Does Parental Marital Status at Birth Influence the Risk of Children and Grandchildren Requiring Local Authority Care? A Retrospective Study of the Scottish Birth Cohort

Background - Demand in children’s social care remains at historically high levels across the UK. The number of children in local authority care in Scotland increased every year between 1998 and 2013. This study explores a possible trans-generational influence of historical changes in family structure at birth. Method - Children who were accommodated by a typical Scottish local authority from 2000 to 2013 were identified. The parental marital status on birth registrations of the children and their parents was compared to all Scottish registrations in national birth cohorts and relative risk (RR) was calculated for different birth circumstances. Results - The children who entered care were more likely to have been born to unmarried parents than their peers (RR 7.8, CI 6.3-9.6). Their mothers (RR 3.2, CI 2.7-3.9) and fathers (RR 1.5, CI 1.1-2) were also more likely than their peers to have been born to unmarried parents. The accumulated risk of young children entering care if their parents and maternal grandparents had been unmarried on birth registrations was very large (RR 23.3, CI 12.5-43.5). Conclusion - Parental marriage is protective against entering local authority care for children in Scotland. Historical changes in family structure at birth may influence demand in children’s services.

Prevalence of and risk factors for diabetes mellitus in the school-attending adolescent population of the United Arab Emirates: a large cross-sectional study

ObjectivesThe prevalence of diabetes has reportedly increased among adolescents in low-income and middle-income countries of the Middle East and may be linked to social, demographic and economic contextual factors. This study aimed: (1) to estimate the prevalence of self-reported diagnosis of diabetes in the adolescent population of the United Arab Emirates (UAE); (2) to assess differences in the prevalence based on gender and (3) to identify other characteristics of those with diabetes including parental marital status, smoking/illegal drug use, quality of life and nationality.DesignA secondary data analysis was performed on data from the National Study of Population Health in the UAE, conducted between 2007 and 2009.SettingLarge cross-sectional population-based survey study.ParticipantsSurvey was administered to a stratified random sample of 151 public and private schools from the UAE, across 7 emirates. 6365 school-attending adolescents (12–22 years; mean=16 years) participated.OutcomesMultivariable logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between diabetes diagnosis and characteristics of participants after adjusting for confounding from other predictors.ResultsThe overall prevalence of self-reported diabetes was 0.9% (95% CI 0.7% to 1.2%) and was higher in males 1.5% (95% CI 1.0% to 2.1%) than females 0.5% (95% CI 0.3% to 0.8%), (p<0.001). Children of parents who were not currently married had more than twice the odds of self-reporting diabetes (p=0.031) compared with those with married parents. Adolescents who reported ever smoking/using illegal drugs had more than three times the odds of diabetes (p<0.001).ConclusionWe found a positive association between certain characteristics of adolescents and their diabetes status, including male gender, parental marital status and smoking/illegal drug use. The high prevalence of smoking/illegal drug use among those reporting a diagnosis of diabetes suggests the need for behavioural and mental health interventions for adolescents with diabetes, as well as strong parental support and involvement.

Suffer the Children? Divorce and Child Welfare in Postwar Britain

This article explains why a consensus emerged in the 1950s that courts should be satisfied with the arrangements made for children before parental divorce was granted. I locate this within an evolving child welfare landscape in the context of high levels of divorce in England. The issues at stake were the relationship of child welfare to parental marital status, how this should be established in individual cases, and the legitimacy and boundaries of state intervention in divorce cases. Such developments were absent in Scotland, where the Scottish judiciary believed in upholding the autonomy of parents to make their own arrangements.

0930 Prenatal Cannabis Use and Sleep Outcomes in Children 9-10 Years of Age in the Adolescence Brain Cognitive Development Study

