Sleep disturbance in family caregivers of children who depend on medical technology: A systematic review.

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Keilty, Krista; Cohen, Eyal; Ho, Michelle; Spalding, Karen; Stremler, Robyn

2015-01-01

Society relies on family caregivers of children who depend on medical technology (e.g. mechanical ventilation), to provide highly skilled and vigilant care in their homes 24 hours per day. Sleep disturbance is among the most common complaints of these caregivers. The purpose of this review is to systematically examine studies reporting on sleep outcomes in family caregivers of technology dependent children. All relevant databases were systematically searched: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and CINAHL. Given the heterogeneity of the studies, a qualitative analysis was completed and thus results of this review are presented as a narrative. Thirteen studies were retrieved that met eligibility criteria for inclusion. All of the studies reported on family caregivers of children with medical complexity living at home. Moreover, all of the studies relied entirely on self-report, not objective sleep measures. No intervention studies were found. Sleep disturbance was found to be common (51-100%) along with caregiver reports of poor sleep quality. Sleep quantity was seldom measured, but was found in the few studies that did, to be approximately 6 hours, or less than recommendations for optimal health and daytime function. Multiple caregiver, child and environmental factors were also identified that may negatively influence caregiver sleep, health and daytime function. Findings of this review suggest that family caregivers of children with medical complexity who depend on medical technology achieve poor sleep quality and quantity that may place them at risk of the negative consequences of sleep deprivation. Recommendations for practice include that health care providers routinely assess for sleep disturbance in this vulnerable population. The review also suggests that studies using objective sleep measurement are needed to more fully characterize sleep and inform the development of targeted interventions to promote sleep in family caregivers of technology dependent children.

Access to and use of paid sick leave among low-income families with children.

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Clemans-Cope, Lisa; Perry, Cynthia D; Kenney, Genevieve M; Pelletier, Jennifer E; Pantell, Matthew S

2008-08-01

The ability of employed parents to meet the health needs of their children may depend on their access to sick leave, especially for low-income workers, who may be afforded less flexibility in their work schedules to accommodate these needs yet also more likely to have children in poor health. Our goal was to provide rates of access to paid sick leave and paid vacation leave among low-income families with children and to assess whether access to these benefits is associated with parents' leave taking to care for themselves or others. We used a sample of low-income families (paid leave and characteristics of children, families, and parents' employer. Access to paid leave was lower among children in low-income families than among those in families with higher income. Within low-income families, children without >or=1 full-time worker in the household were especially likely to lack access to this benefit, as were children whose parents work for small employers. Among children whose parents had access to paid sick leave, parents were more likely to take time away from work to care for themselves or others. This relationship is even more pronounced among families with the highest need, such as children in fair or poor health and children with all parents in full-time employment. Legislation mandating paid sick leave could dramatically increase access to this benefit among low-income families. It would likely diminish gaps in parents' leave taking to care for others between families with and without the benefit. However, until the health-related consequences are better understood, the full impact of such legislation remains unknown.

Relationships between familial HIV/AIDS and symptoms of anxiety and depression: the mediating effect of bullying victimization in a prospective sample of South African children and adolescents.

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Boyes, Mark E; Cluver, Lucie D

2015-04-01

South African children and adolescents living in HIV/AIDS-affected families are at elevated risk of both symptoms of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Poverty and HIV/AIDS-related stigma are additional risk factors for these negative mental health outcomes. Community level factors, such as poverty and stigma, are difficult to change in the short term and identifying additional potentially malleable mechanisms linking familial HIV/AIDS with mental health is important from an intervention perspective. HIV/AIDS-affected children are also at increased risk of bullying victimization. This longitudinal study aimed to determine whether prospective relationships between familial HIV/AIDS and both anxiety symptoms and depressive symptoms operate indirectly via bullying victimization. Adolescents (M = 13.45 years, 56.67 % female, n = 3,515) from high HIV-prevalent (>30 %) communities in South Africa were interviewed and followed-up one year later (n = 3,401, 96.70 % retention). Census enumeration areas were randomly selected from urban and rural sites in two provinces, and door-to-door sampling included all households with a resident child/adolescent. Familial HIV/AIDS at baseline assessment was not directly associated with mental health outcomes 1 year later. However, significant indirect effects operating via bullying victimization were obtained for both anxiety and depression scores. Importantly, these effects were independent of poverty, HIV/AIDS-related stigma, and baseline mental health, which highlight bullying victimization as a potential target for future intervention efforts. The implementation and rigorous evaluation of bullying prevention programs in South African communities may improve mental health outcomes for HIV/AIDS-affected children and adolescents and this should be a focus of future research and intervention.

Network and social support in family care of children with diabetes.

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Pennafort, Viviane Peixoto Dos Santos; Queiroz, Maria Veraci Oliveira; Nascimento, Lucila Castanheira; Guedes, Maria Vilani Cavalcante

2016-01-01

to understand the influence of network and social support in the care of a child with type 1 diabetes. qualitative study, with assumptions of ethnonursing, conducted in a reference service specialized in the treatment of diabetes, in 2014, in the city of Fortaleza, state of Ceará, Brazil. Twenty-six members of the family and their respective school children participated in the study. The process of collection and analysis followed the observation-participation-reflection model. the analytical categories showed that the social network in the care of children with diabetes helped sharing of information and experiences, moments of relaxation and aid in the acquisition of supplies for treatment, with positive repercussions in the family context, generating well-being and confidence in the care of children with diabetes. the cultural care provided by nurses strengthens the network and social support because it encourages autonomy in the promotion of the quality of life of children with type 1 diabetes and their families.

Can AIDS stigma be reduced to poverty stigma? Exploring Zimbabwean children's representations of poverty and AIDS

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Campbell, C; Skovdal, M; Mupambireyi, Z; Madanhire, C; Robertson, L; Nyamukapa, C A; Gregson, S

2012-01-01

Objective We use children's drawings to investigate social stigmatization of AIDS-affected and poverty-affected children by their peers, in the light of suggestions that the stigmatization of AIDS-affected children might derive more from the poverty experienced by these children than from their association with AIDS. Methods A qualitative study, in rural Zimbabwe, used draw-and-write techniques to elicit children's (10–12 years) representations of AIDS-affected children (n= 30) and poverty-affected children (n= 33) in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Results Representations of children affected by AIDS and by poverty differed significantly. The main problems facing AIDS-affected children were said to be the psychosocial humiliations of AIDS stigma and children's distress about sick relatives. Contrastingly, poverty-affected children were depicted as suffering from physical and material neglect and deprivation. Children affected by AIDS were described as caregivers of parents whom illness prevented from working. This translated into admiration and respect for children's active contribution to household survival. Poverty-affected children were often portrayed as more passive victims of their guardians' inability or unwillingness to work or to prioritize their children's needs, with these children having fewer opportunities to exercise agency in response to their plight. Conclusions The nature of children's stigmatization of their AIDS-affected peers may often be quite distinct from poverty stigma, in relation to the nature of suffering (primarily psychosocial and material respectively), the opportunities for agency offered by each affliction, and the opportunities each condition offers for affected children to earn the respect of their peers and community. We conclude that the particular nature of AIDS stigma offers greater opportunities for stigma reduction than poverty stigma. PMID:21985490

Can AIDS stigma be reduced to poverty stigma? Exploring Zimbabwean children's representations of poverty and AIDS.

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Campbell, C; Skovdal, M; Mupambireyi, Z; Madanhire, C; Robertson, L; Nyamukapa, C A; Gregson, S

2012-09-01

We use children's drawings to investigate social stigmatization of AIDS-affected and poverty-affected children by their peers, in the light of suggestions that the stigmatization of AIDS-affected children might derive more from the poverty experienced by these children than from their association with AIDS. A qualitative study, in rural Zimbabwe, used draw-and-write techniques to elicit children's (10-12 years) representations of AIDS-affected children (n= 30) and poverty-affected children (n= 33) in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Representations of children affected by AIDS and by poverty differed significantly. The main problems facing AIDS-affected children were said to be the psychosocial humiliations of AIDS stigma and children's distress about sick relatives. Contrastingly, poverty-affected children were depicted as suffering from physical and material neglect and deprivation. Children affected by AIDS were described as caregivers of parents whom illness prevented from working. This translated into admiration and respect for children's active contribution to household survival. Poverty-affected children were often portrayed as more passive victims of their guardians' inability or unwillingness to work or to prioritize their children's needs, with these children having fewer opportunities to exercise agency in response to their plight. The nature of children's stigmatization of their AIDS-affected peers may often be quite distinct from poverty stigma, in relation to the nature of suffering (primarily psychosocial and material respectively), the opportunities for agency offered by each affliction, and the opportunities each condition offers for affected children to earn the respect of their peers and community. We conclude that the particular nature of AIDS stigma offers greater opportunities for stigma reduction than poverty stigma. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Inverse association of natural mentoring relationship with distress mental health in children orphaned by AIDS

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Munakata Tsunetsugu

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The magnitude of the AIDS-orphaned children crisis in sub-Saharan Africa has so overstretched the resource of most families that the collapse of fostering in the sub-region seems imminent (UNICEF, 2003, fueling the need for a complementary/alternative care. This paper examines the probability of the natural mentoring care to ameliorate distress mental health in children orphaned by AIDS. Methods 952 children, mean age about 14 years, from local community schools and child-care centers in Kampala (Uganda and Mafikeng/Klerksdorp (South Africa towns participated in the study. The design has AIDS-orphaned group (n = 373 and two control groups: Other-causes orphaned (n = 287 and non-orphaned (n = 290 children. We use measures of child abuse, depression, social discrimination, anxiety, parental/foster care, self-esteem, and social support to estimate mental health. Natural mentoring care is measured with the Ragins and McFarlin (1990 Mentor Role Instrument as adapted. Results AIDS-orphaned children having a natural mentor showed significant decreased distress mental health factors. Similar evidence was not observed in the control groups. Also being in a natural mentoring relationship inversely related to distress mental health factors in the AIDS-orphaned group, in particular. AIDS-orphaned children who scored high mentoring relationship showed significant lowest distress mental health factors that did those who scored moderate and low mentoring relationship. Conclusions Natural mentoring care seems more beneficial to ameliorate distress mental health in AIDS-orphaned children (many of whom are double-orphans, having no biological parents than in children in the control groups.

Unmet Needs of Families of School-Aged Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Brown, Hilary K.; Ouellette-Kuntz, Helene; Hunter, Duncan; Kelley, Elizabeth; Cobigo, Virginie

2012-01-01

Background: To aid decision making regarding the allocation of limited resources, information is needed on the perceived unmet needs of parents of school-aged children with an autism spectrum disorder. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted of 101 Canadian families of school-aged children with an autism spectrum disorder.…

Family dynamics in families with children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

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Chu, Kangkang; Li, Shasha; Chen, Yixin; Wang, Mingchun

2012-10-01

Development of adjunctive family therapy for the treatment of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in China requires a detailed understanding of the family dynamics of these families. Assess the family dynamics of families with children who have ADHD in Nanjing, China. Forty-six children 10 to 17 years of age treated at the Nanjing Brain Hospital for ADHD and 46 control children of the same age and gender from schools in Nanjing completed the 19-item Questionnaire of Systematic Family Dynamics (QSFD) which assesses four dimensions of family functioning: Family Atmosphere, Individuation, Moral Absolutism, and Personal Responsibility for Psychological Problems. There were no differences between groups in the perceived causes of psychological problems but the ADHD children reported a poorer family atmosphere, less independence from parents, and more ambiguity about 'right' and 'wrong' in the family. After adjustment for the potential confounding effects of parental education and family economic status, the findings of poorer family atmosphere and less individuation in the ADHD children remained statistically significant. The internal consistency of the four dimensions of the QSFD as completed by the children were poor (alpha=0.44-0.53). This preliminary study on the family dynamics of families with children that have ADHD finds that the ADHD children report a poor family atmosphere and little independence from parents. Further work is needed to validate the methods for assessing family dynamics in Chinese families, particularly when using children as informants, but this method provides valuable information that could be used as the focus of adjunctive family therapy to augment the traditional pharmacological and behavioral approaches to the treatment of ADHD.

Exploring children's stigmatisation of AIDS-affected children in Zimbabwe through drawings and stories.

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Campbell, Catherine; Skovdal, Morten; Mupambireyi, Zivai; Gregson, Simon

2010-09-01

AIDS-related stigma is a major contributor to the health and psychosocial well-being of children affected by AIDS. Whilst it is often suggested that AIDS-affected children may be stigmatised by other children, to date no research focuses specifically on child-on-child stigma. Using social representations theory, we explore how Zimbabwean children represent AIDS-affected peers, examining (i) whether or not they stigmatise, (ii) the forms stigma takes, and (iii) the existence of non-stigmatising representations that might serve as resources for stigma-reduction interventions. Our interest in identifying both stigmatising and non-stigmatising representations is informed by a theory of change which accords a central role to community-level debate and dialogue in challenging and reframing stigmatising representations. In late 2008, 50 children (aged 10-12) were asked to "draw a picture of a child whose family has been affected by AIDS in any way", and to write short stories about their drawings. Thematic analysis of stories and drawings revealed frequent references to stigmatisation of AIDS-affected children--with other children refusing to play with them, generally keeping their distance and bullying them. However children also frequently showed a degree of empathy and respect for AIDS-affected children's caring roles and for their love and concern for their AIDS-infected parents. We argue that a key strategy for stigma-reduction interventions is to open up social spaces in which group members (in this case children) can identify the diverse and contradictory ways they view a stigmatised out-group, providing opportunities for them to exercise agency in collectively challenging and renegotiating negative representations. Contrary to the common view that drawings enable children to achieve greater emotional expression than written stories, our children's drawings tended to be comparatively stereotypical and normative. It was in written stories that children most

Comparison of phonological awareness between children with cochlear implants and children with hearing aids

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Farzad Weisi

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Advanced phonological skills are important for the acquisition of reading skills. Children with hearing impairment have reading skills are weaker than others because of auditory inputs and due to the defect in phonological skills. The use of hearing aids and cochlear implants help to collect information on people who are hard of hearing.Material and Methods: This descriptive - analytic study was done on 12 children with cochlear implant and 12 children with hearing aids that was selected from second grades students of Tehran primary schools. Children's phonological performance was assessed by phonological subtests of Nama reading test and the data were analyzed using SPSS 16.Results: The results showed that the means of scores of children with cochlear implants in Rhyme task were significantly greater than the children with hearing aids (P=0.034. But in means of scores of Phone deletion and Nonword reading tasks were not significant different between two groups (P=0.919, P=0.670.Discussion: Cochlear implant with accessibility auditory inputs can facilitated the acquisition of phonological awareness skills in hearing loss children. But whereas the other language inputs such as sight and touch input helped to developing these skills, children with hearing aids too also can acquisition these skills.

Hearing aids for otitis media with effusion: Do children use them?

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Gan, Richard Wei Chern; Overton, Parisa; Benton, Claire; Daniel, Matija

2017-08-01

ENT surgeons may refer children with otitis media with effusion (OME) to audiology for consideration of hearing aids. They are an option for the treatment of OME, but are only effective if the child actually wears them. Our study investigated what proportion of children referred for hearing aids actually receive them, and whether children use them. Retrospective study of children referred to audiology from November 2013 to August 2014, including 70 children referred by ENT for hearing aids for OME, plus a further 5 children with OME given hearing aids through direct access audiology service. During the study period, there were 202 referrals of children to audiology, of which 70 (34.7%) were for consideration of hearing aids for OME. Of these 70 referred children, 37 (52.9%) were not fitted with hearing aids due to normal audiometry (23), asymptomatic mild hearing loss (7), nonattendance (3), clinical decision to just monitor hearing (1), parental decline (2), and unrecorded reason (1). A total of 38 children (including direct access patients) were fitted with hearing aids for OME. Majority (36/38) of children issued aids used them, 16 all day, 7 only at school, 1 only at home, 3 only when needed, and 9 used them for an unspecified duration; 1 child's use of hearing aids was unrecorded, and 1 child refused to use it. 21 were fitted bilaterally and 17 unilaterally. 37 were behind the ear aids and 1 a BAHA softband. A third of referrals to paediatric audiology by ENT are for consideration of hearing aids for OME. Only about half of children referred to audiology for hearing aids for OME actually receive them, as by the time they see audiology the hearing loss has frequently resolved or is asymptomatic so that aiding is unwarranted. Once fitted, they appear to be well accepted. Hearing aids have fair utilization in children fitted with them for OME. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Parental loss, trusting relationship with current caregivers, and psychosocial adjustment among children affected by AIDS in China.

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Zhao, Junfeng; Li, Xiaoming; Barnett, Douglas; Lin, Xiuyun; Fang, Xiaoyi; Zhao, Guoxiang; Naar-King, Sylvie; Stanton, Bonita

2011-08-01

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between parental loss, trusting relationship with current caregivers, and psychosocial adjustment among children affected by AIDS in China. In this study, cross-sectional data were collected from 755 AIDS orphans (296 double orphans and 459 single orphans), 466 vulnerable children living with HIV-infected parents, and 404 comparison children in China. The trusting relationship with current caregivers was measured with a 15-item scale (Cronbach's α = 0.84) modified from the Trusting Relationship Questionnaire developed by Mustillo et al. in 2005 (Quality of relationships between youth and community service providers: Reliability and validity of the trusting relationship questionnaire. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 14, 577-590). The psychosocial measures include rule compliance/acting out, anxiety/withdrawal, peer social skills, school interest, depressive symptoms, loneliness, self-esteem, future expectation, hopefulness about future, and perceived control over the future. Group mean comparisons using analysis of variance suggested a significant association (p anxiety and depression. These associations remained significant in General Linear Model analysis, controlling for children's gender, age, family socioeconomic status, orphan status (orphans, vulnerable children, and comparison children), and appropriate interaction terms among factor variables. The findings in the current study support the global literature on the importance of attachment relationship with caregivers in promoting children's psychosocial development. Future prevention intervention efforts to improve AIDS orphans' psychosocial well-being will need to take into consideration the quality of the child's attachment relationships with current caregivers and help their current caregivers to improve the quality of care for these children. Future study is needed to explore the possible reasons for the lack of association between a

Social ecological factors associated with future orientation of children affected by parental HIV infection and AIDS.

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Lin, Xiuyun; Fang, Xiaoyi; Chi, Peilian; Heath, Melissa Allen; Li, Xiaoming; Chen, Wenrui

2016-07-01

From a social ecological perspective, this study examined the effects of stigma (societal level), trusting relationships with current caregivers (familial level), and self-esteem (individual level) on future orientation of children affected by HIV infection and AIDS. Comparing self-report data from 1221 children affected by parental HIV infection and AIDS and 404 unaffected children, affected children reported greater stigma and lower future orientation, trusting relationships, and self-esteem. Based on structural equation modeling, stigma experiences, trusting relationships, and self-esteem had direct effects on future orientation, with self-esteem and trusting relationships partially mediating the effect of stigma experiences on children's future orientation. Implications are discussed. © The Author(s) 2014.

"Fighting the system": Families caring for ventilator-dependent children and adults with complex health care needs at home

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Nielsen Erik W

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background An increasing number of individuals with complex health care needs now receive life-long and life-prolonging ventilatory support at home. Family members often take on the role of primary caregivers. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of families giving advanced care to family members dependent on home mechanical ventilation. Methods Using qualitative research methods, a Grounded Theory influenced approach was used to explore the families' experiences. A total of 15 family members with 11 ventilator-dependent individuals (three children and eight adults were recruited for 10 in-depth interviews. Results The core category, "fighting the system," became the central theme as family members were asked to describe their experiences. In addition, we identified three subcategories, "lack of competence and continuity", "being indispensable" and "worth fighting for". This study revealed no major differences in the families' experiences that were dependent on whether the ventilator-dependent individual was a child or an adult. Conclusions These findings show that there is a large gap between family members' expectations and what the community health care services are able to provide, even when almost unlimited resources are available. A number of measures are needed to reduce the burden on these family members and to make hospital care at home possible. In the future, the gap between what the health care can potentially provide and what they can provide in real life will rapidly increase. New proposals to limit the extremely costly provision of home mechanical ventilation in Norway will trigger new ethical dilemmas that should be studied further.

School performance and school behavior of children affected by AIDS in China

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Tu, Xiaoming; Lv, Yunfei; Li, Xiaoming; Fang, Xiaoyi; Zhao, Guoxiang; Lin, Xiuyun; Hong, Yan; Zhang, Liying; Stanton, Bonita

2009-01-01

It is generally recognized that the AIDS epidemic will have a negative effect on the orphans’ school education. However, few studies have been carried out to examine the school performance and school behavior of AIDS orphans and vulnerable children (children living with HIV-infected parents). Using both self-report and teacher evaluation data of 1625 children from rural central China, we examined the impact of parental HIV/AIDS on children's school performances (academic marks, educational expectation, and student leadership) and school behaviors (e.g., aggression, shy/anxious and assertive social skills). Results indicate that AIDS orphans and vulnerable children had disadvantages in school performances in comparison to their peers from the same community who did not experience AIDS-related death and illness in their family (comparison children). AIDS orphans had the lowest academic marks based on the reports of both children and teachers. Educational expectation was significantly lower among AIDS orphans and vulnerable children than comparison children from teacher's perspective. AIDS orphans were significantly more likely to demonstrate aggressive, impulsive and anxious behaviors than non-orphans. Moreover, orphans have more learning difficulties. Vulnerable children were also at a disadvantage on most measures. The data suggest that a greater attention is needed to the school performance and behavior of children affected by AIDS. The findings also indicate that AIDS relief and assistance program for children should go beyond the school attendance and make efforts to improve their school performance and education aspiration. PMID:20107622

Cutaneous manifestation in children with HIV/AIDS

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Seyed Naser Emadi

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The most recent studies have explained almost 2.3 million children are affected with HIV up to the end of 2009. Sub-Saharan Africa is the main region affected by AIDS compare to other parts of the world. Despite providing competent healthcare services to prevent mother-to-child transmission as a main way of infection to a newborn, an estimated 370,000 children were newly infected to HIV in 2009. Skin disorders are common and may even be the first manifestation of HIV in children.The most common skin illnesses are classified in four categories; infectious, inflammatory, neoplastic, and drug related (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy. In addition, unusual anatomical sites, disseminated skin lesions, increased frequency and severity, unexplained clinical presentation, rapid onset, and finally treatment failure may be the other specified skin conditions in HIV/AIDS children. CD4 count and viral load are two basic factors playing an important role in terms of type and severity of skin illness. The aim of this review was to show the common and crucial cutaneous findings among HIV/AIDS children via published articles with the same subject.

Families Falling Apart.

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Moynihan, Daniel Patrick

1990-01-01

Reviews trends in Black male unemployment, out-of-wedlock births, and the number of Aid to Families with Dependent Children cases over the past 25 years. Argues that family breakdown is creating a state of urban social chaos that could lead to martial law. (FMW)

Extended family caring for children orphaned by AIDS: balancing essential work and caregiving in a high HIV prevalence nations.

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Heymann, J; Earle, A; Rajaraman, D; Miller, C; Bogen, K

2007-03-01

While over 90 per cent of the 15 million children who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS are cared for by family members, there is little information about whether adults can meet orphans' essential caregiving needs while working to economically survive. Using a survey we conducted in Botswana of 1033 working adults, we analyse the experience of adults who are caring for orphans. Over one-third of working adults were caring for orphans and many with few financial resources: 82% were living on household incomes below US$10 purchasing power parity adjusted per person per day. Because of their caregiving responsibilities, they were less able to supplement income with overtime, weekend, evening, or night work. At the same time caregiving responsibilities meant orphan caregivers spent fewer hours caring for their own children and other family members. Nearly half of orphan caregivers had difficulties meeting their children's needs, and nearly 75% weren't able to meet with children's teachers. Pay loss at work compounded the problems: One-quarter of orphan caregivers reported having to take unpaid leave to meet sick childcare needs and nearly half reported being absent from work for children's routine health care. This paper makes clear that if families are to provide adequate care for orphans while economically surviving there needs to be increases in social supports and improvements in working conditions.

Theory-of-mind development in oral deaf children with cochlear implants or conventional hearing aids.

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Peterson, Candida C

2004-09-01

In the context of the established finding that theory-of-mind (ToM) growth is seriously delayed in late-signing deaf children, and some evidence of equivalent delays in those learning speech with conventional hearing aids, this study's novel contribution was to explore ToM development in deaf children with cochlear implants. Implants can substantially boost auditory acuity and rates of language growth. Despite the implant, there are often problems socialising with hearing peers and some language difficulties, lending special theoretical interest to the present comparative design. A total of 52 children aged 4 to 12 years took a battery of false belief tests of ToM. There were 26 oral deaf children, half with implants and half with hearing aids, evenly divided between oral-only versus sign-plus-oral schools. Comparison groups of age-matched high-functioning children with autism and younger hearing children were also included. No significant ToM differences emerged between deaf children with implants and those with hearing aids, nor between those in oral-only versus sign-plus-oral schools. Nor did the deaf children perform any better on the ToM tasks than their age peers with autism. Hearing preschoolers scored significantly higher than all other groups. For the deaf and the autistic children, as well as the preschoolers, rate of language development and verbal maturity significantly predicted variability in ToM, over and above chronological age. The finding that deaf children with cochlear implants are as delayed in ToM development as children with autism and their deaf peers with hearing aids or late sign language highlights the likely significance of peer interaction and early fluent communication with peers and family, whether in sign or in speech, in order to optimally facilitate the growth of social cognition and language.

