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Canadian teen moms run higher risk of abuse, depression than older mothersPublic release date: 18-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Bryan Alary bryan.alary@ualberta.ca 780-492-0436 University of Alberta
(Edmonton) Teen mothers are far more likely to suffer abuse and postpartum depression than older moms, according to a study of Canadian women's maternity experiences by a University of Alberta researcher.
Dawn Kingston, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Nursing, analyzed data from the Maternity Experiences Survey, which asked more than 6,400 new mothers about their experiences with stress, violence, pre- and postnatal care, breastfeeding and risky behaviour like smoking and drug use before, during and after pregnancy.
Kingston said the survey offers the first nationwide view of maternity experiences and many risk factors affecting maternal and infant health. Knowing that teens are most at risk of abuse and depression, for example, helps public health policy makers and providers target care and support where it's needed most, she said.
"If we don't intervene early, the abuse and depression can continue into the postpartum period and the child's early developmental years," she said. "Women that have mental health issues in pregnancy and postpartum have children that are at greater risk of having mental health problems and developmental problems."
The study, published in the May issue of Pediatrics, compared maternity experiences of women at various ages: teens (15 to 19 years), young adults (20 to 24) and adults (25 and older).
The data showed that 41 per cent of teen moms had experienced physical abuse in the previous two yearsdouble the rate among women in their early 20s and five times that among adult women.
"We had no idea that the risk was as high as it is in adolescents," Kingston said.
Nearly a quarter of teens indicated they had been abused more than three times during that span. One-fifth said they'd been abused by a family member, compared with 14 per cent of young adults and 9.5 per cent of adult women.
Some 14 per cent of teens experienced symptoms of postpartum depression, compared with 9.3 per cent of women in their early 20s and 6.9 per cent of adult women.
Such results suggest a need for screening for depression and violence among pregnant women, Kingston said. Few pregnant and postpartum women are routinely screened for violence at present in Canada, something that is mandatory in Australia and the U.K.
"Women often don't tell their provider they're suffering, whether it's depression or domestic abuse," she said. "That's why there needs to be a routine screening process. If you don't screen, the need may not be identified and women are not linked to resources like counselling and other help that's available."
Teens later to start prenatal care
The data also showed that teen moms were more likely to start prenatal care late, more likely to engage in risky behaviour like smoking, and less likely to breastfeed.
Some 15.5 per cent of teen moms started prenatal care late, double the rate for moms in their 20s and nearly four times that for adult mothers.
Fewer teens reported initiating breastfeeding than older women. Just 19 per cent breastfed for three months or more, compared with 30 per cent of moms in their 20s and 41 per cent of adult women.
Teens were also far more likely to smoke during and after pregnancy (29 per cent and 50.9 per cent, respectively) than women in their 20s (23.6 per cent and 33.9 per cent) and adult women (7.8 per cent and 12.7 per cent).
Such results might not be surprising given the nature of unplanned teen pregnancies, but the high smoking rates among young adults was a surprise, Kingston said, as was the decision of moms to continue smoking after delivery.
"That suggests there's considerable opportunity for teaching, identifying needs and linking women to services they need through prenatal and postpartum care."
###
The study was commissioned by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Canadian teen moms run higher risk of abuse, depression than older mothersPublic release date: 18-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Bryan Alary bryan.alary@ualberta.ca 780-492-0436 University of Alberta
(Edmonton) Teen mothers are far more likely to suffer abuse and postpartum depression than older moms, according to a study of Canadian women's maternity experiences by a University of Alberta researcher.
Dawn Kingston, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Nursing, analyzed data from the Maternity Experiences Survey, which asked more than 6,400 new mothers about their experiences with stress, violence, pre- and postnatal care, breastfeeding and risky behaviour like smoking and drug use before, during and after pregnancy.
Kingston said the survey offers the first nationwide view of maternity experiences and many risk factors affecting maternal and infant health. Knowing that teens are most at risk of abuse and depression, for example, helps public health policy makers and providers target care and support where it's needed most, she said.
"If we don't intervene early, the abuse and depression can continue into the postpartum period and the child's early developmental years," she said. "Women that have mental health issues in pregnancy and postpartum have children that are at greater risk of having mental health problems and developmental problems."
The study, published in the May issue of Pediatrics, compared maternity experiences of women at various ages: teens (15 to 19 years), young adults (20 to 24) and adults (25 and older).
The data showed that 41 per cent of teen moms had experienced physical abuse in the previous two yearsdouble the rate among women in their early 20s and five times that among adult women.
