Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S L Ramey

Publications and source records attributed to S L Ramey.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Correlates of maternal depressive symptoms in a national Head Start program sample.

OBJECTIVE: To examine correlates of maternal depressive symptoms in a diverse, national sample of mothers whose kindergarten-aged children attended a Head Start program. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: A cross-sectional study of 5820 mothers was conducted during their child's kindergarten year. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Rates of maternal depressive symptoms were assessed by a validated 3-item depression screen. RESULTS: The ethnic makeup of the group of mothers was non-Hispanic white, 46%; African American, 30%; Hispanic, 13%; American Indian, 6%; Asian American, 1%; and other, 4%. The mean (SD) age of the mothers was 30.1 (5.55) years, 57% were unemployed, and 68% had at least a high school diploma or had earned a high school equivalency diploma. More than 40% of the mothers screened positive for depressive symptoms. The strongest associations after controlling for several biological and demographic variables were maternal chronic health problem (adjusted odds ratio, 2.77; 95% confidence interval, 1.98-3.87), homelessness (adjusted odds ratio, 2.00; 95% confidence interval, 1.45-2.77), and lowest income level (adjusted odds ratio, 1.56; 95% confidence interval, 1.30-1.88). CONCLUSIONS: Depressive symptoms were common among mothers of young children in this national sample. Interventions must be targeted at alleviating maternal depressive symptoms by decreasing poverty, providing support programs for single parents, and establishing accessible and affordable medical care for all parents and their children. Primary care physicians can play a key role in early identification and intervention.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Early intervention and early experience.

For 4 decades, vigorous efforts have been based on the premise that early intervention for children of poverty and, more recently, for children with developmental disabilities can yield significant improvements in cognitive, academic, and social outcomes. The history of these efforts is briefly summarized and a conceptual framework presented to understand the design, research, and policy relevance of these early interventions. This framework, biosocial developmental contextualism, derives from social ecology, developmental systems theory, developmental epidemiology, and developmental neurobiology. This integrative perspective predicts that fragmented, weak efforts in early intervention are not likely to succeed, whereas intensive, high-quality, ecologically pervasive interventions can and do. Relevant evidence is summarized in 6 principles about efficacy of early intervention. The public policy challenge in early intervention is to contain costs by more precisely targeting early interventions to those who most need and benefit from these interventions. The empirical evidence on biobehavioral effects of early experience and early intervention has direct relevance to federal and state policy development and resource allocation.

Child Development↗
PubMed1996

Pregnancy outcome and intelligence at age five years.

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to determine the influence of being small for gestational age at term and being preterm < 34 weeks on cognitive functioning at age 5 years. STUDY DESIGN: Five hundred forty-six children of black low-income mothers, nearly all at risk for being small for gestational age, followed up prenatally with early ultrasonographic gestational age dating, were classified as either term appropriate for gestational age, term small for gestational age, or preterm at < 34 weeks. At a mean of 5.5 +/- 0.5 years, a Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised intelligence quotient test was administered. An intelligence quotient < 70 was used to define mental retardation. Univariate and multivariate analyses adjusted for maternal age, smoking, education and language skills, home environment, and child gender and preschool attendance were performed. RESULTS: Term small-for-gestational-age and preterm infants at < 34 weeks had 4 and 6 point intelligence quotient reductions compared with term appropriate-for-gestational-age infants. In the regression analyses these differences in intelligence quotient remained significant after confounders were adjusted. High maternal receptive language level (8 points), a positive home environment (5 points), and attendance at preschool (5 points) were each significantly associated with an increase in intelligence quotient. CONCLUSION: Both term small-for-gestational-age infants and those born at < 34 weeks had a significantly lower mean intelligence quotient, and small-for-gestational-age infants had an increased risk of mental retardation at age 5 years. Higher maternal language skills, a positive home environment, and attendance at preschool each were associated with an increase in the mean intelligence quotient of 5 to 7 points.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Which children benefit the most from early intervention?