An Evaluation of a Continuing Education Program for Family Caregivers of Ventilator-Dependent Children with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA

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Deborah S. Boroughs

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Until 25 years ago, there were limited options for long-term mechanical ventilation of children, and the majority of children were cared for in hospitals. However, with improving technology, the pediatric intensive care unit has moved from the hospital to a home setting, as children with increasingly complex healthcare needs are now often cared for by family members. One of the most complex care conditions involves ventilator and tracheostomy support. Advanced respiratory technologies that augment natural respiratory function prolong the lives of children with respiratory compromise; however, this care often comes with serious risks, including respiratory muscle impairment, respiratory failure, and chronic pulmonary disease. Both non-invasive assisted ventilation and assisted ventilation via tracheostomy can prolong survival into adulthood in many cases; however, mechanical ventilation in the home is a high-stakes, high risk intervention. Increasing complexity of care over time requires perpetual skill training of family caregivers that is delivered and supported by professional caregivers; yet, opportunities for additional training outside of the hospital rarely exist. Recent data has confirmed that repetitive caregiver education is essential for retention of memory and skills in adult learners. This study analyzes the use of continued education and training in the community for family caregivers of ventilator-dependent children diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA.

Family meals with young children: an online study of family mealtime characteristics, among Australian families with children aged six months to six years.

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Litterbach, Eloise-Kate V; Campbell, Karen J; Spence, Alison C

2017-01-24

Evidence suggests that family meals influence food intakes and behaviours, which in turn impact children's eating habits, diets and health. Mealtimes therefore offer potential as settings for health promotion. Given diet, health behaviours and health are often socioeconomically patterned, it is important to consider whether family meals differ by socioeconomic position (SEP). The Family Meals with Young Kids study was an online survey completed by parents in 2014. Mealtime characteristics measured included; frequency of shared meals across the day, duration and location of mealtimes, parental modelling, and parental perceived importance of the evening meal. Maternal education was used to assess SEP. The aims of this study were to describe family meal characteristics among Australian families with children aged six months to six years and to describe the socioeconomic patterning of these. Participants (n = 992) were mostly mothers (97%) with a university degree (71%). The evening meal was the most frequently reported meal eaten together with the responding parent and child (77% ≥ five nights/week). Snacks were least commonly eaten together (39% ≥ five days/week). The frequency of having everyone present for the evening meal was inversely associated with SEP (OR 0.70, CI 0.54-0.92). Parent rated importance of family meals was generally high and positively associated with higher SEP (OR 1.32, CI 1.00-1.76). Most children consumed breakfast (73%), lunch (58%) and dinner (82%) sitting at a table or bench and this was positively associated with higher SEP for all meal types (OR 1.61-2.37, p meals was inversely associated with SEP (OR 0.63, CI 0.54-0.72). Less than half of children (36%) watched TV during meals more than once a day. Australian families engage in many healthy mealtime behaviours. Evidence that parents share meals with children and place high value on mealtimes with children provides important opportunities for promoting healthy behaviours

Family Structure and Functions Identified by Persons Living with HIV/AIDS.

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Wong-Wylie, Gina; Doherty-Poirier, Maryanne; Kieren, Dianne

1999-01-01

A study looked at the structural and functional aspects of family from the perspective of six people living with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Results showing how HIV/AIDS affects all members of the sufferer's family have implications for family practitioners. (Author/JOW)

The Perception of Family Conflict by Parents Living with HIV/AIDS and Their Adolescent Children

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Li, Li; Jiang, Luohua; Lord, Lynwood; Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane

2007-01-01

This study explores discrepancies in perceiving family conflict between HIV-infected parents and their adolescent children aged 12 to 22. A representative sample of 382 adolescent children and their HIV+ parents were recruited and assessed over 4 years. Relationships between discrepancies in perception and family demographics and the impact of…

The psychosocial impact of hearing aids in children with otitis media with effusion.

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Qureishi, A; Garas, G; Mallick, A; Parker, D

2014-11-01

In children, otitis media with effusion is treated using grommets or hearing aids. Parents considering treatment options express concerns regarding the psychosocial impact of hearing aids in terms of self-esteem and bullying. This study assessed the psychosocial impact of hearing aid use. A cross-sectional study was undertaken comparing hearing aid users to non hearing aid users with regard to their attitudes towards hearing aids. All subjects, who had been diagnosed with otitis media with effusion, were aged less than 16 years, were without disability and attended mainstream schools. A questionnaire was designed and utilised. The study comprised 47 children with hearing aids and 50 with grommets. Significant between-group differences (p negative perceptions of non hearing aid users were not reported by hearing aid users. Children with hearing aids do not suffer from bullying or low self-esteem to the extent perceived by parents. This information is useful for informed decisions regarding treatment of otitis media with effusion.

The impact of recurrent throat infection on children and their families.

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Howel, Denise; Webster, Simon; Hayes, Jane; Barton, Andrew; Donaldson, Liam

2002-06-01

Recurrent throat problems in children are common and have an impact on the family. The appropriateness of surgery will depend on both clinical and social factors. The aim of this study was to assess the impact on the whole family when a child is suffering from recurrent throat problems, and investigate related parental attitudes. A total of 1190 parents of children in northern England for whom tonsillectomy or adeno-tonsillectomy was a possible treatment option were sent a questionnaire covering social and clinical issues such as children's symptoms, the impact on family life and parental attitudes. The majority of children had experienced more than four episodes in the previous year, had their sleep affected and time off school. Most parents were worried and reported disruption to the family, including taking time off work and cross-infection. Parental disruption, worry and eagerness for surgery were significantly associated with the duration of episodes of throat problems and the number of episodes in the previous year, but not with duration of tonsillitis. Time off school, or parental time off work was significantly associated with parental worry and disruption, but not with eagerness for surgery. This work highlights the impact of recurrent throat problems and related parental attitudes, and will aid in striking a balance between clinical requirements and the needs and wishes of the family.

Children affected by HIV/AIDS: SAFE, a model for promoting their security, health, and development.

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Betancourt, Theresa S; Fawzi, Mary K S; Bruderlein, Claude; Desmond, Chris; Kim, Jim Y

2010-05-01

A human security framework posits that individuals are the focus of strategies that protect the safety and integrity of people by proactively promoting children's well being, placing particular emphasis on prevention efforts and health promotion. This article applies this framework to a rights-based approach in order to examine the health and human rights of children affected by HIV/AIDS. The SAFE model describes sources of insecurity faced by children across four fundamental dimensions of child well-being and the survival strategies that children and families may employ in response. The SAFE model includes: Safety/protection; Access to health care and basic physiological needs; Family/connection to others; and Education/livelihoods. We argue that it is critical to examine the situation of children through an integrated lens that effectively looks at human security and children's rights through a holistic approach to treatment and care rather than artificially limiting our scope of work to survival-oriented interventions for children affected by HIV/AIDS. Interventions targeted narrowly at children, in isolation of their social and communal environment as outlined in the SAFE model, may in fact undermine protective resources in operation in families and communities and present additional threats to children's basic security. An integrated approach to the basic security and care of children has implications for the prospects of millions of children directly infected or indirectly affected by HIV/AIDS around the world. The survival strategies that young people and their families engage in must be recognized as a roadmap for improving their protection and promoting healthy development. Although applied to children affected by HIV/AIDS in the present analysis, the SAFE model has implications for guiding the care and protection of children and families facing adversity due to an array of circumstances from armed conflict and displacement to situations of extreme poverty.

Pulmonary diseases in children with AIDS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stoever, B.; Cammann, U.

1988-03-01

The opportunistic infections evident in children with AIDS are similar to those reported in adults. However malignant lymphoma or sarcoma are seen in only 4%. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia is frequently seen. CMV infections, streptococcus pneumonia and lung infections causes by gram negative bacterial infections occur as well. In cases with lymhoid interstitial pneumonia evidence of Epstein-Barr virus infection is common in children.

[Family health and infant palliative care: listening the relatives of technology dependent children].

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Rabello, Claudia Azevedo Ferreira Guimarães; Rodrigues, Paulo Henrique de Almeida

2010-10-01

This study discusses the creation of a new child palliative care program based on the Family Health Program, considering the level of care at home and yielding to family requests. Eighteen members of nine families of technology dependent children (TDC) who were hospital patients in the Instituto Fernandes Figueira (IFF) participated on the study. From those four were being assisted by its palliative care program Programa de Assistência Domiciliar Interdisciplinar (PADI); three were inpatients waiting for inclusion in the program, and finally two inpatients already included in PADI. PADI was chosen because it is the only child palliative care program in Brazil. The results are positive in regards to the connection established between the families and the health care team, the reception of the children, the explanation to the family concerning the disease, and the functional dynamics between the PADI and the IFF. As negative points, difficulties arose as a result of the implementation of the program, from its continuity to the worsening or illness of the entire family. In conclusion, although the PADI is the IFF's way of discharging patients, the domiciliary care provided by the Family Health Program, well articulated with the healthcare system, would be ideal for being the adequate assistance for it.

Gay men with AIDS and their families of origin: an analysis of social support.

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Kadushin, G

1996-05-01

This article reviews the literature on the relationships between gay men with AIDS and their families of origin to determine why the family is not a principal source of social support. Several reasons explain the absence of the family from the support network, including the family's lack of acceptance of homosexuality and the relationship with a male partner; the stigma associated with AIDS; the inability of family members to communicate openly about homosexuality and AIDS; the lack of competence among family members in dealing with HIV issues; and overprotective, infantilizing behavior by parents. A sibling, most often a sister, is the family member to whom the gay man with AIDS feels closest and from whom he is most likely to seek support. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

State-level income inequality and family burden of U.S. families raising children with special health care needs.

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Parish, Susan L; Rose, Roderick A; Dababnah, Sarah; Yoo, Joan; Cassiman, Shawn A

2012-02-01

Growing evidence supports the hypothesis that income inequality within a nation influences health outcomes net of the effect of any given household's absolute income. We tested the hypothesis that state-level income inequality in the United States is associated with increased family burden for care and health-related expenditures for low-income families of children with special health care needs. We analyzed the 2005-06 wave of the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs, a probability sample of approximately 750 children with special health care needs in each state and the District of Columbia in the US Our measure of state-level income inequality was the Gini coefficient. Dependent measures of family caregiving burden included whether the parent received help arranging or coordinating the child's care and whether the parent stopped working due to the child's health. Dependent measures of family financial burden included absolute burden (spending in past 12 months for child's health care needs) and relative burden (spending as a proportion of total family income). After controlling for a host of child, family, and state factors, including family income and measures of the severity of a child's impairments, state-level income inequality has a significant and independent association with family burden related to the health care of their children with special health care needs. Families of children with special health care needs living in states with greater levels of income inequality report higher rates of absolute and relative financial burden. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pulmonary diseases in children with AIDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoever, B.; Cammann, U.

1988-01-01

The opportunistic infections evident in children with AIDS are similar to those reported in adults. However malignant lymphoma or sarcoma are seen in only 4%. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia is frequently seen. CMV infections, streptococcus pneumonia and lung infections causes by gram negative bacterial infections occur as well. In cases with lymhoid interstitial pneumonia evidence of Epstein-Barr virus infection is common in children. (orig./MG) [de

Head Start Service Guide for Children and Families with HIV or AIDS = Guia de Servicios para Ninos con V.I.H. Positivo y con Sindrome de Inmunodeficiencia Adquirida (S.I.D.A.) y sus Familias.

Science.gov (United States)

Puerto Rico Commonwealth Office of Children's Services and Community Development, Old San Juan.

This document provides guidelines and procedures, in Spanish and English, for Head Start teachers in taking care of children with AIDS, or children who are HIV positive, and their families. The goal of the guide is to maximize participation of infected children in the Head Start program. The guide presents activities in three main stages:…

Family ecology of young children with cerebral palsy.

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LaForme Fiss, A; Chiarello, L A; Bartlett, D; Palisano, R J; Jeffries, L; Almasri, N; Chang, H-J

2014-07-01

Family ecology in early childhood may influence children's activity and participation in daily life. The aim of this study was to describe family functioning, family expectations of their children, family support to their children, and supports for families of young children with cerebral palsy (CP) based on children's gross motor function level. Participants were 398 children with CP (mean age = 44.9 months) and their parents residing in the USA and Canada. Parents completed four measures of family ecology, the Family Environment Scale (FES), Family Expectations of Child (FEC), Family Support to Child (FSC) and Family Support Scale (FSS). The median scores on the FES indicated average to high family functioning and the median score on the FSS indicated that families had helpful family supports. On average, parents reported high expectations of their children on the FEC and strong support to their children on the FSC. On the FES, higher levels of achievement orientation were reported by parents of children in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level II than parents of children in level I, and higher levels of control were reported by parents of children in level I than parents of children in level IV. On the FEC, parents of children with limited gross motor function (level V) reported lower expectations than parents of children at all other levels. Family ecology, including family strengths, expectations, interests, supports and resources, should be discussed when providing interventions and supports for young children with CP and their families. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Families with special needs children: family health, functioning, and care burden.

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Caicedo, Carmen

2014-01-01

There are 11.2 million children with special health care needs in the United States or one in five households caring for a special needs child. A small group of children who need continuous medical, nursing, therapeutic services that enable them to survive is growing in numbers. This study examined physical health (physical functioning), mental health (emotional, social, and cognitive functioning; communication; and worry), family functioning (daily activities, family relationships), and care burden (caregiver employment, caregiving time, travel time, health-related out-of-pocket expenditures) of parent caregivers for medically complex, medical technology-dependent children. Data were collected once a month for 5 months on 84 parents recruited in South Florida using the Pediatric Quality of Life Family Impact Module. Physically, parents were tired when they woke up: too tired to do the things they liked to do and with little energy for chores or social activities. Mentally, they were frustrated, anxious, and angry; felt helpless and hopeless; had cognitive problems remembering and focusing on tasks; were worried about the child's medications, treatments, side effects; and were anxious about child's future and effect of the child's condition on other family members. Socially, they felt isolated and that people did not understand their family situation; they found it hard to talk with others including physicians and nurses. Average weekly hours of direct care was 33.0 (SD = 30.4 hours); average monthly out-of-pocket expenditures was $348.78 (SD = $623.34). It is essential to assess parents' physical and mental health and functioning and to provide interventions to improve health and functioning for both the parents and the children for whom they are caring. © The Author(s) 2014.

Family Endowments and the Achievement of Young Children with Special Reference to the Underclass.

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, M. Anne; O'Neill, June

1994-01-01

Children's scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test were influenced by mothers' schooling, grandparents' schooling, and family size. Increases in mothers' working hours negatively affected children's achievement. Welfare dependence reduced test scores, largely due to transmission of an underclass heritage of low achievement. (Author/SK)

Family Management Style Framework: a new tool with potential to assess families who have children with brain tumors.

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Deatrick, Janet A; Thibodeaux, Annaka G; Mooney, Kim; Schmus, Cynthia; Pollack, Rosanna; Davey, Barbara Hieb

2006-01-01

Qualitative studies of families with children who have cancer or other serious illnesses have found that families often come to view their child and their lives as normal. They manage illness-related demands using family management styles that sustain usual patterns of family and child functioning. Few studies have addressed the family management styles of families who express less satisfaction with family and child functioning or who are identified by health care professionals as having difficulty with family functioning. Such families are likely to be overrepresented among those whose children are being treated for brain tumors that entail extremely burdensome treatments as well as a range of unfavorable prognoses and long-term sequelae. In fact, little is known about how these families manage on a day-to-day basis and how the interdisciplinary team can best provide supportive care to optimize their functioning. The purpose of this article is to present the Family Management Styles Framework as a tool that is useful in both clinical practice and research for assessing families who have children with cancer, including those with brain tumors.

Family meals with young children: an online study of family mealtime characteristics, among Australian families with children aged six months to six years

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eloise-kate V. Litterbach

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Evidence suggests that family meals influence food intakes and behaviours, which in turn impact children’s eating habits, diets and health. Mealtimes therefore offer potential as settings for health promotion. Given diet, health behaviours and health are often socioeconomically patterned, it is important to consider whether family meals differ by socioeconomic position (SEP. Methods The Family Meals with Young Kids study was an online survey completed by parents in 2014. Mealtime characteristics measured included; frequency of shared meals across the day, duration and location of mealtimes, parental modelling, and parental perceived importance of the evening meal. Maternal education was used to assess SEP. The aims of this study were to describe family meal characteristics among Australian families with children aged six months to six years and to describe the socioeconomic patterning of these. Results Participants (n = 992 were mostly mothers (97% with a university degree (71%. The evening meal was the most frequently reported meal eaten together with the responding parent and child (77% ≥ five nights/week. Snacks were least commonly eaten together (39% ≥ five days/week. The frequency of having everyone present for the evening meal was inversely associated with SEP (OR 0.70, CI 0.54-0.92. Parent rated importance of family meals was generally high and positively associated with higher SEP (OR 1.32, CI 1.00-1.76. Most children consumed breakfast (73%, lunch (58% and dinner (82% sitting at a table or bench and this was positively associated with higher SEP for all meal types (OR 1.61-2.37, p < 0.05. Increased television (TV viewing during meals was inversely associated with SEP (OR 0.63, CI 0.54-0.72. Less than half of children (36% watched TV during meals more than once a day. Conclusions Australian families engage in many healthy mealtime behaviours. Evidence that parents share meals with children and

Hispanic Families Learning and Teaching about AIDS: A Participatory Approach at the Community Level.

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de Carpio, America Bracho; And Others

1990-01-01

Describes AIDS research-education strategy based on story-telling and problem solving being used among Hispanics in Detroit, Michigan. Community worker tells stories whose central characters are children learning AIDS risk behaviors. Listeners encouraged to advise characters. Family discussions follow. Results incorporated into educational…

A comparison between parents of children with cochlear implants and parents of children with hearing aids regarding parental distress and treatment expectations.

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Spahn, Claudia; Richter, Bernhard; Burger, Thorsten; Löhle, Erwin; Wirsching, Michael

2003-09-01

The aim of the present study was to compare the parents of children with a hearing aid (HA) and children with a cochlear implant (CI) regarding their psychological distress, their expectations from treatment, their family climate, and the way they first obtained information on HA/CI. 154 parents (return quota 41%; 81 mothers and 73 fathers) of 90 children with a HA and 103 parents (return quota 59%; 57 mothers and 46 fathers) of 57 children with a CI were interviewed by means of a questionnaire. Both groups of parents felt distressed, particularly at the time of diagnosis. Their psychological well-being was gradually stabilized in the further course of rehabilitation. Due to the operation associated with it, fitting with a CI brought on a phase of heightened parental psychological distress compared with less invasive treatment with a HA. Regarding family climate, more distress was found in parents of CI children than in parents of HA children. Expectations from therapy appeared realistic in both parental groups; however, after CI fitting, the parents of the CI children showed heightened expectations by comparison with the parents of the HA children. The results of our study suggest that the parents of hearing impaired children fitted with a HA or a CI may be divided into two subgroups with divergent psychosocial parameters. For the counseling of the parents of hearing impaired children in clinical practice, it would seem important to take these specific differences into consideration.

Hearing Aid and children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jamileh Fatahi

2002-07-01

Full Text Available In order to develop oral communication, hearing impaired infants and young children must be able to hear speech comfortably and consistently. To day children with all degrees of hearing loss may be condidates for some kinds of amlification. As children differ from adults, many Factors should be consider in hearing aid selection, evaluation and fitting. For example the child age when he or she is candidate for custom instruments? Do we consider programmable Hearing aid? Are multi memory instruments appropriate for them? What about directional microphones? What style of hearing aid do we select? In this paper such questions are Answered.

Teaching Basic First-Aid Skills against Home Accidents to Children with Autism through Video Modeling

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Ergenekon, Yasemin

2012-01-01

It is known that children with DD can learn first-aid skills and use whenever needed. Applying first-aid skills was taught to three inclusion students with autism through "first-aid skills training package". In the study multiple probe design with probe trials across behaviors was used. The findings indicated that first-aid skills…

Family characteristics of anxious ADHD children: preliminary results.

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Kepley, Hayden O; Ostrander, Rick

2007-02-01

To investigate the family environments of children in a community sample with ADHD and co-occurring anxiety. Family Environment Scale, Behavioral Assessment System for Children, and Structured Clinical Interview are administered to parents of children with ADHD with and without anxiety. ADHD families are uniformly less cohesive and expressive and possess more conflict than families representing the community sample. In contrast to community or nonanxious ADHD families, anxious ADHD families do not encourage independence and tend to be distinctly less assertive, self-sufficient, and autonomous. Although anxious and nonanxious ADHD children tend to have a uniformly high incidence of maternal ADHD, mothers of anxious ADHD children tend to display a much higher incidence of substance/alcohol abuse than either nonanxious or community participants. Findings are consistent with the notion that an insular, dependent, and somewhat controlling family environment characterizes families of children with ADHD and comorbid childhood anxiety.

Cryptosporidium infection in undernourished children with HIV/AIDS ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: AIDS and Protein energy malnutrition (PEM) severely impair the immune system Cryptosporidium has over the last two decades emerged as a life threatening disease. The study attempts to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection in malnourished children with HIV/AIDS. Method: Blood and stool ...

The effect of a social support boosting intervention on stress, coping, and social support in caregivers of children with HIV/AIDS.

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Hansell, P S; Hughes, C B; Caliandro, G; Russo, P; Budin, W C; Hartman, B; Hernandez, O C

1998-01-01

Caring for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected child is challenging and affects the entire family system. Studies have shown that social support can mitigate caregiver stress and enhance coping; however, social support may not always result in a positive outcome for the recipient. To measure caregiver stress, coping, and social support, and to test the effect of a social support boosting intervention on levels of stress, coping, and social support among caregivers of children with HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). An experimental design was used with monthly social support boosting interventions implemented. The stratified randomized sample included 70 primary caregivers of children with HIV/AIDS. The sample strata were seropositive caregivers (biological parents) and seronegative caregivers (foster parents and extended family members). Study measures included the Derogatis Stress Profile, Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scale, and the Tilden Interpersonal Relationship Inventory. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and repeated measure MANOVA. Statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups were found on changes in the dependent variables over time when caregiver strata were included as a factor in the analysis; no statistically significant results were found when caregiver strata were combined. Univariate Ftests indicated that the level of social support for caregivers who were seronegative in the experimental group was significantly different from seronegative caregivers in the control group and seropositive caregivers in both groups. No significant treatment group differences were found for seropositive caregivers. Seronegative caregivers derived substantial benefit from the social support boosting intervention. Seronegative caregivers who acquire a child with HIV/AIDS are confronted with a complex stressful situation; the critical need to enhance their social support is

Cognitive Developmental Therapy: Aiding Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families.

Science.gov (United States)

Towers, David A.

The works of Kegan and Guidano have presented cognition and emotion as complementary modes of knowing that develop together. Cognition is conceived of as being concerned with the knowledge of reality, and emotions are conceptualized as people's system for knowing of their relationship to that reality. Adult children of dysfunctional families are a…

Vocabulary Facilitates Speech Perception in Children With Hearing Aids.

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, Kelsey E; Walker, Elizabeth A; Kirby, Benjamin; McCreery, Ryan W

2017-08-16

We examined the effects of vocabulary, lexical characteristics (age of acquisition and phonotactic probability), and auditory access (aided audibility and daily hearing aid [HA] use) on speech perception skills in children with HAs. Participants included 24 children with HAs and 25 children with normal hearing (NH), ages 5-12 years. Groups were matched on age, expressive and receptive vocabulary, articulation, and nonverbal working memory. Participants repeated monosyllabic words and nonwords in noise. Stimuli varied on age of acquisition, lexical frequency, and phonotactic probability. Performance in each condition was measured by the signal-to-noise ratio at which the child could accurately repeat 50% of the stimuli. Children from both groups with larger vocabularies showed better performance than children with smaller vocabularies on nonwords and late-acquired words but not early-acquired words. Overall, children with HAs showed poorer performance than children with NH. Auditory access was not associated with speech perception for the children with HAs. Children with HAs show deficits in sensitivity to phonological structure but appear to take advantage of vocabulary skills to support speech perception in the same way as children with NH. Further investigation is needed to understand the causes of the gap that exists between the overall speech perception abilities of children with HAs and children with NH.

Parotid enlargement in children with AIDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soberman, N.; Leonidas, J.C.; Berdon, W.E.; Haller, J.O.; Posner, M.; Bonagura, V.

1990-01-01

PURPOSE: Painless parotid enlargement has been recently reported as a sign of AIDS, but little is known of the imaging characteristics of parotid involvement in affected children. The aim of this paper is to use US, CT and MR imaging to determine the anatomic changes of the parotid; study their possible association with pulmonary lymphoid hyperplasia (PLH); and define the immunologic parameters and clinical course. Eighteen children were evaluated clinically, radiologically, and immunologically. All patients underwent US of the parotids and chest radiography; some children had CT of the chest and MR imaging of the parotids

Parent Perceptions of Family Social Supports in Families With Children With Epilepsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Decker, Kim A; Miller, Wendy R; Buelow, Janice M

2016-12-01

When a child is diagnosed with epilepsy, not only has the child's life been disrupted but also the family's sense of normalcy. Although there is considerable literature discussing family concerns and social support issues in families with chronically ill children, a major gap lies in the exploration of how the specifics of childhood epilepsy affect parents and family operations. The purpose of this study was to identify psychosocial care needs of parents of children with epilepsy. Utilizing the Family Systems Nursing theory as a framework, this correlation study examined the relationships among social and community support, family needs, family empowerment, and family quality of life in 29 primary caregivers of a child with epilepsy. These families felt highly supported; they had low needs and high perceptions of empowerment. There was a negative association between social supports and the total family needs survey scale and the subscales of financial support, help regarding explaining to others, and professional support. There was no association between family empowerment or quality of life with parental perceptions of social support. In general, as parental perceptions of family needs increased, perceptions of familial social supports decreased. Further research is recommended to investigate varying socioeconomic status effects in families with children with pediatric epilepsy.

