LAUSR

Exposure to maternal depression before birth has been linked with adverse infant and child health outcomes, but themechanisms are not well understood.Hahn et al. examined the association of maternal depression with immune responses in cells from newborns’ cord blood. Lymphocyte proliferation and levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines did not differ with respect to maternal depression. Stimulated levels of the important anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10, however, were lower in cord blood from infants of depressed women. Further longitudinal studies may shed light on whether immune differences observed at birth persist into childhood and beyond. Pages 320–327; http://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000000686 Self-rated health has been shown to predict morbidity and mortality, even after taking functional status and comorbid disease into account. To explore the biological mechanisms underlying this association,Uchino et al. tested whether self-rated health was associated with markers of inflammation in healthy volunteers aged 42 to 78. Poorer self-rated health was related to higher C-reactive protein levels, a connection mediated in part by sleep quality but not depression. Pages 328–332; http://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000000683 Thun et al. examined the development and interrelationships of insomnia with mixed anxiety and depression during an 8-week course of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The results indicate that changes in insomnia predicted changes in mixed anxiety and depression at follow-up measurements; in contrast, changes in mixed anxiety and depression did not predict changes in insomnia. Targeting insomnia in the context of brief CBTmay not only reduce symptoms of insomnia, but also symptoms of anxiety and depression. Pages 333–340; http://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000000676 Conscientiousness is typically associated with better psychological resources and lower cardiovascular risk, but associations may be amplified, reduced, or reversed depending on race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status (SES). In urban black and white men,Duggan et al. found that adolescent conscientiousness benefited adult psychological resources regardless of race/ethnicity or SES. In blackmenof lowSES, however, adolescent conscientiousnesswas related to higher adult metabolic syndrome scores, consistent with John Henryism and “skin deep” resilience perspectives that suggest that there can be a physiologic cost to persistent efforts to cope with severe chronic stressors. Pages 341–351; http://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000000688 Platelet activation and response to serotoninmay bemechanisms by which depression is associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Williams et al. explored platelet serotonin signaling in cardiovascular patients with and without depression. Depressed cardiovascular patients had higher serotonin receptor density and significantly higher incidence of major and minor cardiac adverse events. Pages 352–362; http://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000000689 Mental stress–inducedmyocardial ischemia (MSIMI) is a common phenomenon in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and is associatedwith an increased risk of adverse cardiac events. Previous studies have reported that psychosocial factors are associated