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Atopy, home environment and the risk of childhood-onset type 1 diabetes: a population-based case-control study.

Pediatr Diabetes. 2008 Jun;9(3 Pt 1):191-6

Authors: Cardwell CR, Carson DJ, Yarnell J, Shields MD, Patterson CC

BACKGROUND: The marked increases in the incidence of type 1 diabetes in recent decades strongly suggest the role of environmental influences. These environmental influences remain largely unknown. OBJECTIVE: To investigate atopy and home environment (such as children living at home, sharing a bedroom and house moves) as potential risk factors for type 1 diabetes. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: In Northern Ireland, 175 children with type 1 diabetes and 4859 control children completed a questionnaire on atopy experience, family composition and home environment. Control children from two age groups (6-8 yr old and 13-14 yr old) were identified from randomly selected primary and secondary schools across Northern Ireland. Cases were identified from a population-based type 1 diabetes register. RESULTS: There was little evidence of a difference in the proportion of participants with a history of atopy in the cases compared with controls. There was a significant reduction in the risk of diabetes in children who lived with more siblings {odds ratio (OR) = 0.58 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.39-0.85] in children who lived with three or more siblings compared with one or none} and in children who moved house more often [OR = 0.59 (95% CI 0.40-0.88) in children who moved house twice or more compared with never]. CONCLUSION: The reduced risk of type 1 diabetes in children living with siblings, sharing a bedroom and moving house more often could reflect the protection afforded by exposure to infections in early life and consequently may provide support for the hygiene hypothesis.

PMID: 18547232 [PubMed - in process]

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The quality of children’s home environment and attachment security in Indonesia.

J Genet Psychol. 2008 Mar;169(1):72-91

Authors: Zevalkink J, Riksen-Walraven JM, Bradley RH

The authors examined the relation of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Inventory (B. M. Caldwell & R. H. Bradley, 1984) for 0- to 6-year-old Sundanese Indonesian children with the quality of the mother-child attachment relationship (n=44) and attachment-related behaviors during play interactions (n=37) and with characteristics of the Indonesian caregiving context (N=77). Results showed that infants and toddlers with secure attachment relationships lived in higher quality home environments than did children with insecure attachment relationships. In particular, children with insecure-resistant attachment relationships lived in more unsafe and less organized homes with less play material available. For preschoolers, a lower quality home environment predicted more negativity and noncompliance toward their mothers in a play setting outside the home. With regard to the caregiving context, the socioeconomic status of the family was strongly related to the quality of preschoolers’ home environment. Scores on the HOME Inventory for Infants/Toddlers and the HOME Inventory for Early Childhood were related to other culture-specific contextual characteristics for 0- to 6-year old Indonesian children as well. As a whole, the HOME was a good indicator of the general quality of the Sundanese Indonesian home environment.

PMID: 18476478 [PubMed - in process]

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Predictors of maternal language to infants during a picture book task in the home: Family SES, child characteristics and the parenting environment.

J Appl Dev Psychol. 2008;29(3):213-226

Authors: Vernon-Feagans L, Pancsofar N, Willoughby M, Odom E, Quade A, Cox M,

This study investigated the contribution of child characteristics and parenting environment to the relationship between family SES/demographic characteristics and maternal language to infants.1157 children were drawn from a representative sample of 1292 infants born to mothers in rural Appalachian counties and rural counties in southern minority U.S. communities. Mothers and their 6-8 month old babies were videotaped at home while talking about a wordless picture book. Mothers’ language output and complexity were analyzed. Child temperament, age, and parenting environment (knowledge of child development and observed mother-child engagement) were predictors of maternal language. Furthermore, their inclusion reduced the magnitude of the association between demographic characteristics and maternal language. Tests of mediation suggested that the parenting environment partially mediates the relationship between SES/demographic characteristics and maternal language. Findings are discussed with respect to identifying proximal processes that explain how SES may exert its influence on the language of young children.

PMID: 18618023 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Validity and reliability of a home environment inventory for physical activity and media equipment.

Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2008 Apr 29;5(1):24

Authors: Sirard JR, Nelson MC, Pereira MA, Lytle LA

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Little is known about how the home environmental supports physical activity and screen media usage. The purpose of this study was to develop and test the reliability and validity of a self-report instrument to comprehensively reflect the availability and accessibility of physical activity and screen media equipment in the home environment. METHODS: Ten families participated in the initial field testing to provide feedback for instrument development. Thirty one adult participants, each of whom had at least one child 10-17 years old, completed two Physical Activity and Media Inventory (PAMI) instruments. The first PAMI was completed simultaneously, but independently, with a research assistant to assess validity. A second PAMI was completed by the participant one week later to assess reliability. RESULTS: The adult participants were mostly mothers/female guardians, mean age 38+/-7.2 years, mostly Caucasian (52%), college educated (65%), living in single family homes (74%). Test-retest reliability was acceptable to strong for all summary variables (physical activity equipment, ICC = 0.76 to 0.99; media equipment, ICC = 0.72 to 0.96). For validation, reports from participants and research assistants were strongly correlated (physical activity, 0.67 to 0.98; media, 0.79 to 0.96). Compared to participants, research assistants reported a greater percentage of physical activity equipment as ‘in plain view and easy to get to’ and a smaller percentage of items as’put away and difficult to get to’. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate strong evidence for the reliability and validity of the variables calculated from the PAMI. This self report inventory may be useful in assessing the availability of physical activity and screen media equipment in the home environment and could be used in conjunction with other home assessment tools (food availability, parenting styles and feeding practices) to identify obesogenic home environments.

PMID: 18445280 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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