Participant recruitment and retention (R&R) are well-documented challenges in longitudinal studies, especially those involving populations historically underrepresented in research and vulnerable groups (e.g., pregnant people or young children and their families), as is the focus of the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) birth cohort study. Subpar access to transportation, overnight lodging, childcare, or meals can compromise R&R; yet, guidance on how to overcome these “logistical barriers” is sparse. This study’s goal was to learn about the HBCD sites’ plans and develop best practice recommendations for the HBCD consortium for addressing these logistical barriers.

The HBCD’s workgroups developed a survey asking the HBCD sites about their plans for supporting research-related transportation, lodging, childcare, and meals, and about the presence of institutional policies to guide their approach. Descriptive statistics described the quantitative survey data. Qualitative survey responses were brief, not warranting formal qualitative analysis; their content was summarized.

Twenty-eight respondents, representing unique recruitment locations across the U.S., completed the survey. The results indicated substantial heterogeneity across the respondents in their approach toward supporting research-related transportation, lodging, childcare, and meals. Three respondents were aware of institutional policies guiding research-related transportation (10.7%) or childcare (10.7%).

This study highlighted heterogeneity in approaches and scarcity of institutional policies regarding research-related transportation, lodging, childcare, and meals, underscoring the need for guidance in this area to ensure equitable support of participant R&R across different settings and populations, so that participants are representative of the larger community, and increase research result validity and generalizability.

People with schizophrenia on average are more socially isolated, lonelier, have more social cognitive impairment, and are less socially motivated than healthy individuals. People with bipolar disorder also have social isolation, though typically less than that seen in schizophrenia. We aimed to disentangle whether the social cognitive and social motivation impairments observed in schizophrenia are a specific feature of the clinical condition v. social isolation generally.

We compared four groups (clinically stable patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, individuals drawn from the community with self-described social isolation, and a socially connected community control group) on loneliness, social cognition, and approach and avoidance social motivation.

Individuals with schizophrenia (n = 72) showed intermediate levels of social isolation, loneliness, and social approach motivation between the isolated (n = 96) and connected control (n = 55) groups. However, they showed significant deficits in social cognition compared to both community groups. Individuals with bipolar disorder (n = 48) were intermediate between isolated and control groups for loneliness and social approach. They did not show deficits on social cognition tasks. Both clinical groups had higher social avoidance than both community groups

The results suggest that social cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, and high social avoidance motivation in both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are distinct features of the clinical conditions and not byproducts of social isolation. In contrast, differences between clinical and control groups on levels of loneliness and social approach motivation were congruent with the groups' degree of social isolation.

Cognitive therapy and behavioural activation are both widely applied and effective psychotherapies for depression, but it is unclear which works best for whom. Individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis allows for examining moderators at the participant level and can provide more precise effect estimates than conventional meta-analysis, which is based on study-level data.

This article describes the protocol for a systematic review and IPD meta-analysis that aims to compare the efficacy of cognitive therapy and behavioural activation for adults with depression, and to explore moderators of treatment effect. (PROSPERO: CRD42022341602)

Systematic literature searches will be conducted in PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library, to identify randomised clinical trials comparing cognitive therapy and behavioural activation for adult acute-phase depression. Investigators of these trials will be invited to share their participant-level data. One-stage IPD meta-analyses will be conducted with mixed-effects models to assess treatment effects and to examine various available demographic, clinical and psychological participant characteristics as potential moderators. The primary outcome measure will be depressive symptom level at treatment completion. Secondary outcomes will include post-treatment anxiety, interpersonal functioning and quality of life, as well as follow-up outcomes.

To the best of our knowledge, this will be the first IPD meta-analysis concerning cognitive therapy versus behavioural activation for adult depression. This study has the potential to enhance our knowledge of depression treatment by using state-of-the-art statistical techniques to compare the efficacy of two widely used psychotherapies, and by shedding more light on which of these treatments might work best for whom.

During the perinatal period, modifiable behaviours contributing to excess weight gain, including sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) intake, are understudied. We examined the extent to which perinatal SSB intake affects postpartum weight retention (PPWR).

We measured SSB intake frequency in the third trimester and 1-month postpartum using the NHANES Dietary Screener Questionnaire. We assessed the association between SSB intake and PPWR (difference between 6-month postpartum and pregravid weight) using multivariable regression adjusted for socio-demographic and anthropometric variables.

Greater Boston area.

Three hundred forty-eight mother–infant pairs in the Rise and SHINE prospective birth cohort.

Mean age was 32·7 (sd 5·0) years; the sample was 47 % white, 32 % Hispanic, 14 % Asian and 7 % Black. Women reported mean daily SSB intake frequencies of 0·9 (sd 1·2) and 0·7 (sd 1·0) times/d in the third trimester and 1-month postpartum, respectively. At 6-month postpartum, average weight retention was 3·4 (sd 5·7) kg; 108 (sd 31 %) women had substantial PPWR, defined as a ≥ 5 kg increase between pregravid and 6-month postpartum weight. Each 1-time/d increment in SSB intake frequency during the third trimester (β = 0·46 kg (95 % CI, 0·07, 0·86)) and 1-month postpartum (β = 0·52 kg (95 % CI 0·03, 1·00)) was associated with higher weight retention at 6 months. Increased SSB intake frequency in the third trimester (OR: 1·37; 95 % CI 1·10, 1·75) and 1-month postpartum (OR: 1·17; 95 % CI 0·92, 1·52) resulted in higher odds of substantial PPWR.