"We had no idea that the risk was as high as it is in adolescents," Kingston said.
Nearly a quarter of teens indicated they had been abused more than three times during that span. One-fifth said they'd been abused by a family member, compared with 14 per cent of young adults and 9.5 per cent of adult women.
Some 14 per cent of teens experienced symptoms of postpartum depression, compared with 9.3 per cent of women in their early 20s and 6.9 per cent of adult women.
Such results suggest a need for screening for depression and violence among pregnant women, Kingston said. Few pregnant and postpartum women are routinely screened for violence at present in Canada, something that is mandatory in Australia and the U.K.
"Women often don't tell their provider they're suffering, whether it's depression or domestic abuse," she said. "That's why there needs to be a routine screening process. If you don't screen, the need may not be identified and women are not linked to resources like counselling and other help that's available."
Teens later to start prenatal care
The data also showed that teen moms were more likely to start prenatal care late, more likely to engage in risky behaviour like smoking, and less likely to breastfeed.
Some 15.5 per cent of teen moms started prenatal care late, double the rate for moms in their 20s and nearly four times that for adult mothers.
Fewer teens reported initiating breastfeeding than older women. Just 19 per cent breastfed for three months or more, compared with 30 per cent of moms in their 20s and 41 per cent of adult women.
Teens were also far more likely to smoke during and after pregnancy (29 per cent and 50.9 per cent, respectively) than women in their 20s (23.6 per cent and 33.9 per cent) and adult women (7.8 per cent and 12.7 per cent).
Such results might not be surprising given the nature of unplanned teen pregnancies, but the high smoking rates among young adults was a surprise, Kingston said, as was the decision of moms to continue smoking after delivery.
"That suggests there's considerable opportunity for teaching, identifying needs and linking women to services they need through prenatal and postpartum care."
###
The study was commissioned by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Photographer Brad Goldpaint captured this view of the northern lights over Crater Lake, Ore., early Sunday.
By Alan Boyle
A double-burst of solar particles?sparked auroral lights over the weekend, as expected?? but at least in some parts of the world, the colors were not what you'd expect. Instead of the typical greenish glow, observers reported seeing reds, pinks, violets and even blues.
"It's been many years since I saw the blue in our auroras, but Saturday night they came back," John Welling reported in a note accompanying the photo he posted to SpaceWeather.com.
Pinks, reds and blues also dominated the scene captured on camera early Sunday by Brad Goldpaint, from a vantage point above Oregon's Crater Lake. In an email, Goldpaint told me the opportunity came about "by pure coincidence."
"Capturing this famous light show had been a dream of mine for several years, but I could not have imagined the lights showing up in my own backyard!" Goldpaint wrote. "After setting up near the Rim Village Visitor Center lookout area, I began to notice a faint band of moving light slowly making its way from behind the Watchman Tower, around 1:30 a.m. My camera began picking up bright pink bursts of light towards the north, with what also looked like unfamiliar vertical bands of light stretching upwards from the horizon. I quickly changed my camera?s white balance to confirm I was not picking up some random light pollution, or hallucinating in my drowsy state. Following additional exposures, I came up with the same amazing results. The magical shifting scene continued until sunrise, and like most days in the wilderness, I was awed and humbled by true nature personified."
The photo now graces Brad's portfolio at GoldpaintPhotography.com.
The colors of the aurora depend on the wavelength of the light emitted when fast-moving, electrically charged particles from the sun interact with different types of atoms and ions in Earth's upper atmosphere. If the particles hit mostly oxygen atoms, the light will be in the greenish-yellowish-reddish range. Collisions with nitrogen atoms produce the blue, purple and deep red hues.
The altitude of the auroral glow also affects the color: At altitudes between 60 and 120 miles (100 and 200 kilometers), the oxygen emissions tend toward the green side of the spectrum. At higher altitudes, you'll see more red. Blend all those colors, and you get a beautiful, wide-ranging palette.
The "Causes of Color" website provides a fuller spectrum of information. And speaking of a fuller spectrum, here are more of the weekend's colors, plus a bonus video:
Stephen Voss
Stephen Voss snapped pictures of the southern lights from a spot near Invercargill in the south of New Zealand. "A dull arc hung around for a couple of hours before suddenly exploding with a mixture of rays and curtains," Voss told SpaceWeather.com. Check out Voss' gallery at Deep South Astrophotography.
Scott Lowther
Scott Lowther snapped this panoramic picture of Saturday night's auroral display as seen from Tremonton, Utah. The shot was taken with a Nikon D5000 and a 55mm lens at f/1.4 with 6-second exposures. For more of Lowther's photos, check out the Art by Earthlings website.
