Compiled by Debra Scherban. Please send items to dscherban@gazettenet.com.
The Alzheimer’s Association, based in Watertown, will host a free workshop on healthy aging Thursday, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m., at the Williamsburg Senior Center, 141 Main Street, Haydenville.
“Healthy Living for Your Brain and Body,” will address research in the areas of diet and nutrition, exercise, cognitive activity and social engagement to promote a brain-healthy lifestyle.
The workshop will provide practical suggestions for devising a plan for healthy aging.
To register or for more information call 800-272-3900 or visit alz.org/MANH.
The Alzheimer’s Association has regional offices in Springfield, Raynham and Worcester. It provides services and programs for those with Alzheimer’s, family and professional caregivers in the form of support groups, a Helpline, care consultation, advocacy efforts, research funding and education programs.
A new study by a sociologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has found that the relationship between teen childbearing and adult depression varies significantly based on adolescent pregnancy attitudes.
Graduate student Tanya Rouleau Whitworth discovered that when they had negative attitudes toward getting pregnant, teen mothers had similar levels of depression as women who delayed childbearing until adulthood, but when they had positive attitudes toward pregnancy, teen mothers actually had fewer depressive symptoms than women with adult first births. Whitworth reports her findings in the online edition of the Journal of Marriage and Family.
Whitworth studied 2,898 women, including 592 women who had their first child in their teens and 2,306 women who had their first births as adults. The women were selected from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a survey of adolescents based on a nationally representative sample of U.S. schools. The age at first birth in the sample ranged from 16 to 19 years old for the women who had teen first births, and 20 to 32 years old for the women who had adult first births.
“This study has two main findings,” Whitworth reports. “First, the results showed that teen childbearing was not associated with more depressive symptoms in adulthood when compared with adult childbearing, after accounting for adolescent depressive symptoms and background characteristics. This result contradicts both conventional wisdom and some previous empirical evidence that teen childbearing is detrimental to mental health.
“Second, the results showed that among women who had more positive adolescent pregnancy attitudes, women who had teen first births were actually less depressed in adulthood than women who had their first births as adults.”
“I do not wish to downplay the importance of educating teens about avoiding pregnancy,” Whitworth concludes, “but I also hope to highlight the heterogeneity of women’s experiences with teen childbearing and point out that teen childbearing may not be detrimental (in terms of depression) to all women.”
The complete study, “Teen Childbearing and Depression: Do Pregnancy Attitudes Matter?” is available online.
Area blood drives
To schedule an appointment to donate, use the free Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
Following are some upcoming local blood donation opportunities.
Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Central Rock Gym, 165 Russell St., Hadley
Dec. 20, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Cooley Dickinson Hospital, 30 Locust St., Northampton
Dec. 24, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Northampton