SSB consumption during the perinatal period is associated with higher weight retention at 6-month postpartum. Avoiding SSB may reduce the risk of excess weight retention.

339 mother and child pairs were followed up from the ROLO Kids study in the National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. Height and weight of the mother and the child were measured, and BMI was calculated. Demographic details were collected and questionnaires asked mothers to assign their child to a weight category and to give the reason they put their child in this particular category. KAPPA analysis and student t tests were used to analyse the data.

In this cohort over 75% of the children were normal weight, 14.7% were in the overweight category, and 8.5% in the obese category. The KAPPA score for maternal-perceived category and actual weight status was 0.037 which is a low level of agreement. Mothers were more likely to underestimate their child's weight, with 28.5% underestimating the appropriate weight category for their child compared with 2.4% who overestimated. Maternal age, education, and child sex did not influence accurate weight assessments; however, mothers with a higher BMI were more likely to inaccurately assess their child's weight (P < 0.05).

Maternal perception of their child's weight status is not an accurate indication of child weight, particularly for mothers with a raised BMI. This research highlights the important role of health care providers in assessing child weight status, rather than relying on parental reports alone, in order to appropriately intervene to reduce the incidence of childhood obesity.

Little is known about the determinants of community integration (i.e. recovery) for individuals with a history of homelessness, yet such information is essential to develop targeted interventions.

We recruited homeless Veterans with a history of psychotic disorders and evaluated four domains of correlates of community integration: perception, non-social cognition, social cognition, and motivation. Baseline assessments occurred after participants were engaged in supported housing services but before they received housing, and again after 12 months. Ninety-five homeless Veterans with a history of psychosis were assessed at baseline and 53 returned after 12 months. We examined both cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships with 12-month community integration.

The strongest longitudinal association was between a baseline motivational measure and social integration at 12 months. We also observed cross-sectional associations at baseline between motivational measures and community integration, including social, work, and independent living. Cross-lagged panel analyses did not suggest causal associations for the motivational measures. Correlations with perception and non-social cognition were weak. One social cognition measure showed a significant longitudinal correlation with independent living at 12 months that was significant for cross-lagged analysis, consistent with a causal relationship and potential treatment target.

The relatively selective associations for motivational measures differ from what is typically seen in psychosis, in which all domains are associated with community integration. These findings are presented along with a partner paper (Study 2) to compare findings from this study to an independent sample without a history of psychotic disorders to evaluate the consistency in findings regarding community integration across projects.

The early fetal environment during pregnancy is extremely important and research indicates that weight at birth can have crucial impacts for the individual's health later in life. With rates of childhood obesity estimated to be as high as 21% in some European countries, it is vital that early risk factors are identified so that interventions can be developed. We aimed to investigate if children born macrosomic (birth weight > 4kg) remained larger than normal birth weight babies up to 5 years of age.

This is a longitudinal follow-up of 387 five-year-old children (53% born with macrosomia, 47% normal birth weight) born into the ROLO randomised control trial in the National Maternity Hospital, Dublin (ISRCTN54392969). Birth weight was previously recorded then at 6 months, 2 years, and 5 years of age child height, weight, anthropometric and skinfold measurements were collected. Body Mass Index (kg/m2) and centiles were calculated. Student t-tests and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare the two groups with multiple linear regression modelling to control for confounders.

Children with a birth weight > 4 kg had consistently higher weights, lengths, and BMI centiles, along with increased head and chest circumferences, compared to normal birth weight children from 6 months up to 5 years of age (p < 0.05). After controlling for child sex, intervention group, smoking during pregnancy, maternal education status, and maternal BMI, children with macrosomia were 0.61 kg heavier than non-macrosomic infants at 5 years of age (95% CI: 0.04–1.18, p < 0.05).

Children born with a high birth weight remain heavier and larger into childhood. These individuals are at a higher risk of obesity which highlights the need for monitoring and potential interventions, both during pregnancy and in infancy, to curb the current childhood obesity crisis.

In an initial study (Study 1), we found that motivation predicted community integration (i.e. functional recovery) 12 months after receiving housing in formerly homeless Veterans with a psychotic disorder. The current study examined whether the same pattern would be found in a broader, more clinically diverse, homeless Veteran sample without psychosis.

We examined four categories of variables as potential predictors of community integration in non-psychotic Veterans: perception, non-social cognition, social cognition, and motivation at baseline (after participants were engaged in a permanent supported housing program but before receiving housing) and a 12-month follow-up. A total of 82 Veterans had a baseline assessment and 41 returned for testing after 12 months.

The strongest longitudinal association was between an interview-based measure of motivation (the motivation and pleasure subscale from the Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms) at baseline and measures of social integration at 12 months. In addition, cross-lagged panel analyses were consistent with a causal influence of general psychiatric symptoms at baseline driving social integration at 12 months, and reduced expressiveness at baseline driving independent living at 12 months, but there were no significant causal associations with measures of motivation.

The findings from this study complement and reinforce those in Veterans with psychosis. Across these two studies, our findings suggest that motivational factors are associated at baseline and at 12 months and are particularly important for understanding and improving community integration in recently-housed Veterans across psychiatric diagnoses.