Technology-dependent Children and Home Care

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Nurdan Akçay Didişen

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Today, with the rapid development in the field of healthcare technology which is reflected in medicine and patient care, the number of children who are dependent on technological tools and in need of special care, and sustain life in the home environment is rapidly increasing. These children require a multidisciplinary, multifunctional care at home. In the provision of care, healthcare workers, such as physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, social workers and psychologists, work in coordination. The aim of this review was to draw attention to the care of the technology-dependent children at home. In order to achieve the goals of the care given to the technology-dependent child, inclusion of the family in the provision of care is of importance. In order to improve the care given to these children at home, home care services must be well planned and their families should be trained on the issue because delaying the discharge of these children may increase their risk of developing a hospital-acquired infection and can extend the length of their stay in the hospital. This not only increases hospital costs but also leads to the occupation of a bed in the pediatric intensive care unit. Therefore, home healthcare is an alternative for technology-dependent children with chronic diseases and for their families. Therefore, more efforts should be made to plan and evaluate home care services, to set up support and training systems, and to make legal arrangements.

Family-Peer Linkages for Children with Intellectual Disability and Children with Learning Disabilities.

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Floyd, Frank J; Olsen, Darren L

2017-09-01

Family interactions are potential contexts for children with intellectual and learning disabilities to develop skillful social behaviors needed to relate effectively with peers. This study examined problem solving interactions within families of elementary school-age children (7-11 years) with intellectual disability (n = 37), specific learning disabilities (n =48), and without disabilities (n = 22). After accounting for group differences in children's behaviors and peer acceptance, across all groups, mothers' behaviors that encouraged egalitarian problem solving predicted more engaged and skillful problem solving by the children. However, mothers' controlling, directive behaviors predicted fewer of these behaviors by the children. Fathers' behaviors had mixed associations with the children's actions, possibly because they were reactive to children's unengaged and negative behaviors. For the children, greater involvement, more facilitative behaviors, and less negativity with their families were associated with greater acceptance from their peers, supporting family-peer linkages for children at risk for peer rejection.

Lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia in children with AIDS: high-resolution CT findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becciolini, V.; Gudinchet, F.; Schnyder, P.; Cheseaux, J.J.

2001-01-01

Pulmonary involvement in children with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) represents a wide spectrum of diseases. Among the non-infectious, non-neoplastic affections associated with AIDS, lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia (LIP) is now a well-recognized entity, but its radiological pattern studied with high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) has rarely been described in children. The aim of this study was to illustrate the HRCT spectrum of pulmonary involvement in children with LIP and to evaluate its usefulness in the early diagnosis of this entity. Twelve children with AIDS, aged 3-9 years (mean age 5 years 7 months), underwent chest radiographs and HRCT. A control group of 7 healthy aged-matched children was also studied in the same conditions. Diagnosis of LIP was based on clinical data and HRCT findings. Eight children of 12 had a reticulonodular pattern on chest radiographs. Two children had normal chest films and two children showed peribronchiolar thickening. High-resolution CT displayed micronodules, 1-3 mm in diameter, with a perilymphatic distribution in all patients. High-resolution CT demonstrated also subpleural nodules in children without reticulonodular opacities on chest radiographs. High-resolution CT is able to define a more specific pattern of abnormalities than conventional chest radiographs in children with LIP, allows an earlier and more confident diagnosis and may be useful for the detection of other pathologies associated with AIDS, such as opportunistic infections or superimposed malignancies. (orig.)

Home discharge of technology-dependent children: evaluation of a respiratory-therapist driven family education program.

Science.gov (United States)

Tearl, Donna K; Hertzog, James H

2007-02-01

Initial hospital discharge to home of technology-dependent children requires extensive training and education of the family caregivers. Education of adult family members should promote positive interactions in a nonthreatening manner while facilitating the development of the knowledge and skills to competently and independently provide all aspects of the medical care. We utilize a training program for adult family members of children who have undergone tracheostomy to facilitate long-term mechanical ventilatory support and who are being prepared for their initial discharge from the hospital to home. A dedicated respiratory therapist family educator directs this program. Multiple teaching tools, activities, and training sessions, based on adult learning theory, are utilized to develop appropriate clinical skills to manage children with tracheostomies and the associated technological supports. We evaluated the effectiveness of our program by administering a written test to caregivers, at the start and the conclusion of their training. We also surveyed the caregivers about their satisfaction with the educational program and the respiratory therapist family educator's performance. We also surveyed employees of the durable medical equipment companies used by the families, regarding the caregivers' knowledge and competency in the home one month following discharge. Our program was associated with a statistically significant improvement in caregiver test performance, and the caregivers expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the program. The employees of the durable medical equipment companies perceived a high degree of knowledge and competence on the part of the home caregivers. Our training program appears to have a positive impact on the educational preparation of caregivers.

Psychological Impact of AIDS on Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Belfer, Myron L.

There are at least three aspects to the psychological impact of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) on children. First is the psychological response of the child with AIDS; second, the response of the child in a group at high risk for AIDS; and third, the psychological response of children in general to the perceived threat from AIDS.…

Transforming Parent-Child Interaction in Family Routines: Longitudinal Analysis with Families of Children with Developmental Disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Lucyshyn, Joseph M; Fossett, Brenda; Bakeman, Roger; Cheremshynski, Christy; Miller, Lynn; Lohrmann, Sharon; Binnendyk, Lauren; Khan, Sophia; Chinn, Stephen; Kwon, Samantha; Irvin, Larry K

2015-12-01

The efficacy and consequential validity of an ecological approach to behavioral intervention with families of children with developmental disabilities was examined. The approach aimed to transform coercive into constructive parent-child interaction in family routines. Ten families participated, including 10 mothers and fathers and 10 children 3-8 years old with developmental disabilities. Thirty-six family routines were selected (2 to 4 per family). Dependent measures included child problem behavior, routine steps completed, and coercive and constructive parent-child interaction. For each family, a single case, multiple baseline design was employed with three phases: baseline, intervention, and follow-up. Visual analysis evaluated the functional relation between intervention and improvements in child behavior and routine participation. Nonparametric tests across families evaluated the statistical significance of these improvements. Sequential analyses within families and univariate analyses across families examined changes from baseline to intervention in the percentage and odds ratio of coercive and constructive parent-child interaction. Multiple baseline results documented functional or basic effects for 8 of 10 families. Nonparametric tests showed these changes to be significant. Follow-up showed durability at 11 to 24 months postintervention. Sequential analyses documented the transformation of coercive into constructive processes for 9 of 10 families. Univariate analyses across families showed significant improvements in 2- and 4-step coercive and constructive processes but not in odds ratio. Results offer evidence of the efficacy of the approach and consequential validity of the ecological unit of analysis, parent-child interaction in family routines. Future studies should improve efficiency, and outcomes for families experiencing family systems challenges.

Care of children with HIV infection and AIDS in Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Marum, L H; Tindyebwa, D; Gibb, D

1997-01-01

HIV/AIDS is a major cause of pediatric morbidity and mortality, especially in Africa. The UN Joint Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates that 85% of the 2.6 million children with HIV infection are from sub-Saharan Africa. About 650,000 children are living with HIV/AIDS and approximately 1000 infected infants are born every day in Africa. Since few of the 7 million infected African women have access to HIV testing and counseling, not to mention interventions such as AZT to reduce the risk of HIV transmission to their infants, the high incidence of HIV-infected children in Africa will likely continue for some time. The countries of east and southern Africa and several countries in west Africa have the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world. The development of cost-effective strategies to provide care and improve the quality of life of HIV-infected infants and children in Africa should be a priority area for increased research and support. The authors describe progress in understanding the natural history of HIV infection in African children, review strategies for managing HIV-infected children in resource-poor settings, and discuss issues of community response and counseling for children.

Karmic quest: Thai family caregivers promoting a peaceful death for people with AIDS.

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Nilmanat, Kittikorn; Street, Annette F

2007-12-01

This paper reports the constructions of karma by four Thai family caregivers living with a dying person with AIDS in Southern Thailand. These four families form a subset of a larger ethnographic case study exploring the experiences of families living with a relative with AIDS. Serial interviews, observations, and field journal were used as data collection methods with the four families. The findings indicated that the karmic quest is a dominant theme in the narratives of these families caring for their loved ones dying with AIDS. The 'calm and peaceful' death that is described in the palliative care literature equated with their desire for the Buddhist philosophy of a harmonious death. The families used the law of karma and reincarnation as their main frame of reference and mobilised their religious resources to create meaning and purpose. Karmic healing activities were aimed at ending suffering, promoting a peaceful and calm death and ensuring a better life in the next one. The findings are important for the development of palliative nursing practice in Thailand by acknowledging religious and cultural values to promote peaceful death.

Search for a cure: narratives of Thai family caregivers living with a person with AIDS.

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Nilmanat, Kittikorn; Street, Annette

2004-09-01

Facing an incurable prognosis Thai families search for a cure for AIDS using all possible means available to them. This paper reports a longitudinal narrative case study of eight family caregivers caring for a relative with AIDS in rural Southern Thailand. The paper demonstrates how the caregivers living with a person with AIDS made sense of illness episodes, and how they chose and evaluated particular treatments and care. Caregivers moved between modern medicine, traditional/folk medicine, supernatural healing rites, religious performances, and home remedies in their search for a cure. The findings indicate that a more holistic and palliative approach is needed toward AIDS care.

Family communication about HIV/AIDS and sexual behaviour ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Bivariate analysis showed significant gender differences in sexual activity, condom use, and family communication about HIV/AIDS. Logistic regression analysis showed that student-family communication about HIV/AIDS was not associated with sexual activity. However, communication about HIV/AIDS between students ...

Gaze Patterns in Auditory-Visual Perception of Emotion by Children with Hearing Aids and Hearing Children

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Yifang Wang

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study investigated eye-movement patterns during emotion perception for children with hearing aids and hearing children. Seventy-eight participants aged from 3 to 7 were asked to watch videos with a facial expression followed by an oral statement, and these two cues were either congruent or incongruent in emotional valence. Results showed that while hearing children paid more attention to the upper part of the face, children with hearing aids paid more attention to the lower part of the face after the oral statement was presented, especially for the neutral facial expression/neutral oral statement condition. These results suggest that children with hearing aids have an altered eye contact pattern with others and a difficulty in matching visual and voice cues in emotion perception. The negative cause and effect of these gaze patterns should be avoided in earlier rehabilitation for hearing-impaired children with assistive devices.

Auditory and language skills of children using hearing aids

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Leticia Macedo Penna

2015-04-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Hearing loss may impair the development of a child. The rehabilitation process for individuals with hearing loss depends on effective interventions.OBJECTIVE: To describe the linguistic profile and the hearing skills of children using hearing aids, to characterize the rehabilitation process and to analyze its association with the children's degree of hearing loss.METHODS: Cross-sectional study with a non-probabilistic sample of 110 children using hearing aids (6-10 years of age for mild to profound hearing loss. Tests of language, speech perception, phonemic discrimination, and school performance were performed. The associations were verified by the following tests: chi-squared for linear trend and Kruskal-Wallis.RESULTS: About 65% of the children had altered vocabulary, whereas 89% and 94% had altered phonology and inferior school performance, respectively. The degree of hearing loss was associated with differences in the median age of diagnosis; the age at which the hearing aids were adapted and at which speech therapy was started; and the performance on auditory tests and the type of communication used.CONCLUSION: The diagnosis of hearing loss and the clinical interventions occurred late, contributing to impairments in auditory and language development.

Assessing play-based activities, child talk, and single session outcome in family therapy with young children.

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Willis, Amber B; Walters, Lynda H; Crane, D Russell

2014-07-01

This exploratory, observational study was designed to reveal descriptive information regarding therapists' actual practices with preschool- and school-aged children in a single session of family therapy and to investigate change mechanisms in family play therapy that have been proposed to make this approach effective. A purposive sample of 30 families receiving family therapy was recruited and video-taped during a family session where at least one child between the ages of 4 and 12 was present. Following the session, the therapist and parent(s) completed questionnaires while one of the children (aged 4-12) was interviewed. Session recordings were coded, minute-by-minute, for participant talk time, visual aids or props used, and therapy technique type (e.g., play-based/activity vs. talk-only techniques). Hierarchical regression and canonical correlational analyses revealed evidence supporting the theory that play-based techniques promote young children's participation, enhance the quality of the child-therapist relationship, and build positive emotional experiences in family therapy. © 2013 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Which Children Are Not Getting Their Needs for Therapy or Mobility Aids Met? Data From the 2009-2010 National Survey of Children With Special Health Care Needs.

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McManus, Beth M; Prosser, Laura A; Gannotti, Mary E

2016-02-01

Pediatric rehabilitation therapy services and mobility aids have an important role in the health of children with special health care needs, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) may increase coverage for these needs. Identifying the prevalence of and factors associated with therapy and mobility aid needs and unmet needs prior to the full implementation of the ACA will be useful for future evaluation of its impact. The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence of and factors associated with caregiver perceived needs and unmet needs for therapy or mobility aids among children with special health care needs living in the United States. A cross-sectional, descriptive, multivariate analysis was conducted. The 2009-2010 National Survey of Children With Special Health Care Needs was used to identify a nationally representative sample of children with special health care needs with needs for therapy (weighted n=2,603,605) or mobility aids (weighted n=437,971). Odds of having unmet needs associated with child and family characteristics were estimated. Nearly 1 in 5 children with therapy needs had unmet needs, and nearly 1 in 10 children with mobility aid needs had unmet needs. Unmet needs were most strongly associated with how frequently the condition affected function and being uninsured in the previous year. Data were caregiver reported and not verified by clinical assessment. Survey data grouped physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy; analysis was not discipline specific. This evidence serves as a baseline about the future impact of the ACA. Pediatric rehabilitation professionals should be aware that children with special health care needs whose condition more frequently affects function and who have insurance discontinuity may need more support to meet therapy or mobility aid needs. © 2016 American Physical Therapy Association.

Inspiring Families to Embrace Children's Daily Connections with Nature

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Exchange: The Early Childhood Leaders' Magazine Since 1978, 2012

2012-01-01

In today's world, families are bombarded with messages that tout the "latest and greatest" gadget to buy if they want their children to grow into happy, healthy, productive adults. Parents are overwhelmed with information that persuades them to provide the "right" kind of experience for their children. Even though the benefits of a childhood…

Family relationships versus learning: an analysis with children aged 5 and 6 years

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Marisa Claudia Jacometo Durante

2017-01-01

Full Text Available As the first mediator between man and culture, the family constitutes the dynamic unity of affective, social and cognitive relations that are immersed in the material, historical and cultural conditions of a given social group. The overall objective of the study was to investigate whether family relationships can compromise children’s learning. Specifically, it was intended to: a Identify conflicts in family relationships; B To verify if the conflicts in the family relations can compromise the interpersonal relationship of the children in the literacy phase; C Analyze whether conflicts in family relationships interfere with children’s learning. A total of 219 families with children aged 5 and 6 participated in the study. The main results indicate that there is a distancing of the parents in relation to the school life of the children, as well as in the family relationships there is a mixture of conflict and affection. It is considered that the learning of children can be compromised by conflicts in family relationships because learning and school performance depend primarily on family interaction and later on the relationship between teacher-student.

The comparison of balance performance among children with cochlear implantation, post-aural aid and normal children

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Arezoo Ahmad pour

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Background: This cross-sectional study was carried out to compare balance performance between children with cochlear implants and post-aural aid and normal children. Methods: The present study was done on 67 severe to profound hearing impaired children. Of these, 21 children with an average age of 7 years and 4 months (±1.7 wore cochlear implant, 46 children with an average age of 7 years and 7 months (±1.7 wore post-aural aid and 60 children with an average 8 years and one month (±11 months were considered as a control group. All of the children were tested with the 9-stage balance subtest of Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency2 (BOT2. Results: The mean total BOT2 score of hearing impaired children was significantly lower than the normal group (P≤0.001. The mean total BOT2 score among children with cochlear implant, post-aural aids and normal group showed that cochlear implant group significantly performed weaker than the other two groups (P≤0.001. Conclusion: Hearing impaired children particularly children with cochlear implant are exposed to the risk of balance deficit. Hearing impaired children specially those who wear cochlear implants must be screened for vestibular hypofunction.

A structural model of family empowerment for families of children with special needs.

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Han, Kuem Sun; Yang, Yunkyung; Hong, Yeong Seon

2018-03-01

To explain and predict family empowerment in families of children with special needs. Family empowerment of families of children with special needs can be explained using the Double ABCX model. Although constant stressors such as parenting stress and family demands can have negative effects on family empowerment, family resources and parenting efficacy can mediate the negative effect through effective coping strategies. A cross-sectional research design was employed. A survey was conducted with 240 parents of children with special needs. Upon exclusion of four responses deemed inadequate to the statistics process, 236 responses were selected for the analysis. Based on the items used in the previous research, we used the scale of family demands 38, the scale of parenting stress 24, the scale of parenting efficacy 37, the scale of pattern of organisation 30, the scale of communication process 16 and the scale of family empowerment 32. In families of children with special needs, parenting stress had a negative effect on parenting efficacy and family resources, namely, pattern of organisation and communication process. Family needs had a positive effect on parenting efficacy. Parenting stress and family demands influenced family empowerment through parenting efficacy and family resources (pattern of organisation and communication process), while parenting efficacy contributed to family empowerment. This study empirically analysed the usefulness of the Double ABCX model in predicting family empowerment. Family resource factors (organisation pattern and communication process) and perception or judgement factors (such as parenting efficacy) were found to mediate the negative impact of various stressors experienced by families of children with special needs. The study findings suggest that clinical practice and management should focus on providing efficient intervention methods to lower stress in families of children with special needs. Reinforcing factors contributing to

Predictors of Mental Health Resilience in Children who Have Been Parentally Bereaved by AIDS in Urban South Africa.

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Collishaw, Stephan; Gardner, Frances; Lawrence Aber, J; Cluver, Lucie

2016-05-01

Children parentally bereaved by AIDS experience high rates of mental health problems. However, there is considerable variability in outcomes, and some show no mental health problems even when followed over time. Primary aims were to identify predictors of resilient adaptation at child, family and community levels within a group of AIDS-orphaned children, and to consider their cumulative influence. A secondary aim was to test whether predictors were of particular influence among children orphaned by AIDS relative to non-orphaned and other-orphaned children. AIDS-orphaned (n = 290), other-orphaned (n = 163) and non-orphaned (n = 202) adolescents living in informal settlements in Cape Town, South Africa were assessed on two occasions 4 years apart (mean age 13.5 years at Time 1, range = 10-19 years). Self-report mental health screens were used to operationalise resilience in AIDS-orphaned children as the absence of clinical-range symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, depression, conduct problems, and suicidality. A quarter of AIDS-orphaned children (24 %) showed no evidence of mental health problems at either wave. Child physical health, better caregiving quality, food security, better peer relationship quality, and lower exposure to community violence, bullying or stigma at baseline predicted sustained resilience. There were cumulative influences across predictors. Associations with mental health showed little variation by child age or gender, or between orphaned and non-orphaned children. Mental health resilience is associated with multiple processes across child, family and community levels of influence. Caution is needed in making causal inferences.

Invisible work: Child work in households with a person living with HIV/AIDS in Central Uganda.

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Abimanyi-Ochom, Julie; Inder, Brett; Hollingsworth, Bruce; Lorgelly, Paula

2017-12-01

HIV/AIDS has led to increased mortality and morbidity, negatively impacting adult labour especially in HIV/AIDS burdened Sub-Saharan Africa. There has been some exploration of the effects of HIV/AIDS on paid child labour, but little empirical work on children's non-paid child work. This paper provides quantitative evidence of how child and household-level factors affect children's involvement in both domestic and family farm work for households with a person living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) compared to non-PLWHA households using the 2010/2011 Centre for Health Economics Uganda HIV questionnaire Survey. Descriptive analysis and multivariate logistic modelling is used to explore child and household-level factors that affect children's work participation. This research reveals greater demands on the labour of children in PLWHA households in terms of family farm work especially for boys. Results highlight the expected gendered social responsibilities within the household space, with girls and boys engaged more in domestic and family farm work, respectively. Girls shared a greater proportion of household financial burden by working more hours in paid work outside the household than boys. Lastly, the study revealed that a household head's occupation increases children's participation in farm work but had a partial compensatory effect on their involvement in domestic work. Wealth and socio-economic standing is no guarantee to reducing child work. Children from PLWHA households are more vulnerable to child work in family farm work especially boys; and girls are burdened beyond the household space through paid work. Differing perspectives and solutions need to consider the contextual nature of child work.

Family Demands, Social Support and Family Functioning in Taiwanese Families Rearing Children with Down Syndrome

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Hsiao, C-Y.

2014-01-01

Background: Down syndrome (DS) affects not only children but also their families. Much remains to be learned about factors that influence how families of children with DS function, especially families in non-Western populations. The purpose of this cross-sectional, correlational study was to examine how family demographics, family demands and…

Language ability in children with permanent hearing impairment: the influence of early management and family participation.

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Watkin, Peter; McCann, Donna; Law, Catherine; Mullee, Mark; Petrou, Stavros; Stevenson, Jim; Worsfold, Sarah; Yuen, Ho Ming; Kennedy, Colin

2007-09-01

The goal was to examine the relationships between management after confirmation, family participation, and speech and language outcomes in the same group of children with permanent childhood hearing impairment. Speech, oral language, and nonverbal abilities, expressed as z scores and adjusted in a regression model, and Family Participation Rating Scale scores were assessed at a mean age of 7.9 years for 120 children with bilateral permanent childhood hearing impairment from a 1992-1997 United Kingdom birth cohort. Ages at institution of management and hearing aid fitting were obtained retrospectively from case notes. Compared with children managed later (> 9 months), those managed early (early did not have significantly higher scores for these outcomes. Family Participation Rating Scale scores showed significant positive correlations with language and speech intelligibility scores only for those with confirmation after 9 months and were highest for those with late confirmed, severe/profound, permanent childhood hearing impairment. Early management of permanent childhood hearing impairment results in improved language. Family participation is also an important factor in cases that are confirmed late, especially for children with severe or profound permanent childhood hearing impairment.

Children's Self-Concepts as Related to Family Structure and Family Concept.

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Parish, Joycelyn G.; Parish, Thomas S.

1983-01-01

Surveyed 426 children from intact, divorced, and reconstituted families, who responded to the Personal Attribute Inventory for Children to evaluate their families and themselves. Results showed a significant association between children's self-concepts and both their family structure and family concepts. (JAC)

Exploring children’s stigmatisation of AIDS-affected children in Zimbabwe through drawings and stories

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Campbell, Catherine; Skovdal, Morten; Mupambireyi, Zivai; Gregson, Simon

2010-01-01

AIDS-related stigma is a major contributor to the health and psychosocial well-being of children affected by AIDS. Whilst it is often suggested that AIDS-affected children may be stigmatised by other children, to date no research focuses specifically on child-on-child stigma. Using social representations theory, we explore how Zimbabwean children represent AIDS-affected peers, examining (i) whether or not they stigmatise, (ii) the forms stigma takes, and (iii) the existence of non-stigmatising representations that might serve as resources for stigma-reduction interventions. Our interest in identifying both stigmatising and non-stigmatising representations is informed by a theory of change which accords a central role to community-level debate and dialogue in challenging and reframing stigmatising representations. In late 2008, 50 children (aged 10–12) were asked to “draw a picture of a child whose family has been affected by AIDS in any way”, and to write short stories about their drawings. Thematic analysis of stories and drawings revealed frequent references to stigmatisation of AIDS-affected children – with other children refusing to play with them, generally keeping their distance and bullying them. However children also frequently showed a degree of empathy and respect for AIDS-affected children’s caring roles and for their love and concern for their AIDS-infected parents. We argue that a key strategy for stigma-reduction interventions is to open up social spaces in which group members (in this case children) can identify the diverse and contradictory ways they view a stigmatised out-group, providing opportunities for them to exercise agency in collectively challenging and renegotiating negative representations. Contrary to the common view that drawings enable children to achieve greater emotional expression than written stories, our children’s drawings tended to be comparatively stereotypical and normative. It was in written stories that children

Communication and support from health-care professionals to families, with dependent children, following the diagnosis of parental life-limiting illness: A systematic review.

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Fearnley, Rachel; Boland, Jason W

2017-03-01

Communication between parents and their children about parental life-limiting illness is stressful. Parents want support from health-care professionals; however, the extent of this support is not known. Awareness of family's needs would help ensure appropriate support. To find the current literature exploring (1) how parents with a life-limiting illness, who have dependent children, perceive health-care professionals' communication with them about the illness, diagnosis and treatments, including how social, practical and emotional support is offered to them and (2) how this contributes to the parents' feelings of supporting their children. A systematic literature review and narrative synthesis. Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL and ASSIA ProQuest were searched in November 2015 for studies assessing communication between health-care professionals and parents about how to talk with their children about the parent's illness. There were 1342 records identified, five qualitative studies met the inclusion criteria (55 ill parents, 11 spouses/carers, 26 children and 16 health-care professionals). Parents wanted information from health-care professionals about how to talk to their children about the illness; this was not routinely offered. Children also want to talk with a health-care professional about their parents' illness. Health-care professionals are concerned that conversations with parents and their children will be too difficult and time-consuming. Parents with a life-limiting illness want support from their health-care professionals about how to communicate with their children about the illness. Their children look to health-care professionals for information about their parent's illness. Health-care professionals, have an important role but appear reluctant to address these concerns because of fears of insufficient time and expertise.

Parental HIV/AIDS status and death, and children's psychological wellbeing

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Doku Paul

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Ghana has an estimated one million orphans, 250,000 are due to AIDS parental deaths. This is the first study that examined the impact of parental HIV/AIDS status and death on the mental health of children in Ghana. Methods In a cross-sectional survey, 4 groups of 200 children (children whose parents died of AIDS, children whose parents died of causes other than AIDS, children living with parents infected with HIV/AIDS, and non-orphaned children whose parents are not known to be infected with HIV/AIDS aged between 10 and 19 were interviewed on their hyperactivity, emotional, conduct, and peer problems using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Results Children whose parents died of AIDS showed very high levels of peer problems [F (3,196 = 7.34, p Conclusion Orphans and children living with parents infected with HIV/AIDS are at heightened risks for emotional and behavioural disorders and that efforts to address problems in children affected by HIV/AIDS must focus on both groups of children. Parallel to this, researchers should see these findings as generated hypotheses (rather than conclusions calling for further exploration of specific causal linkages between HIV/AIDS and children's mental health, using more rigorous research tools and designs.

