Biomedical subjects

Chandice Covington

Publications and source records attributed to Chandice Covington.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Violence exposure, trauma, and IQ and/or reading deficits among urban children.

BACKGROUND: Exposure to violence in childhood has been associated with lower school grades. However, the association between violence exposure and performance on standardized tests (such as IQ or academic achievement) in children is unknown. It is also not known whether violence exposure itself or subsequent symptoms of trauma are primarily responsible for negative outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between violence exposure and trauma-related distress and standardized test performance among early school-aged urban children, controlling for important potential confounders. DESIGN: A total of 299 urban first-grade children and their caregivers were evaluated using self-report, interview, and standardized tests. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The child's IQ (Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence--Revised) and reading ability (Test of Early Reading Ability, second edition) were the outcomes of interest. RESULTS: After controlling for confounders (child's gender, caregiver's IQ, home environment, socioeconomic status, and prenatal exposure to substance abuse) violence exposure was related to the child's IQ (P =.01) and reading ability (P =.045). Trauma-related distress accounted for additional variance in reading ability (P =.01). Using the derived regression equation to estimate effect sizes, a child experiencing both violence exposure and trauma-related distress at or above the 90th percentile would be expected to have a 7.5-point (SD, 0.5) decrement in IQ and a 9.8-point (SD, 0.66) decrement in reading achievement. CONCLUSION: In this study, exposure to violence and trauma-related distress in young children were associated with substantial decrements in IQ and reading achievement.

Aptitude↗

PubMed2002

Allelic variation and environmental lead exposure in urban children.

The advent of the Human Genome Project has allowed for increased understanding and sophistication in diagnosis, treatment methods, and overall care planning on the part of healthcare providers for children with genetic disorders. Genetics research dealing with polymorphic changes within a genome has opened the door to awareness of how dormant genetic alleles may become active when coupled with certain environmental insults. Such genetic aberrations may place a child at a higher risk for health disparities when exposed to environmental toxins. It has been posited that such exposure in children with an arylsulfatase-A (ASA) allelic variation is associated with increased risk for neurodevelopmental damage. This initial study contributes to this new field and supports development of finer-tuned methods to prevent ominous outcomes of lead exposure. The purpose of this study was to explore the incidence of children in a representative sample from a Midwest metropolitan city with positive test results for the ASA allelic variation who have been exposed to the environmental toxin lead. In this corollary study of 107 children, part of a parent study on the behavior of African American children prenatally exposed to cocaine, 45% were found to be heterozygous, 11% mutant homozygous, and 44% normal in terms of ASA allele or alleles. Further studies on neurodeficiencies, low-level exposure to environmental toxins, and allelic variations must be conducted before a relation between ASA allelic variance and environmental lead can be determined.

Alcoholism↗

PubMed2002

Methods to increase fruit and vegetable intake with and without a decrease in fat intake: compliance and effects on body weight in the nutrition and breast health study.

Dietary patterns that involve a decrease in fat and an increase in fruit and vegetable (FV) intake have been suggested to decrease cancer risks. In this study, intervention methods to selectively modify dietary fat and/or FV intakes were developed. Compliance to the diets and the effects on body weight are shown, because both of these dietary changes can impact on and be confounded by changes in energy intake. A total of 122 women with a family history of breast cancer were randomized onto one of four diets for 12 mo. Counseling methods were devised to increase amount and variety of FV consumed with or without a decrease in fat intake using modified exchange list diets. Women on the low-fat and combination low-fat/high-FV diet arms decreased their fat intakes to approximately 16% of energy. Women on the high-FV and the combination low-fat/high-FV diet arms increased FV intakes to approximately 11 servings/day. Despite counseling efforts to maintain baseline energy intakes, mean body weight increased significantly by 6 pounds in women in the high-FV diet arm and decreased significantly by 5 pounds in women in the low-fat diet arm. Percent body fat also was increased in the high-FV diet arm and decreased in the low-fat diet arm. Body weight and percent body fat in the combination diet arm did not change significantly. Control of energy intake, therefore, appears to have been achieved only when the addition of FV to the diet was balanced by a decrease in fat intake and both dietary components were enumerated daily. Maintenance of energy intake, therefore, did not appear to be attained intrinsically when individuals were counseled to make changes in the composition of their diets.

