New England Family Study
(Prenatal Cohort)

Mission Statement – History of Program
– Current Research – Research Study Sites
– Faculty/Staff – Contact Information
– Publications

Mission Statement

The
New England Family Study (NEFS) is a longitudinal investigation aimed
at identifying obstetric and genetic risk factors for neuropsychiatric
and other medical disorders with developmental origins, including schizophrenia,
bipolar and major affective disorders, substance use, learning disabilities,
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and cardiovascular disease.
This historic project is a follow-up study to the National Collaborative
Perinatal Project (NCPP), which was conducted during the 1960s in twelve
cities throughout the United States .
A community-based birth-cohort study, the original NCPP enrolled and
followed about 60,000 pregnant women and their children. The children,
followed from birth through age 7, were assessed periodically for physical
and mental health status and a series of cognitive, behavioral and social
outcomes. A wealth of data was generated from this study; hundreds of
articles have been published on a wide range of topics regarding health
and development.

The
primary goal of the current study is to improve understanding of the
effects of pregnancy and birth complications on neuropsychiatric disorders,
and ultimately, to improve preventive and intervention efforts with
these disorders. Previously known as the Harvard-Brown Collaborative
Project, the title “New England Family Study” (NEFS) originated in the
year 2000, and refers to the collective activities currently being conducted
with the NCPP cohort in Boston
and Providence
. The new name was chosen
to reflect the collaborative relationship of the two sites, easily identify
the study group, and foster a sense of membership and pride among cohort
participants. This unique cohort offers a rare opportunity for epidemiological
investigation into neuropsychiatric and medical disorders; with the
help of cohort members, the NEFS will continue this longitudinal follow-up
study of health and development for years to come.

History of Program

For
the past 40 years, investigators at Harvard Medical
School ,
the Harvard School of Public Health and Brown
University
have conducted and maintained a three-generation longitudinal study
of 17,000 persons from the NCPP cohort, followed from before birth through
age 40. The NEFS is directed by Dr. Stephen Buka; projects based at
MMHC are co-directed by Drs. Jill M. Goldstein, Larry J. Seidman and
Ming T. Tsuang.

Initial
study enrollment of the NCPP occurred between 1959-1966, during the
first prenatal visit of pregnant women. At the time of registration
for prenatal care, data from examinations and interviews were recorded
by trained staff using standardized protocols, forms, manuals and codes.
Prenatal clinic visits were scheduled every month during the first 7
months of pregnancy, every 2 weeks during the 8th month, and every week
thereafter. Data on neonatal progress were recorded by pediatricians
and nurses.

After
the neonatal stage, the child was seen at five subsequent assessments
during childhood: ages 4 months, 8 months, 12 months, 4 years and 7
years. Follow-up visits included pediatric, neurological and psychological
assessment of the child and maternal interviews. Follow-up rates for
the New England
cohort surpassed the national project rates; over 80% of the New
England cohort completed
the final full assessment at age 7.

Current Research

The
NCPP “children” are now in their late 30s and early 40s. We are conducting
a series of adult follow-up studies, in which we locate, recruit, and
assess the parents and offspring 30 years after the original assessments
ended. In our follow-up efforts, we have successfully located approximately
85% of the selected sample; over 90% of these subjects have participated
in interview and laboratory studies, including clinical symptomology,
neuropsychological assessment, magnetic resonance imaging, molecular
genetics and others.

Over
the past 20 years, work with the New England
cohort has focused on the prenatal and early life antecedents of a range
of neuropsychiatric, physical and behavioral conditions of late adolescence
and adulthood. Publications over the past five years have included work
on schizophrenia, substance abuse, heart disease, learning disabilities,
attention deficit disorder, depression, and suicide.

