Study question Is the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) a valid and reliable measure of depression in first-time mothers who conceived via Assisted Reproductive Technology? Summary answer The results from this study provide initial support for the reliability and validity of the PHQ-8 as a measure of depression in mothers who have conceived using ART. What is known already Women who achieved a clinical pregnancy using Assisted Reproductive technology experience many stressors and may be at an increased risk of depression. The PHQ-8 is a brief measure designed to detect the presence of severity of depressive symptoms. It has been validated in many populations; however, it has not been validated for use in this population. Study design, size, duration This is a cross-sectional study of 171 first time mothers in the United States, recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Participants/materials, setting, methods The reliability of the PHQ-8 was measured through a Cronbach’s alpha, the convergent validity was measured though the correlation between the PHQ-8 and the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) measure of anxiety symptoms, and the structural validity was measured through a Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Main results and the role of chance The Cronbach’s alpha for the total PHQ-8 was acceptable (α =.922). The correlation between the PHQ-8 and the GAD-7 was large (r=.88) indicating good convergent validity. Ultimately, a bifactor model provided the best model fit (χ2(13) = 23.8, p = 0.033; Comparative Fit Index (CFI) =0.987; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.07, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.972). Limitations, reasons for caution The results are limited by: the predominantly white and well-educated sample, a lack of causation between the use of artificial reproductive technology and depressive symptoms, including mothers with children up to 5 years old, convergent validity being based on associations with a related construct instead of the same construct, lack of test-retest reliability, divergent validity, and criterion-related validity, data collected through MTurk, and the fact that the measures used were all self-report and therefore may be prone to bias. Wider implications of the findings Consistent with previous literature, a bifactor model for the PHQ-8 was supported. As such, when assessing depression in first-time mothers who conceived via Assisted Reproductive Technology, using both the PHQ-8 total score and subdomain scores may yield the most valuable information. The results from this study provide preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the PHQ-8 as a measure of depression in first-time mothers who conceived using Assisted Reproductive Technology. Study funding/competing interest(s) No specific funding was used for the completion of this study. Throughout the study period and manuscript preparation, the authors were supported by the department funds at Baylor University. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Trial registration number N/A

The present study assessed factors associated with maternal preferences for their children’s educational format (i.e., completely in-person, completely online/remote, or hybrid of in-person and online/remote) for return to school during the COVID-19 pandemic and whether these associations differed between full-time employed mothers and mothers who were not employed. Participants were 911 mothers of school-aged children from the United States (full-time employed, n = 650; not employed, n = 261). Recruitment took place online via social media during Summer 2020. Questionnaires on school modality preference, maternal work status, and demographic characteristics were filled out online through Qualtrics. Compared to mothers who were not employed, full-time employed mothers were more likely to endorse a preference for a hybrid in-person and online/remote educational format for their children and less likely to endorse a preference for a completely online/remote educational format for their children. The factor most strongly associated with maternal preferences for their children’s educational format for return to school in both groups of mothers was being worried about my child getting COVID-19 and their health being severely impacted (rs’s ranged from −56 to −58; p < .01). Regardless of maternal employment status, this factor continued to have the strongest association with a maternal preference for a completely online educational format in the polynomial regression analysis after controlling for relevant demographic variables (Odds Ratios ranged from 3.63 to 37.64; p < .01). These findings highlight that concerns about child health during the COVID-19 pandemic influence maternal preferences for their children’s educational format, regardless of maternal employment status.

This study examined the potential benefits of shared reading with a child on adult readers’ mood. In two experiments, young adults were randomly assigned to either read storybooks with a child or to read the same books aloud alone. In both experiments, readers experienced more positive emotions than those who read the story aloud alone. In Experiment 1, the level of interactivity between the reader and child also positively correlated with readers’ experience of positive emotions. In Experiment 2, participants who read with a child aligned their own book preferences with those of the child. Overall, participants preferred the longer and more complex storybook as it gave more opportunities for the reader and child to interact. These findings support the hypothesis that simple read-aloud experiences are not only positive for children, but have the potential to also positively impact the mood of adult readers who share books with a child.