Shawn Malone / LakeSuperiorPhoto.com
Shawn Malone snapped this picture before dawn on Sunday morning from Marquette, Mich. "Got to witness the tail end of aurora activity as the skies cleared about 15-20 minutes before the sunrise light moved in," Malone told SpaceWeather.com. "Photos taken between 3:50 a.m. and 4:15 a.m. Bright aurora, with rays of light overhead, almost forming a corona. Beautiful purples came through on the exposures, but only light visible to the eye, as is typical with auroras right before sunrise." Check out LakeSuperiorPhoto.com for more of Malone's work.
Here's a 13-minute recap of three winters' worth of auroral imagery from Sweden. It's all part of "Light Over Lapland: The Aurora Borealis Experience" from Chad Blakley of LightsOverLapland.com on Vimeo. For best results, go full screen and HD. "The movie is a compilation of many thousands of still images captured in Abisko National Park," Blakley writes. "By my calculation I have spent no less than 2,000 hours pointing my camera at the sky recording the northern lights to create this film. ... I am enjoying the midnight sun and all of its warmth, but I am ready for the darkness and the auroras to return."
More auroral glories:
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Pope Benedict XVI delivers his blessing during the Angelus prayer from his studio overlooking St. Peter's square at the Vatican, Sunday, June 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)
Pope Benedict XVI delivers his blessing during the Angelus prayer from his studio overlooking St. Peter's square at the Vatican, Sunday, June 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)
VATICAN CITY (AP) ? Pope Benedict XVI told Irish Catholics on Sunday it is a mystery why priests and other church officials abused children entrusted in their care, undermining faith in the church "in an appalling way."
By describing the decades of child abuse in Catholic parishes, schools and church-run institutions and parishes in Ireland as a "mystery," the pontiff could further anger rank-and-file faithful in Ireland.
Benedict commented on the scandals of sexual abuse and cover-ups by church hierarchy in a pre-recorded video message for an outdoor Mass attended by 75,000 Catholics, many from overseas, in Ireland's largest sports stadium. Ireland's prime minister and president attended the Mass, the final event of a Eucharistic Congress aimed at shoring up flagging faith.
The weeklong Eucharistic Congress, held by the Vatican every four years in a different part of the world, took place against a backdrop of deep anger over child abuse cover-ups and surveys showing declining weekly Mass attendance in Ireland, where church and state were once tightly entwined.
"How are we to explain the fact that people who regularly received the Lord's body and confessed their sins in the sacrament of Penance have offended in this way?" said the pope, referring to church staff who abused children.
"It remains a mystery," he said. "Yet evidently their Christianity was no longer nourished by joyful encounter with Jesus Christ. It had become merely a matter of habit."
Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said the church in Ireland is facing a grave fight for survival.
"Your forbears in the church in Ireland knew how to strive for holiness and constancy in their personal lives," Benedict said in his message.
In a reference to the Vatican's insistence on Sunday Mass attendance, Benedict said Catholic faith "is a legacy that is surely perfected and nourished" at Mass.
Yet, he said, "thankfulness and joy at such a great history of faith and love have recently been shaken in an appalling way by the revelation of sins committed by priests and consecrated persons against people entrusted to their care."
"Instead of showing them the path towards Christ, toward God, instead of bearing witness to his goodness, they abused people and undermined the credibility of the church's message," the pope said.
For more than a decade, advocates for those abused by clergy have been demanding that church leaders in Ireland and at the Vatican accept blame for protecting pedophile priests.
Four state-ordered investigations have documented how tens of thousands of children from the 1940s to the 1990s suffered sexual, physical and mental abuse at the hands of priests, nuns and church staff in three Irish dioceses and in a network of workhouse-style residential schools.
In Ireland, the United States and many other countries, bishops and other church leaders have been accused of systematically covering up pedophile priests, often by shuffling them from parish to parish without telling the faithful about the abuse.
Benedict's evoking "mystery" disappointed the victims' advocacy group SNAP, or Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. A SNAP official, Barbara Dorris, said the pope was speaking in "platitudes, refusing to even accurately name the crisis."
" The pontiff's wrong: there's little mystery here," said Dorris in an emailed statement.
She cited priests' having "sometimes almost absolute power, over devout and defenseless kids," as well as bishops who abuse power and "ignore, hide and enable heinous crimes against kids."
Once upon a time, you had to rely on grants from literary organizations to support your writing projects-in-progress, your own funds or generous family member donations. Or, you had to wait for even ?more elusive advances from publishers.