Introduction The fetal brain is densely populated with CB1 receptors that increase in number throughout gestation and might be involved in sleep processes since they are found in many brain areas related to the regulation of the sleep-wake cycle. THC binds to CB1 receptors, possibly altering neurodevelopment and fetal cortical circuitry in the womb. Studies have found prenatal cannabis use is associated with early sleep factors from as early as few days after birth to 3 years of age, yet no studies have examined associations in later childhood. Methods We used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study to determine whether maternal reports of cannabis use while pregnant were associated with child sleep outcomes (The Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children) among 11,875 children ages 9-10. Regression analyses accounted for the nested nature of families (twin and non-twin sibling) and were estimated controlling for potential covariates including daily tobacco and weekly alcohol use during pregnancy, mother’s education, combined household income, parental marital status, child sex, and child age. Results Amongst mothers in our sample, 6% endorsed using cannabis while pregnant. Prenatal cannabis use was associated with lower sleep duration, disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep, disorders of arousal, sleep wake disorders, disorders of excessive somnolence, and a summed sleep score (all b &gt;0.09 and p &lt; 0.04) but not with sleep latency, sleep breathing disorders, and sleep hyperhidrosis (all b &lt;0.08 and p &gt;0.09). Conclusion Prenatal cannabis use was associated with increased childhood sleep deficits including shorter sleep duration and higher endorsements of sleep disorder symptoms. This is the first report of prenatal cannabis use being associated with sleep in childhood as late as 9-10 years of age. Although causality is not established, the results suggest potential long-term effects of prenatal cannabis use on sleep and the need for abstinence from cannabis use while pregnant. Support T32 DA017637. The ABCD Study is supported by the National Institutes of Health and additional federal partners under award numbers U01DA041022, U01DA041028, U01DA041048, U01DA041089, U01DA041106, U01DA041117, U01DA041120, U01DA041134, U01DA041148, U01DA041156, U01DA041174, U24DA041123, U24DA041147, U01DA041093, and U01DA041025 (https:// abcdstudy.org/federal-partners.html).

The quality of close relationships in adulthood: the role of sociodemographic and environmental factors

In order to better understand the phenomenon of the quality of different types of close relationships of adults, we have investigated several determinants which define them more clearly. We focused on the relational differences of the respondents according to several sociodemographic (age, gender, employment, marital status and children) and environmental factors (structure and relationships in the family). A total of 400 males and females, ranging from 19 to 51 years, completed a general questionnaire. It collected the data related to sociodemographic and environmental characteristics, as well as the Social Relations Network Inventory (NRI), which assessed the quality of five types of close relationships. The results indicate significant differences between the respondents in the quality of individual close relationships, based on the factors of age, gender, employment, marital status and parenthood, as well as according to the factors of the quality of family relations and parental marital status. The identified differences are particularly pronounced in terms of the quality of the relationship with the mother and the quality of the relationship with the friend, which is explained by the characteristic nature of these relationships, as well as the developmental roles and tasks of the adulthood.

Marital Status Disruptions and Internalizing Disorders of Children

Marital disruption (i.e., separation or divorce) impacts an estimated 40-50% of married couples. Previous research has shown that marital disruption results in negative health outcomes for children and adolescents. Our study aims to investigate the relationship between marital disruptions and internalizing disorders of children in a prospective cohort. Comparisons between marital status groups at each time point showed a significant difference in CBCL score between children in married and unmarried families at 3 years of age, with children in unmarried families having a 0.10 higher standardized CBCL score (95% CI: 0.09-0.12; p<.0001). Differences in CBCL score by marital status were not significant at 5 and 9 years after adjusting for confounders. Parental marital status is associated with an increased CBCL internalizing behavior score at 3 years of age, but the association disappears at later time points.

Parental divorce is not uniformly disruptive to children’s educational attainment

Children whose parents divorce tend to have worse educational outcomes than children whose parents stay married. However, not all children respond identically to their parents divorcing. We focus on how the impact of parental divorce on children’s education varies by how likely or unlikely divorce was for those parents. We find a significant negative effect of parental divorce on educational attainment, particularly college attendance and completion, among children whose parents were unlikely to divorce. Families expecting marital stability, unprepared for disruption, may experience considerable adjustment difficulties when divorce occurs, leading to negative outcomes for children. By contrast, we find no effect of parental divorce among children whose parents were likely to divorce. Children of high-risk marriages, who face many social disadvantages over childhood irrespective of parental marital status, may anticipate or otherwise accommodate to the dissolution of their parents’ marriage. Our results suggest that family disruption does not uniformly disrupt children’s attainment.

Criteria Redesign for Student Loan Consideration Using Factor Analysis and Data Clustering Approach

This paper presents the importance of redesigning the student loan consideration criteria which had been revealed to have some fault in evaluating the candidates. The historical data of student loan candidates elicited from their application form in the 2016 academic year was collected and analyzed by using Factor Analysis. There are 507 samples with 17 information attributes. The factor analysis reduced the dimensions of the variance in the samples by identifying the discriminative factors for student loan consideration. The experimental result shows that only nine factors were identified as discriminative factors, which are 1) Part-time job taken by the student, 2) Other scholarships that the student had been receiving, 3) Father’s salary, 4) Family ownership of the land, 5) House rental expense, 6) Number of siblings in the family, 7) Number of siblings currently studying, 8) Amount of money that the student get from other scholarships, and 9) Parental Marital Status. The clustering technique was used to measure the group of important factors reduced from the factor analysis. The clustering result showed that the clusters are obviously separated from each other. Therefore, these discriminative factors were elicited by using factor analysis which can be used to reconstruct the student loan consideration criteria and implement a decision support system.