Effect of HIV/AIDS on Children's Attitudes toward Learning: Voices of Teachers and Caregivers in Western Kenya

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Jepkemboi, Grace; Aldridge, Jerry

2014-01-01

The well-being of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS is often significantly compromised, as they are prone to discrimination, victimization, and exclusion from social and familial structures. The present study examines the effect of HIV/AIDS on children's attitudes toward learning, as perceived by teachers and caregivers. Teachers and caregivers from…

Comparison of Peer and Self-Video Modeling in Teaching First Aid Skills to Children with Intellectual Disability

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Ozkan, Serife Yucesoy

2013-01-01

The purposes of this study were to (1) compare peer and self-video modeling in terms of effectiveness and efficiency in teaching first aid skills to children with intellectual disability and (2) analyze the error patterns made in probe sessions to determine whether the children who took the role of sufferers during the first aid skill sessions…

A qualitative study of doctors' and nurses' barriers to communicating with seriously ill patients about their dependent children

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dencker, Annemarie; Rix, Bo Andreassen; Bøge, Per

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Research indicates that health personnel caring for seriously ill patients with dependent children aged 0 to 18 years often avoid discussing with them the challenges of being a family with a parent in treatment. Children of seriously ill patients risk serious trauma and emotional...... difficulty later in life and depend on adult support to minimize these consequences. Patients suffer anxiety about supporting their children during their illness. Because of their potentially pivotal role in supporting patients in enabling parent-child communication, we examined HP's structural and emotional...... barriers to communicating with patients about their children. METHODS: The study was based on 49 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with doctors and nurses working with haematology, gynaecological cancer, and neurointensive care. Both interviews and analysis addressed emotional and structural barriers...

Family Routines and Parental Monitoring as Protective Factors among Early and Middle Adolescents Affected by Maternal HIV/AIDS

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Murphy, Debra A.; Marelich, William D.; Herbeck, Diane M.; Payne, Diana L.

2009-01-01

The influence of parenting skills on adolescent outcomes among children affected by maternal HIV/AIDS (N = 118, M age = 13) was investigated. Among families with more frequent family routines, over time adolescents showed lower rates of aggression, anxiety, worry, depression, conduct disorder, binge drinking, and increased self-concept. Among…

Talking about parental substance abuse with children: eight families' experiences of Beardslee's family intervention.

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Pihkala, Heljä; Dimova-Bränström, Neda; Sandlund, Mikael

2017-07-01

Many children are affected by parental substance use disorder. Beardslee's family intervention (BFI) is a family-based psycho-educative method for children of mentally ill parents, used in psychiatric practise in several Nordic countries. The method has also been used to some extent when a parent suffers from substance use disorder. The aim of the study was to explore the family members' experiences of the BFI when a parent has a diagnosis of substance use disorder, to gain new knowledge about the process of the BFI in this area. Ten children and 14 parents were interviewed about their experiences 6 months after a BFI. The interviews were analyzed by qualitative content analysis. The children's psychological symptoms were measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at baseline and after 6 months. Increased openness about the substance use disorder in the families was a recurrent theme throughout the material and a central issue reported in the children's experiences. The children had a high level of psychological symptoms according to the SDQ at baseline, but the majority of them felt that the BFI made a positive difference in their families and for themselves. The parents reported improved wellbeing of their children. Positive experienced effects for children and parents are reported in families with parental substance use disorder, with possible connection to use of BFI. The present study suggests that Beardslee's family intervention is applicable as a preventive method for children in families with a parent suffering from substance use disorder.

Functions and sources of perceived social support among children affected by HIV/AIDS in China.

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Zhao, Guoxiang; Li, Xiaoming; Fang, Xiaoyi; Zhao, Junfeng; Hong, Yan; Lin, Xiuyun; Stanton, Bonita

2011-06-01

While the relationship between perceived social support (PSS) and psychosocial well-being has been well documented in the global literature, existing studies also suggest the existence of multiple domains in definition and measurement of PSS. The current study, utilizing data from 1299 rural children affected by HIV/AIDS in central China, examines the relative importance of PSS functional measures (informational/emotional, material/tangible, affectionate, and social interaction) and PSS structural measures (family/relatives, teachers, friends, and significant others) in predicting psychosocial outcomes including internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and educational resilience. Both functional and structural measures of PSS provided reliable measures of related but unique aspects of PSS. The findings of the current study confirmed the previous results that PSS is highly correlated with children's psychosocial well-being and such correlations vary by functions and sources of the PSS as well as different psychosocial outcomes. The findings in the current study suggested the roles of specific social support functions or resources may need to be assessed in relation to specific psychosocial outcome and the context of children's lives. The strong association between PSS and psychosocial outcomes underscores the importance of adequate social support to alleviate stressful life events and improve psychosocial well-being of children affected by HIV/AIDS. Meanwhile, the study findings call for gender and developmentally appropriate and situation-specific social support for children and families affected by HIV/AIDS.

[Effect of rehabilitation for prelingual deaf children who use cochlear implants in conjunction with hearing aids in the opposite ears].

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Yanjing; Zhou, Huifang; Zhang, Jing; Yang, Dong; Xu, Yi; Guo, Yuxi

2012-10-01

To compare the effect of rehabilitation of prelingual deaf children who used a cochlear implant (CI) in one ear and a hearing aids in the opposite ear while the hearing level of the opposite ears are different. Hearing ability, language ability and learning ability was included in the content. The aim of this research is to investigate better style of rehabilitation, and to offer the best help to the prelingual deaf children. Accord ing to the hearing level of the ear opposite to the one wearing a cochlear implant and whether the opposite ear wear a hearing aid or not, 30 prelingual deaf children were divided into three groups, including cochlear implant with opposite severe hearing loss and hearing aid ear (CI+SHA), cochlear implant with opposite profound hearing loss and hearing aid ear (CI+PHA), cochlear implant only (CI). The effect of rehabilitation was assessed in six different times (3,6,9,12,15 and 18 months after the cochlear implants and hearing aids began to work). The longer time the rehabilitation spends, the better the hearing ability,language ability and the learning ability were. The hearing ability of CI+SHA was better than those of CI+PHA (Pdeaf children should take much more time on rehabilitation. The effect of rehabilitation for prelingual deaf children who used cochlear implant in one ear and hearing aid in the other depend on the residual hearing level of the other ear. If a prelingual deaf children still has any residual hearing level in the ear opposite to the cochlear implant ear, it is better for him/her to wear a hearing aid in the ear.

Constructing a relevant decision aid for parents of children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

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Skibo, M; Guillen, U; Zhang, H; Munson, D; Mackley, A; Nilan, K; Kirpalani, H

2017-12-01

To develop and test a decision aid for counseling parents of children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).Local problem:Parental education about complex conditions is not standardized and communication and understanding may not be adequate. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 33 neonatal clinicians and 12 parents of children with BPD using a qualitative research design. The interviews were used to identify education topics that were felt to be important in BPD education. These topics were then used to create a visual decision aid to be used in counseling sessions with parents. The decision aid was then used in mock counseling sessions with 15 'experienced' participants and 7 'naïve' participants to assess its efficacy. The participants completed a pre and post test to assess change in knowledge as well as an 11-question Likert style acceptability survey. Implementation of a decision aid while educating parents about BPD. Topics identified during the interviews were used to create eight educational cards which included pictures, pictographs and statistics. Overall, participants thought the decision aid contained an appropriate amount of information, were easy to understand and improved their knowledge about BPD. Testing demonstrated a significant increase in knowledge in both the 'experienced' (Pdecision aid for parents of children with BPD may improve understanding of the condition and help facilitate communication between parents and doctors.

[Basic health care. AIDS and children].

Science.gov (United States)

van de Pasch, T

1994-02-17

The total number of children in Africa who died of AIDS is estimated at 700,000. Based on a 30% rate of maternal transmission of HIV infection to children and an annual birth rate of 40/1000, in urban areas about 120,000 children are born with HIV infection. In rural areas the figure is 240,000. In addition, another 120,000 die because of diminished care, thus it is estimated that a total of 480,000 children die of AIDS per year, 30-40% of child mortality of the continent. In the AIDS-affected areas, 30% of children have become orphans. In Katete, Zambia, with a population of 157,000, there are 20,000 orphans, half of whom lost one or both parents because of AIDS, and 2400 of whom lost both parents. A project was designed with the objective of helping orphans. First they had to be counted, using an interview team of 39 persons who visited 450 households in five villages. There were a total of 311 orphans of whom 148 were AIDS orphans. 62% of the 20,000 orphans in the district of Katete do not go to school. In Lusaka in 1990, orphans made up 10% of all children, but 3 years later in Katete, 23% of all children were orphans. The girls are often kept away from school in order to take of their sick mothers. When the father is also sick, there is no more money for school uniforms or fees. In the plans of the St. Francis Hospital AIDS project for 1994-98, a great deal of attention was given to the care of orphans. This will be carried out by local health workers who have taken a course in the hospital and have solid work experience. They will deliver a package containing the most essential necessities for the orphans: school uniform, books, pens, soap, flour, milk powder, and dried beans. There are more projects in the program, including a women's group that wants to sew school uniforms and a health education plan.

Parenting and Children's Externalizing Problems in Substance-Abusing Families

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Stanger, Catherine; Dumenci, Levent; Kamon, Jody; Burstein, Marcy

2004-01-01

This study tested associations in path models among positive and negative parenting and children's rule-breaking behavior, aggressive and oppositional behavior, and attention problems for families with a drug-dependent parent. A structural model tested relations between parenting and children's externalizing problems for 251 families with 399…

[Learning about the social support provided to the family caregiver assisting a family dependent].

Science.gov (United States)

Nardi, Edileuza de Fátima Rosina; de Oliveira, Magda Lúcia Félix

2008-03-01

The elderly suffering disability caused by diseases need a network of support in order to continue feeling socially active. This study aims at characterizing the social support provided to the family caregiver who looks after an elderly dependent, in Brazil. A descriptive study with qualitative approach was conducted at the municipality of Jandaia do Sul, Paraná, Brazil. Data collection was performed through semi-structured interviews with 19 primary family caregivers. Data analysis was based on Thematic Analysis. The results show that when it comes to informal sources, the reference to grown up children was mostly used, while as formal ones Unidade Básica de Saúde, the Brazilian Basic Health Unit, and the team from Programa Saúde da Familia, Brazilian Pro-Family Health Program, were referred to. However, the image of Community Health Agent was the most mentioned. Thus, it is necessary to create support nets to integrate both formal and informal systems.

Online information as support to the families of children and adolescents with chronic disease.

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Mazza, Verônica de Azevedo; Lima, Vanessa Ferreira de; Carvalho, Ana Karoline da Silva; Weissheimer, Gisele; Soares, Larissa Gramazio

2017-04-20

To describe the use of online information as support to families of children and adolescents with chronic disease. This is an integrative review conducted in August 2015, with an online search in the following databases: PubMed, Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde, Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature, and Science Direct. Twelve studies were selected from the 293 studies found in the databases. After analysis, the following two categories emerged: Potentialities of the use of online information by families of children and adolescents with chronic disease, and Weaknesses of the use of online information by families of children and adolescents with chronic disease. The internet offers a wide range of information that helps families manage the care of children and adolescents with chronic diseases, but it also has characteristics that need to be analysed.

Family-based prevention of mental health problems in children affected by HIV and AIDS: an open trial.

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Betancourt, Theresa S; Ng, Lauren C; Kirk, Catherine M; Munyanah, Morris; Mushashi, Christina; Ingabire, Charles; Teta, Sharon; Beardslee, William R; Brennan, Robert T; Zahn, Ista; Stulac, Sara; Cyamatare, Felix R; Sezibera, Vincent

2014-07-01

The objective of this study is to assess the feasibility and acceptability of an intervention to reduce mental health problems and bolster resilience among children living in households affected by caregiver HIV in Rwanda. Pre-post design, including 6-month follow-up. The Family Strengthening Intervention (FSI) aims to reduce mental health problems among HIV-affected children through improved child-caregiver relationships, family communication and parenting skills, HIV psychoeducation and connections to resources. Twenty families (N = 39 children) with at least one HIV-positive caregiver and one child 7-17 years old were enrolled in the FSI. Children and caregivers were administered locally adapted and validated measures of child mental health problems, as well as measures of protective processes and parenting. Assessments were administered at pre and postintervention, and 6-month follow-up. Multilevel models accounting for clustering by family tested changes in outcomes of interest. Qualitative interviews were completed to understand acceptability, feasibility and satisfaction with the FSI. Families reported high satisfaction with the FSI. Caregiver-reported improvements in family connectedness, good parenting, social support and children's pro-social behaviour (P self-esteem, depression, anxiety and irritability were seen at follow-up (P < .05). Significant decreases in child-reported harsh punishment were observed at postintervention and follow-up, and decreases in caregiver reported harsh punishment were also recorded on follow-up (P < 0.05). The FSI is a feasible and acceptable intervention that shows promise for improving mental health symptoms and strengthening protective factors among children and families affected by HIV in low-resource settings.

The effect of family and peer communication on college students' communication with dating partners about HIV and AIDS.

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Powell, Heather L; Segrin, Chris

2004-01-01

As family and peers are primary socializing agents in the lives of young adults, a social learning based model of communication about HIV/AIDS among dating partners was developed and tested, examining the role of interactions with family and peers in this type of communication. Specifically, the model describes relationships between general communication, communication about sexuality, and communication about HIV/AIDS with parents, peers, and dating partners. Participants were 153 young adult couples who completed measures of their communication practices, as well as their communication with family and peers. Communication practices in the family of origin appear to influence both general communication and communication about HIV/AIDS with dating partners. Communication practices with peers influenced general communication, communication about sexuality, and communication about HIV/AIDS with dating partners. Participants and their dating partners exhibited relative agreement about their general communication practices and their communication about HIV/AIDS, but showed less agreement in reports of their communication about sexuality. Implications for understanding the role of family and peer interactions in communication about HIV/AIDS with dating partners are discussed.

Attachment security representations in institutionalized children and children living with their families: links to problem behaviour.

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Torres, Nuno; Maia, Joana; Veríssimo, Manuela; Fernandes, Marilia; Silva, Filipa

2012-01-01

The present work analyses differences in the attachment representations of institutionalized children as compared with children from low and high educational level living with their natural families. Participants were 91 Portuguese children, 52% girls, aged 48-96 months. There were three different groups: 19 institutionalized children, 16 low educational level families' children and 56 from high educational level families'. Attachment representations were assessed for Security of the narratives of the Attachment Story Completion Task (ASCT). Psychopathological symptoms were assessed using the Child Behaviour Checklist for parents and caretakers. Verbal skills were assessed using the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence--Revised. Results show that institutionalized children have significantly lower security of attachment representations, less verbal skills and higher aggressive behaviour than the other two groups. Attachment representations were associated with social/withdrawal and aggression, independently of age, verbal skills and parents' education. The main effect of institutionalization on externalizing aggressive behaviour was completely mediated by the security of attachment representations.  Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Impact of family-friendly prison policies on health, justice and child protection outcomes for incarcerated mothers and their dependent children: a cohort study protocol.

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Myers, Helen; Segal, Leonie; Lopez, Derrick; Li, Ian W; Preen, David B

2017-08-23

Female imprisonment has numerous health and social sequelae for both women prisoners and their children. Examples of comprehensive family-friendly prison policies that seek to improve the health and social functioning of women prisoners and their children exist but have not been evaluated. This study will determine the impact of exposure to a family-friendly prison environment on health, child protection and justice outcomes for incarcerated mothers and their dependent children. A longitudinal retrospective cohort design will be used to compare outcomes for mothers incarcerated at Boronia Pre-release Centre, a women's prison with a dedicated family-friendly environment, and their dependent children, with outcomes for mothers incarcerated at other prisons in Western Australia (that do not offer this environment) and their dependent children. Routinely collected administrative data from 1985 to 2013 will be used to determine child and mother outcomes such as hospital admissions, emergency department presentations, custodial sentences, community service orders and placement in out-of home care. The sample consists of all children born in Western Australia between 1 January 1985 and 31 December 2011 who had a mother in a West Australian prison between 1990 and 2012 and their mothers. Children are included if they were alive and aged less than 18 years at the time of their mother's incarceration. The sample comprises an exposed group of 665 women incarcerated at Boronia and their 1714 dependent children and a non-exposed comparison sample of 2976 women incarcerated at other West Australian prisons and their 7186 dependent children, creating a total study sample of 3641 women and 8900 children. This project received ethics approval from the Western Australian Department of Health Human Research Ethics Committee, the Western Australian Aboriginal Health Ethics Committee and the University of Western Australia Human Research Ethics Committee. © Article author(s) (or their

Home-based palliative care: challenges in the care of technology-dependent children.

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Floriani, Ciro A

2010-01-01

To conceptualize palliative care and its indications in Pediatrics; to describe the difficulties involved in the delivery of such care at home for technology-dependent children; and to analyze, from a bioethical perspective, the moral dilemmas of palliative care assistance. A literature review of palliative care for technology-dependent children and a bioethical analysis of moral dilemmas. There are several obstacles to palliative care for technology-dependent children: structural difficulties at home; social isolation of both children and families; health professionals' sense of disbelief regarding this type of care; an excessive number of medical devices at home; uncertainty of a terminal prognosis; physical, emotional, social, material, and financial burden for parents and family; changes in family dynamics to adjust to these children; paternalistic relationship between professionals and family; changes in family roles, with shifts in the caregiver role. It is essential to outline an agenda based on the premise that the medical apparatus for technology-dependent children will change the landscape of the home, and such a change might become a problem to be faced by all those living together. Based on this assumption, actions performed in a setting other than a health care facility might exert an actual protective effect on children and family, offering support in their several needs and developing a model of care delivery that includes interventions in the different levels of burden on these vulnerated and unprotected individuals.

Motivational readiness of children to school in nuclear and single parent families

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Kateryna Ostrovska

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper is a comparison of psychological readiness of the child to go to school in nuclear and single parent families. To obtain the objectives of the paper the following methods were used: 1 methods “Two schools” by L.A Venger to identify the level of formation of internal position of the student; 2 the method “Motivational research studies in older preschoolers” by M.R. Ginsburg; 3 method “Pattern” by L.I. Tsehanskaya to determine the degree of development of skills training activities; 4 method “Graphic dictation” by D. El’konin to study the ability to follow adult instructions. The investigated group consisted of 40 students from first grade secondary school - 20 students from nuclear families (12 girls and 8 boys and 20 students from single parent families (9 girls and 11 boys. As a result of qualitative, comparative and correlation analysis it was shown that readiness of children to go to school susbstantially depends on completness of their families. The children from families have a higher level of skill training and internal position than children from single parent families. This occurs because both parents pay more attention to the children in the forming of a willingness to learn in school. The studies have shown that in the group of children from nuclear families dominate the highest level of development of skills training activities, increased formation of internal positions and childrens social motivation. These indicators are the hallmarks of readiness to learn at school. Also, some recommendations to teachers are provided as for increase of motivation to learn in children from single parent families.

Family characteristics of stuttering children

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Simić-Ružić Budimirka

2008-01-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION Stuttering is a functional impairment of speech, which is manifested by conscious, but nonintentionally interrupted, disharmonic and disrhythmic fluctuation of sound varying in frequency and intensity. Aetiology of this disorder has been conceived within the frame of theoretical models, which tend to connect genetic and epigenetic factors. OBJECTIVE The goal of the paper was to study the characteristics of the family functioning of stuttering children in comparison to the family functioning of children without speech disorder, which confirmed the justification of the introduction of family orientated therapeutic interventions into the therapy spectrum of child stuttering. METHOD Seventy-nine nucleus families of 3 to 6 year-old children were examined; of these, 39 families had stuttering children and 40 had children without speech disorder. The assessment of family characteristics was made using the Family Health Scale, an observer-rating scale which according to semistructured interview and operational criteria, measures 6 basic dimensions of family functioning: Emotional State, Communication, Borders, Alliances, Adaptability & Stability, Family Skills. A total score calculated from the basic dimensions, is considered as a global index of family health. RESULTS Families with stuttering children compared to families with children without speech disorder showed significantly lower scores in all the basic dimension of family functioning, as well as in the total score on the Family Health Scale. CONCLUSION Our research results have shown that stuttering children in comparison with children without speech disorder live in families with unfavorable emotional atmosphere, impaired communication and worse control over situational and developmental difficulties, which affect children's development and well-being. In the light of previous research, the application of family therapy modified according to the child's needs is now considered

Risk and protective factors for bullying victimization among AIDS-affected and vulnerable children in South Africa.

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Cluver, Lucie; Bowes, Lucy; Gardner, Frances

2010-10-01

To examine whether bullying is a risk factor for psychological distress among children in poor, urban South Africa. To determine risk and protective factors for bullying victimization. One thousand and fifty children were interviewed in deprived neighborhoods, including orphans, AIDS-affected children, streetchildren, and child-headed households. Using standardized scales, children reported on bullying victimization, psychological problems, and potential risk and protective factors at individual, peer, family, and community levels. 34% of children reported bullying victimization. Bullied children showed higher levels of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and post-traumatic stress, as well as higher levels of clinical-level disorder. Risk factors for being bullied were being a victim of physical or sexual abuse or domestic violence at home, living in a high-violence community, and experiencing AIDS-related stigma (independent of sociodemographic cofactors and child psychological disorder). Protective factors were sibling support and support from friends, although findings suggest that friendship groups may also be sources of bullying for AIDS-affected children. Bullying is an independent and important risk factor in child psychological distress in South Africa. Children victimized at home or in the community are more likely to be bullied, suggesting a cycle of violence. Those working with children in Southern Africa should be alert to risk of bullying, especially among abused or AIDS-affected children. Interventions combating community violence and AIDS-related stigma may have additional positive impacts on bullying, and promotion of peer and sibling support may reduce bullying victimization among high-risk children. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Psychological, behavioral and familial factors in obese Cuban children and adolescents.

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Pérez, Lourdes M; García, Keytel; Herrera, Raúl

2013-10-01

The global prevalence of obesity has reached alarming proportions. In Cuba, the rise in numbers of children who are overweight or obese, especially preschoolers and adolescents, is similar to that observed in developed countries. Beyond the physical risk factors, there is evidence that obesity has negative psychological, social, academic and economic effects. Describe the psychological, behavioral and familial factors present in a group of obese children and adolescents in Cuba. This is a qualitative cross-sectional study of 202 obese children and adolescents aged 3-18 years, with an average age of 9.9 years, seen at the Medical-Surgical Research Center (Havana) psychology service from January 2009 through December 2012. Techniques included interviews of patients and parents, projective drawings and the Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank. Unhealthy eating habits were reported in 96% of obese children and adolescents, and sedentary lifestyles in 88.1%. Emotional state was affected in 80.2%, and in 72.3% there were family attitudes with potential to produce psychological disturbances in children. Psychological, behavioral, and familial factors known to foster development and perpetuation of obesity were observed in the majority of cases. This is a first diagnostic stage that will aid in design and implementation of a psychological intervention program for obese and overweight children and their families.

Assessment of family needs in children with physical disabilities: development of a family needs inventory

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Alsem, M. W.; Siebes, R. C.; Gorter, J. W.; Jongmans, M. J.; Nijhuis, B. G. J.; Ketelaar, M.

2014-01-01

Valid tools to assess family needs for children with physical disabilities are needed to help tune paediatric rehabilitation care processes to individual needs of these families. To create such a family needs inventory, needs of families of children with a physical disability (age 0-18 years) were

Research and Psychosocial Intervention With Families of Children and Adolescents With Eating Disorders and Obesity

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Maria Alexina Ribeiro

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Eating disorders and obesity in children and adolescents have been calling researchers and public health institutions’ attention due to severity and increasing incidence in the last decades. Studies on etiological factors of diseases related to alimentation are important to justify more efficient treatment methodologies. The family participation has been suggested by authors of systems theory, motivating us to study this issue from the point of view of individual, family and socio-cultural. This paper aims to present research data to construct a psychosocial attendance methodology to children and adolescents with eating disorders and obesity and their families. The method used is qualitative and includes a family life cycle interview, Multifamily Group, children and adolescents groups and the use of Rorschach test in adolescents. Partial data show that parents’ life history has influence on eating pattern of family; the genitors don’t comprehend the obesity as a multi-factorial syndrome and don’t recognize that their children are obese and have difficulty setting boundaries in general and regarding to food; conjugal and parental conflicts and grandparents interference have negative influence on children dietary and on treatment of obesity and eating disorders; the use of Rorschach test has identified: low self-esteem, anguish and distorted self and body perceptions, self-concept and self-image distortions in adolescents with eating disorders and depressive thoughts, dependency, fear of abandonment and distortion between ideal and real images in obese adolescents. These data are in accordance with bibliographic review regarding to family influence on each member’s health development and on family eating pattern. Parents and adults have a central role as in orientation and education as presenting appropriate models in terms of alimentation.

Working with children from substance-affected families: the community-based group intervention TRAMPOLINE

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Sonja Bröning

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Children from substance-affected families show an elevated risk for developing own substance-related or other mental disorders. Frequently, they experience violence, abuse and neglect in their families. Therefore, they are an important target group for preventive efforts. In Germany it is estimated that approx. 2.65 million children are affected by parental substance abuse or dependence. Only ten percent of them receive treatment when parents are treated. To date, no evaluated program for children from substance-affected families exists in Germany. Methods: A new group intervention for children from substance-affected families was developed and is currently being evaluated in a randomized-controlled multicenter study funded by the German Ministry of Health. The development process was simultaneously guided by theory, existing research knowledge and expert opinion. Promoting resilience in children affected by parental substance abuse is a key goal of the program. Results: The TRAMPOLINE manual describes a 9-session addiction-focused, modular group program for children aged 8 to 12 years with at least one substance-using parent. Weekly sessions last for 90 minutes and combine psychoeducational elements with exercises and role play. A two-session parent intervention component is also integrated in the program. Content, structure and theoretical background of the intervention are described. Discussion: TRAMPOLINE is a new interventive effort targeting children from substance-affected families. It is grounded in theory and practice. The results of the research in progress will provide fundamental information on the effectiveness of a structured group prevention program for German children from substance-abusing families. Thus, the study will contribute to creating a broader and more effective system of preventive help for this high-risk target group.

