COVID-19 Pandemic Exposure and Toddler Behavioral Health in the ECHO Program.

Importance: Studies suggest developmental concerns for infants born during the COVID-19 pandemic, but evidence on its impact on toddler behavioral and emotional well-being remains limited.

Objective: To assess whether birth timing relative to the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with toddler internalizing and externalizing problems.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective cohort study utilized Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) cohort data collected between September 27, 2009, and July 21, 2023.

Intrapartum exposure to synthetic oxytocin, maternal BMI, and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children within the ECHO consortium.

Background: Synthetic oxytocin (sOT) is frequently administered during parturition. Studies have raised concerns that fetal exposure to sOT may be associated with altered brain development and risk of neurodevelopmental disorders. In a large and diverse sample of children with data about intrapartum sOT exposure and subsequent diagnoses of two prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders, i.

Measurement bias in caregiver-report of early childhood behavior problems across demographic factors in an ECHO-wide diverse sample.

Background: Research and clinical practice rely heavily on caregiver-report measures, such as the Child Behavior Checklist 1.5-5 (CBCL/1.5-5), to gather information about early childhood behavior problems and to screen for child psychopathology.

COVID-19 Stress and Child Behavior: Examining Discrimination and Social Support in Racially Diverse ECHO Cohorts.

Objective: To examine the additive or moderating influences of caregiver COVID-19-related stress, social support, and discrimination on children's behavior problems across racially diverse populations.

Method: In this Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) cohort study (N = 1,999 caregiver/child pairs), we operationalized caregiver COVID-19-related stress in 2 ways: first, as the number of stressors (eg, financial concerns, social distancing); and second, as the level of pandemic-related traumatic stress symptoms reported via questionnaires administered between April 2020 and August 2022. At the same assessment visit, caregivers also reported their current levels of discrimination, and a subsample (n = 968) reported their emotional and instrumental support.

Prenatal depression and risk of child autism-related traits among participants in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes program.

This study evaluated the association between prenatal depression and offspring autism-related traits. The sample comprised 33 prenatal/pediatric cohorts participating in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes program who contributed information on prenatal depression and autism-related traits. Autism-related traits were assessed continuously and at the diagnostic cut-off using the Social Responsiveness Scale for children up to 12 years of age.

Maternal stress and early childhood BMI among US children from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program.

Background: We aimed to understand the association between maternal stress in the first year of life and childhood body mass index (BMI) from 2 to 4 years of age in a large, prospective United States-based consortium of cohorts.

Methods: We used data from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes program. The main exposure was maternal stress in the first year of life measured with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS).