Massey Documents by Type
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294
Browse
6 results
Search Results
Item Determinants of Campylobacter species diversity in infants and association with family members, livestock, and household environments in rural Eastern Ethiopia(BioMed Central Ltd, 2025-12-01) Ojeda A; Deblais L; Mummed B; Brhane M; Hassen KA; Ahmedo BU; Weldesenbet YD; Chen D; Li X; Saleem C; Manary MJ; Roesch LFW; McKune SL; Havelaar AH; Rajashekara G; CAGED Research TeamBackground: Campylobacter infections pose a significant challenge in low- and middle-income countries, contributing to child mortality. Campylobacter is linked to acute gastrointestinal illness and severe long-term consequences, including environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) and stunting. In 2018, our cross-sectional study in Ethiopia detected Campylobacter in 88% of stools from children aged 12–15 months, with an average of 11 species per stool using meta-total RNA sequencing. Building on these findings, we conducted a longitudinal study (December 2020–June 2022) to investigate Campylobacter colonization of infants and identify reservoirs and risk factors in rural eastern Ethiopia. Results: After a preliminary screening of 15 Campylobacter species using species-specific quantitative PCR, we analyzed four target species in 2045 samples from infants (first month to just one year of life) and biannual samples from mothers, siblings, and livestock (goats, cattle, sheep, and chickens). Candidatus C. infans (41%), C. jejuni (26%), and C. upsaliensis (13%) were identified as the predominant in the infant gut. Colonization of C. infans and C.jejuni increased (C. infans: 0.85%, C. jejuni-0.98% increase/ day in the odds of colonization) and abundance (P = 0.027, 0.024) with age. Enteric symptoms were strongly associated with C. infans (diarrhea: OR = 2.02 [95%CI: 35%,100%]; fever: OR = 1.62 [95%CI: 14%, 83%]) and C. jejuni (diarrhea: OR = 2.29 [95%CI: 46%,100%], fever: OR = 2.53 [95%CI: 56%,100%]). Based on linear mixed models, we found elevated cumulative loads of C. infans load in infants (especially females OR = 1.5 [95%CI: 10%, 67%]), consuming raw milk (OR = 2.3 [95%CI: 24%,100%]) or those exposed to areas contaminated with animal droppings (OR = 1.6 [95%CI: 7%,93%]), while C. jejuni cumulative loads were higher in infants ingesting soil or animal feces (OR = 2.2 [95%CI: 23%,100%]). C. infans was also prevalent in siblings (56%) and mothers (45%), whereas C. jejuni was common in chickens (38%) and small ruminants (goats 27%, sheep 21%). Conclusions: Campylobacter was highly prevalent in rural Ethiopian infants. C. infans was primarily associated with human hosts, and C. jejuni was mainly linked to zoonotic sources. Our findings emphasize the need for targeted interventions addressing environmental, dietary, and behavioral factors to reduce Campylobacter transmission in resource-limited settings.Item Child abuse and neglect and mental health outcomes in adulthood by ethnicity: Findings from a 40-year longitudinal study in New Zealand/Aotearoa.(Elsevier B.V., 2023-11-01) Telfar S; McLeod GFH; Dhakal B; Henderson J; Tanveer S; Broad HET; Woolhouse W; Macfarlane S; Boden JMBACKGROUND: Longitudinal studies consistently report adverse long-term outcomes of childhood maltreatment. Little is known about the impact of childhood maltreatment on mental health among a marginalized population (New Zealand Māori); therefore, we cannot assume the effects of maltreatment are the same across the population. OBJECTIVE: Associations were examined between childhood sexual abuse (CSA), childhood physical punishment (CPP) and childhood neglect (CN) (<16 years) and mental health outcomes 18-40 years, by ethnicity (Māori/non-Māori). PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Data from the Christchurch Health and Development Study, a study of a birth cohort of 1265 children born in Christchurch in 1977. By age 40, 17.8 % (n = 191) reported New Zealand Māori ethnic identity; 82.2 % (n = 883) were non-Māori. METHODS: CSA, CPP (<16 years) were measured at 18, 21 years; CN was measured at 40 years. Major depression, anxiety disorder, suicidal ideation, alcohol abuse/dependence and cannabis abuse/dependence were measured at ages 21, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years. Childhood confounding variables controlled. Analyses were extended to include Māori ethnicity. RESULTS: After statistical adjustment, experience of severe childhood maltreatment increased odds of mental health problems 1.8-2.6×, compared to no maltreatment; the effects of maltreatment were similar for males and females. For Māori, some higher rates of mental health problems were seen among those maltreated, no statistically significant associations were detected after Bonferroni correction (among severe maltreatment vs. no maltreatment). Limitations should be considered when interpreting results. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to childhood maltreatment has long-term effects into middle-age. Further research employing culturally-sensitive approaches may help clarify Māori childhood maltreatment outcomes.Item Young New Zealanders and retirement savings engagement: a longitudinal study update(2020-02-01) Matthews C; Reyers M; Stangl J; Wood PThis report covers an interim update to the 20-year longitudinal study into how young New Zealanders learn about personal finance. The main longitudinal study, conducted at five-early intervals, launched in 2012 and comprised a cohort of New Zealanders aged 18 to 22 years, at that time. The second stage of the study took place in 2017 and the third stage will take place in 2022. Overall, the Longitudinal Study endeavours to understand issues related to the financial knowledge and financial education experience, both formal and informal, of