Poor Families Striving to Save in Matched Children's Savings Accounts: Findings from a Randomized Experimental Design in Uganda.

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Karimli, Leyla; Ssewamala, Fred M; Neilands, Torsten B

2014-12-01

This study examines participants' savings in children's savings accounts (CSAs) set up for AIDS-orphaned children ages 10-15 in Uganda. Using a cluster randomized experimental design, we examine the extent to which families participating in a CSA program report more savings than their counterparts not participating in the program, explore the extent to which families who participate in the CSA program report using formal financial institutions compared with families who do not have a CSA, and consider whether families participating in the CSA program bring new money into the CSA or whether they reshuffle existing household assets. We find that participating in a CSA increased families' likelihood to report having saved money. However, our results show no intervention effect either on the amount of self-reported savings or on the likelihood of using formal financial institutions. Further research is needed to understand whether use of a CSA helps families generate new wealth.

The effectiveness of linguistic plays on the grammatical skills of hearing-impaired children with hearing aids

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Sahar Mohammad Esmaeilzadeh

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Grammatical skills development of hearing-impaired children depends on using appropriate educational rehabilitation programs. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of linguistic plays on the grammatical skills in hearing-impaired children with hearing aids.Methods: Ten hearing-impaired children with hearing aids, aged between 5 and 7, were randomly assigned to two groups (5 children in each group. Each treatment group received 12 sessions on linguistic plays. The grammatical skills of these children were evaluated via the TOLD-P: 3 (Persian version; in addition, their level of intelligence was assessed by the Raven test.Results: The difference between the scores of both control and treatment groups revealed a statistically significant difference in grammatical skills (t=7.61, p=0.001 and three subskills of the children who participated in the linguistic plays. These subskills include syntactic understanding (t=3.16, p=0.013, sentence imitation (t=1.71, p=0.006, and morphological completion (t=6.55, p=0.001. In other words, the findings suggest that linguistic plays have a significant impact on the improvement of the aforementioned skills in hearing-impaired children.Conclusion: Results suggest that it would be beneficial to include linguistic plays as part of routine rehabilitation programs as a means of improving the grammatical difficulties of children. After partaking in linguistic plays, children significantly improved their ability to comprehend the meaning of sentences and also to recognize, understand, and use common Persian morphological forms.

Family resources for families of children with cerebral palsy in Jordan: psychometric properties of the Arabic-family resources scale.

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Almasri, N A; Saleh, M; Dunst, C J

2014-05-01

Resource-based, family-centred practices are associated with better health, emotional, and social well-being of children with disabilities. The adequacy of resources available for families of children with disabilities in Middle Eastern countries has not been described adequately in part because of lack of measures that are culturally adapted to be used in Arabic countries. Therefore, this study aims to (1) to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Arabic-Family Resource Scale (A-FRS) on a sample of families of children cerebral palsy (CP); (2) examine the adequacy of family resources as perceived by parents of children with CP in Jordan; and (3) examine the influence of child and family demographic variables on how parents report resources available to their families. A cross-section design was applied. One-hundred fifteen parents of children with CP with mean age 4.6 years (SD = 4.4) and their parents participated in the study. Research assistants interviewed the participants to complete the A-FRS, and family and child demographic questionnaire, and determined the Gross Motor Function Classification System level of children. The principal axis factoring of the A-FRS yielded a six-factor solution that accounted for 67.39% of the variance and that is different than the factor structure reported by the developers of the FRS. Cronbach’s coefficient alpha of the total score of family resources was 0.86 indicating a good internal consistency and the test–retest reliability for the total scale score was r = 0.92 (P = 0.000) indicating excellent test–retest reliability. Child health and family income were significantly associated with the total score of the A-FRS. The A-FRS is a valid and reliable measure of family resources for Jordanian families of children with CP. Service providers are encouraged to use A-FRS with families to plan resource-based interventions in which family resources are mobilized to meet family needs.

Yeasts from the oral cavity of children with AIDS: exoenzyme production and antifungal resistance

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Bosco Vera Lúcia

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The oral fungal microbiota of 30 children with AIDS, of both genders, aged from two to six years, receiving outpatient treatment, was evaluated and compared with that of a control group composed of 30 healthy subjects with matching ages and genders. Virulence factors, such as exoenzyme production, and susceptibility to five antifungal agents using an E-Test kit were evaluated. C. albicans predominated over other species in the AIDS group, showing a higher production of proteinase and phospholipase when compared with that observed in the control group. In this study few clinical manifestations of and low selectivity for C. albicans (23.3% were observed in the AIDS group. The enzymatic studies showed that 53.8% of the AIDS strains were strongly positive whereas only 33.3% of the non-AIDS strains were positive. Amphotericin B was the most effective drug among the antifungal agents tested against C. albicans. The frequency, selectivity and level of exoenzyme production by C. albicans suggest a higher pathogenicity in the AIDS children than in the control children.

Work-family and family-work conflicts amongst African nurses caring for patients with AIDS.

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Makola, Lehlogonolo; Mashegoane, Solomon; Debusho, Legesse K

2015-12-14

South African nursing environments are marked by various incapacitating stressors. This study explores work-family (W-F) and family-work (F-W) conflicts as aspects of stress amongst nurses working with patients who have AIDS. The study sought to determine the value of W-F and F-W conflicts as predictors of work and family satisfaction, as well as turnover intentions and the moderating role of supervisor and significant other support, amongst nurses caring for patients with AIDS in public hospitals within the Capricorn and Mopani districts, Limpopo Province. The study used a cross-sectional design, with data collected at one point only. Ninety-one nursing staff provided the data for the study by completing structured, self-administered surveys. Analysis involved computing correlations of all study variables. Thereafter, associated variables were used as predictors. In each predictive analysis, the nurses' stress served as a control variable, W-F and F-W conflicts were the independent variables and significant others and supervisor supports were moderators. Interaction terms were derived from independent and moderator variables. Although the findings of the study were not generally supportive of the hypotheses advanced, they nevertheless showed, amongst other findings, that F-W conflict predicted work satisfaction whilst W-F conflict predicted turnover intentions. Moreover, significant other support had a direct effect on family satisfaction whilst supervisor support moderated reports of W-F conflict and experiences of work satisfaction. The study showed that inter-role models that appear to be established in the context of developed societies require some further investigations in South Africa.

Differences and similarities in early vocabulary development between children with hearing aids and children with cochlear implant enrolled in 3-year auditory verbal intervention.

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Percy-Smith, Lone; Hallstrøm, Maria; Josvassen, Jane Lignel; Mikkelsen, Jeanette Hølledig; Nissen, Lena; Dieleman, Eveline; Cayé-Thomasen, Per

2018-05-01

The overall objective of this study was to evaluate the implementation of a Nordic Auditory Verbal (AV) intervention for children with all degrees and types of hearing impairment (HI) using all kinds of hearing technology. A first specific objective was to identify differences and similarities in early vocabulary development between children with cochlear implant (CI) compared with children with hearing aids (HAs)/Bone anchored hearing aids (Bahs) enrolled in a 3-year AVprogram, and to compare the group of children with HI to a control group of children with normal hearing (NH). A second specific objective was to study universal neonatal hearing screening (UNHS) using the 1-3-6 Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) guidelines. Effect of AV intervention for children with HI using different hearing technology is not thoroughly studied. It is relevant to question, whether children with mild to moderate HI encounter the same intensive need for AV intervention as children with congenital deafness. A longitudinal and comparative study design was used involving two cohorts of children, i.e. 36 children with CI and 19 children with HA/Bahs. The children were the first in Denmark to receive a 3-year AV intervention by formally trained AV-practitioners. Children were tested annually with standardized speech and language tests, i.e. Peabody Picture Vocabulary test, Reynell test and a Danish test for active vocabulary, Viborgmaterialet. Categorical variables were compared using Fischer's exact test and continuous variables were compared using Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test, as data was not normally distributed. Median age of diagnosis was 6 months and median age at intervention was 13 and 12 months respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of scores according to age equivalency for the three tests. However, there was a significant difference between children with HI regardless of hearing technology and children with

Needs of children affected by HIV and AIDS: Mangaung in the Free State

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R.M. Chakalane-Mpeli

2007-09-01

Full Text Available The terminal illness or death of a parent due to HIV and AIDS has a disastrous effect on the surviving children. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the needs of HIV and AIDS orphans and pre-orphans. A qualitative method using indepth interviews with 10 children affected by their parent’s illness or death was carried out. Results indicate that there was a marked reduction in financial capital paving the way for basic physical needs such as food, clothing, fuel and shelter. Lack of school fees, uniforms and transport money together with biased teachers and rigid school policies were affecting school attendance and performance. On the psychosocial level needs expressed were for family and community support, friendship, acceptance by the group as well as love and belonging. It seems as if stigmatisation and resulting ostracism by important-others is a drawback at all levels of interaction for AIDS orphans and pre-orphans.

Speech perception benefits of FM and infrared devices to children with hearing aids in a typical classroom.

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Anderson, Karen L; Goldstein, Howard

2004-04-01

Children typically learn in classroom environments that have background noise and reverberation that interfere with accurate speech perception. Amplification technology can enhance the speech perception of students who are hard of hearing. This study used a single-subject alternating treatments design to compare the speech recognition abilities of children who are, hard of hearing when they were using hearing aids with each of three frequency modulated (FM) or infrared devices. Eight 9-12-year-olds with mild to severe hearing loss repeated Hearing in Noise Test (HINT) sentence lists under controlled conditions in a typical kindergarten classroom with a background noise level of +10 dB signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio and 1.1 s reverberation time. Participants listened to HINT lists using hearing aids alone and hearing aids in combination with three types of S/N-enhancing devices that are currently used in mainstream classrooms: (a) FM systems linked to personal hearing aids, (b) infrared sound field systems with speakers placed throughout the classroom, and (c) desktop personal sound field FM systems. The infrared ceiling sound field system did not provide benefit beyond that provided by hearing aids alone. Desktop and personal FM systems in combination with personal hearing aids provided substantial improvements in speech recognition. This information can assist in making S/N-enhancing device decisions for students using hearing aids. In a reverberant and noisy classroom setting, classroom sound field devices are not beneficial to speech perception for students with hearing aids, whereas either personal FM or desktop sound field systems provide listening benefits.

Parental Adjustment, Marital Relationship, and Family Function in Families of Children with Autism

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Gau, Susan Shur-Fen; Chou, Miao-Churn; Chiang, Huey-Ling; Lee, Ju-Chin; Wong, Ching-Ching; Chou, Wen-Jiun; Wu, Yu-Yu

2012-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the psychopathology, marital relationship, and family function in parents of children with autistic disorder (autism) as compared to parents of typically developing children. We also compared these measures between the mothers and the fathers. We assessed 151 families with at least one child with autistic disorder…

The influence of hearing aids on the speech and language development of children with hearing loss.

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Tomblin, J Bruce; Oleson, Jacob J; Ambrose, Sophie E; Walker, Elizabeth; Moeller, Mary Pat

2014-05-01

IMPORTANCE Hearing loss (HL) in children can be deleterious to their speech and language development. The standard of practice has been early provision of hearing aids (HAs) to moderate these effects; however, there have been few empirical studies evaluating the effectiveness of this practice on speech and language development among children with mild-to-severe HL. OBJECTIVE To investigate the contributions of aided hearing and duration of HA use to speech and language outcomes in children with mild-to-severe HL. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS An observational cross-sectional design was used to examine the association of aided hearing levels and length of HA use with levels of speech and language outcomes. One hundred eighty 3- and 5-year-old children with HL were recruited through records of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and referrals from clinical service providers in the general community in 6 US states. INTERVENTIONS All but 4 children had been fitted with HAs, and measures of aided hearing and the duration of HA use were obtained. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Standardized measures of speech and language ability were obtained. RESULTS Measures of the gain in hearing ability for speech provided by the HA were significantly correlated with levels of speech (ρ179 = 0.20; P = .008) and language: ρ155 = 0.21; P = .01) ability. These correlations were indicative of modest levels of association between aided hearing and speech and language outcomes. These benefits were found for children with mild and moderate-to-severe HL. In addition, the amount of benefit from aided hearing interacted with the duration of HA experience (Speech: F4,161 = 4.98; P < .001; Language: F4,138 = 2.91; P < .02). Longer duration of HA experience was most beneficial for children who had the best aided hearing. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The degree of improved hearing provided by HAs was associated with better speech and language development in children

Families with school-age children.

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Christensen, Kathleen; Schneider, Barbara; Butler, Donnell

2011-01-01

Most working parents face a common dilemma--how to care for their children when they are not in school but the parents are at work. In this article Kathleen Christensen, Barbara Schneider, and Donnell Butler describe the predictable and unpredictable scheduling demands school-age children place on working couples and single working parents. The authors assess the potential capacity of schools to help meet the needs of working families through changes in school schedules and after-school programs and conclude that the flexibility parents need to balance family-work responsibilities probably cannot be found in the school setting. They argue that workplaces are better able than schools to offer the flexibility that working parents need to attend to basic needs of their children, as well as to engage in activities that enhance their children's academic performance and emotional and social well-being. Two types of flexible work practices seem especially well suited to parents who work: flextime arrangements that allow parents to coordinate their work schedules with their children's school schedules, and policies that allow workers to take short periods of time off--a few hours or a day or two-to attend a parent-teacher conference, for example, or care for a child who has suddenly fallen ill. Many companies that have instituted such policies have benefited through employees' greater job satisfaction and employee retention. Yet despite these measured benefits to employers, workplaces often fall short of being family friendly. Many employers do not offer such policies or offer them only to employees at certain levels or in certain types of jobs. Flexible work practices are almost nonexistent for low-income workers, who are least able to afford alternative child care and may need flexibility the most. Moreover the authors find that even employees in firms with flexible practices such as telecommuting may be reluctant to take advantage of them, because the workplace culture

The Effect of Barkley's family-oriented program on the burden of care on families of children with attention deficit-hyperactive disorder

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Sharifeh Mousavi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Attention deficit-hyperactive disorder (ADHD is the most common behavioral disorders during childhood whose treatment is greatly dependent on families; therefore, families of such children should improve their relation with them so that they could enjoy their lives. Hence, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Barkley's family-oriented program on the burden of care on such families. Materials and Methods: This clinical trial was conducted among 64 family care givers for children with ADHD. By simple sampling, samples passing the inclusion criteria were selected and randomly allocated into two groups of control and intervention. The intervention group received Barkley's family education program through 9 sessions; the control group participated in 3 group sessions and expressed their problems and experiences. Data were collected and analyzed using the Zarit Burden Interview. Results: Burden of care was gradually reduced through the study in the intervention group, however, the mean score of burden of care did not have a significant reduction in the control group. Conclusions: Because Barkley's family-oriented program was able to reduce the burden of care in families of children with ADHD, it is recommended to develop similar programs and evaluate them through various studies.

Families' engagement with young children's science and technology learning at home

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Robin L.; Schaverien, Lynette

2001-07-01

There is accumulating evidence of the worth of involving families in young children's learning in informal contexts. By exploring families' engagement with their children's science and technology learning at home over a 6-month period, the present investigation sought to illuminate both the nature and the educational significance of what families do. Initially, in order to seed scientific and technological inquiry in homes, kindergarten and year-one children investigated flashlights with family members at school. Each day, equipment was available to take home. Using established anthropological methods, one of the researchers investigated children's further inquiries beyond the classroom in diverse ways; for example, by visiting homes and conversing via telephone and facsimile. The findings showed that families engaged with children's inquiries at home in many ways - by providing resources, conversing, and investigating collaboratively with children. Moreover, when families pursued inquiries together and when children conducted their own sustained intellectual searches, children's ideas deepened. Such evidence of the educational significance of what families do suggests that early science and technology education might be made more effective if it were aligned with the ways people learn together outside formal institutions.

Correlation Analysis of Personality Characteristics of Children with TIC Disorder with Family Factors

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LI Rui; WANG Liqun; MA Chunxia; MA Lixian

2016-01-01

Objective To explore the personality characteristics of children with tic disorders and their relationship with family factors.Methods Sixty cases of children with tic disorders diagnosed in our hospital were selected as the case group and 65 cases of normal children were selected as the control group.The children of two groups were assessed using Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ),Family Environment Scale (FES-CV) and general situation questionnaire of family (GSQ),respectively.The scores of EPQ personality characteristics,FES-CV and GSQ scores were compared for the children in the two groups.The Person correlation analysis method was used to analyze the correlation between personality scores of children in case group and family environment factors.Results The general situation questionnaire results showed that there was significant statistically difference in parenting style,parental education level and family types of the children between case group and control group (P ＜ 0.05);EPQ results showed that the neuroticism and psychoticism scores of children in the case group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P＜ 0.05) and the lying degree scores in the control group were significantly higher than those in the case group (P＜ 0.05);FES-CV results showed that the family cohesion scores of the case group were significantly lower than those of the control group (P＜0.05),and the family conflict scores in the case group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P＜0.05).The Person correlation analysis results indicated that the psychoticism score was negatively correlated with the score of family cohesion (P＜0.05),and positively correlated with family conflict (P＜0.05),while the neuroticism score was positively correlated with family conflict score (P＜0.05).Conclusion The children with tic disorders have significant personality deviation compared to the normal children,and the personality deviation degree is

Parental stress, family quality of life, and family-teacher partnerships: Families of children with autism spectrum disorder.

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Hsiao, Yun-Ju; Higgins, Kyle; Pierce, Tom; Whitby, Peggy J Schaefer; Tandy, Richard D

2017-11-01

Reducing parental stress and improving family quality of Life (FQOL) are continuing concerns for families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Family-teacher partnerships have been identified as a positive factor to help parents reduce their stress and improve their FQOL. However, the interrelations among parental stress, FQOL, and family-teacher partnerships need to be further examined so as to identify the possible paths to help parents reduce their stress and improve their FQOL. The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelations among these three variables. A total of 236 parents of school children with ASD completed questionnaires, which included three measures: (a) the Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale, (b) the Parental Stress Scale, and (c) the Beach Center Family-Professional Partnerships Scale. The structural equation modeling was used to analyze the interrelations among these three variables. Perceived parental stress had a direct effect on parental satisfaction concerning FQOL and vice versa. Perceived family-teacher partnerships had a direct effect on FQOL, but did not have a direct effect on parental stress. However, family-teacher partnerships had an indirect effect on parental stress through FQOL. Reducing parental stress could improve FQOL for families of children with ASD and vice versa. Strong family-teacher partnerships could help parents of children with ASD improve their FQOL and indirectly reduce their stress. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Health seeking behavior by families of children suspected to have ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Malaria is common among communities of Kabale district, and many young children die of the illness. Despite a good distribution of health facilities, able to handle malaria patients, families and individuals tend to depend on self-treatment, or private clinics where drugs used may be of doubtful quality.

The ethnography of help - Supporting families with children with intellectual disabilities

OpenAIRE

Summers, N.

2010-01-01

This thesis explored parents’ of children with learning disabilities perceptions of family support workers’ helping strategies. A qualitative approach drawing on the principles of ethnography was used to explore the experiences of six families of the helping strategies adopted by family workers and posed three research questions:\\ud (1) What are the perceptions of parents, of children with learning disabilities, of the helping strategies of family support workers?\\ud (2) How do parents unders...

The role of the family in HIV status disclosure among women in Vietnam: Familial dependence and independence.

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Dinh, H T; White, J L; Hipwell, M; Nguyen, C T K; Pharris, A

2018-04-01

Insights into disclosure by people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) can inform strategies for treatment and support, yet Vietnamese women's self-disclosure patterns are poorly understood. We conducted interviews with 12 HIV-positive women, identifying three principal factors influencing disclosure to family members: patrilocal residence, desire to protect own family, and the need for financial support. Women's decision-making about disclosure was significantly affected by dependence on or independence of parents-in-law and their own parents. We believe that our findings reveal the complex interplay of stigma and disclosure within Vietnamese families, highlighting the need for specific social measures that promote self-disclosure combined with family support for female PLWHA.

Work-family and family-work conflicts amongst African nurses caring for patients with AIDS

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Lehlogonolo Makola

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Background: South African nursing environments are marked by various incapacitating stressors. This study explores work-family (W-F and family-work (F-W conflicts as aspects of stress amongst nurses working with patients who have AIDS. Objectives: The study sought to determine the value of W-F and F-W conflicts as predictors of work and family satisfaction, as well as turnover intentions and the moderating role of supervisor and significant other support, amongst nurses caring for patients with AIDS in public hospitals within the Capricorn and Mopani districts, Limpopo Province. Methods: The study used a cross-sectional design, with data collected at one point only. Ninety-one nursing staff provided the data for the study by completing structured, self-administered surveys. Analysis involved computing correlations of all study variables. Thereafter, associated variables were used as predictors. In each predictive analysis, the nurses’ stress served as a control variable, W-F and F-W conflicts were the independent variables and significant others and supervisor supports were moderators. Interaction terms were derived from independent and moderator variables. Results: Although the findings of the study were not generally supportive of the hypotheses advanced, they nevertheless showed, amongst other findings, that F-W conflict predicted work satisfaction whilst W-F conflict predicted turnover intentions. Moreover, significant other support had a direct effect on family satisfaction whilst supervisor support moderated reports of W-F conflict and experiences of work satisfaction. Conclusions: The study showed that inter-role models that appear to be established in the context of developed societies require some further investigations in South Africa.

Family Characteristics of Children with Dyslexia.

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Melekian, Badrig A.

1990-01-01

A retrospective review of 249 French children (ages 8-15) with severe dyslexia found that families were characterized by low occupational status and educational level for parents and predominance of high-ranking children in large sibships. Parental age and matrimonial status seemed unimportant. (Author/JDD)

Engagement in family activities: a quantitative, comparative study of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities and children with typical development.

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Axelsson, A K; Granlund, M; Wilder, J

2013-07-01

Participation is known to be of great importance for children's development and emotional well-being as well as for their families. In the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health - Children and Youth version participation is defined as a person's 'involvement in a life situation'. Engagement is closely related to involvement and can be seen as expressions of involvement or degree of involvement within a situation. This study focuses on children's engagement in family activities; one group of families with a child with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) and one group of families with children with typical development (TD) were compared. A descriptive study using questionnaires. Analyses were mainly performed by using Mann-Whitney U-test and Spearman's rank correlation test. Engagement in family activities differed in the two groups of children. The children with PIMD had a lower level of engagement in most family activities even though the activities that engaged the children to a higher or lesser extent were the same in both groups. Child engagement was found to correlate with family characteristics mostly in the children with TD and in the children with PIMD only negative correlations occurred. In the children with PIMD child engagement correlated with cognition in a high number of listed family activities and the children had a low engagement in routines in spite of these being frequently occurring activities. Level of engagement in family activities in the group of children with PIMD was lower compared with that in the group of children with TD. Families with a child with PIMD spend much time and effort to adapt family living patterns to the child's functioning. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Psychosocial situation of families with one and many children in the perception of children [Sytuacja psychospołeczna w rodzinach jednoi wielodzietnych w percepcji dzieci

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Danuta OCHOJSKA

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The article covers the issues of family functioning as one-child and multi-child families from the perspective of the children of these family systems. A family model of 2 + 1 is currently preferred while certain doubts are associated with families with many children in assuming that they often live at a lower level . Most frequently in one-child families the child is the centre of attention and occupies a privileged position. On the other hand to be the only child is associated with fewer interactions within the family, as well as a limitation of the amount of roles in the family. Parents usually are excessively focused on their child, overly protect him and have too high expectations of him. More often in these families there is emphasis on stimulating the child in the intellectual sphere. In the case of large families a lot depends on how the family consciously and responsibly decide about the family interractions. Children functioning in large families more often can adapt to the changing conditions of life, they are able to face various difficulties and have more experience in establishing relationships with others. The aim of our research was to determine how the children from single-child and multi-child families, assess the situation in the family. It analyzed the relationships in families, depending on the number of offspring, what is the level of consistency in the relationship ties between individual family members and the level of adaptability, namely the ability to make changes in the family. A questionnaire of our own design was used at the study, Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales and Parent-Adolescent Communication Scales D.H. Olson and associates. The situation in the family has been evaluated by 120 grammar school students, including 60 who were the only child and 60 people from large families. Studies have shown that in many aspects, both families with one child and multi-child families are functioning properly. However

The characteristics of family functioning with mentally ill children and adolescents

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Jelkić Milica

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background/Aim. The family functioning and characteristics are the major risk factors in the genesis and persistence of mental disorders in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of functioning of family with mentally ill children and adolescents. Methods. This study explored 47 families with a child/adolescent suffering from mental disorders and 47 families of age matched healthy children/adolescents. The socio-demographic questionnaire, Social Adaptation Self-evaluation scale (SASS and Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES III (Olson, 1983 were completed by parents. Results. For all three FACES III dimensions multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA showed significant differences between groups ( Wilks λ = .887; F = 3.839; df = 3; p = 0.012. Univariate analysis results showed significant differences for cohesiveness F = 6.99 p = 0.001 and adaptability F = 10.07 p = 0 .001. The analysis of the social adaption (SASS assessment showed that the mean score for clinical vs. non-clinical group was 39.66 ± 6.82 vs. 38.06 ± 8.44 without significant difference between groups (p = 0.32. The families of mentally ill children showed frequently lower socioeconomic status and education level, higher number of children per family, and broken home. Conclusion. The results suggested that cohesiveness and adaptability were significantly more prominent among families with mentaly ill children, but adaptation was similar to families with healthy children. It would be useful to evaluate adaptability, cohesiveness and adaptation of primary families when planning prevention and rehabillitation of mentally ill children and adolescent.