Today, you no longer have to depend only on publishers for advances or squeeze yourself into the boxes of literary organization?s deadlines, tight requirements and crunched arts funding budget availability.
You can empower your own writing project and yourself with needed support starting today by initiating a fundraising campaign for your writing on Kickstarter.com.
Kickstarter is the world?s largest funding platform for creative projects ? whether you are writing and publishing a book or literary magazine or funding a film or visual art project. Writers have raised money for editing, self-publishing, e-publishing, research, illustration, design, education and more on Kickstarter. And anyone can start a Kickstarter campaign ? published or not.
Most Kickstarter campaigns for writing projects raise less than $5000, and many have goals of $2000 or under, but two campaigns have exceeded the $1 million mark. (Read about comic book artist Rick Burlew?s The Order of the Stick Reprint Drive in Forbes Magazine?s, ?Million Dollar Book Proves Kickstarter Model, Now Authors Just Need The Reach?)
Posting a writing project or goal on Kickstarter.com does not mean you do not have to be as clear and specific in your presentation as you would be if you were approaching a granting organization or publisher. The best and most effective presentations are both. You have to know what your goal is and clearly define it. And your project needs an end point. Funding your writing career in general is not going to achieve the result that funding a specific project or piece of a project with a specific culmination will.
If you want to discover what gets results in a Kickstarter campaign, read and explore:
You will also want to read this comprehensive article by filmmaker and media artist Nathaniel Hansen on ?7 Things to Consider BEFORE you Launch your Kickstarter Project.?
Nathaniel, who has raised more than $350,000 dollars for himself and clients on Kickstarter, said this about running a successful campaign. ?At the end of the day, two things are really all that?s required: a good idea and A LOT OF HARD WORK. Ok, maybe three ? a decent network that supports what you do.?
One piece of that hard work includes creating an effective video that explains the project you want to fund and fun rewards for your backers ? that escalate in value and access to you, depending on how much they contribute. These rewards can range from signed copies of books to choosing how a character named after you in a crime novel dies to one-on-one consultations with authors and filmmakers. You also want to keep your backers in the loop with updates on your project?s progress and completion.
Here are four recent successful Kickstarter campaigns by authors, writers and filmmakers.
1. Jack Palms II. Seth Harwood, the author of This is Life, Young Junius and Jack Wakes Up, as well as the podcasts In Broad Daylight, A Long Way from Disney, and Triad Death Match, has since 2006, been giving away his work as free serialized audio books through his website, on iTunes and at podiobooks.com. His goal was to release five titles as eBooks and through Print On Demand over a six month period. He focused his Kickstarter campaign on raising funds for fixed publishing costs such as copy-editing, proofreading, cover design and layout. He raised $7,167 pledged on a $4,000 goal from 92 backers.
His rewards included everything from inclusion in the acknowledgements and a personal thank you note to being a character in his book to having a short story or novella written with you as the main character. Read about his campaign and rewards at Jack Palms II: This Is Life and Other eBooks.
2. The Afterlife Series. Mur Lafferty, an award-winning author of ?Playing For Keeps,? ?Marco and the Red Granny,? podcaster and editor of Escape Pod magazine, felt certain she would get a mainstream publisher for her novellas, The Afterlife Series: Heaven, Hell, Earth, Wasteland and War, which she had given away for years for free as an audio series. But she did not.
She took epublishing on herself with a Kickstarter campaign goal to raise $2000 for ebook conversion, book design and cover design. Two hours after her campaigns started, she reached her goal and at bedtime the first day, she had $5000. By the end of the campaign, she had raised $19, 370. Watch her video and read more about her project and creative rewards for backers at The Afterlife Series: Heaven, Hell, Earth, Wasteland, War
((Note: Both Seth and Mur are also great examples of how fiction writers today are creating platforms ? audiences for their writing.)
3. Impasse. One day, screenwriter Jeanne Veillette Bowerman (@jeannevb ), who also created the #scriptchat hashtag on Twitter, was struck by a lover?s quarrel she witnessed in a coffeeshop. ?She tweeted the event, even though she could not hear anything said in the argument. She also knew it was the inspiration she and director Michael Bekemeyer had hoped to find for a short film. They set a Kickstarter campaign goal of $12, 500 and highlighted their heartfelt dedication and passion for the film project, Impasse: When the Cold War of Love Meets the Moment of Truth. And they promised to share the journey with video clips, blog posts and a ritual shaving of the director?s head at film completion, that made backers feel like an appreciated and included part of the film?s community. They raised $15, 680 from 314 backers. Check out their campaign here.
