Monique Robinson

University of Western Australia | UWA

Background Maternal stressful life events during pregnancy have been associated with immune dysregulation and increased risk for asthma and atopy in offspring. Few studies have investigated whether prenatal stress is associated with increased overall or specific infectious diseases in childhood, nor explored sex differences. We sought to examine th...

Abdominal pain is a common reason for medical visits. We examined the prevalence, gastrointestinal, and emotional significance of abdominal pain in a population-based cohort serially followed up from birth to 17 years. Children and adolescents from Generation 2 of the Raine Study participated in comprehensive cross-sectional assessments at ages 2,...

Background and aims Bowel patterns are varied in the general population. Gastrointestinal symptoms are common reasons for clinical visits. We aimed to examine the usual bowel pattern and the prevalence and significance of gastrointestinal symptoms in a population‐based cohort of Australian adolescents. Methods Seventeen‐year‐old adolescents (n=127...

Adolescent and parent reports of adolescent mental health problems often correlate poorly, and understanding this discrepancy has clinical importance. Yet contextual factors have only been inconsistently explained. At the 14‐ and 17‐year follow‐ups of the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study, 1,596 parent–child dyads completed the pare...

Background: Depression and anxiety are risk factors for cardiovascular disease, but their relationship to blood pressure (BP) is less clear. Age-related comorbidity and lifestyle factors may confound these relationships. This study aimed to assess the relationships among BP, depression and anxiety symptom scores and self-reported history of depres...

There is debate about the relative importance of timing of stressful events prenatally and over the life course and risk for subsequent depressive/anxious illness. The aim of this study was to examine the relative roles of prenatal stress and postnatal stress trajectories in predicting depression and anxiety in early adulthood in males and females....

Background Prior studies have suggested a relationship between atopy and mental health, although methodological barriers have limited the generalizability of these findings. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between early-life atopy and vulnerability to mental health problems among youth in the community. Method Data...

Despite huge advances in obstetric management and technology in recent decades, there has not been an accompanying decrease in patients' perception of risk during pregnancy. The aim of this paper is to examine the context of risk perception in pregnancy and what practitioners can do to manage it. The modern pregnancy may induce a heightened percept...

Various environmental stressors in pregnancy have been reported to affect high blood pressure (BP) in adult offspring. However, few studies have examined the effect of prenatal maternal psychological stress on offspring BP and BMI in early adulthood. In 957 Raine cohort participants, regression analyses were used to examine the association between...

Early first sexual intercourse (FSI) is a risk factor for unplanned teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted infection, and adverse social, emotional, and physical health outcomes in adolescence and into adulthood. The aim of this study was to examine relationships between internalizing (eg, anxious/depressed, withdrawn) and externalizing (eg, delin...

This study aimed to examine the relationship between advanced parental age and behavioural outcomes in offspring in a longitudinal cohort of children in Western Australia. The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) is a prospective study of 2900 pregnancies. Offspring were followed up at ages 2, 5, 8, 10, 14, and 17 years, and 1754 adolescents...

The prenatal period is recognised as a critical period for later behavioural development. This study aimed to elucidate how an adverse prenatal environment, as defined by the presence of a number of known prenatal risk factors, would influence mental health trajectories in children to 14 years of age. The Raine Study provided comprehensive data fro...

Discrepancies between current body image perception and desired body image represent levels of body image dissatisfaction (BID). This study investigated the relationship between BID and multidimensional self-concept in adolescents from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study. We hypothesized that BID is influenced by specific domains...

Energy drinks are predominantly targeted to young adult consumers; however, there has been limited research into their effects on psychological functioning in this demographic group. This study examined cross-sectional associations between energy drink consumption and mental health in a population-based sample of young adults participating in the W...

Pregnancy is a time of vulnerability for vitamin D insufficiency, and there is an emerging literature associating low levels of 25(OH)-vitamin D with depressive symptoms. However, the link between 25(OH)-vitamin D status in pregnancy and altered risk of postnatal depressive symptoms has not been examined. We hypothesise that low levels of 25(OH)-vi...

Energy drinks are becoming increasingly popular among young people. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of energy drink consumption and its associations with socio-demographic characteristics, alcohol, cigarette and illicit drug use in a population-based sample of young adults participating in the Western Australian Pregnancy...

Antenatal testosterone exposure influences fetal neurodevelopment and gender-role behavior in postnatal life and may contribute to differences in developmental psychopathology during childhood. We prospectively measured the associations between umbilical cord blood testosterone levels at birth and childhood behavioral development in both males and...

Objective: To determine if maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) is associated with increased levels of internalizing and externalizing symptomatology in offspring throughout childhood and adolescence, and if these links persist after adjusting for the confounders of these associations. Method: We examined links between maternal pre-pregn...

Maternal pre-pregnancy obesity has been linked with an increased risk for negative emotionality and inattentiveness in offspring in early childhood. The aim of this study was to examine the association between maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and the development of affective problems (dysthymic disorder, major depressive disorder) throu...

Objective: Recent research has linked hypertensive diseases of pregnancy with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood and adulthood. This study aimed to establish whether such effects are observed in infancy. Methods: This was a prospective pregnancy cohort study of 2,785 pregnancies with complete data on hypertensive diseases of pregna...

Background: Advances in obstetric care have been accompanied by increasing rates of intervention which often involve elective delivery at 37 weeks, soon after term gestation has been achieved. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the behavioural sequelae for children born at this early term gestational age compared with those born at later...

Objective: The current prevalence of mental health problems in Western populations is approximately 20% and half of all adult mental health disorders are estimated to originate in adolescence. Diet plays an important role in modulating psychological wellbeing and B-vitamins are vital for the synthesis of neurotransmitters such as serotonin. We aim...