South African Families Raising Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Relationship between Family Routines, Cognitive Appraisal and Family Quality of Life

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Schlebusch, L.; Samuels, A. E.; Dada, S.

2016-01-01

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between family routines, cognitive appraisal of the impact of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) on the family and family quality of life (FQOL) in families raising children with ASD in South Africa. Methods: A sample of 180 families of young children with ASD who were…

[The physical development of children in families with different financial position].

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Leonova, I A; Khomich, M M

2010-01-01

Physical development is one of the important health indices in children. Anthropometric data were analyzed in 660 and 113 children from rich and poor families, respectively. The performed investigation revealed the following features of physical development of children in families with different financial position: (1) impaired physical development is equally common in the families with low (284.85% per hundred) and high (292.04% per hundred) incomes (p > 0.05); (2) the pattern of distribution of different types of physical development is not determined by the financial position of a family; however, it may be noted that there is a preponderance of children with disharmonious development in the high-income families due to excess weight for both average age indices and height. Every seven child from a high-income family has excess weight. Naturally, the lower financial position of a family is, the higher proportion of children with nutritional state below the average low values is; (3) the children in low-income families have lower height. The revealed specific features may be largely accounted for by specific nutritional features and motor activity in children, which should be kept in mind in working out the programs on therapeutic-and-prophylactic work with these population categories.

Psychological distress amongst AIDS-orphaned children in urban South Africa.

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Cluver, Lucie; Gardner, Frances; Operario, Don

2007-08-01

South Africa is predicted to have 2.3 million children orphaned by Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) by 2020 (Actuarial Society of South Africa, 2005). There is little knowledge about impacts of AIDS-related bereavement on children, to aid planning of services. This study aimed to investigate psychological consequences of AIDS orphanhood in urban township areas of Cape Town, South Africa, compared to control groups of children and adolescents orphaned by other causes, and non-orphans. One thousand and twenty-five children and adolescents (aged 10-19) were interviewed using socio-demographic questionnaires and standardised scales for assessing depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, peer problems, delinquency and conduct problems. Controlling for socio-demographic factors such as age, gender, formal/informal dwelling and age at orphanhood, children orphaned by AIDS were more likely to report symptoms of depression, peer relationship problems, post-traumatic stress, delinquency and conduct problems than both children orphaned by other causes and non-orphaned children. Anxiety showed no differences. AIDS-orphaned children were more likely to report suicidal ideation. Compared to Western norms, AIDS-orphaned children showed higher levels of internalising problems and delinquency, but lower levels of conduct problems. Children orphaned by AIDS may be a particularly vulnerable group in terms of emotional and, to a lesser extent, behavioural problems. Intervention programs are necessary to ameliorate the psychological sequelae of losing a parent to AIDS.

School age children with HIV/AIDS: possible discrimination and attitudes against

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Donata Kurpas

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Survey-based study what purpose was to analyse respondents’ opinions about contacts with HIV/AIDS-affected people. It was performed using a paper-pencil method during visits of respondents at primary care centres and on-line through a link to the questionnaire distributed among patients of primary care physicians. The study involved 302 respondents, 80% of whom were women; the average age was 34.48 years. The majority of respondents did not know anyone with HIV/AIDS (89.6%. About 83.3% claimed that they would not decrease contacts with HIV/AIDS-affected people. According to 64.1% of respondents, children with HIV/AIDS should go to kindergarten/public or non-public school. We selected a group of respondents, who previously were not but now are inclined to limit such contacts. These respondents can be a potential target group for HIV/AIDS educational programmes. Most respondents think that there is insufficient information about the HIV/AIDS in the mass media.

Predicting long-term outcomes for children affected by HIV and AIDS: perspectives from the scientific study of children's development.

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Stein, Alan; Desmond, Christopher; Garbarino, James; Van IJzendoorn, Marinus H; Barbarin, Oscar; Black, Maureen M; Stein, Aryeh D; Hillis, Susan D; Kalichman, Seth C; Mercy, James A; Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J; Rapa, Elizabeth; Saul, Janet R; Dobrova-Krol, Natasha A; Richter, Linda M

2014-07-01

The immediate and short-term consequences of adult HIV for affected children are well documented. Little research has examined the long-term implications of childhood adversity stemming from caregiver HIV infection. Through overviews provided by experts in the field, together with an iterative process of consultation and refinement, we have extracted insights from the broader field of child development of relevance to predicting the long-term consequences to children affected by HIV and AIDS. We focus on what is known about the impact of adversities similar to those experienced by HIV-affected children, and for which there is longitudinal evidence. Cautioning that findings are not directly transferable across children or contexts, we examine findings from the study of parental death, divorce, poor parental mental health, institutionalization, undernutrition, and exposure to violence. Regardless of the type of adversity, the majority of children manifest resilience and do not experience any long-term negative consequences. However, a significant minority do and these children experience not one, but multiple problems, which frequently endure over time in the absence of support and opportunities for recovery. As a result, they are highly likely to suffer numerous and enduring impacts. These insights suggest a new strategic approach to interventions for children affected by HIV and AIDS, one that effectively combines a universal lattice of protection with intensive intervention targeted to selected children and families.

Personal and Familial Properties of Street Children--"Street Children: The Forgotten or Not Remembered Ones"

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Özbas, Mehmet

2015-01-01

With this research it is aimed to determine the personal traits of Street Children depending on them and also the socio-economic variables of Street Children resulting from their families. For this main aim in the research process, it is provided to have communication directly with the parents of Street Children using one-to-one and face-to-face…

Parental education and family status--association with children's cigarette smoking.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaloudíková, Iva; Hrubá, Drahoslava; Samara, Ibrahim

2012-03-01

Social influences are among the most important factors associated with children's and adolescents' smoking. Social norms in families, peer groups, professional and municipal communities influence the individuals ones by the process of socialization obtained mainly by interactions and observations. Especially social context of the home environment expressed by household smoking restriction serves as a socialization mechanism that dissuades from the using of tobacco. Parental anti-smoking socialization practices (their attitudes and knowledge about children smoking, discussion about smoking in appropriate quality and frequency, smoking environment in homes) are influenced by their education and family status. Markers of social environment (the level of mothers' and fathers' education, family status) were investigated during interview with 5th graders included in the cohort participating in the programme "Non-smoking Is Normal". Data about the self-reported exposure to passive smoking at homes and cars were taken into consideration. Information about discussions with parents about smoking, opinions about adults smoking, experimentation with smoking, and concurrent decision about smoking in the future were obtained from 766 children aged 11 years. Those who did not know parental education or family status were excluded from the evaluation. Differences were evaluated using the chi-square, Mantel-Haenszel, Fisher and Yates corrected tests in the statistic software Epi Info, version 6. The level of mothers' and fathers' education significantly influenced the exposure of children to passive smoking. Compared to families of higher educated parents, children living in families with middle and low levels of parents' education were significantly more exposed to environmental tobacco smoke at home and in car (RR 1.38; 95% CI 1.04-1.83) and fewer of them live in non-smoking environments. In the whole cohort, 67.5% children have not smoked even one puff yet, 17.2% reported one

Daily living with distress and enrichment: the moral experience of families with ventilator-assisted children at home.

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Carnevale, Franco A; Alexander, Eren; Davis, Michael; Rennick, Janet; Troini, Rita

2006-01-01

principal themes were (1) confronting parental responsibility: parental responsibility was described as stressful and sometimes overwhelming. Parents needed to devote extraordinary care and attention to their children's needs. They struggled with the significant emotional strain, physical and psychological dependence of the child, impact on family relationships, living with the daily threat of death, and feeling that there was "no free choice" in the matter: they could not have chosen to let their child die. (2) Seeking normality: all of the families devoted significant efforts toward normalizing their experiences. They created common routines so that their lives could resemble those of "normal" families. These efforts seemed motivated by a fundamental striving for a stable family and home life. This "striving for stability" was sometimes undermined by limitations in family finances, family cohesion, and unpredictability of the child's condition. (3) Conflicting social values: families were offended by the reactions that they faced in their everyday community. They believe that the child's life is devalued, frequently referred to as a life not worth maintaining. They felt like strangers in their own communities, sometimes needing to seclude themselves within their homes. (4) Living in isolation: families reported a deep sense of isolation. In light of the complex medical needs of these children, neither the extended families nor the medical system could support the families' respite needs. (5) What about the voice of the child? The children in this study (patients and siblings) were generally silent when asked to talk about their experience. Some children described their ventilators as good things. They helped them breathe and feel better. Some siblings expressed resentment toward the increased attention that their ventilated sibling was receiving. (6) Questioning the moral order: most families questioned the "moral order" of their lives. They contemplated how "good things

Exploring the Lived Experiences of Homeless Families with Young Children

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Hinton, Stephanie; Cassel, Darlinda

2013-01-01

This study researched the experiences of homeless families with young children between the ages of four and eight. Many families experience homelessness every year; therefore, it is important for early childhood educators to have an understanding of how homelessness affects families with young children so that educators can effectively serve the…

Responding to families with complex needs: a national survey of child and family health nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossiter, Chris; Schmied, Virginia; Kemp, Lynn; Fowler, Cathrine; Kruske, Sue; Homer, Caroline S E

2017-02-01

The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which Australian child and family health nurses work with families with complex needs and how their practice responds to the needs of these families. Many families with young children face challenges to their parenting capacity, potentially placing their children at risk of poorer developmental outcomes. Nurses increasingly work with families with mental health problems, trauma histories and/or substance dependence. Universal child health services must respond effectively to these challenges, to address health inequalities and to promote the best outcomes for all children and families. The descriptive study used cross-sectional data from the first national survey of child and family health nurses in Australia, conducted during 2011. Survey data reported how often, where and how child and family health nurses worked with families with complex needs and their confidence in nursing tasks. Many, but not all, of the 679 respondents saw families with complex needs in their regular weekly caseload. Child and family health nurses with diverse and complex caseloads reported using varied approaches to support their clients. They often undertook additional professional development and leadership roles compared with nurses who reported less complex caseloads. Most respondents reported high levels of professional confidence. For health services providing universal support and early intervention for families at risk, the findings underscore the importance of appropriate education, training and support for child and family health professionals. The findings can inform the organization and delivery of services for families in Australia and internationally. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

[Characteristics and habits of parents of children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus].

Science.gov (United States)

Sipetić, Sandra; Vlajinac, Hristina; Kocev, Nikola; Radmanović, Slobodan

2003-01-01

The aim of this case-control study conducted in Belgrade during 1994-1997 was to investigate whether parental demographic characteristics and habits are associated with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Case group comprised 105 children up to 16 years old with IDDM and control group comprised 210 children with skin diseases. Cases and controls were individually matched by age (+/- one year), sex and place of residence (Belgrade). According to chi 2 test results, children with IDDM significantly had five or more family members and they also significantly more frequently had poor socio-economic status than their controls. Higher education of fathers was significantly more frequently reported in diabetic children, in comparison with their controls. Parents of diabetic children were significantly more frequently occupationally exposed to radiation, petroleum, and its derivates, organic solvents, dyes and lacquers. During pregnancy mothers of diabetic children significantly more frequently smoked cigarettes and consumed coffee, coca-cola, alcohol and foods containing nitrosamines. Fathers of diabetic children more frequently consumed alcohol.

Health Care Aides' Struggle to Build and Maintain Relationships with Families in Complex Continuing Care Settings

Science.gov (United States)

McGilton, Katherine S.; Guruge, Sepali; Librado, Ruby; Bloch, Lois; Boscart, Veronique

2008-01-01

Research on the relationships between health care aides (HCAs) and families of clients has been situated mainly in long-term care settings and includes scant findings about the perceptions of HCAs. Based on the findings of a larger qualitative study using a grounded theory approach, this paper addresses the topic of HCA-family relationships in…

Adoptive and Birth Family Adjustment to Rearing Retarded Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Glidden, Laraine Masters; Bush, Beverly A.

The study identified 81 families who adopted children with mental retardation or at risk for mental retardation, and compared them with 61 matched families with similar birth children. For birth families, the initial diagnosis was a time of crisis, with high depression scores, while scores at follow-up (an average of 5.3 years later) indicated no…

Disease-related social situation in family of children with chronic kidney disease--parents` assessment. A multicentre study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiliś-Pstrusińska, Katarzyna; Medyńska, Anna; Adamczyk, Piotr; Bałasz-Chmielewska, Irena; Grenda, Ryszard; Kluska-Jóźwiak, Agnieszka; Leszczyńska, Beata; Olszak-Szot, Ilona; Miklaszewska, Monika; Szczepańska, Maria; Tkaczyk, Marcin; Wasilewska, Anna; Zachwieja, Katarzyna; Zajączkowska, Maria; Ziółkowska, Helena; Zagożdżon, Ilona; Zwolińska, Danuta

2014-01-01

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) in children burdens life of patients and their families. Little is known about parents` assessment of families' social situation. However, the knowledge of the details of a patient's and his family's life standards might influence modification and optimization of applied therapy. Therefore, the main goal of the present study was to explore the selected elements of life situation of patients suffering with CKD as well as their parents, depending on the CKD stage and appropriate treatment. Cross-sectional national study was conducted. A total of 203 children with CKD and 388 their parent-proxies (196 women and 192 men) were enrolled into this study. Patient data and questionnaires filled by both parents, concerning social-demographic parameters and assessment of changes in families after CKD diagnosis in the child, were analysed. CKD children are being brought up in proper families whose financial situation is not good. Children need help in process of education. Perception of current situation differed between both parents in the change of the income source, taking care of CKD child, change in social relations and evaluating relations with medical staff. Parents do not obtain proper support from social workers. Families of CKD children require support in area of financial and educational help for school children. The discrepancies in evaluation of family situation between mothers and fathers of ill children might be the source of conflicts possibly resulting in worsening the outcome for CKD children.

Visual-spatial cognition in children using aided communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Stadskleiv, Kristine; Batorowicz, Beata; Massaro, Munique; van Balkom, Hans; von Tetzchner, Stephen

2018-03-01

Children with severe motor impairments are restricted in their manipulation and exploration of objects, but little is known about how such limitations influence cognitive development. This study investigated visual-constructional abilities in 75 children and adolescents, aged 5;0-15;11 (years;months), with severe speech impairments and no intellectual disabilities (aided group) and in 56 children and adolescents with typical development (reference group). Verbal comprehension, non-verbal reasoning, and visual-spatial perception were assessed with standardized tests. The task of the participants was to verbally instruct communication partners to make physical constructions identical to models that the partner could not see. In the aided group, 55.7% of the constructions were identical to the models participants described, compared to 91.3% in the reference group. In the aided group, test results explained 51.4% of the variance in construction errors. The results indicate that the participants' language skills were decisive for construction success. Visual-perceptual challenges were common among the aided communicators, and their instructions included little information about size and spatial relations. This may reflect less experience with object manipulation and construction than children with typical development, and using aided communication to instruct others to make three-dimensional constructions. The results imply a need for interventions that compensate for the lack of relevant experience.

[Family-based psychosocial interventions for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder].

Science.gov (United States)

Vuori, Miika; Tuulio-Henriksson, Annamari; Nissinen, Heidi; Autti-Rämö, Ilona

2015-01-01

Psychosocial family-based interventions--family therapy, cognitive-behavioral parent training and family-based treatment protocols--are empirically supported treatments for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder. Well-researched interventions such as remote and group-based parent training programs relate to improvements in parenting quality, positive parenting, and the child's decreased ADHD and conduct behavioral problems, whereas individual family-based treatments are sometimes required, depending on symptom severity. Specific family-based treatment protocols are tailored for older children and adolescents with severe behavioral and emotional problems. Considering the above, empirically supported programs are used more in Finland, compared to licensed Anglo-American treatment protocols.

[The economic consequences of AIDS in Africa].

Science.gov (United States)

Ilinigumugabo, A

1996-12-01

The economic and social consequences of the AIDS epidemic in Africa are enormous because of the prevalence of the disease and the age structure of patients. AIDS has caused a rise in early childhood and adult mortality, leading to a younger age distribution and a less favorable dependency ratio. All epidemiological studies have shown a strong seroprevalence in urban areas, and some show higher infection rates among the educated. The consequences of AIDS at the household level begin with the appearance of symptoms and often continue past the death of the patient. Expenditures for medical care, treatment of opportunistic infections, loss of income of the patient (who frequently is the main breadwinner), depletion of savings, funeral expenses, and care for others who may have become infected create an enormous burden for most households. Widows with no inheritance rights are left destitute with their children, who may be taken out of school to reduce expenses. UNICEF estimates that some 5.5 million children in East and Central Africa will be orphaned by AIDS by the year 2000. Many such children end up in the streets, prime targets for prostitution and HIV infection. The coping mechanisms of poor communities with high prevalence rates are soon overwhelmed by demands for assistance. Businesses are affected by health care costs, lessened productivity, and absenteeism. Costs of training increase for jobs requiring skilled workers. AIDS tends to reduce agricultural productivity, especially in areas with little rainfall and high seasonal manpower needs. Cash crops, which frequently depend on advanced technology, are more vulnerable than is subsistence agriculture. Agronomists may be hard to replace, and large unskilled migratory labor forces living apart from families may develop habits of promiscuity that allow HIV to spread rapidly. The few studies done on direct health costs of AIDS show that they vary tremendously depending on the country's level of development and

The characteristics of family functioning with mentally ill children and adolescents

OpenAIRE

Jelkić Milica; Mandić-Gajić Gordana; Stojanović Zvezdana; Đokić Milan; Eror Aleksandar; Kolundžija Ksenija

2018-01-01

Background/Aim. The family functioning and characteristics are the major risk factors in the genesis and persistence of mental disorders in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of functioning of family with mentally ill children and adolescents. Methods. This study explored 47 families with a child/adolescent suffering from mental disorders and 47 families of age matched healthy children/adolescents. The socio-demographic questionnaire, Social Adaptation Self-ev...

45 CFR 233.101 - Dependent children of unemployed parents.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Dependent children of unemployed parents. 233.101... unemployed parents. (a) Requirements for State Plans. Effective October 1, 1990 (for Puerto Rico, American... children of unemployed parents. A State plan under title IV-A for payment of such aid must: (1) Include a...

Families of Children with Chronic Illness and the Relational Family Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tanja Pate

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Families of children with chronic illness experience persistent stress. Facing the diagnosis and learning how to cope with it is a stressful experience not only for the child but also for the parents and for the whole family. The illness, with its unpredictability and treatment, disturbs their daily routine and threatens the whole family system. Parental involvement in the child’s disease management and their emotional support are crucial for effective coping and adaptation to the child’s chronic illness. The aim of this article is to present the importance of the parental role in these families through theoretical findings of the relational family model.

Parental burden, coping, and family functioning in primary caregivers of children with Joubert syndrome.

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Luescher, J L; Dede, D E; Gitten, J C; Fennell, E; Maria, B L

1999-10-01

Children with Joubert syndrome have physical and intellectual disabilities. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of Joubert syndrome on parental burden, coping, and family functioning. Forty-nine primary caregivers were surveyed. Forty-three primary caregivers were mothers and six were fathers; their mean age was 34 years. The following measures were used: Beck Depression Inventory, Child Development Inventory, Caregiver Strain Index, Family Assessment Device, and Ways of Coping Checklist-Revised. The data show that caregiver burden is not related to the severity of the child's illness, but that caregivers report significant burden. Higher burden was associated with the use of palliative coping methods, and family functioning was problematic. The results of this study suggest that for parents of children with Joubert syndrome, degree of parental burden depends more on the parents' coping skills and the level of family functioning rather than on the degree of the child's impairment. These findings highlight the importance of assessing caregiver burden, as well as decreased family functioning or coping abilities, since these problems often can be managed with psychologic intervention.

Impact of employee benefits on families with children with autism spectrum disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Gnanasekaran, Sangeeth; Choueiri, Roula; Neumeyer, Ann; Ajari, Ogheneochuko; Shui, Amy; Kuhlthau, Karen

2016-07-01

The objectives of this study are to evaluate the employee benefits parents of children with autism spectrum disorders have, how benefits are used, work change, and job satisfaction. We conducted a cross-sectional mailed survey study of 435 families with children with autism spectrum disorders residing in the United States. We received 161 surveys for a response rate of 37%. Families reported using the following benefits: 39% paid family leave, 19% unpaid family leave, 91% flexible work arrangements, and 86% telecommuting. Of respondents, 43% reported stopping work, cutting down on hours worked, or changing jobs because of their child's condition. Having paid family leave was a positive predictor for job satisfaction. Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders have an interest and need for alternative work arrangements. © The Author(s) 2015.

Food Insecurity and Family Well-Being Outcomes among Households with Young Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Anna D; Markowitz, Anna J

2018-05-01

To investigate associations between household food insecurity and multiple family well-being variables in an effort to illuminate previously understudied, policy-amenable mechanisms through which food insecurity threatens healthy development. Data are drawn from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort. The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort contains longitudinal data on household food insecurity and several family well-being factors including maternal physical and mental health, positive parenting practices and disciplinary strategies, and frequency and severity of spousal conflict. We use regression models with lagged dependent variables to estimate associations between food insecurity and family well-being outcomes, on a subsample of low-income families (N ≈ 2100-4700). Household food insecurity was significantly associated with poorer maternal physical health; increased depressive symptoms and use of harsh discipline strategies; and greater frequency and negativity of conflict between parents. Associations were strongest and most consistent when children were preschool aged. Transitions into food insecurity between toddlerhood and preschool were also associated with significantly worse parental physical and mental health outcomes, and more family conflict, with similar though slightly weaker and less consistent associations for transitioning into food insecurity between infancy and toddlerhood. Food insecurity is associated with significant decreases in family health and well-being. Clinicians and other public health officials play a critical role in assessing risk for children and families, and linking families with supportive services. Screening families experiencing or at risk for food insecurity and connecting them with resources is an avenue through which public health practitioners can support family health. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Socioeconomic consequences of HIV/AIDS in the family system ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

High school dropout seen in both groups was mainly due to economic reasons. HIV/AIDS status was known to other members of family for 84.8% of indoor patients out of which 15.4% experienced rejection by family members. Out of 72 ever married women indoor patients whose in-laws were aware of their HIV/AIDS status, ...

Mobile social network services for families with children with developmental disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, Li-Der; Lai, Nien-Hwa; Chen, Yen-Wen; Chang, Yao-Jen; Yang, Jyun-Yan; Huang, Lien-Fu; Chiang, Wen-Ling; Chiu, Hung-Yi; Shin, Haw-Yun

2011-07-01

As Internet technologies evolve, their applications have changed various aspects of human life. Here, we attempt to examine their potential impact on services for families with developmentally delayed children. Our research is thus designed to utilize wireless mobile communication technologies, location services, and search technology in an effort to match families of specific needs with potential care providers. Based on the investigation conducted by our counselors, this paper describes a platform for smooth communication between professional communities and families with children with developmental disabilities (CDD). This research also looks into the impact of management of mobile social network services and training on the operation of these services. Interaction opportunities, care, and support to families with CDD are introduced.

Family Education as an Element to Improve Quality of Life of Children with Special Needs

OpenAIRE

Kokle-Narbuta, Iveta

2015-01-01

The current research aims to analyse the importance of family education in improving life quality of children with special needs. Nowadays our society aim for sustainable development which means equal rights and possibilities for all the citizens but reality shows a different situation, especially it concerns children with special needs. Family education could be one of possible ways how to improve the quality of life. In the current article the author looks on family education as a solution ...

Brief report: Do children with autism gather information from social contexts to aid their word learning?

Science.gov (United States)

Jing, Wei; Fang, Junming

2014-06-01

Typically developing (TD) infants could capitalize on social eye gaze and social contexts to aid word learning. Although children with autism disorder (AD) are known to exhibit atypicality in word learning via social eye gaze, their ability to utilize social contexts for word learning is not well understood. We investigated whether verbal AD children exhibit word learning ability via social contextual cues by late childhood. We found that AD children, unlike TD controls, failed to infer the speaker’s referential intention through information gathered from the social context. This suggests that TD children can learn words in diverse social pragmatic contexts in as early as toddlerhood whereas AD children are still unable to do so by late childhood.

Family ties after divorce: long-term implications for children.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahrons, Constance R

2007-03-01

Drawing on the data from the longitudinal Binuclear Family Study, 173 grown children were interviewed 20 years after their parents' divorce. This article addresses two basic questions: (1) What impact does the relationship between parents have on their children 20 years after the divorce? and (2) When a parent remarries or cohabits, how does it impact a child's sense of family? The findings show that the parental subsystem continues to impact the binuclear family 20 years after marital disruption by exerting a strong influence on the quality of relationships within the family system. Children who reported that their parents were cooperative also reported better relationships with their parents, grandparents, stepparents, and siblings. Over the course of 20 years, most of the children experienced the remarriage of one or both parents, and one third of this sample remembered the remarriage as more stressful than the divorce. Of those who experienced the remarriage of both of their parents, two thirds reported that their father's remarriage was more stressful than their mother's. When children's relationships with their fathers deteriorated after divorce, their relationships with their paternal grandparents, stepmother, and stepsiblings were distant, negative, or nonexistent. Whether family relationships remain stable, improve, or get worse is dependent on a complex interweaving of many factors. Considering the long-term implications of divorce, the need to emphasize life course and family system perspectives is underscored.

Children as caregivers of older relatives living with HIV and AIDS in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Children as caregivers of older relatives living with HIV and AIDS in Nyang'oma division of western Kenya. ... and forced early marriage. Financial needs pushed some girls into transactional sexual relations, predisposing them to the risks of unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections. Since the children providing ...

Modeling Family Dynamics in Children with Fragile X Syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Scott S.; Burns, David D.; Reiss, Allan L.

2007-01-01

Few studies have examined the impact of children with genetic disorders and their unaffected siblings on family functioning. In this study, the reciprocal causal links between problem behaviors and maternal distress were investigated in 150 families containing a child with fragile X syndrome (FXS) and an unaffected sibling. Both children's…

Association of family structure with atopic dermatitis in United States children.

