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Cultural contributions to adults' self-rated mental health problems and strengths: 7 culture clusters, 28 societies, 16 906 adults
- William E. Copeland, Masha Y. Ivanova, Thomas M. Achenbach, Lori V. Turner, Guangyu Tong, Adelina Ahmeti-Pronaj, Alma Au, Monica Bellina, J. Carlos Caldas, Yi-Chuen Chen, Ladislav Csemy, Marina M. da Rocha, Anca Dobrean, Lourdes Ezpeleta, Yasuko Funabiki, Valerie S. Harder, Felipe Lecannelier, Marie Leiner de la Cabada, Patrick Leung, Jianghong Liu, Safia Mahr, Sergey Malykh, Jasminka Markovic, David M. Ndetei, Kyung Ja Oh, Jean-Michel Petot, Geylan Riad, Direnc Sakarya, Virginia C. Samaniego, Sandra Sebre, Mimoza Shahini, Edwiges Silvares, Roma Simulioniene, Elvisa Sokoli, Joel B. Talcott, Natalia Vazquez, Tomasz Wolanczyk, Ewa Zasepa
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- Journal:
- Psychological Medicine / Volume 53 / Issue 16 / December 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 19 May 2023, pp. 7581-7590
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Background
It is unknown how much variation in adult mental health problems is associated with differences between societal/cultural groups, over and above differences between individuals.
MethodsTo test these relative contributions, a consortium of indigenous researchers collected Adult Self-Report (ASR) ratings from 16 906 18- to 59-year-olds in 28 societies that represented seven culture clusters identified in the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavioral Effectiveness study (e.g. Confucian, Anglo). The ASR is scored on 17 problem scales, plus a personal strengths scale. Hierarchical linear modeling estimated variance accounted for by individual differences (including measurement error), society, and culture cluster. Multi-level analyses of covariance tested age and gender effects.
ResultsAcross the 17 problem scales, the variance accounted for by individual differences ranged from 80.3% for DSM-oriented anxiety problems to 95.2% for DSM-oriented avoidant personality (mean = 90.7%); by society: 3.2% for DSM-oriented somatic problems to 8.0% for DSM-oriented anxiety problems (mean = 6.3%); and by culture cluster: 0.0% for DSM-oriented avoidant personality to 11.6% for DSM-oriented anxiety problems (mean = 3.0%). For strengths, individual differences accounted for 80.8% of variance, societal differences 10.5%, and cultural differences 8.7%. Age and gender had very small effects.
ConclusionsOverall, adults' self-ratings of mental health problems and strengths were associated much more with individual differences than societal/cultural differences, although this varied across scales. These findings support cross-cultural use of standardized measures to assess mental health problems, but urge caution in assessment of personal strengths.
Effect of folic acid supplementation during pregnancy on brain health of the child at 11 years: the FASSTT Offspring trial
- Aoife Caffrey, Kristina Pentieva, Helene McNulty, Pramod Gaur, Joel B. Talcott, Caroline Witton, Anthony Cassidy, Marian McLaughlin, Diane J. Lees-Murdock, Rachelle E. Irwin, Colum P. Walsh, Girijesh Prasad
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- Journal:
- Proceedings of the Nutrition Society / Volume 79 / Issue OCE2 / 2020
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 10 June 2020, E507
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- Article
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Periconceptional folic acid (FA) has an established role in the prevention of neural tube defects (NTDs), leading to global recommendations for FA supplementation before and in early pregnancy. However, it is unclear whether there are any benefits for offspring brain health arising from continued maternal FA supplementation beyond the first trimester. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of maternal folate nutrition during pregnancy in relation to cognitive performance and brain function in the offspring at 11 years. The children of mothers who had participated in a randomised trial of Folic Acid Supplementation in the Second and Third Trimesters (FASSTT) were investigated, providing a unique opportunity to examine offspring brain health in relation to maternal folate (the FASSTT Offspring trial; n = 68). Cognitive performance was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth UK Edition (WISC-IV). The WISC-IV measures Full Scale IQ and specific domains of cognitive performance: Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Reasoning, Working Memory and Processing Speed. Brain function was measured using magnetoencephalography (MEG) in a subset of the child participants (n = 33). The results showed no significant difference in Full Scale IQ between the children of mothers who had received folic acid versus placebo during pregnancy (P = 0.993). Processing Speed subtest scores were however significantly higher in the folic acid group compared with placebo (Symbol Search: P = 0.046 and Cancellation: P = 0.011). The application of MEG analysis showed that at rest, there were differences in brain functioning with significantly lower overall power at Broad band [1–48Hz] (P = 0.041) and a trend (not significant) towards lower power in all other frequency bands (Theta, Mu, Beta, Low Gamma and High Gamma) in children from the FA group compared with placebo. Results for the responses to the language task (congruent and incongruent sentences) in children from the FA group showed significantly lower power within the Theta band [4–8Hz] and significantly higher power within high frequency bands i.e. Beta [13–30 Hz] and High Gamma [49–70 Hz]. This suggested more efficient language processing abilities in these children compared to children of mothers in the placebo group. The findings provide scientific evidence that continuing FA supplementation beyond the periconceptional period that is protective against NTDs, may be beneficial for brain health in the offspring. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that MEG is a useful tool for objective assessment of functional brain activity in healthy children in response to nutrition intervention.