Recent research suggests that fetal exposure to increased maternal body mass index (BMI) during pregnancy may be associated with psychopathology later in life. When this link first emerges, and if it is due to intrauterine exposures or confounding variables is not known. We therefore assessed associations between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and: (1)...

Background: The goal of the current study was to investigate asthma and mental health among youth in the community, and to consider the role of asthma severity and persistence in this link. Method Data were drawn from the Raine Study, a population-based birth cohort study in Western Australia. Logistic regression models and generalized estimating...

The current study sought to determine whether hypertensive diseases of pregnancy (gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia) are associated with neurocognitive outcomes in middle childhood. Participants were members of the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study. Data were available for 1389 children (675 females; mean age = 10.59 years;...

The maternal experience of stressful events during pregnancy has been associated with a number of adverse consequences for behavioral development in offspring, but the measurement and interpretation of prenatal stress varies among reported studies. The Raine Study recruited 2900 pregnancies and recorded life stress events experienced by 18 and 34 w...

Although many toddlers with expressive vocabulary delay ("late talkers") present with age-appropriate language skills by the time they are of school age, little is known about their broader behavioral and emotional profile. The aim of this study was to determine whether late talkers are at increased risk for behavioral and emotional problems during...

To examine the relationship between dietary patterns and ADHD in a population-based cohort of adolescents. The Raine Study is a prospective study following 2,868 live births. At the 14-year follow-up, the authors collected detailed adolescent dietary data, allowing for the determination of major dietary patterns using factor analysis. ADHD diagnose...

Previous randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) are beneficial in reducing symptoms of depression. However, there is limited evidence regarding the influence of dietary n-3 PUFA intake on mood in adolescents drawn from population studies. Objective: In the present investigation, we examine...

The concept of risk is especially salient to obstetric care. Unknown factors can still be responsible for peri-natal morbidity and mortality in circumstances that appeared to present little risk, while perfectly healthy infants are born in high-risk circumstances: a contradiction that patients and providers struggle with on a daily basis. With such...

The maternal experience of stressful events during pregnancy has been associated with a number of adverse consequences for behavioral development in offspring, but the measurement and interpretation of prenatal stress varies among reported studies. The Raine Study recruited 2900 pregnancies and recorded life stress events experienced by 18 and 34 w...

Aim: Breastfeeding has been associated with multiple developmental advantages for the infant; however, there have also been a number of studies that find no significant benefits to child development. We examined the relationship between breastfeeding for 4 months or longer and child development at age 1, 2 and 3 years. Methods: Women were enrolled...

Whitehouse AJO, Robinson M, Li J, Oddy WH. Duration of Breast feeding and language ability in middle childhood. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 2010. There is controversy over whether increased breast-feeding duration has long-term benefits for language development. The current study examined whether the positive associations of breast feedin...

To determine the constellation of lifestyle and demographic factors that are associated with poor mental health in an adolescent population. The Raine Study 14-year follow-up involved primary care givers and their adolescent children (n= 1860). The Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) was used to assess adolescent mental health. We examined diet, socio...

To examine the association of fetal alcohol exposure during pregnancy with child and adolescent behavioural development. The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study recruited 2900 pregnancies (1989-91) and the 14-year follow up was conducted between 2003 and 2006. Tertiary obstetric hospital in Perth, Western Australia. The women in the s...

There is accumulating evidence for a link between maternal stress during pregnancy and later behavioural and emotional problems in children. Little research has examined other developmental outcomes. To determine the effect of maternal stress during pregnancy on offspring language ability in middle childhood. Longitudinal pregnancy cohort-study. A...

To determine whether there was an independent effect of breastfeeding on child and adolescent mental health. The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study recruited 2900 pregnant women and followed the live births for 14 years. Mental health status was assessed by the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) at 2, 6, 8, 10, and 14 years. Maternal p...

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of smoking in pregnancy on child and adolescent behavioural development, in comparison with mothers who ceased smoking in the first 18 weeks of pregnancy and with those who never smoked, in a large prospective pregnancy cohort. The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study provided comprehe...

To investigate the associations between dietary patterns and mental health in early adolescence. The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study is a prospective study of 2900 pregnancies recruited from 1989-1992. At 14 years of age (2003-2006; n=1324), the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) was used to assess behaviour (characterising mental h...

Dietary intake during adolescence contributes to lifelong eating habits and the development of early risk factors for disease in adulthood. Few studies have examined the dietary patterns of adolescents and the social and environmental factors that may affect them during this life stage. The present study describes dietary patterns in a cohort of ad...

Breakfast consumption has been associated with better mental health in adulthood, but the relationship between breakfast and mental health in adolescence is less well known. The aims of the present study were to evaluate breakfast quality in a cohort of adolescents and to investigate associations with mental health. Cross-sectional population-based...

Methodological challenges such as confounding have made the study of the early determinants of mental health morbidity problematic. This study aims to address these challenges in investigating antenatal, perinatal and postnatal risk factors for the development of mental health problems in pre-school children in a cohort of Western Australian childr...

To examine whether maternal gestational hypertension and preeclampsia are associated with behavioral problems in offspring throughout childhood and early adolescence. We conducted a prospective cohort study of 2804 women in the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort Study and their children observed at age 2, 5, 8, 10, and 14 years. The Child Behavior...

Background : Methodological challenges such as confounding have made the study of the early determinants of mental health morbidity problematic. This study aims to address these challenges ininvestigating antenatal, perinatal and postnatal risk factors for the development of mental health problems in pre-school children in a cohort of Western Austr...