  
Smoking In Pregnancy ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Paternal Grandfather ◽  
Paternal Grandmother ◽  
Avon Longitudinal Study ◽  
In Pregnancy

Background. Despite convincing animal experiments demonstrating the potential for environmental exposures in one generation to have demonstrable effects generations later, there have been few relevant human studies. Those that have been undertaken have demonstrated associations, for example, between exposures such as nutrition and cigarette smoking in the grandparental generation and outcomes in grandchildren. We hypothesised that such transgenerational associations might be associated with the IQ of the grandchild, and that it would be likely that there would be differences in results between the sexes of the grandparents, parents, and children. Method. We used three-generational data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).  We incorporated environmental factors concerning grandparents (F0) and focussed on three exposures that we hypothesised may have independent transgenerational associations with the IQ of the grandchildren (F2): (i) UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at grandparental birth year; (ii) whether grandfather smoked; and (iii) whether the grandmother smoked in the relevant pregnancy. Potential confounders were ages of grandparents when the relevant parent was born, ethnic background, education level and social class of each grandparent. Results. After adjustment, all three target exposures had specific associations with measures of IQ in the grandchild. Paternal grandfather smoking was associated with reduced total IQ at 15 years; maternal grandfather smoking with reduced performance IQ at 8 years and reduced total IQ at 15.  Paternal grandmother smoking in pregnancy was associated with reduced performance IQ at 8, especially in grandsons. GDP at grandparents’ birth produced independent associations of reduced IQ with higher GDP; this was particularly true of paternal grandmothers. Conclusions. These results are complex and need to be tested in other datasets. They highlight the need to consider possible transgenerational associations in studying developmental variation in populations.

scholarly journals Grandchild’s IQ is associated with grandparental environments prior to the birth of the parents

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 198
Author(s):  
Jean Golding ◽  
Gerard van den Berg ◽  
Kate Northstone ◽  
Matthew Suderman ◽  
Genette Ellis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Experiments ◽  
Education Level ◽  
Maternal Grandfather ◽  
Developmental Variation ◽  
Smoking In Pregnancy ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Paternal Grandfather ◽  
Paternal Grandmother ◽  
Avon Longitudinal Study ◽  
In Pregnancy

Background: In spite of convincing animal experiments demonstrating the potential for environmental exposures in one generation to have demonstrable effects generations later, there have been few relevant human studies. Those that have been undertaken have demonstrated associations, for example, between exposures such as nutrition and cigarette smoking in the grandparental generation and outcomes in grandchildren. We hypothesised that such transgenerational associations might be associated with the IQ of the grandchild, and that it would be likely that there would be differences in results between the sexes of the grandparents, parents and children. Methods: We used three-generational data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).  We incorporated environmental factors concerning grandparents (F0) and focussed on three exposures that we hypothesised may have independent transgenerational associations with the IQ of the grandchildren (F2): (i) UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at grandparental birth year; (ii) whether the grandfather smoked; and (iii) whether the grandmother smoked in the relevant pregnancy. Potential confounders were ages of grandparents when the relevant parent was born, ethnic background, education level and social class of each grandparent. Results: After adjustment, all three target exposures had specific associations with measures of IQ in the grandchild. Paternal grandfather smoking was associated with reduced total IQ at 15 years; maternal grandfather smoking with reduced performance IQ at 8 years and reduced total IQ at 15.  Paternal grandmother smoking in pregnancy was associated with reduced performance IQ at 8, especially in grandsons. GDP at grandparents’ birth produced independent associations of reduced IQ with higher GDP; this was particularly true of paternal grandmothers. Conclusions: These results are complex and need to be tested in other datasets. They highlight the need to consider possible transgenerational associations in studying developmental variation in populations.

scholarly journals Parental spiritual and religious beliefs and behaviour data collected from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, 2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 175
Author(s):  
Yasmin Iles-Caven ◽  
Steven Gregory ◽  
Iain Bickerstaffe ◽  
Kate Northstone ◽  
Jean Golding
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Spiritual Belief ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences ◽  
Avon Longitudinal Study ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Behaviour Data

There are few studies that chart the ways in which the religious beliefs and practices of parents and their offspring vary over time. Even fewer can relate this to aspects of their physical and mental health or distinguish the different facets of the environment that may have influenced the development or loss of religious/spiritual belief and behaviours over time. This paper describes the recent data collection in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) on the beliefs and behaviours of the study parents some 27-28 years after the first measures were collected. Questions that were previously administered to the mother and her partner on religion, spirituality, behaviours, and beliefs (RSBB) were repeated for the fourth time, together with enhanced data on RSBB. The new data are described and compared with previous responses. The most notable difference between the 9 year and the 2020 sweep was the increase of professed non-believers in both the mothers (17.5% vs 29.8%) and partners (31.9% vs. 45.3%). As expected, on each occasion study partners were less likely to acknowledge RSBB compared to the study mothers. In the latest sweep, respondents were less likely to be unsure if they believed and more likely to not believe. Responses to “Do you believe in God or a divine power?” in mothers ranged from 49.9% stating ‘yes’ antenatally to 43.5% doing so in 2020; 14.9% vs 29.8% for ‘no’ and 35.2% to 26.6% for ‘not sure’. For partners, the corresponding figures are: ‘yes’ 37.0% vs. 30.0%; ‘no’ 28.6% vs. 45.3% and ‘not sure’ 34.5% vs. 24.6%. We plan to undertake detailed analyses of the antecedents and consequences of RBSS. All data are available for use by interested researchers.

