In this article, we describe the results of the second phase of a randomized controlled trial of Minding the Baby (MTB), an interdisciplinary reflective parenting intervention for infants and their families. Young first-time mothers living in underserved, poor, urban communities received intensive home visiting services from a nurse and social worker team for 27 months, from pregnancy to the child's second birthday. Results indicate that MTB mothers' levels of reflective functioning was more likely to increase over the course of the intervention than were those of control group mothers. Likewise, infants in the MTB group were significantly more likely to be securely attached, and significantly less likely to be disorganized, than infants in the control group. We discuss our findings in terms of their contribution to understanding the impacts and import of intensive intervention with vulnerable families during the earliest stages of parenthood in preventing the intergenerational transmission of disrupted relationships and insecure attachment.

The costs and effectiveness of both the test and no-test strategies are very similar even when there is a small probability of mutation. Current guidelines, which can be used by insurance companies to refuse coverage, could deny some women a cost-effective approach. Further research to decrease the frequency of inconclusive results could improve the cost-effectiveness of this test.

Using the MTB program, we significantly lowered the rate of obesity among 2-year-old children living in low-socioeconomic-status communities. In addition, children of Hispanic mothers were less likely to have overweight or obesity at 2 years. Given the high and disproportionate national prevalence of Hispanic young children with overweight and obesity and the increased costs of obesity-related morbidities, these findings have important clinical, research, and policy implications.

Objective To measure the association between mass media coverage on flu-related topics and influenza vaccination, regarding timing and annual vaccination rates, among the nationally representative community-dwelling elderly. Data Source 1999, 2000 and 2001 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS). Study Design Cross-sectional survival analyses during each of three influenza vaccination seasons between September 1999 and December 2001. The outcome variable was daily vaccine receipt. We measured daily media coverage by counting the number of television program transcripts and newspaper/wire service articles, including keywords of influenza/flu and vaccine shortage/delay. All models’ covariates included three types of media, vaccine supply, and regional/individual factors. Principal Findings Influenza-related reports in all three media sources had a positive association with earlier vaccination timing and annual vaccination rate. Four television–networks’ reports had most consistent positive effects in all models, e.g., shifting the mean vaccination timing earlier by 1.8–4.1 days (p<.001) or increasing the annual vaccination rate by 2.3–7.9% (p<.001). These associations tended to be greater when reported in a headline rather than in text only and if including additional keywords, e.g., vaccine shortage/delay. Conclusions Timing and annual receipt of influenza vaccination appear to be influenced by media coverage, particularly by headlines and specific reports on shortage/delay.

Background Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is one of the most common chronic health conditions in adolescents in the United States. Adherence to the recommended treatment regimen has been reported as a source of stress for adolescents. Aim The purpose of this study was to examine the associations among general and diabetes-specific stress and glycemic control (HbA1c), self-management, and diabetes-specific quality of life (QOL) in adolescents with T1D. Methods A secondary analysis of baseline data (N = 320) from a randomized controlled trial was conducted. Adolescents completed validated measures of general and diabetes-specific stress, self-management, and diabetes-specific QOL. HbA1c levels were obtained from medical records. Results Over 50% of the sample scored at or above criteria for high general and diabetes-specific stress. Higher general and diabetes-specific stress was significantly associated with higher HbA1c, poorer self-management activities, and lower diabetes-specific QOL. Diabetes-specific stress accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in HbA1c, while general stress did not. General and diabetes-specific stress accounted for 40% of the variance in diabetes-specific QOL. Conclusions General and diabetes-specific stress are common in adolescents with T1D. Healthcare providers must be mindful of the sources of stress that adolescents with T1D face on a daily basis. General stress and diabetes-specific stress should be differentiated and may require different interventions to improve coping and outcomes.