Anne Lang Dunlop

Anne Lang Dunlop
Emory University | EU

MD, MPH

About

296
Publications
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Introduction
Skills and Expertise

Publications

Publications (296)
Article
Full-text available
Purpose Effective measurement of positive child health is critical in improving public health. A proposed measure of positive health, a positive child health index (PCHI), is based on how many of 11 specific physical, developmental, and mental health conditions a child has (ranging from 0 to 11). Accepted measures of positive health, Patient-Report...
Article
Background Collaborative research consortia provide an efficient method to increase sample size, enabling evaluation of subgroup heterogeneity and rare outcomes. In addition to missing data challenges faced by all cohort studies like nonresponse and attrition, collaborative studies have missing data due to differences in study design and measuremen...
Article
Prevalence of autism diagnosis has historically differed by demographic factors. Using data from 8224 participants drawn from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program, we examined relationships between demographic factors and parent‐reported autism‐related traits as captured by the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS; T sco...
Article
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Purpose Our goals were to: 1) examine the occurrence of behavioral and emotional symptoms in children on the autism spectrum in a large national sample, stratifying by sex, and 2) evaluate whether children with increased autism-related social communication deficits also experience more behavioral and emotional problems. Methods Participants (n = 7...
Article
Background: Longitudinal trends in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) serum concentrations across pregnancy have not been thoroughly examined, despite evidence linking prenatal PFAS exposures with adverse birth outcomes. Objectives: We sought to characterize longitudinal PFAS concentrations across pregnancy and to examine the maternal-fe...
Article
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We examined relationships between prenatal dietary patterns and child autism-related outcomes, including parent-reported clinician diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2) scores, in up to 6084 participants (with analytic samples ranging from 1671 to 4128 participants) from 14 cohorts in the Environmental...
Article
Importance Being born either small for gestational age (SGA) or large for gestational age (LGA) and experiencing rapid or slow growth after birth are associated with later-life obesity. Understanding the associations of dietary quality during pregnancy with infant growth may inform obesity prevention strategies. Objective To evaluate the associati...
Article
Background: Childhood sleep quality is associated with physical, cognitive, and behavioral health and predicts later sleep quality; it has many determinants, including developmental exposures. Objectives: To examine associations between maternal stress during pregnancy and childhood sleep quality and determine whether postnatal stress mediates t...
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Introduction Organophosphate esters (OPEs) are increasing in use as flame retardants and plasticizers and concerns have been raised given their endocrine-disrupting activities and possible obesogenic consequences. However, longitudinal studies on gestational OPE exposure and childhood obesity are scarce. This study examined whether OPE levels in ma...
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Background: A major challenge in epidemiology is knowing when an exposure effect is large enough to be clinically important, in particular how to interpret a difference in mean outcome in unexposed/exposed groups. Where it can be calculated, the proportion/percentage beyond a suitable cut-point is useful in defining individuals at high risk to giv...
Article
Importance: Limited access to healthy foods, resulting from residence in neighborhoods with low food access, is a public health concern. The contribution of this exposure in early life to child obesity remains uncertain. Objective: To examine associations of neighborhood food access during pregnancy or early childhood with child body mass index (B...
Article
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Background Prenatal exposure to phthalates, a group of synthetic chemicals widely used in consumer products, has previously been associated with adverse infant and child development. Studies also suggest that maternal depression and anxiety, may amplify the harmful effects of phthalates on infant and child neurodevelopment. Study design Our analys...
Chapter
We developed Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) machine learning models of chronic stressors using the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System data (2012-2017) to predict preterm birth (PTB) more accurately and identify chronic stressors driving PTB among non-Hispanic (N-H) Black and N-H White pregnant women in the U.S. We trained...
Article
This study examined the association between prenatal cannabis exposure and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses and traits. A total sample of 11,570 children (ages 1–18; 53% male; 25% Hispanic; 60% White) from 34 cohorts of the National Institutes of Health‐funded environmental influences on child health outcomes consortium were included in ana...
Article
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Background Prenatal fish intake is a key source of omega-3 (ω-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids needed for brain development, yet intake is generally low, and studies addressing associations with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related traits are lacking. Objective This study aimed to examine associations of prenatal fish intake and ω-3 supplement...
Article
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Background Differential exposure to chronic stressors by race/ethnicity may help explain Black-White inequalities in rates of preterm birth. However, researchers have not investigated the cumulative, interactive, and population-specific nature of chronic stressor exposures and their possible nonlinear associations with preterm birth. Models capable...
