Gillian England-Mason

Gillian England-Mason
The University of Calgary · Department of Paediatrics

PhD

About

27
Publications
3,313
Reads
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383
Citations
Additional affiliations
September 2018 - March 2025
The University of Calgary
Position
  • Fellow
Education
September 2014 - August 2018
McMaster University
Field of study
  • Neuroscience

Publications

Publications (27)
Article
Background Previous research reports associations between prenatal exposure to phthalates and childhood behavior problems; however, the neural mechanisms that may underlie these associations are relatively unexplored. Objective This study examined microstructural white matter as a possible mediator of the associations between prenatal phthalate ex...
Article
Background: Prenatal exposure to phthalates has been associated with adverse health and neurodevelopmental outcomes. DNA methylation (DNAm) alterations may be a mechanism underlying these effects, but prior investigations of prenatal exposure to phthalates and neonatal DNAm profiles are limited to placental tissue and umbilical cord blood. Object...
Article
Background: Although emotion socialization parenting interventions are supported by a growing body of literature, their effects have yet to be systematically examined. The present systematic review and meta-analysis assesses the evidence for emotion socialization parenting interventions for parents of young children. Methods: Six electronic data...
Chapter
This chapter reviews the theoretical underpinnings and empirical research on executive function in children and adolescents, with a particular emphasis on research that pertains to clinical child psychology. The concept of executive function emerged based on findings from primatology and neuropsychology and has spurred considerable research over th...
Article
Full-text available
Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is a common plasticizer that can affect immune system development and susceptibility to infection. Aging processes (measured as epigenetic age acceleration (EAA)) may mediate the immune-related effects of prenatal exposure to DEHP. This study’s objective was to examine associations between prenatal DEHP exposure, E...
Article
Full-text available
We examined whether prenatal exposure to two classes of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) was associated with infant epigenetic age acceleration (EAA), a DNA methylation biomarker of aging. Participants included 224 maternal–infant pairs from a Canadian pregnancy cohort study. Two bisphenols and 12 phthalate metabolites were measured in materna...
Article
Full-text available
This study examined the associations between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and gestational weight gain (GWG) and children’s neuropsychological outcomes at 3 to 5 years of age. A total of 379 women and their children from the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) study participated. Covariate-adjusted robust regressions examined associations...
Article
Exposure to environmental chemicals has been linked to an increased risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH). This prospective cohort study examined the associations between PIH and maternal chemical exposure to four classes of chemicals i.e., phthalates, bisphenols, perfluoroalkyl acids, non-essential metals and trace minerals. Participants in...
Article
Background: Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) within the broader class of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are present in human serum as isomer mixtures, but epidemiological studies have yet to address isomer-specific associations with child development and behavior. Objectives: To examine associations between prenatal exposure to 25 PFAAs,...
Article
Background: There is inconsistent evidence regarding the sex-specific associations between prenatal phthalate exposure and children's neurodevelopment. This could be due to differences in the phthalate exposures investigated and the neurodevelopmental domains assessed. Objective: To evaluate the associations between prenatal phthalate exposure a...
Article
Background: On May 19, 2011, Calgary, Canada stopped fluoridating its drinking water. This prospective ecological study examined if maternal exposure to fluoride during pregnancy from drinking water that was fluoridated at the recommended level of 0.7 mg/L was associated with children's intelligence and executive function at 3-5 years of age. Met...
Article
Full-text available
Folate and choline are methyl donor nutrients that may play a role in fetal brain development. Animal studies have reported that prenatal folate and choline supplementation are associated with better cognitive outcomes in offspring and that these nutrients may interact and affect brain development. Human studies that have investigated associations...
Article
Background Experiences of childhood maltreatment are associated with a variety of negative outcomes throughout individuals' lives as well as disadvantaged cognitive and socioemotional development among their offspring. The mechanisms through which some children show resilience against the intergenerational transmission of risk, however, are less we...
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Full-text available
Women’s nutritional status during pregnancy can have long-term effects on children’s brains and cognitive development. Folate and choline are methyl-donor nutrients and are important for closure of the neural tube during fetal development. They have also been associated with brain and cognitive development in children. Animal studies have observed...
Article
Full-text available
Exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is associated with oxytocin dysregulation in women, such as decreased peripheral oxytocin concentrations, but little is known about vulnerability markers for oxytocin dysregulation in mothers exposed to ACEs. Identifying vulnerability markers may help inform future targets for prevention and interven...
Article
Background Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with difficulties in parent-child relationships; however, current research has primarily used cross-sectional designs. Parent and child behavior may be differentially affected by ACEs as children develop and caregiving demands change. Furthermore, diminished executive function...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose of Review Emotion regulation is recognized as a core underlying dimension common across psychiatric disorders and could be conceptualized as a transdiagnostic feature (i.e., mechanism underlying comorbidity). This review highlights recent research examining emotion regulation in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)...
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Full-text available
Background Environmental health research has reported mixed findings on the associations between prenatal exposure to phthalates and parent-ratings of child behavioral problems. Objective We examined the consistency of the associations between prenatal urinary phthalate concentrations and child behavior scores across two standardized instruments –...
Article
BACKGROUND: Early bisphenol exposure may have consequences for executive function development, but less is known about potential sex effects. We hypothesized that early bisphenol A (BPA) and bisphenol S (BPS) exposures would be associated with sex-dependent changes in preschool executive function. METHODS: A subsample of the Alberta Pregnancy Outc...
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Full-text available
Emotion regulation patterns are shaped, in part, by the quality of interpersonal interactions during early development. Given the important contribution of caregiver emotion socialization, parenting programs targeting these socialization practices represent an effective method of preventative intervention for childhood difficulties with emotion reg...
Article
Objectives: This study investigated associations between three types of child maltreatment (exposure to intimate partner violence, sexual, and physical abuse) and multimorbidity (chronic physical conditions, pain conditions, and mental disorders) in adults. Methods: Multinomial logistic regression was used to analyze weighted data from the 2012...
Article
Full-text available
Child abuse and neglect can lead to difficulties regulating responses to threatening and emotional situations. Exposure to childhood maltreatment has been linked to conflicting findings of both attention biases toward and away from threat-related information. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether emotion regulation moderated the a...

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