the participants. Planned interim updates, such as this, enable on-going contact with the participants as well as providing a periodic snapshot of their financial knowledge progression and financial wellbeing. The study previously undertook interim updates in 2014 and 2016.Item Young New Zealanders Ongoing Personal Finance Journey: A Longitudinal Study – Stage 2(Fin-Ed Centre, 2019-01-01) Matthews C; Reyers M; Wood P; Stangl JThe report presents findings from the second stage of the Fin-Ed Centre’s 20-year longitudinal study, which tracks the financial knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of a group of New Zealanders through different life stages. The longitudinal study is unique in New Zealand. The first stage occurred in 2012 when the cohort was aged from 18 to 22 years. Now, five years on, the participants are aged from 23 to 27 years. The study will repeat again in 2022, 2027, and conclude in 2032. At study termination, the participants will range in age from 38 to 42 years. Of the original 350 cohort, 232 participated in the second phase of the study – a 66 percent retention rate. The study undertook interim updates in 2014 and 2016, which dealt with the topical issues of economic inclusion and housing affordability. The current focus is to determine how attitudes and behaviours have changed over the past five years as participants move into new life stages. The study finds young New Zealanders still rely on their parents for financial advice, despite many harbouring doubts about parental advice. Nearly half the participants said they had learned “everything” or “almost everything” from their parents. While this was down from two-thirds in 2012, the reliance on parental advice was surprising, given only 35 percent felt that their parents knew what was best for them in terms of their finances. When asked about how they expected to learn about money management in the future, parental advice still featured highly, but the dominant source, at 39 percent, was “life experiences.”Item YOUNG NEW ZEALANDERS AND FINANCIAL RESILIENCE IN THE TIME OF COVID-19: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY UPDATE(Fin-Ed Centre, 2021-02-01) Matthews C; Reyers M; Wood P; Stangl JThis report covers an interim update to the 20-year longitudinal study into how young New Zealanders learn about personal finance. The main longitudinal study, conducted at five-early intervals, launched in 2012 and comprised a cohort of New Zealanders aged 18 to 22 years, at that time. The second stage of the study took place in 2017 and the third stage will take place in 2022. Overall, the Longitudinal Study endeavours to understand issues related to the financial knowledge and financial education experience, both formal and informal, of the participants. Planned interim updates, such as this, enable on-going contact with the participants as well as providing a periodic snapshot of their financial knowledge progression and financial wellbeing. The study previously undertook interim updates in 2014, 2016 and 2019.Item Young New Zealanders’ Ongoing Personal Finance Journey: A Longitudinal Study– Stage 3(Fin-Ed Centre, 2023-08-01) Matthews C; Wood P; Stangl JThe report presents findings from the third stage of the Fin-Ed Centre’s 20-year longitudinal study, which tracks the financial knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of a group of New Zealanders through different life stages. The longitudinal study is unique in New Zealand, using participants identified randomly from the New Zealand electoral roll from six geographic locations. The sample is not demographically representative of the New Zealand population in terms of gender and ethnicity, with a likely self-selection bias, but the demographics between samples are generally stable. The first stage occurred in 2012 when the cohort was aged from 18 to 22 years, with stage 2 following in 2017. Now, five years further on, in the third stage the participants are aged from 28 to 32 years. The study will repeat again in 2027, before concluding in 2032. At study termination, the participants will range in age from 38 to 42 years. Of the original 350 cohort, 232 participated in the third phase of the study – a 66 percent retention rate. The study undertook interim updates in 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2020, which dealt with topical issues including economic inclusion, housing affordability and the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus of this report is to consider how participants’ attitudes and behaviours have changed over the past five years as they move into new life stages. While the study finds young New Zealanders still have some reliance on their parents for financial information, the parental influence has dropped, with parents now the source of “everything” or “almost everything” learned about finance for just 26 percent of participants. Life experiences had replaced parents as the most popular source of information, and was expected to dominate in the future. The gender gap in financial literacy is narrowing, with a 17 percent increase in the average score for females compared to just 6 percent for males. Overall, there was an improvement in financial literacy. In addition, there was an improvement in participants’ self-assessed literacy, returning to the self-confidence of 2012; however, the gender gap also remained with only 29 percent of females assessing their financial literacy as “Very Good” or “Excellent” compared to 44 percent of males. Part of the improvement in financial literacy may reflect the higher proportion who reported having taken steps to proactively enhance their money management skills, including a much higher proportion of participants reporting talking to financial professionals such as bank staff and financial planners/counsellors.