Adipose Tissue↗

PubMed2001

Development of an Instrument to Assess Problem Behavior in First Grade Students Prenatally Exposed to Cocaine. Part II: Validation.

In Part I, the initial development of a preliminary tool, the PROBS-14, was reported. The tool was developed and initially tested through a consensus process that tapped the perceptions of early education teachers. Concurrent validity between the PROBS-14 and the Conners' Teacher Rating Scale (CTRS) was established with factor analysis, yielding a hyperactivity-conduct factor, composed of PROBS items and all but two of the CTRS subscales, and a central processing factor, composed of PROBS items and the remaining CTRS scales. The purpose of Part II was to further establish concurrent validity of the PROBS-14 with known pediatric behavior measures (TRF, CTRS) and to ascertain if the PROBS-14 better predicts a cocaine behavioral effect. A sample of 468 African American children with known cocaine exposure (n = 200) and control status (n = 268) were evaluated. Factor analyses produced results similar to those reported in Part I, with PROBS items accounting for problem behavior variance beyond that accounted for by the TRF, and more specific than that accounted for by the CTRS. Additionally, children prenatally exposed to cocaine, particularly those exposed late in pregnancy, differed significantly from controls on the PROBS total, central processing scale, and several PROBS items. The PROBS instrument offers a promising brief measure of child problem behaviors with adequate concurrent and predictive validity, and which outperforms the TRF and CTRS in discriminating prenatal cocaine exposure status.

Journal Article↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Growth from birth onwards of children prenatally exposed to drugs: a literature review.

Reductions in birth weight and length have been independently attributed to prenatal exposure to alcohol, cigarettes and cocaine. While pregnant women often use multiple substances, studies have not consistently controlled for exposure to other agents or other important differences in maternal lifestyle associated with the use of these substances. Despite these difficulties, the preponderance of evidence suggests that prenatal alcohol and cocaine independently reduce birth measurements. This review synthesizes the scientific literature focusing on prenatal exposures and the relationship to child growth. First examined are studies that investigated the link between prenatal exposures and birth weight and length, followed by the effects of these substances on childhood growth. Studies vary in the number of subjects, cohort characteristics, measurement of exposure and control for potential confounders. Differences in sample characteristics and size, as well as degree of statistical control for potential confounders and the examination of moderating characteristics, have led to differing conclusions regarding the long-term effect of prenatal substance exposure on growth. Large-scale, well-designed studies are needed to clearly examine the unique contribution of both varying prenatal exposures and the magnitude and timing of these exposures on childhood growth deficits.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Neural tube defects.

The purpose of this article is to describe the etiology of neural tube defects (NTDs) and the role of folic acid in their prevention. NTDs are all too common and devastating outcomes of many pregnancies. The brain and spinal cord malformations that develop during gestation in the NTD-affected pregnancies are expressed through various anomalies. Estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 1995 reported over 4,000 occurrences of NTDs in the United States alone. Research has demonstrated that the preconception and prenatal addition of folic acid can greatly reduce the incidence of NTDs. Recent advances in genetic studies have increased awareness of the important role of folic acid in preventing NTDs. Identification of a genetic marker will allow for specific treatment of those women at high risk for NTDs. Despite recommendations from the CDC for folic acid supplementation, there is insufficient awareness of these guidelines by both the public and by healthcare providers. A National campaign to promote awareness of the role of folic acid in the prevention of NTDs has been initiated, and has been successful at reducing NTDs's by 19%. Nurses can be instrumental in the dissemination of information not only to women of childbearing age, but also to other nurses and physicians.

Female↗