The resilience status of empty-nest elderly in a community: A latent class analysis

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine the status and characteristics of resilience among empty-nest elderly in a community in China using exploratory latent class analysis (LCA).MethodsThis study enrolled 250 empty-nest elderly as the study respondents. General information regarding the resilience of empty-nest elderly was investigated using the General Information Questionnaire and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Chinese version, and we then used LCA and multivariate logistic regression to discuss the characteristics of resilience among empty-nest elderly individuals.ResultsThrough the analysis, we found that the resilience of empty-nest elderly had obvious group characteristics and that statistical indicators can support the three categories of potential model. On the basis of the conditional probability on the various items of the questionnaire in each category, they were named “high resilience group,” “low pressure resilience group,” and “low resilience group,” and the proportion was 26.6%, 40.4%, and 32.9%, respectively. Further study showed that age, marital status, education level, relationship with children, and physical exercise had a significant effect on the high resilience group compared to the low resilience group. Gender, education level, relationship with children, and physical exercise had a significant effect on the low pressure resilience group compared to the low resilience group.ConclusionsThe resilience status of empty-nest elderly in communities can be divided into three categories. Each category had different characteristics of demographic information.     

The inflammatory event of birth: How oxytocin signaling may guide the development of the brain and gastrointestinal system

The role of oxytocin (OT) as a neuropeptide that modulates social behavior has been extensively studied and reviewed, but beyond these functions, OT’s adaptive functions at birth are quite numerous, as OT coordinates many physiological processes in the mother and fetus to ensure a successful delivery. In this review we explore in detail the potential adaptive roles of oxytocin as an anti-inflammatory, protective molecule at birth for the developing fetal brain and gastrointestinal system based on evidence that birth is a potent inflammatory/immune event. We discuss data with relevance for a number of neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as the emerging role of the gut-brain axis for health and disease. Finally, we discuss the potential relevance of sex differences in OT signaling present at birth in the increased male vulnerability to neurodevelopmental disabilities.