Recent findings from three separate studies support and extend a large and growing body of early-intervention research literature spanning 30 years. The literature is consistent in demonstrating positive developmental outcomes as a result of intensive early intervention for children of low-income and undereducated families. New analyses confirm that maternal intelligence is a key factor in children's intellectual development, especially when these children are not provided with intensive early intervention. Fortunately, children whose mothers have low IQs respond positively to intensive, high-quality early intervention, which leads to a dramatic reduction in their rates of mental retardation during the intervention program. Unresolved issues include how best routinely to identify children and families who will benefit from such programs, how early to begin programs and for how long to continue them to produce desirable developmental outcomes, and whether sufficient public and political will exists to scale-up early intervention efforts to match the magnitude of the problem in our society.

Child↗
PubMed1993

The science of prevention. A conceptual framework and some directions for a national research program.

A conceptual framework for studying the prevention of human dysfunction is offered. On the basis of recent advances in research on the development of psychological disorders and methods of preventive intervention, generalizations about the relation of risk and protective factors to disorder are put forward, along with a set of principles for what may be identified as the science of prevention. Emerging themes from the study of human development, in general, need to be incorporated in the models for explaining and preventing serious problems of human adaptation. The article concludes with a set of recommendations for a national prevention research agenda.

Humans↗
PubMed1992

Effective early intervention.

Recent positive findings from three early educational intervention programs designed to prevent mental retardation as well as to improve school readiness and educational progress were summarized. Evidence was presented to show that without early intervention, children of low-IQ mothers are particularly at-risk for poor intellectual outcomes and that such children respond very favorably to intensive, systematic early intervention. In addition, new findings indicate a strong relation between the intensity of the early educational intervention and the amount of benefits realized by individual children. Further, there is new evidence that the benefits of continuous educational intervention over the first 5 years of life last at least until early adolescence. We identified six essential types of experiences that we think account for the positive outcomes and that need to be systematically included to the maximum feasible level in future early intervention programs.

Child↗
PubMed1991

Cocaine and the use of alcohol and other drugs during pregnancy.

Recent reports of adverse pregnancy outcomes associated with prenatal cocaine exposure have raised questions about the actual numbers of infants who are exposed to cocaine in utero. Whereas toxicologic urine screens obtained at delivery can detect cocaine use in the preceding few days, they fail to yield a comprehensive picture of use during and immediately before pregnancy. According to postpartum self-report, 15% of a teaching hospital sample and 3% of a private hospital sample of mothers had used cocaine during pregnancy or in the previous month (total = 876). Rates at the teaching hospital reflect a fifteenfold increase over the past 12-year period, when compared with previously obtained data. Cocaine users were significantly more likely to report that they drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes, and took other illicit drugs during pregnancy than women who denied using cocaine. Mothers at highest risk for cocaine use were those who were black (20%), were single-separated-divorced (24% to 33%), and had less than a high school education (21%).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Magnetic resonance imaging of bicornuate uterus with unilateral hematometrosalpinx and ipsilateral renal agenesis.

A complex solid and cystic pelvic mass in a young patient was demonstrated by computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound (US). These modalities failed to accurately characterize the solid components as bicornuate uterus and the cystic areas as hemorrhage. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using multislice multiecho spin echo (SE) sequences made it easier to characterize the mass, clearly depicting the abnormality in transaxial and coronal planes and at the same time demonstrating ipsilateral renal agenesis.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prevention of intellectual disabilities: early interventions to improve cognitive development.

This paper presents a conceptual framework that has guided three randomized, controlled early intervention trials designed to improve cognitive development and social competence in high-risk young children from birth to 3 years of age. Two of the projects (Abecedarian and CARE) enrolled infants from economically and socially low-resource families and the other project (IHDP) was an eight-site randomized controlled trial with 985 low birth-weight and premature infants and their families. IHDP families varied widely in their economic and social resources. Results consistently indicated positive effects of the intervention on child IQ during the first 3 years of life. Children from the lowest resource families consistently benefited the most from the early intervention.

Child, Preschool↗