4. Type Rider. One more fun and successful writing project completed on June 13 is TYPE RIDER: Cycling the Great American Poem. This Poetry project by writer Maya Stein ? was a 40 day bicycle ride from Massachusetts to Milwaukee. She celebrated turning 40 and the spirit of creativity by pulling a typewriter (Milwaukee is its birthplace) behind her bicycle and creating poetry community with Type-ins and other events along the way. She raised $16, 427 from 208 backers, who at various higher donation levels could travel with her up to 5 or 10 days.
One final comment, what I also love about Kickstarter campaigns is that their creators often ?pay-it-forward? on Kickstarter. All these artists have also backed other artists? campaigns.
Welcome to the new world of writing and publishing. As certain doors narrow or close for writers, others swing open and breathe new life and community to empower your creative life. Kickstarter is one of your new wide open doors.
I would love to know what you think. What have your or your writer friend?s experiences been with Kickstarter or with granting organizations? What do you think about these new opportunities for writers? I want to hear from you.
Alissa Lukara, the author of the memoir, Riding Grace: A Triumph of the Soul, supports writers to write and complete their books in her online writing workshop, Writing Books that Transform Lives. Find out about the next session that begins July 2nd.? Early registration ends Thursday, May 31. Meanwhile, find out how writing can change your life by registering here for the free eCourse, Complete Your Book ? Transform Your Life: 7 Key Steps on the Writer?s Journey. Registering for it automatically subscribes you to Transformational Writers updates.
Strategic Comp has an intriguing leadership opportunity for a high level Account Exec (AE). Responsibilities would include an assigned book of workers' compensation business in a specific geographic territory, with overall goals of managing the existing book to an appropriate level of profitability and achieving a high level of renewal retention. The AE will be able to communicate effectively and conduct presentations to business owners, demonstrate utmost professionalism and industry knowledge to win the confidence of producers and insureds, develop a strong relationship with key decision-makers within an organization, direct effective service, and coordinate a team of service professionals. AEs are required to clearly and professionally articulate the intricacies of the Strategic Comp product. (The function of marketing to our agents and managing their submissions for new business and renewals is an important one to Strategic Comp; however, those duties are handled by our marketing staff and are not a part of this AE position.)
The person hired for this position will primarily work from their home and will be required to travel up to 60% of the time including some overnight travel. A company car is provided.
Here's who we are. Our division, Strategic Comp, is part of Great American Insurance Company established in and based in Cincinnati, OH. Established in 1872 and based in Cincinnati, Ohio, the operations of Great American Insurance Group are engaged primarily in property and casualty insurance, focusing on specialty commercial products for businesses, and in the sale of annuities and supplemental insurance products. The members of the Great American Insurance Group are subsidiaries of American Financial Group, Inc. AFG's common stock is listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") and NASDAQ under the symbol "AFG".
Here's information about how we operate. Our employees at Strategic Comp know that they make a difference to us, and they feel appreciated for it. In fact we received 98% rating for overall job satisfaction from those taking our last employee survey, making it no surprise that our employee turnover is less than 3%. This clearly indicates the passion and energy our staff has for the job they do? and they seldom want to work anywhere else! The few that have left did so by telling us that this was the best company they had ever worked for. A big reason for these successes is due to our careful matching of the right job with the right person.
Here's what we do. We insure workers' compensation coverage for large companies, using our deductible program and working through the independent agency system. Our service in claims and loss control is second to none. The difference our employees feel about us translates over to our customers, too. Our renewal retention is 90+%, meaning our customers, don't want to leave us either. Our reputation and results are the envy of many competitors.
To apply, please send a resume along with a cover letter explaining why you feel that you are the one to fill this opening.
Responsibilities:
Here's what you would be doing. The AE's responsibilities include the following: (1) Leading the team of service professionals (claims and loss control) who will service the book; (2) Directing roll-out of program and service plans; (3) Monitoring accounts for trends and reacting appropriately when action needs to be taken; (4) Communicating relevant information about individual accounts to the marketing and underwriting departments; (5) Building strong contacts with insureds' senior management and being their primary relationship contact. 6) Performing other duties as directed.
Qualifications:
Here are the qualifications. A Bachelor's degree and at least 10 years of experience in account management, production, and/or managing a loss control department for a commercial insurance company, (preferably in workers' compensation), is required. Additional experience in underwriting, loss control, or claims is a plus. You must have strong analytical and math skills and be proficient in Word, Excel, and working with loss runs.
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Public release date: 18-Jun-2012
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advances from publishers.