Article
Background: Sleep problems are reported for up to 80% of autistic individuals. We examined whether parsimonious sets of items derived from the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised (M-CHAT-R) and the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ) are superior to the standard M-CHAT-R in predicting subsequent autism spectrum disorder (ASD) di...
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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 preva...
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Using pooled vaginal microbiota data from pregnancy cohorts (N = 683 participants) in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program, we analyzed 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequences to identify clinical and demographic host factors that associate with vaginal microbiota structure in pregnancy both within and across diverse cohort...
Article
Background: Limited access to healthy foods, resulting from residence in neighborhoods with low food access or from household food insecurity, is a public health concern. Contributions of these measures during pregnancy to birth outcomes remain understudied. Objective: We examined associations of neighborhood food access and individual food insecu...
Preprint
Background Professional association recommendations call for integrating preconception health promotion with primary care, yet there are scarce tools and implementation research to support practices in doing so. Purpose To evaluate the feasibility of integrating a preconception health digital risk assessment and virtual coaching into women’s prima...
Article
Background: The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) is a common pediatric screening tool with mixed accuracy findings. Prior evidence supports M-CHAT screening for developmental concerns, especially in toddlers born preterm. This study examined M-CHAT accuracy in a large, nationwide sample. Methods: 3393 participants from the Envi...
Preprint
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Background Questionnaires for research that involve diverse populations require inclusive language. There are few guidelines to assist researchers in minimizing social and cultural biases in data collection materials; such biases can result in harm and negatively impact data integrity. Methods We describe an approach to evaluating language in data...
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Objective Omega-3 (n-3) fatty acid consumption during pregnancy is recommended for optimal pregnancy outcomes and offspring health. We examined characteristics associated with self-reported fish or omega-3 supplement intake. Design Pooled pregnancy cohort studies. Setting Cohorts participating in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outco...
Article
Background Phthalates are synthetic chemicals widely used in consumer products and have been identified to contribute to preterm birth. Existing studies have methodological limitations and potential effects of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) replacements are poorly characterised. Attributable fractions and costs have not been quantified, limiting...
Article
Background: Widespread exposure to organophosphate ester (OPE) flame retardants with potential reproductive toxicity raises concern regarding the impacts of gestational exposure on birth outcomes. Previous studies of prenatal OPE exposure and birth outcomes had limited sample sizes, with inconclusive results. Objectives: We conducted a collabora...
Article
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Introduction Meta-analyses across diverse independent studies provide improved confidence in results. However, within the context of metabolomic epidemiology, meta-analysis investigations are complicated by differences in study design, data acquisition, and other factors that may impact reproducibility. Objective The objective of this study was to...
Article
OBJECTIVES Breastfeeding practices may protect against offspring obesity, but this relationship is understudied among women with obesity. We describe the associations between breastfeeding practices and child BMI for age z-score (BMIz), stratified by maternal BMI. METHODS We analyzed 8134 dyads from 21 cohorts in the Environmental Influences on Ch...
Article
Background Synthetic chemicals are increasingly being recognized for potential independent contributions to preterm birth (PTB) and low birth weight (LBW). Bisphenols, parabens, and triclosan are consumer product chemicals that act via similar mechanisms including estrogen, androgen, and thyroid disruption and oxidative stress. Multiple cohort stud...
Article
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BACKGROUND Studies find that delivery hospital explains a significant portion of the Black-White gap in severe maternal morbidity. No such studies have focused on the US Southeast, where racial disparities are widest, and few have examined the relative contribution of hospital, residential, and maternal factors. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to estim...
Article
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Background In the United States, disparities in gestational age at birth by maternal race, ethnicity, and geography are theorized to be related, in part, to differences in individual- and neighborhood-level socioeconomic status (SES). Yet, few studies have examined their combined effects or whether associations vary by maternal race and ethnicity a...
Article
Problem In pregnancy, lower socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with adverse outcomes, which is partly attributed to chronic inflammation. Our study compared the maternal serum cytokine profiles in patients with low and high SES. Method of Study This retrospective cohort study compared maternal serum cytokine profiles between Medicaid‐insured...
Preprint
Full-text available
Objective: Omega-3 (n-3) fatty acid consumption during pregnancy is recommended for optimal pregnancy outcomes and offspring health. We examined characteristics associated with self-reported fish or omega-3 supplement intake. Design: Pooled pregnancy cohort studies. Setting: Cohorts participating in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outc...
Preprint
Full-text available