Science.gov (United States)

McKenzie, Costner; Silverberg, Jonathan I

2018-05-31

Children from families without two married, biological parents have increased risk of poverty and poor health. The relationship between family structure and atopic dermatitis (AD) has not been elucidated. To determine the prevalence of AD and related outcomes in children from different family structures. Data were analyzed from 13,275 children (≤17 years) and their parents from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey. In multivariable logistic regression models adjusting for socio-demographics, children from single adult households (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval]: 1.272 [1.050-1.542]), families with ≤2 members (1.413 [1.079-1.852]), families with a mother, but no father present (1.402 [1.179-1.667]), non-biological fathers (1.464 [1.089-1.969]), or unmarried mothers (1.508 [1.017-2.237]) had increased odds of AD. Among children with AD, there were significantly increased odds of having only good/fair/poor vs. very good/excellent overall health (1.545 [1.262-1.893]), greater odds of depression (2.287 [1.523-3.434]), anxiety (2.001 [1.543-2.595]), and stress (2.013 [1.499-2.704]). Cross-sectional study. US children from families with single adults, single mothers, non-biological fathers, or unmarried mothers may have increased odds of AD. Family structures were associated with poorer overall health, depression, anxiety, and stress in children with AD. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The importance of family to health, development and welfare of children.

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, E; Lynge, I

2004-01-01

Recent investigations have shown that a number of families in Greenland have problems related to parents' use of alcohol. One of the consequences is that children get more difficult conditions during childhood. Children suffer when their parents have alcohol-related problems. An alcoholic parent is generally not able to meet the needs of his or her child. Many children are very lonely and do not discuss their thoughts, their situation or their problems with anyone. Some children get serious psychosocial problems as grown-ups. Professionals who work with children in health services, social services or within the school system are generally not adequately aware of the importance of family to the children's reactions. This means that the children are at risk of being treated only for symptoms when the unity of child and family is not adequately taken into account. Prevention has to focus on the first steps. Children must be allowed to talk about their problems. The whole family should be included in the treatment.

Evidence of Resilience in Families of Children with Autism

Science.gov (United States)

Bayat, Mojdeh

2007-01-01

Background: Family resilience is a growing field of inquiry, investigating factors that contribute to a family's becoming stronger in spite of dealing with adversity. Despite the growing interest in studying family resilience, the topic has not been explored in families with children who have disabilities. This report, a part of a larger…

Including Children Dependent on Ventilators in School.

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, Jack M.

1996-01-01

Guidelines for including ventilator-dependent children in school are offered, based on experience with six such students at a New York State school. Guidelines stress adherence to the medical management plan, the school-family partnership, roles of the social worker and psychologist, orientation, transportation, classroom issues, and steps toward…

The effect of aided language stimulation on vocabulary acquisition in children with little or no functional speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Dada, Shakila; Alant, Erna

2009-02-01

To describe the nature and frequency of the aided language stimulation program and determine the effects of a 3-week-long aided language stimulation program on the vocabulary acquisition skills of children with little or no functional speech (LNFS). Four children participated in this single-subject, multiple-probe study across activities. The aided language stimulation program comprised 3 activities: arts and crafts, food preparation, and story time activity. Each activity was repeated over the duration of 5 subsequent sessions. Eight target vocabulary items were taught within each activity. The acquisition of all 24 target items was probed throughout the duration of the 3-week intervention period. The frequency and nature of the aided language stimulation provided met the criterion of being used 70% of the time and providing aided language stimulation with an 80:20 ratio of statements to questions. The results indicated that all 4 participants acquired the target vocabulary items. There were, however, variations in the rate of acquisition. This study explores the impact of aided language stimulation on vocabulary acquisition in children. The most important clinical implication of this study is that a 3-week intervention program in aided language stimulation was sufficient to facilitate the comprehension of at least 24 vocabulary items in 4 children with LNFS.

Are Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families with Alcoholism Different from Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families without Alcoholism? A Look at Committed, Intimate Relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, Christine M.; Metzler, April E.

1997-01-01

Compared adult children from dysfunctional families (with and without alcoholism) and adult children of functional families to gauge current relationship satisfaction. No significant differences emerged between the two dysfunctional groups. Analyses connected dysfunction in the family of origin to global distress and to difficulties with…

Feasibility and potential efficacy of the family-centered Prevent-Teach-Reinforce model with families of children with developmental disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Bailey, Kathleen M; Blair, Kwang-Sun Cho

2015-12-01

This study examined the feasibility and potential efficacy of the family-centered Prevent-Teach-Reinforce (PTR) model with three families of young children with an autism spectrum disorder or language delay with sensory processing problems. Particularly, the study assessed the family adherence to the PTR intervention, changes in child behavior, family use of the Individualized Behavior Rating Scale Tool (IBRST), procedural integrity, and social validity. A multiple-baseline design across families was used to examine the functional relation between parent-implemented PTR intervention and changes in child behavior. Results indicated that the family-centered PTR process was successful in promoting parents to design and implement the PTR intervention plans with fidelity, and the parents' implemented intervention plans were effective in increasing replacement behavior and decreasing problem behavior across children. The results also indicated that the parents successfully used the IBRST to monitor their child's progress and were highly satisfied with the PTR intervention process and outcomes for their children. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Key Working for Families with Young Disabled Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernie Carter

2011-01-01

Full Text Available For families with a disabled child, the usual challenges of family life can be further complicated by the need to access a wide range of services provided by a plethora of professionals and agencies. Key working aims to support children and their families in navigating these complexities ensuring easy access to relevant, high quality, and coordinated care. The aim of this paper is to explore the key worker role in relation to “being a key worker” and “having a key worker”. The data within this paper draw on a larger evaluation study of the Blackpool Early Support Pilot Programme. The qualitative study used an appreciative and narrative approach and utilised mixed methods (interviews, surveys and a nominal group workshop. Data were collected from 43 participants (parents, key workers, and other stakeholders. All stakeholders who had been involved with the service were invited to participate. In the paper we present and discuss the ways in which key working made a difference to the lives of children and their families. We also consider how key working transformed the perspectives of the key workers creating a deeper and richer understanding of family lives and the ways in which other disciplines and agencies worked. Key working contributed to the shift to a much more family-centred approach, and enhanced communication and information sharing between professionals and agencies improved. This resulted in families feeling more informed. Key workers acted in an entrepreneurial fashion, forging new relationships with families and between families and other stakeholders. Parents of young disabled children and their service providers benefited from key working. Much of the benefit accrued came from strong, relational, and social-professional networking which facilitated the embedding of new ways of working into everyday practice. Using an appreciative inquiry approach provided an effective and relevant way of engaging with parents, professionals

The Perceptions and Views on Family Interaction and Relationships of Middle Children from Large Families: An Informal Mini Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Elena C. Thomas

In Adler's Theory of Individual Psychology the significance of birth order position in the family constellation depends on the interpretation given to it by the child, which in turn influences his character. This study surveyed the perceptions of middle children in large families. Subjects (N=13) were middle children in families of more than five…

Parents of children with haemophilia at an early age: assessment of perceived stress and family functioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Torres-Ortuño, A; Cuesta-Barriuso, R; Nieto-Munuera, J

2014-11-01

Haemophilia is a chronic disease that requires a multidisciplinary approach for proper management and control of its clinical manifestations. The perception and management of parents of children with haemophilia can be affected by stressful situations as a result of treatment or disease progression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the perception of stress and family functioning in parents of children with haemophilia 1-7 years. This is an observational clinical study involving 49 parents of children with haemophilia 1-7 years who attended the VIII Workshop for Parents of Children with haemophilia, organized by the Spanish Federation of Hemophilia in La Charca, Murcia (Spain). After obtaining parental consent, the questionnaires was applied to them, FACES III (family functioning) and Pediatric Inventory for Parents (perceived stress), and a record of data on the clinical characteristics and treatment. Significant differences in the perception of stressors by gender of parents were found. A family history of haemophilia, the use of port-a-cath, inhibitor development and gender of the parents were the descriptive variables most correlated with dependents variables. These variables, together with the type of haemophilia affect significantly in the parental stress and family functioning. Parents have difficulty adjusting to disease management, perceiving many stressors. Gender and family history, can hinder the proper compliance with treatments, reducing its effectiveness. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Music in the family: music making and music therapy with young children and their families.

Science.gov (United States)

Wetherick, Donald

2009-01-01

Songs and singing games are a healthy part of young children's social, emotional and cognitive development. Such shared music making can facilitate and strengthen relationships between parents and children. Family health workers can encourage carers' informal uses of music with their children. In cases of developmental delay, disability, severe illness or family stress, music can continue to have a significant role in supporting children and parents. In some cases referral to specialist music therapy services may be appropriate for assessment and/or treatment.

Modeling dependencies in product families with COVAMOF

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sinnema, Marco; Deelstra, Sybren; Nijhuis, Jos; Bosch, Jan; Riebisch, M; Tabeling, P; Zorn, W

2006-01-01

Many variability modeling approaches consider only formalized dependencies, i.e. in- or exclude relations between variants. However, in real industrial product families, dependencies are often much more complicated. In this paper, we discuss the product derivation problems associated with

Vulnerability of families with children with intestinal stomas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clara Ferraz Lazarini Zacarin

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Intestinal stomas cause transformations in the body and create specific and continuous needs for care that imply in hospitalization and surgeries. In this context, we applied the concept of family vulnerability in order to identify the vulnerability of the family living with a child who has intestinal stoma. It is a qualitative study which interviewed the mothers of children with this chronic condition. We used narrative analysis based on the concept of family vulnerability. The results display that the family has gone through previous noteworthy experiences associated with the child’s condition. The family cares for the child on their own and seeks ways to control the situation and regain autonomy, hoping for stoma reversal. Based on the concept of vulnerability, we observed that these families can be considered vulnerable, for they experience threats to their autonomy, but are moved by the hope of reversal and intestinal tract reconstruction. doi: 10.5216/ree.v16i2.26639.

Decision aid prototype development for parents considering adenotonsillectomy for their children with sleep disordered breathing

OpenAIRE

Maguire, Erin; Hong, Paul; Ritchie, Krista; Meier, Jeremy; Archibald, Karen; Chorney, Jill

2016-01-01

Background To describe the process involved in developing a decision aid prototype for parents considering adenotonsillectomy for their children with sleep disordered breathing. Methods A paper-based decision aid prototype was developed using the framework proposed by the International Patient Decision Aids Standards Collaborative. The decision aid focused on two main treatment options: watchful waiting and adenotonsillectomy. Usability was assessed with parents of pediatric patients and prov...

Correlation between obesity with atopy and family history of atopy in children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Putria Rayani Apandi

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Background The prevalence of childhood obesity and atopy has increased in recent decades. Research on links between obesity and atopy has shown varied results. Few previous studies have reported on the significance of family history of atopic disease in children. Objective To determine correlation between obesity with atopy and family history of atopic disease in children. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted from April to September 2010 in the Pediatric Allergy-Immunology subdivision, Hasan Sadikin Hospital. Children aged 6−11 years were divided into four groups of 40 each: obese subjects with and without family history of atopic disease, and normal weight subjects with and without family history of atopic disease. Skin prick test was performed to determine which subjects had atopy. Chi-square test was used to analyze mutual independence, and partial Chi-square test was used to analyze correlation of obesity to atopy and family history of atopic disease in children. Environmental factors, type of childbirth, and pregnancy history were also analyzed as risk factors for atopy. Results Of 80 obese children with and without family history of atopic disease, 40 (100% and 38 (95%, respectively, were atopic. Of 80 normal weight children with and without family history of atopic disease, 39 (98% and 9 (23%, respectively, were atopic. Thus atopy was observed in 126 subjects, while the remaining 34 subjects were non-atopic. Partial test showed a correlation between obesity with atopy and family history of atopic disease (P < 0.001. There were no significant differences in risk factors for atopy by group. Conclusion Obesity correlates with atopy and family history of atopic disease in children.

Persisting mental health problems among AIDS-orphaned children in South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Cluver, Lucie D; Orkin, Mark; Gardner, Frances; Boyes, Mark E

2012-04-01

  By 2008, 12 million children in sub-Saharan Africa were orphaned by AIDS. Cross-sectional studies show psychological problems for AIDS-orphaned children, but until now no longitudinal study has explored enduring psychological effects of AIDS-orphanhood in the developing world.   A 4-year longitudinal follow-up of AIDS-orphaned children with control groups of other-orphans and non-orphans. 1021 children (M = 13.4 years, 50% female, 98% isiXhosa-speaking) were interviewed in 2005 and followed up in 2009 with 71% retention (49% female, M = 16.9 years), in poor urban South African settlements. Children were interviewed using sociodemographic questionnaires and well-validated standardised scales for assessing depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. Data were analysed using mixed-design ANOVA and backward-stepping regression.   AIDS-orphaned children showed higher depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) scores in both 2005 and 2009 when compared with other-orphans and non-orphans. Backward-stepping regression, controlling for baseline mental health, and sociodemographic cofactors such as age, gender, and type of bereavement, revealed that being AIDS-orphaned in 2005 was associated with depression, anxiety, and PTSD scores in 2009. This was not the case for other-orphaned or non-orphaned children. Age interacted with orphan status, such that there was a steep rise in psychological distress in the AIDS-orphaned group, but no rise with age amongst other-orphans and non-orphans.   Negative mental health outcomes amongst AIDS-orphaned children are maintained and worsen over a 4-year period. It is important that psychosocial support programmes are sustained, and focus on youth as well as young children. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2011 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Family function and its relationship to injury severity and psychiatric outcome in children with acquired brain injury: a systematized review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lax Pericall, Maria Teresa; Taylor, Eric

2014-01-01

The psychological and psychiatric outcome of children with acquired brain injury is influenced by many variables. A review was undertaken to clarify the contribution of family function, how it relates to injury severity, and what particular aspects of family function influence psychological outcome in this group. A systematized review of the literature of studies published between 1970 and 2012 from OvidMedline, PsychoInfo, PsycARTICLES, and Cochrane was undertaken focusing on family function, injury severity, and psychiatric outcome. Thirty-six papers met the inclusion criteria. Injury severity was linked to the development of organic personality change. Family function before injury, measured by the Family Assessment Device or the Clinical Rating Scale, had a statistically significant effect on general psychological functioning in six out of eight studies. Family function had a significant effect for oppositional defiant disorder and secondary attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder. The effects of family function may differ depending on the age of the child and the severity of the injury. Some styles of parenting moderated recovery. After injury, family function was related to the child's contemporaneous psychiatric symptoms. The level of evidence for these papers was 3 or 4 (Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine criteria). Screening for some aspects of family functioning before injury and family function during the rehabilitation phase may identify children at risk of psychiatric disorders. © 2013 Mac Keith Press.

Unanticipated Effects of Children with Learning Disabilities on Their Families

Science.gov (United States)

Dyson, Lily

2010-01-01

This study examined the unanticipated effects that children with learning disabilities have on the life of their families. Eleven parents of students aged 8 to 16 years old participated in two separate focus group interviews. Findings showed that children with learning disabilities had a range of effects on their families. These included family…

Parental AIDS Status and Death: Its Impact on Ghanaian Childrens ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Methods: In a cross-sectional survey, 4 groups of children (AIDS orphans, orphans of other causes, children living with AIDS parents, and non-orphaned children) aged between 10 and 19 years were interviewed on their hyperactivity, emotional, conduct, and peer problems using the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire.

["Nicht von schlechten Eltern - NischE": A Family Orientated Collaborative Care Approach to Support Children in Families with Mentally Ill Parents].

Science.gov (United States)

Wabnitz, Pascal; Kronmüller, Klaus-Thomas; Wieskus-Friedemann, Erwin; Kliem, Sabine; Hoppmann, Johannes; Burek, Monika; Löhr, Michael; Kemper, Ulrich; Nienaber, André

2016-11-01

"Nicht von schlechten Eltern - NischE": A Family Orientated Collaborative Care Approach to Support Children in Families with Mentally Ill Parents The present work describes the setting- and multi-professional offer "NischE" in Gütersloh, a systemic approach for the care of children and their mentally ill parents. Children of mentally ill parents are a special risk group for developing their own mental illness. The aim of the collaborative care model between child and adolescent psychiatry, youth services and adult psychiatry is to enable affected families in terms of family-focused practice a low threshold access to different services. For this purpose, two positions have been created to advise the affected families and support access to the help system in the sense of a systemic case management in a project. The article describes the background and the need for the development of the offer, the current scientific knowledge base on the subject and illustrates the procedure using a case study from practice.

[Will AIDS overtake them?].

Science.gov (United States)

Boukhari, S

UNICEF estimates that the streets are now the home of some 5 million African children aged 7-15 who are victims of rapid population growth and urbanization as well as the disintegration of traditional family structure. These children, deprived of a home and of all parental control, are potentially very vulnerable to the threat of AIDS. Prostitution, which is almost institutionalized in the most impoverished urban areas, represents for young girls the most immediate means of survival and occasionally even of helping their families. Male prostitution is highly tabu and marginal in sub-Saharan Africa, and is only slightly developed around the tourist hotels. Homeless children are somewhat protected against contamination through the blood by their lack of access to health care. Intravenous drugs are rare in Africa, and drug use is at most an indirect risk factor for AIDS to the extent that in increases the need for money and weakens the immune system. The frequency of sexually transmitted diseases, deplorable hygienic conditions, and poor general health of homeless children increase their risk of contracting the virus. Many homeless children do not even know of the existence of condoms and in any event condoms are usually inaccessible or too costly for them. Homeless children, like the general population, have false ideas about AIDS that discourage self-protective behaviors. In addition they are cut off from the activities of existing prevention programs. In a context of permanent daily insecurity, AIDS appears as just 1 more menace among others. According to an anthropologist working with the UNESCO program to help homeless children, the only way of making such children aware of the threat of AIDS in the large African cities will be to increase the number of prevention programs targeted at them. At the same time, the children need to be educated and taught an income-generating skill; in short, they need to be given a reason to believe in the future.

Comparison of health care needs of child family members of adults with alcohol or drug dependence versus adults with asthma or diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, G Thomas; Mertens, Jennifer R; Weisner, Constance

2014-05-01

To compare the health problems, preventive care utilization, and medical costs of child family members (CFMs) of adults diagnosed with alcohol or drug dependence (AODD) to CFMs of adults diagnosed with diabetes or asthma. Child family members of adults diagnosed with AODD between 2002 and 2005 and CFMs of matched adults diagnosed with diabetes or asthma were followed up to 7 years after diagnosis of the index adult. Logistic regression was used to determine whether the CFMs of AODD adults were more likely to be diagnosed with medical conditions, or get preventive care, than the CFMs of adults with asthma or diabetes. Children's health services use was compared using multivariate models. In Year 5 after index date, CFMs of adults with AODD were more likely to be diagnosed with depression and AODD than CFMs of adults with asthma or diabetes and were less likely to be diagnosed with asthma, otitis media, and pneumonia than CFMs of adults with asthma. CFMs of AODD adults were less likely than CFMs of adult asthmatic patients to have annual well-child visits. CFMs of AODD adults had similar mean annual total health care costs to CFMs of adults with asthma but higher total costs ($159/yr higher, confidence interval, $56-$253) than CFMs of adult diabetic patients. CFMs of adults with AODD had higher emergency department, higher outpatient alcohol and drug program, higher outpatient psychiatry, and lower primary care costs than CFMs of either adult asthmatic patients or diabetic patients. Children in families with an alcohol- or drug-dependent adult have unique patterns of health conditions, and differences in the types of health services used, compared to children in families with an adult asthmatic or diabetic family member. However, overall cost and utilization for health care services is similar or only somewhat higher. This is the first study of its kind, and the results have implications for the reduction of parental alcohol or drug dependence stigma by health care

[Considerations on family dynamics and the malnutrition syndrome in Mexican children].

Science.gov (United States)

Vásquez-Garibay, Edgar Manuel; González-Rico, José Luis; Romero-Velarde, Enrique; Sánchez-Talamantes, Eva; Navarro-Lozano, María Eugenia; Nápoles-Rodríguez, Francisco

2015-01-01

Since the early 1990s we noted that family dysfunction was more common in children with severe primary malnutrition than in children admitted to the hospital without malnutrition. Defects on feeding habits during the first year of life, especially early weaning and inadequate complementary feeding were more common in dysfunctional families. We also observed that chronic malnutrition in preschool children, and overweight and obesity in schoolchildren were more common in children from dysfunctional families. Once the association between dysfunctional family dynamics and obesity in schoolchildren was demonstrated, it was observed that low education of fathers and mothers increased twofold the possibility of family dysfunction: OR: 2.06; 95% CI: 1.37-3.10 and OR: 2.47; 95% CI: 1.57-3.89, respectively. In addition, the low-income and the lower purchasing power of foods were associated to family dysfunction (pdysfunction in composite, extended, single-parent families where there exist other persons vulnerable to the different entities of malnutrition syndrome and indeed depend on adults for their care, food and nutrition.

The Relationship of Perceptions of Service and Support Adequacy to Family Quality of Life for Families of Children with Deafblindness

Science.gov (United States)

Kyzar, Kathleen

2010-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between families' perceptions of supports and services and family quality of life (FQOL) for families of children with deafblindness, and the potential of satisfaction with family-professional partnerships and child age as moderators of this relationship. The study was guided by the Unified Theory of Family…

The Long Road to Farewell: The Needs of Families With Dying Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Cacciatore, Joanne; Thieleman, Kara; Lieber, Angela S; Blood, Cybele; Goldman, Rachel

2017-01-01

Families of dying children are profoundly impacted by numerous interactions with health-care providers before, during, and after their child's death. However, there is a dearth of research on these families' direct, qualitative experiences with health-care providers. This study presents findings from interviews with 18 family members, predominantly parents, regarding their experiences with health-care providers during a child's terminal illness, from diagnosis to death. The importance of compassion emerged as a salient theme, manifested in myriad ways, and connected to participants' perception of caregiver presence in multiple domains. Families were likewise negatively affected by a wide variety of situations and behaviors that represented individual or institutional abandonment or nonpresence, and thus compounded the experience of loss. Specifics and implications for practice are explored.

Self-efficacy of first aid for home accidents among parents with 0- to 4-year-old children at a metropolitan community health center in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Yu-Li; Chen, Li-Li; Li, Tsai-Chung; Ma, Wei-Fen; Peng, Niang-Huei; Huang, Li-Chi

2013-03-01

Although accidental injury is the main factor involved in the death of young children in many countries, few studies have focused on parents' competence with regard to self-efficacy of first aid for their children following injuries occurring at home. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate parental self-sufficiency of first aid for home accidents in children aged 0-4 years. The study is a cross-sectional designed. Data from 445 parents recruited were collected by purposive sampling at eight metropolitan community health centers in central Taiwan. Measurements were taken from a self-developed questionnaire that included 37 questions. Logistic regression analysis was applied to explore the associations between factors and parents' self-efficacy of first aid at home accident. Our findings show that parents' overall rate of knowledge of first aid was 72%. The mean score for 100% certainty in parents' self-efficacy of first aid was 26.6%. The lowest scores for self-efficacy were with regard to choking and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). There was a significantly positive correlation between parents' knowledge and self-efficacy of first aid (pfirst aid is a predictor of parents' self-efficacy. Knowledge of first aid is also a partly mediator between participants' attending first aid program, participants' first aid information obtained from health personnel and self-efficacy of first aid. Our findings suggest that medical services should provide first aid resources to help manage accidental injuries involving children, particularly information on how to deal with choking and CPR. With an appropriate program provided by health professionals, parents' self-efficacy of first aid for home accidents will be positively enhanced. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Burn Prevention for Families with Children with Special Needs

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... Safety Tips Video Special Needs Burns and Scalds Burn Prevention for Families With Children With Special Needs ... to learn what you need to know about burn prevention if you have a child with special ...

The Perspective of Families With a Ventilator-Dependent Child at Home. A Literature Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Falkson, Sandra; Knecht, Christiane; Hellmers, Claudia; Metzing, Sabine

This literature review gives an overview about the existing research concerning the experiences of families with a child with ventilation at home. The number of children with home-ventilation is increasing. Children who receive homecare have the possibility of growing up in their familiar environment and participate in social life. In comparison to children living in institutions, children at home show advantages in their physical, psychological, emotional, social and cognitive development. However, homecare of a child with ventilation places high demands on all family members. Parents assume divergent roles and live with losses. Especially mothers feel isolated, partially through self-imposed isolation. While parents are concerned about this dilemma, talk about their anxieties and strive for stability, children focus on other aspects of their life. They see the ventilator as a positive technique that helps them breathe. The children underline the importance of friends and would like to meet them without nurses in attendance. They strive for normalcy and independence like healthy children, asking for acceptance of themselves and their wishes. There are only few studies about the experience of families with a child with ventilator. Most studies are from the mother's perspective. Parents and children ascribe different importance to the ventilation. Further research should usefully explore the experiences of families with children using home-ventilation. The different perspectives of all family members have to be taken into consideration. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Home Food Preservation among Families with Young Children

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Lorenz, Lorraine J.; Sawicki, Marjorie A.; Elliott, Michael; White, Melissa

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine preservation practices, perceived barriers, and likelihood of parents with young children to home preserve food in the future. Implications of this research relate to family and consumer sciences professionals who endeavor to improve fruit and vegetable intake and provide resources to families and…

Family meal frequency among children and adolescents with eating disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Elran-Barak, Roni; Sztainer, Maya; Goldschmidt, Andrea B; Le Grange, Daniel

2014-07-01

Previous studies on family meals and disordered eating have mainly drawn their samples from the general population. The goal of the current study is to determine family meal frequency among children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and feeding or eating disorder not elsewhere classified (FED-NEC) and to examine whether family meal frequency is associated with eating disorder psychopathology. Participants included 154 children and adolescents (M = 14.92 ± 2.62), who met criteria for AN (n = 60), BN (n = 32), or FED-NEC (n = 62). All participants completed the Eating Disorder Examination and the Family Meal Questionnaire prior to treatment at the University of Chicago Eating Disorders Program. AN and BN participants significantly differed in terms of family meal frequency. A majority of participants with AN (71.7%), compared with less than half (43.7%) of participants with BN, reported eating dinner with their family frequently (five or more times per week). Family meal frequency during dinner was significantly and negatively correlated with dietary restraints and eating concerns among participants with BN (r = -.381, r = -.366, p meal frequency may be explained by their parents' relatively greater vigilance over eating, whereas families of BN patients may be less aware of eating disorder behaviors and hence less insistent upon family meals. Additionally, children and adolescents with AN may be more inhibited and withdrawn and therefore are perhaps more likely to stay at home and eat together with their families. Copyright © 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

EFFECT OF FAMILY EMPOWERMENT IN ENHANCING THE CAPABILITIES OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suprajitno

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Children with autism as individuals have a right to receive developmental needs obtained from parent/caregiver during their stay in the family. The family ability can be improved through empowerment training to provide stimulation for the development of children with autism. Objective: This study aims examine the effect of family empowerment in enhancing the capabilities of children with autism. Methods: The research design used a two-stage quasi-experiment. The first stage was a training for parent/caregiver of children with autism using modules. Training was done three times in the Autism Service Center (PLA of Blitar City. The second stage was the parent/caregiver provided stimulation to their children at home. There were 33 children selected using total sampling in the PLA of Blitar City on April – August, 2016. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-test. Results: The family ability to stimulate the capability of children with autism in the sense of hearing, vision, motoric, and inviting to play obtained average changes of 61.99%, with average items increased from 18.52 to 30.00. While the increase capabilities of children with autism were categorized into five classification: communication, fulfilling of activity daily living, language-numbers–tactile, psychology, and understanding commands. Conclusion: There was a significant effect of family empowerment in enhancing the capabilities of children with autism. Thus, training to improve the ability of parent/caregiver in caring children with autism needs to be implemented in a planned and gradually manner.