Current
studies include:

• Brain Function and Structure in Adults with
Dyslexia and

Attention
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Relationship to

Obstetric Factors

• Hormones and Brain function: Affective Arousal
Deficits in

Women with Schizophrenia

• Family Study of Psychosis: Brain, Genes,
and Prenatal Risk

• Neurodevelopmental Study of Schizophrenia

• Prenatal/Perinatal Complications and Schizophrenia

• Sex and Structural Brain Abnormalities in
Schizophrenia

Research Study Sites

Harvard Medical
School ,
Boston , MA
Harvard School
of Public Health ,
Boston , MA
Massachusetts
Mental Health Center
, Boston ,
MA
Nuclear Magnetic
Resonance Imaging
Center
at Massachusetts General Hospital
, Charlestown ,
MA
Brown University
at Butler Hospital
Campus, Providence ,
RI

Faculty/Staff

Principal
Investigators

Stephen
L. Buka, Sc.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Society, Human Development &
Health and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health

Jill M. Goldstein, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Larry J. Seidman, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School

Ming T. Tsuang, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, Harvard Institute of Psychiatric Epidemiology &
Genetics,

Harvard
Departments of Epidemiology and Psychiatry

Senior
Staff

Clinical
Coordinator: Jo-Ann Donatelli, M.A.
Project Manager: Anne Peters, B.A.

Research
Assistants

Jessica
Coop
Christine Fetterer
Jennifer Koch
Jaclyn O’Berg

Nicole
Peace

Kathleen
Rhodes

Ian
White
Tami Wilson

Post-Doctoral
Fellows

Matthew
Jerram, Ph.D.
Deborah Walder, Ph.D.
Heidi Wencel, Ph.D.

There are opportunities for
involvement with the NEFS projects at all academic levels. Interested
parties may submit cover letter and resume to Anne Peters (below)

Contact Information

Anne Peters, Project
Manager
Massachusetts Mental
Health
Center

Phone: 617-998-5014
Fax: 617-998-5007
[email protected]

Selected Publications

Examples of publications from the New England Family Study include:

Buka SL, Lipsitt LP, Tsuang MT. Birth complications and psychological
deviancy: A 25-year prospective inquiry. Acta Pediatrica Japonica
1988; 30:537-546.

Lipsitt PD, Buka SL, Lipsitt LP. Delinquency risk as a function of early
intelligence scores. In King RC, Colliers JK, eds. Social Applications
and Issues in Psychology. B.V.: Elsevier Science Publishers 1989; 327-337.

