Environmental effects on the materno-foetal interaction determine birth outcomes that predict health over the lifespan. Thus, maternal undernutrition or stress associate with low birth weight, leading to an increased risk of metabolic and cardiovascular illness in the offspring. We argue that these effects are, in part, mediated by direct and indirect effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adren...

The failure to account for differences between adolescent males who offend against children and those who offend against peers may account for the similarities found between sexoffending samples and non-sexual delinquents. Psychopathy traits (grandiosity, impulsivity, lack of empathy, interpersonally exploitative and risk-taking) and antisocial behaviour, including behaviours and age of onset f...

BACKGROUND Parental support is a key influence on children's health behaviours; however, no previous investigation has simultaneously explored the influence of mothers' and fathers' social support on eating and physical activity in preschool-aged children. This study evaluated the singular and combined effects of maternal and paternal support for physical activity (PA) and fruit and vegetable c...

This study provides evidence in the pig that stress experienced during gestation has long-lasting effects on offspring daughters, including their maternal behaviour. Thirty-six primiparous sows were divided into control and two groups that were stressed (by social mixing) during either the second (Mix 2) or third (Mix 3) trimester of pregnancy. We found detrimental effects of mixing on the moth...

Numerous studies have shown that prenatal stress (PNS) can have profound effects on postnatal well-being. Here, the domestic pig (Sus scrofa) was used to investigate PNS effects owing to the direct relevance for farm animal welfare and the developing status of the pig as a large animal model in translational research. Pregnant primiparous sows were exposed, in mid-gestation, to either a social ...

BACKGROUND This study sought to clarify the role of obstetric complications (OCs) and maternal recall bias for patients with first episodes of schizophrenia and those at increased risk of the disorder. METHOD Subjects at high risk of schizophrenia were compared with people with first-episode schizophrenia and with healthy volunteers. Consenting mothers of subjects were interviewed using a sta...

In domestic chickens, the provision of maternal care strongly influences the behavioural development of chicks. Mother hens play an important role in directing their chicks' behaviour and are able to buffer their chicks' response to stressors. Chicks imprint upon their mother, who is key in directing the chicks' behaviour and in allowing them to develop food preferences. Chicks reared by a moth...

sentations. Other journals are publishing papers from each of the other symposia: Stress will publish papers from the Early Life Programming symposium, and the Journal of Neuroendocrinology will publish papers from the Maternal Adaptations in Pregnancy and Lactation and Parental Behaviour symposia. The papers in this issue give a current picture of the field of programming of mental health rese...

BACKGROUND Difficult conditions during childhood can limit an individual's development in many ways. Factors such as being raised in an at-risk family, child temperamental traits or maternal traits can potentially influence a child's later behaviour. The present study investigated the extent of regulatory problems in 6-month-old infants and their link to temperamental traits and impact on exter...