scholarly journals Early-Life Environmental and Child Factors Associated with the Presence of Disruptive Behaviors in Seven-Year-Old Children with Autistic Traits in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Breider ◽  
Pieter J. Hoekstra ◽  
Klaas J. Wardenaar ◽  
Barbara J. van den Hoofdakker ◽  
Andrea Dietrich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Maternal Depression ◽  
Family Environment ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Disruptive Behaviors ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Child Factors ◽  
Male Sex ◽  
Avon Longitudinal Study

AbstractWe studied the association of early-life environmental and child factors with disruptive behaviors in children with autistic traits around age 7, in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (n = 6,401). Logistic regression with the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator indicated that disruptive behaviors were associated with prenatal smoking, no seafood-consumption during pregnancy, breech presentation at delivery, neonatal feeding problems, low social-economic situation, suboptimal preschool family environment, maternal depression, maternal antisocial behavior, male sex, and difficult child temperament. Compared to controls, male sex, maternal depression, and suboptimal preschool family environment were related to autistic traits without disruptive behaviors. Thus, there may be a difference in early-life factors related to autism spectrum disorder with and without disruptive behaviors.

scholarly journals Parental locus of control and the failure to obtain a child diagnosis: a longitudinal cohort study

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Stephen Nowicki ◽  
Dheeraj Rai ◽  
Steve Gregory ◽  
Yasmin Iles-Caven ◽  
Genette Ellis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Locus Of Control ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Autism Diagnosis ◽  
Reading Impairment ◽  
Child Diagnosis ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Reading Impairments ◽  
Avon Longitudinal Study

Background: Data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were analysed to investigate associations between parents’ locus of control (LOC) and their use of their children’s symptoms to pursue a diagnosis of autism.  Methods: Comparison of parental LOC obtained prenatally with various aspects of the child’s (<12 years) development, used the prevalence of four autistic traits, to ascertain the likelihood that they qualified for an autism diagnosis. Results: Parents with an external LOC had children who were more likely to demonstrate extreme levels of each of the four autistic traits (e.g. for social communication 8.9% of offspring of internal LOC versus 12.3% of external LOC mothers; P<0.0001). However, the rate of autism diagnosis was considerably greater if the mother was internal compared to external (13.3 v 9.6 per 1000). To determine whether the difference was autism specific, we compared parental LOC with children diagnosed with dyslexia and those with reading impairments. Although externals’ children had more reading impairment indicators than internals, this was not reflected by them being more likely to be diagnosed as dyslexic. Conclusions: We conclude that children of parents with an externally oriented LOC may be less likely to be diagnosed appropriately than children of internally oriented parents. Interventions to increase parental internality may improve the likelihood of appropriate diagnoses and hence an improvement in child well-being.

scholarly journals Traumatic childhood events of parents enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Genette Ellis ◽  
Yasmin Iles-Caven ◽  
Kate Northstone ◽  
Jean Golding
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
World View ◽  
Traumatic Events ◽  
Free Text ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Avon Longitudinal Study ◽  
The Way

Background: Early life experiences can have a significant impact on an individual’s later behaviour, the way they view the world, their beliefs and their success at forming strong interpersonal relationships. These factors may subsequently influence the way that the individual may parent their children, which in turn may have an effect on their child’s behaviour, mental health and world view. Research has linked early traumatic life experiences in the parent’s childhood to disorganised attachment to their own child. In this paper we describe the data collected from parents enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) on traumatic events experienced during their childhood, so that it can act as a resource for researchers in the future when considering outcomes on the adult, their children and grandchildren. Methods: Data were collected via multiple questionnaires completed by parents enrolled into the ALSPAC study. During pregnancy and post-delivery, questionnaires were administered between 1990 and 1992 via post to the study mothers and their partners. Data were collected on life events including bereavement, sexual abuse, physical abuse, abandonment, neglect, memories of childhood and accidents. Other reports of traumatic events in childhood were reported by parents using free text. This can be made available to researchers for coding on request.

scholarly journals Longitudinal data on parental religious behaviour and beliefs from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Yasmin Iles-Caven ◽  
Steven Gregory ◽  
Kate Northstone ◽  
Jean Golding
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Population Data ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Slight Reduction ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences ◽  
Christian Population ◽  
Avon Longitudinal Study

There is evidence that, in general, the West is becoming more secular. Religious belief has been shown in some studies to have positive associations with outcomes such as coping with serious illness and other life events and general well-being. In this paper, we describe the data from parents enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) on their religious behaviour and beliefs collected on three occasions during the 1990s and early 2000s, that are available for researchers to use in association with other longitudinally collected data on social, biological, genetic and epigenetic features of this culturally largely protestant Christian population. Data were collected antenatally and then subsequently at 5 and 9 years post-delivery from self-completion questionnaires completed by each parent independently.  Strong sex differences (all P<0.001) were noted regarding religious beliefs and behaviour: for example, 49.9% of women stated that they believed in God or some divine being compared with 37% of men. Almost twice as many men (28.6%) than women (14.9%) declared they were atheists. Men were less likely to have stated that they had been helped by a divine presence; to appeal to God if they were in trouble, to attend religious services or obtain help from members of religious groups. Among the 6256 women and 2355 men who answered the questions at all three time points, there was evidence of a slight reduction in professed belief and a slight increase in the proportion stating that they were atheists. Information is available from this resource, which is rich in data on the environment, traumatic incidents, health and genetic background. It can be used for research into various aspects of the antecedents and consequences of religious belief and behaviour.

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