Lipsitt PD, Buka SL, Lipsitt LP. Early intelligence scores and
subsequent delinquency: A prospective study. American Journal of Family
Therapy 1990; 18:192-198.
Buka SL, Tsuang MT, Lipsitt LP. Pregnancy/delivery complications
and psychiatric diagnosis. Archives General Psychiatry 1993; 50:151-56.
McKay JR, Buka SL. Issues in the treatment of antisocial adolescent
substance abusers. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse
1994; 3:59-81.
Clapper RL, Buka SL, Goldfield EC, Lipsitt LP, Tsuang MT: Adolescent
problem behaviors as predictors of adult alcohol diagnoses. International
Journal of the Addictions 1995; 30:507-523.
Klebanof MA, Zemel BS, Buka SL, Zierler S. Long term follow-up
of participants in the Collaborative Perinatal Project subjects. Pediatric
and Perinatal Epidemiology 1998;12:334-346.
Kremen WS, Buka SL, Seidman LJ, Goldstein JM, Koren D, Tsuang M.
IQ decline during childhood and adult psychotic symptoms in a community
sample: A 19-year longitudinal study. American Journal of Psychiatry
1998; 155:672-677.
Buka SL, Satz P, Seidman LJ. Defining learning disabilities: the
role of longitudinal studies. Thalamus. Journal of the International
Academy of Research in Learning Disabilities 1998; 16:14-29.
Yiu VWY, Buka SL, Zurakowski D, McCormick M, Brenner BM, Jabs K.
Effects of birthweight on blood pressure in childhood. American Journal
of Kidney Diseases 1999; 33:253-260.
Buka SL, Goldstein JM, Seidman LJ, Zornberg G, Donatelli JA, Denny
LR, Tsuang MT. Prenatal complications, genetic vulnerability, and
schizophrenia: The New England Longitudinal Studies of Schizophrenia.
Psychiatric Annals 1999; 29(3):151-156.
Tomeo CA, Rich-Edwards JW, Michels KB, Berkey CS, Hunter DJ, Frazier
AL, Willett WC, Buka SL. Reproducibility and validity of maternal
recall of pregnancy related events. Epidemiology 1999; 10(6):774-777.
Zornberg G, Buka SL, Tsuang MT. Hypoxic ischemia-related fetal/neonatal
complications and risk of schizophrenia: A 19-year longitudinal study.
American Journal of Psychiatry 2000; 157:196-202.
Buka SL, Goldstein JM, Seidman LJ, Tsuang MT. Maternal recall of
pregnancy history: Accuracy and bias in schizophrenia research. Schizophrenia
Bulletin 2000; 26(2):335-345.
Zornberg GL, Buka SL, Tsuang MT. At issue: the problem of obstetrical
complications and schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin 2000; 26(2):249-254.
Goldstein JM, Seidman LJ, Buka SL, Horton NJ, Donatelli JL, Rieder
RO, Tsuang MT. Impact of genetic vulnerability and hypoxia on overall
intelligence by age 7 in offspring at high risk for schizophrenia
compared with affective psychoses. Schizophrenia Bulletin 2000; 26(2):323-334.
Seidman LJ, Buka SL, Goldstein JM, Horton NJ, Rieder RO, Tsuang
MT. The relationship of prenatal and perinatal complications to cognitive
functioning at age 7 in the New England Cohorts of the National Collaborative
Perinatal Project. Schizophrenia Bulletin 2000; 6(2):309-321.
Nyberg K, Buka SL, Lipsitt LP. Maternal medication as a potential
risk factor for adult drug abuse in a North American cohort. Epidemiology
2000; 11:715-716.
Buka SL, Tsuang MT, Torrey EF, Klebanof MA, Bernstein D, Yolken
RH. Maternal infections and subsequent psychosis among offspring:
A 40-year prospective study. Archives General Psychiatry 2001; 58:1032-1037.
Buka SL, Tsuang, MT, Torrey, EF, Klebanoff, MA, Wagner, RL, Yolken,
RH. Maternal cytokine levels during pregnancy and adult psychosis.
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 2001; 15:411-420.
Gilman SE, Kawachi I, Fitzmaurice GM, Buka SL. Socioeconomic status
in childhood and the lifetime risk of major depression. International
Journal of Epidemiology 2002; 31:359-367.
Piquero AR, Buka SL. Linking juvenile and adult patterns of criminal
activity in the Providence cohort of the National Collaborative Perinatal
Project. Journal of Criminal Justice 2002; 30(4):259-272.
McGrath J, Buka SL, Eyles D, Mowry B, Yolken R. Low maternal vitamin
D as a risk factor for schizophrenia: a pilot study using banked sera.
Schizophrenia Research (in press).
Buka SL, Shenassa ED, Niaura R. Elevated risk of tobacco dependence
among offspring of mothers who smoke during pregnancy: A 30-year prospective
study. American Journal of Psychiatry (in press).
Gilman SE, Kawachi I, Fitzmaurice GM, Buka SL. Family disruption
in childhood and risk of adult depression. American Journal of Psychiatry
(in press).
Piquero AR, Buka SL. Longitudinal studies. Investigating Race and
Gender differences in specialization in violence. In Silverman, RA,
Thornberry, TP, Cohen, B, Krisberg, B, eds. Crime and Justice at the
Millenium: Essays by and in Honor of Marvin E. Wolfgang.
Buka SL. Principles of Developmental Epidemiology: In White SH,
Pillemer DB, eds. Developmental Psychology and the Social Changes
of Our Time. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003.

New England Family Study (Prenatal Cohort)