Using pooled vaginal microbiota data from pregnancy cohorts (N = 683 participants) in the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program, we analyzed vaginal 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequences to identify clinical and demographic host factors that associate with vaginal microbiota structure in pregnancy both within and across divers...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction Psychological distress symptoms (symptoms of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress) are common following stillbirth. Black women who experience stillbirth are less likely to seek support than White women, consistent with the strong Black woman (SBW) construct, which expects Black women to tolerate stress and trauma gracefully,...
Article
Prenatal exposure to single chemicals belonging to the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) family is associated with biological perturbations in the mother, fetus, and placenta, plus adverse health outcomes. Despite our knowledge that humans are exposed to multiple PFAS, the potential joint effects of PFAS on the metabolome remain largely un...
Article
BMI is commonly used to measure risk to prenatal health but may not be sensitive to adiposity-associated health problems for Black women. The aim of the present study was to test associations between indices of prenatal health and BMI in Black women. Data were from 652 women enrolled in two studies. Height and weight were used to calculate BMI. Dep...
Article
Background To our knowledge, no studies have explicitly studied the role of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) in racial disparities in severe maternal morbidity (SMM). Methods Using causal mediation models, we estimated the proportion of the non-Hispanic Black–White racial disparity in risk of SMM that is explained through the pathway of H...
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Background: The extent to which physical and social attributes of neighborhoods play a role in childhood asthma remains understudied. Objective: To examine associations of neighborhood-level opportunity and social vulnerability measures with childhood asthma incidence. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study used data from children i...
Article
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Background Longitudinal measures of diet spanning pregnancy through adolescence are needed from a large, diverse sample to advance research on the effect of early-life nutrition on child health. The Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program, which includes 69 cohorts, >33,000 pregnancies, and >31,000 children in its first 7-y...
Article
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Although offspring of women exposed to childhood trauma exhibit elevated rates of psychopathology, many children demonstrate resilience to these intergenerational impacts. Among the variety of factors that likely contribute to resilience, epigenetic processes have been suggested to play an important role. The current study used a prospective design...
Article
Importance Postpartum depression (PPD) affects up to 20% of childbearing individuals, and a significant limitation in reducing its morbidity is the difficulty in modifying established risk factors. Exposure to synthetic environmental chemicals found in plastics and personal care products, such as phenols, phthalates, and parabens, are potentially m...
Article
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Background: Epigenetic clocks are promising tools for assessing biological age. We assessed the accuracy of pediatric epigenetic clocks in gestational and chronological age determination. Results: Our study used data from seven tissue types on three DNA methylation profiling microarrays and found that the Knight and Bohlin clocks performed simil...
Article
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been identified as environmental contributors to adverse birth outcomes. One potential mechanistic pathway could be through PFAS-related inflammation and cytokine production. Here, we examined associations between a PFAS mixture and inflammatory biomarkers during early and late pregnancy from particip...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background: Few standardized and open-source tools exist for calculating dietary pattern indexes from dietary intake data in epidemiological and clinical studies. Miscalculations of dietary indexes, with suspected erroneous findings, are occasionally noted in the literature. Objective: The primary aim is to develop and validate dietaryindex, a user...
Article
Objective: Pregnant patients face greater morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 related illness than their non-pregnant peers. Previous research in non-pregnant patients established that poor clinical outcomes in SARS-CoV-2 positive patients admitted to the ICU were correlated with a significant increase in the proinflammatory markers interleukin...
Article
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 ECHO cohort study (N=1,999 caregiver/child pairs), we operationalized caregiver COVID-19 related stress in two ways, first as the...
Article
Importance: Few population-based studies in the US collected individual-level data from families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: To examine differences in COVID-19 pandemic-related experiences in a large sociodemographically diverse sample of children and caregivers. Design, setting, and participants: The Environmental influences on C...
Article
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This study aimed to investigate the association between sexual activity during pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes among Black women, and to explore whether vaginal cytokine inflammation mediates this association. Data from 397 Black pregnant women through questionnaires on sexual activity and vaginal biosamples during early (8–14 weeks) and late...
Article
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Tools for assessing multiple exposures across several domains (e.g., physical, chemical, and social) are of growing importance in social and environmental epidemiology because of their value in uncovering disparities and their impact on health outcomes. Here we describe work done within the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO)-w...