Chinese Families of Children with Severe Disabilities: Family Needs and Available Support

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Peishi; Michaels, Craig A.

2009-01-01

This descriptive study gathered quantitative and qualitative data about 368 families in the People's Republic of China who had children with severe disabilities to better understand (a) the perceived needs that families have, (b) the supports available to them, (c) any differences in perceived needs and support between mothers and fathers, and (d)…

[Women with AIDS: disclosing risk stories].

Science.gov (United States)

Vermelho, L L; Barbosa, R H; Nogueira, S A

1999-01-01

This study approaches the social and cultural profile concerning risk for HIV infection in women, describing some epidemiological variables and disclosing reports of risk situations, the meaning of living with AIDS, and support received. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to interview 25 women from the University Hospital of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, prior to the availability of multi-drug treatment. The majority reported limited schooling, were housewives or engaged in under-skilled occupations, and had family incomes lower than average for users of this public teaching hospital. The view of AIDS as "someone else's disease" was prevalent, and STDs were perceived as male infections, although several women reported episodes of STDs prior to HIV. They had received their diagnosis and initial medical care only after their partners' and/or children's illness or death. The study points to preventive strategies reinforcing these silent women's bargaining power, acting on men as potential active participants in reproductive health programs that incorporate STD/AIDS issues.

Burn Prevention for Families with Children with Special Needs

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From novice to expert: agroecological competences of children orphaned by AIDS compared to non-orphans in Benin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Price Lisa L

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background AIDS has created new vulnerabilities for rural African households due to prime-age adult mortality and is assumed to lead to impairment of the intergenerational transfer of farming knowledge. There has been scant research to date, however, on the impacts of parental death on farming knowledge of children made orphans by AIDS. The question we investigate is if there is a difference in agricultural expertise between AIDS affected and non-affected adults and children. Methods The research was carried out in rural Benin with 77 informants randomly selected according to their AIDS status: 13 affected and 13 non-affected adults; 13 paternal, 13 maternal and 13 double orphans; and 12 non-orphan children. Informants descriptions from pile sorting exercises of maize and cowpea pests were categorized and then aggregated into descriptions based form (morphology and function (utility and used to determine whether the moving from novice to expert is impaired by children orphaned by AIDS. Differences and similarities in responses were determined using the Fischer exact test and the Cochran-Mantzel-Haenszel test. Results No significant differences were found between AIDS affected and non-affected adults. Results of the study do reveal differences in the use of form and function descriptors among the children. There is a statistically significant difference in the use of form descriptors between one-parent orphans and non-orphans and in descriptors of specific damages to maize. One-parent paternal orphans were exactly like non-affected adults in their 50/50 balanced expertise in the use of both form and function descriptors. One-parent orphans also had the highest number of descriptors used by children overall and these descriptors are spread across the various aspects of the knowledge domain relative to non-orphans. Conclusions Rather than a knowledge loss for one-parent orphans, particularly paternal orphans, we believe we are witnessing

Gender and Sexuality in Young Children's Perspectives of AIDS

Science.gov (United States)

Bhana, D.; Jewnarain, D.

2012-01-01

Responses to AIDS have often neglected children. Drawing on a qualitative study of young children aged 7-9 years, this paper draws attention to their understandings of HIV and AIDS. It is argued that young children are able to give meaning to the disease in ways that link to their social contexts, where gender inequalities and sexual violence are…

The power of siblings and caregivers: under-explored types of social support among children affected by HIV and AIDS.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharer, Melissa; Cluver, Lucie; Shields, Joseph J; Ahearn, Frederick

2016-03-01

Children affected by HIV and AIDS have significantly higher rates of mental health problems than unaffected children. There is a need for research to examine how social support functions as a source of resiliency for children in high HIV-prevalence settings such as South Africa. The purpose of this research was to explore how family social support relates to depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress (PTS). Using the ecological model as a frame, data were drawn from a 2011 cross-sectional study of 1380 children classified as either orphaned by AIDS and/or living with an AIDS sick family member. The children were from high-poverty, high HIV-prevalent rural and urban communities in South Africa. Social support was analyzed in depth by examining the source (e.g. caregiver, sibling) and the type (e.g. emotional, instrumental, quality). These variables were entered into multiple regression analyses to estimate the most parsimonious regression models to show the relationships between social support and depression, anxiety, and PTS symptoms among the children. Siblings emerged as the most consistent source of social support on mental health. Overall caregiver and sibling support explained 13% variance in depression, 12% in anxiety, and 11% in PTS. Emotional support was the most frequent type of social support associated with mental health in all regression models, with higher levels of quality and instrumental support having the strongest relation to positive mental health outcomes. Although instrumental and quality support from siblings were related to positive mental health, unexpectedly, the higher the level of emotional support received from a sibling resulted in the child reporting more symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTS. The opposite was true for emotional support provided via caregivers, higher levels of this support was related to lower levels of all mental health symptoms. Sex was significant in all regressions, indicating the presence of moderation.

A qualitative study of doctors' and nurses' barriers to communicating with seriously ill patients about their dependent children.

Science.gov (United States)

Dencker, Annemarie; Rix, Bo Andreassen; Bøge, Per; Tjørnhøj-Thomsen, Tine

2017-12-01

Research indicates that health personnel caring for seriously ill patients with dependent children aged 0 to 18 years often avoid discussing with them the challenges of being a family with a parent in treatment. Children of seriously ill patients risk serious trauma and emotional difficulty later in life and depend on adult support to minimize these consequences. Patients suffer anxiety about supporting their children during their illness. Because of their potentially pivotal role in supporting patients in enabling parent-child communication, we examined HP's structural and emotional barriers to communicating with patients about their children. The study was based on 49 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with doctors and nurses working with haematology, gynaecological cancer, and neurointensive care. Both interviews and analysis addressed emotional and structural barriers, drawing on the theoretical framework of Maturana's domains. The study found structural barriers (eg, lack of space in the medical recording system, professional code, time pressure, and lack of training) and emotional barriers (eg, the painful nature of the situation and the perceived need of keeping professional distance). We found that emotional barriers tended to grow when structural barriers were not addressed. Our study indicates (1) the need to use templates and manual procedures to gather and process information about children in medical records; (2) the need for managerial backing for addressing children of seriously ill patients and time spent on it; and (3) the need for future HP training programmes to include how to implement procedures and how to address all barriers. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Matching career and family related factors for families with children

OpenAIRE

Rutkienė, Aušra; Trepulė, Elena

2015-01-01

Work-family conflict is a complex, multi-dimensional construct. When families decide to continue their professional career, work and family role matching demands efforts and causes strain. Results of a qualitative research show that having and taking care of pre-school and primary-school age children is one of main conflict reasons. Child-care arrangements have an important impact on parents’ experiences of work and their career paths. Job tenure and involvement into work-team are lower stres...

Burn Prevention for Families with Children with Special Needs

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Full Text Available ... Tips Video Special Needs Burns and Scalds Burn Prevention for Families With Children With Special Needs Watch ... learn what you need to know about burn prevention if you have a child with special needs. ...

Burn Prevention for Families with Children with Special Needs

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Full Text Available ... Burns and Scalds Burn Prevention for Families With Children With Special Needs Watch this video to learn ... know about burn prevention if you have a child with special needs. Read our burn prevention tips | ...

Caregiver issues and AIDS orphans: perspectives from a social worker focus group.

Science.gov (United States)

Paige, C Y; Johnson, M S

1997-10-01

This study examines social workers' perceptions of the needs of families coping with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This research investigates the problems of family caregivers of children orphaned by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related death of their parents. A qualitative semistructured interview format was used in a focus group of 18 social workers. Four questions were designed to assess family needs and resources, as well as to evaluate the social workers' perspectives of governmental policies affecting these families. A list of four problems and two recommendations for change evolved from the focus group. Inadequate finances to house and care for the children was the primary cause for distress in these families. The major governmental policy that hindered the social workers' ability to assist families pertained to the low financial entitlement for caregivers who are related to the orphaned child. It was noted that unrelated caregivers receive substantially more money for the care of these children than family caregivers receive. Recommendations were made to change this policy and to develop guardianship laws that facilitate families' abilities to provide care to AIDS orphans. Family caregivers of AIDS orphans are bombarded with great demands and limited resources. This analysis of their situation from the social workers' perspective is a positive step toward the improvement of support services for these families. Further research should include individual qualitative interviews assessing the needs of the caregivers and AIDS orphans.

Gender and nurturance in families of children with neurodevelopmental conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Shapiro, Danielle N; Dixon-Thomas, Pamela; Warschausky, Seth

2014-05-01

This study tested the hypothesis that gender differences in parent-reported nurturance of children would be attenuated in families of children with neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs). In this cross-sectional study, participants included 49 (29 male) children diagnosed with an NDC and 60 (30 male) typically developing (TD) children. Children in the NDC group had a diagnosis of cerebral palsy (CP; n = 41) or spina bifida (SB; n = 8). Parental nurturance was measured using the nurturance subscale of the Parenting Dimensions Inventory (PDI; Power, 1991). Data were analyzed using a 2 × 2 (gender × diagnosis) analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with child age as the covariate. As a simple main effect, parents reported more nurturing behavior toward TD girls than TD boys. However, girls with an NDC received less nurturance, thereby eliminating the gender difference in parental nurturance in the NDC sample. This pattern was reflected in the larger ANCOVA as a 2-way interaction between diagnosis and gender. Group differences in other PDI subscales were not statistically significant. This pattern of results suggests that the parents of girls with NDCs may be less nurturing toward them, thereby attenuating gender differences observed in families with TD children. Findings highlight the need for more research on the gendered dynamics in families with a child with an NDC to develop systemic models of family functioning and targeted parenting interventions for this group. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

State Medicaid Spending and Financial Burden of Families Raising Children with Autism

Science.gov (United States)

Parish, Susan L.; Thomas, Kathleen C.; Rose, Roderick; Kilany, Mona; Shattuck, Paul T.

2012-01-01

We examined the association between state Medicaid spending for children with disabilities and the financial burden reported by families of children with autism. Child and family data were from the 2005-2006 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (n = 2,011 insured children with autism). State characteristics were from public…

Parenting, family functioning and anxiety-disordered children: Comparisons to controls, changes after family versus child CBT

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jongerden, L.; Bögels, S.M.

2015-01-01

We examined (1) whether families of clinic-referred anxiety-disordered children are characterized by anxiety-enhancing parenting and family functioning, compared to control families; (2) whether family cognitive-behavioral therapy (FCBT) for anxiety-disordered children decreases anxiety-enhancing

Family stress and parental responses to children's negative emotions: tests of the spillover, crossover, and compensatory hypotheses.

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Nelson, Jackie A; O'Brien, Marion; Blankson, A Nayena; Calkins, Susan D; Keane, Susan P

2009-10-01

The relations between 4 sources of family stress (marital dissatisfaction, home chaos, parental depressive symptoms, and job role dissatisfaction) and the emotion socialization practice of mothers' and fathers' responses to children's negative emotions were examined. Participants included 101 couples with 7-year-old children. Dyadic analyses were conducted using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model and relations were tested in terms of the spillover, crossover, and compensatory hypotheses. Results suggest that measures of family stress relate to supportive and nonsupportive parental responses, though many of these relations differ by parent gender. The results are discussed in terms of the 3 theoretical hypotheses, all of which are supported to some degree depending on the family stressor examined.

Burn Prevention for Families with Children with Special Needs

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Full Text Available ... Scalds Burn Prevention for Families With Children With Special Needs Watch this video to learn what you need ... burn prevention if you have a child with special needs. Read our burn prevention tips | Visit our YouTube ...

Planning an outing from hospital for ventilator-dependent children.

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Gilgoff, I S; Helgren, J

1992-10-01

Returning ventilator-dependent children to the home environment has become a well-accepted occurrence. The success of a home program depends on careful pre-discharge planning in order to ensure the child's medical safety, and adequate preparation to ensure the child's and family's adjustment to an active community life after discharge. To achieve this, involvement in community activities must begin while the child is still in hospital. As part of a complete rehabilitation program, nine ventilator-dependent children were taken on an inpatient outing to Disneyland. The planning and goals of the outing are described.

Psychological Distress amongst AIDS-Orphaned Children in Urban South Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Cluver, Lucie; Gardner, Frances; Operario, Don

2007-01-01

Background: South Africa is predicted to have 2.3 million children orphaned by Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) by 2020 (Actuarial Society of South Africa, 2005). There is little knowledge about impacts of AIDS-related bereavement on children, to aid planning of services. This study aimed to investigate psychological consequences of AIDS…

Exploring parent-sibling communication in families of children with sickle cell disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Graff, J Carolyn; Hankins, Jane S; Hardy, Belinda T; Hall, Heather R; Roberts, Ruth J; Neely-Barnes, Susan L

2010-01-01

Communication within families of children with sickle cell disease is important yet has not been adequately investigated. Focus group interviews were conducted with parents of children with sickle cell disease to explore parent-sibling communication about sickle cell disease. Communication was influenced by attributes and behaviors of the parent, the child with sickle cell disease, and the sibling; extended family, neighbors, friends, and church members or social networks; and available, accessible resources related to the child's health, child's school, and parent employment. Outcomes that influenced and were influenced by factors within and outside the parent-sibling dyad and nuclear family included parent satisfaction, parent roles, family intactness, and status attainment. These findings support previous research with African-American families and expand our views of the importance of educating parents, family members, and others about sickle cell disease. The findings suggest a need to explore sibling perception of this communication, parent and sibling perception of the impact of frequent hospitalizations and clinic visits on the sibling and family, and variations within families of children with sickle cell disease.

Feasibility study of a family-focused intervention to improve outcomes for children with FASD.

Science.gov (United States)

Reid, Natasha; Dawe, Sharon; Harnett, Paul; Shelton, Doug; Hutton, Lauren; O'Callaghan, Frances

2017-08-01

Growing evidence shows that children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) can benefit from interventions, and specifically interventions focused on improving self-regulation. However, novel ways of improving outcomes for children with FASD need further investigation so that programs target not only the individual child but also the family context, which includes the parent-child relationship. The current study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of an adapted version of the Parents under Pressure (PuP) program that addresses self-regulatory processes, through improving the parent-child relationship and the use of mindfulness-based strategies for both children and parents. This was a mixed methods study. Feasibility was examined by evaluating recruitment, data collection/outcome measures, and intervention procedures. The study used a phenomenological approach to obtain qualitative information from caregivers and a single-case experimental design to evaluate the preliminary participant responses to the intervention. Two out of three families completed treatment. The recruitment and intervention procedures were found to be suitable for and acceptable to the families involved. Some concerns were identified regarding the outcome measures that would need to be addressed in future research. Quantitative and qualitative outcomes were positive. The results provide preliminary support for the feasibility of an adapted version of the PuP program. Thus, offering a potential multi-component option, that aims to improve self-regulatory skills for children with FASD, through focusing on improving the parent-child relationship and incorporating mindfulness-based techniques for both parents and children. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Family Quality of Life of South African Families Raising Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Schlebusch, Liezl; Dada, Shakila; Samuels, Alecia E.

2017-01-01

This article describes the family quality of life among families who are raising a young child with autism spectrum disorder. Survey research was conducted with 180 families of children with autism spectrum disorder who were receiving disability-related services in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The principle measure used was the Beach…

Family and legal indicators of child adjustment to divorce among families with young children.

Science.gov (United States)

Pruett, Marsha Kline; Williams, Tamra Y; Insabella, Glendessa; Little, Todd D

2003-06-01

This research used structural equation modeling to examine relations among family dynamics, attorney involvement, and the adjustment of young children (0-6 years) at the time of parental separation. The article presents baseline data (N = 102 nonresidential fathers and N = 110 primary caretaking mothers) from a larger longitudinal study. Results showed that the effects of parental conflict on child outcomes were mediated by paternal involvement, the parent-child relationship, and attorney involvement. A scale assessing parental gatekeeping yielded two significant factors: Spouse's Influence on Parenting and Positive View of Spouse. Paternal involvement was related to children's adaptive behavior, whereas negative changes in parent-child relationships predicted behavior problems. Mothers who experienced greater psychological symptomatology were less likely to utilize an attorney, which in turn predicted greater internalizing problems in their children.

Preventive interventions in families with parental depression: children's psychosocial symptoms and prosocial behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Solantaus, Tytti; Paavonen, E Juulia; Toikka, Sini; Punamäki, Raija-Leena

2010-12-01

The aim is to document the effectiveness of a preventive family intervention (Family Talk Intervention, FTI) and a brief psychoeducational discussion with parents (Let's Talk about the Children, LT) on children's psychosocial symptoms and prosocial behaviour in families with parental mood disorder, when the interventions are practiced in psychiatric services for adults in the finnish national health service. Patients with mood disorder were invited to participate with their families. Consenting families were randomized to the two intervention groups. The initial sample comprised 119 families and their children aged 8-16. Of these, 109 completed the interventions and the baseline evaluation. Mothers and fathers filled out questionnaires including standardized rating scales for children's symptoms and prosocial behaviour at baseline and at 4, 10 and 18 months post-intervention. The final sample consisted of parental reports on 149 children with 83 complete data sets. Both interventions were effective in decreasing children's emotional symptoms, anxiety, and marginally hyperactivity and in improving children's prosocial behaviour. The FTI was more effective than the LT on emotional symptoms particularly immediately after the intervention, while the effect of the LT emerged after a longer interval. The study supports the effectiveness of both interventions in families with depressed parents. The FTI is applicable in cultural settings other than the USA. Our findings provide support for including preventive child mental health measures as part of psychiatric services for mentally ill parents.

DEGRADATION OF PARENTAL BONDING AND VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN: THE USE OF FAMILY GENOGRAM IN THE PEDIATRIC CLINIC.

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Leoncio, Égle Thomaz; Souza, Sonia Regina Pereira de; Machado, José Lúcio Martins

2017-01-01

To demonstrate the importance of using the family genogram in pediatric consultation, as an analysis tool to evaluate the degradation of parental bonding and also violence against children. A qualitative study was conducted in 2011 wherein 63 children, aged between 2 and 6 years, enrolled in a slum nursery, was studied. In order to construct the genogram, data were collected in four stages: pediatric evaluation at nursery; interview with caregivers; interview with teachers; and interview with the nursery coordinator. The data about the families were used to construct the genograms with the aid of GenoPro®-2016 software. In order to evaluate the quality of bonding, the following items were included in the genograms: violence against children, drug addiction, neglect, mental disorder, type of relationship among family members. The evaluated children and their families generated 55 genograms. In 38 of them, functional family arrangements, and close or very close emotional ties were observed. In 17 cases, situations involving physical, emotional, or sexual violence against children were perceived. Among these, four represented extreme cases, with fraying parental bonding, and dysfunctional family arrangements. In these families, chemical addiction was prevalent among multiple members, as well as severe mental disorder, persistent physical and verbal abuse, and sexual abuse. The use of the genogram helps to identify at an early stage the degradation of parental bonding and violence against children, and when it is incorporated into the pediatric practice routine, it may contribute to the promotion of the comprehensive health care of the child, regardless of the presence of social vulnerability.

Children's responses to low parental mood. II: Associations with family perceptions of parenting styles and child distress.

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Solantaus-Simula, Tytti; Punamäki, Raija-Leena; Beardslee, William R

2002-03-01

In an earlier article (part 1) the authors identified four patterns of children's responses to parental low mood: Active Empathy, Emotional Overinvolvement, Indifference, and Avoidance. They then hypothesized that these response patterns were related to parenting styles and to discrepancies in family members' perceptions of parenting and child mental distress. A normal population sample of 990 twelve-year-old Finnish children and their mothers (843) and fathers (573) was used. Within-family multivariate analyses conducted in mother-father-child triads (470) were used to examine whether quality of parenting varied according to children's responses and whether parents' and children's perceptions of parenting and child distress were different. Children in the Active Empathy and Indifference groups experienced more positive parenting than those in the other two groups. Discrepancies in family members' perceptions of child distress and mothering and fathering were especially characteristic of the Emotional Overinvolvement group. Typical for the Avoidance group was a within-family agreement on poor parenting and severe child distress. Children's response patterns as regards parental low mood are related to family dynamics. The study suggests that discrepancies in parents' and children's perceptions of parenting and child distress can be meaningful in understanding family interactions and child development and well-being.

A QUESTIONNAIRE-BASED SURVEY ON ROAD VEHICLE TRAVEL HABITS OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

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Torbjörn FALKMER

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Previous research concerning the transport situation for children with disabilities has shown a lack of reliable data on their travel habits, although such data are essential for producing rules, regulations and guidelines for safe transportation of the target group. The results from the present questionnaire study, which was carried out among 1,060 parents of children with disabilities, showed that the target group travelled frequently in the family vehicle. Most of their journeys occupied a substantial amount of time. Less than a third of all family vehicles were adapted for transporting children with disabilities. There was a large proportion of safety belt users in the family vehicle. Lack of tiedown and safety restraint system procedures meant that journeys by school transportation and Special Transport Systems were a very hazardous means of transport for children with disabilities. The results suggest that school transportation systems must be compelled to use safety belts for children with disabilities, preferably for all children, since children seated in technical aids face an even greater risk in the event of an impact than other children. Tiedown systems must be made compulsory for road vehicle transportation with technical aids used as seating systems.

Social inclusion and wellbeing of families of children with special needs transnational study report

OpenAIRE

Colomeischi, Aurora Adina; Fillella Gui, Gemma; Veiga Branco, Augusta; Alimović, Sonja; Baranauskiene, Ingrida; Gol-Guven, Mine

2016-01-01

BUILDING BRIDGES: PROMOTING SOCIAL INCLUSION AND WELLBEING FOR FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS – PSI-WELL The project entitled Building Bridges: Promoting Social Inclusion and Wellbeing for Families of Children with Special Needs (PSI_WELL) proposes an innovative approach aimed to facilitate social inclusion and wellbeing for families confronting with disabled children through adult education for parents. The project is addressing to the specific needs of families parenting childre...

Parent-Reported Family Functioning Among Children With Cleft Lip/Palate.

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Crerand, Canice E; Rosenberg, Janine; Magee, Leanne; Stein, Margot B; Wilson-Genderson, Maureen; Broder, Hillary L

2015-11-01

To examine family functioning related to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics in youth with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P). Cross-sectional, multi-site investigation. Six U.S. cleft centers. A diverse sample of 1200 children with CL/P and their parents. Parents completed the Family Environment Scale (FES), which assesses three domains of family functioning: cohesion (or closeness), expressiveness (open expression of feelings), and conflict. Demographic and clinical characteristics were also assessed including race, ethnicity, type of insurance, and surgical recommendations. The FES scores for families seeking team evaluations for their youth with CL/P (mean age = 11.6 years) fall within the average range compared with normative samples. Families receiving surgical recommendations for their youth also had FES scores in the average range, yet families of children recommended for functional surgery reported greater cohesion, expressiveness, and less conflict compared with those recommended for aesthetic surgery (P conflict domain. Families with private insurance reported significantly greater cohesion (P functioning across domains was in the average range. However, observed differences by race, ethnicity, type of insurance, and surgical recommendation may warrant consideration in clinical management for patients and families.

The Care and Use of a Child's Hearing Aid: A Practical Guide for Parents, Teachers, and Children.

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Lewis, Michael A.

The booklet is intended to provide practical information on hearing aids for hearing impaired children, their families and teachers. Illustrations are provided to describe the hearing process. The nature of hearing loss is considered in terms of types (conductive, sensori-neural, and mixed), causes, degrees, and educational implications. Four…

Exploring Perspectives on Child Care with Families of Children with Autism

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Mereoiu, Mariana; Bland, Carol; Dobbins, Nicole; Niemeyer, Judith A.

2015-01-01

Early childhood programs serve increasing numbers of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their families. While many programs have made significant progress in providing educational services responsive to the needs of children with ASD, concerns persist about whether early education programs can meet the educational needs of such…

The Multivariate Roles of Family Instability and Interparental Conflict in Predicting Children's Representations of Insecurity in the Family System and Early School Adjustment Problems.

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Coe, Jesse L; Davies, Patrick T; Sturge-Apple, Melissa L

2017-02-01

This study examined the moderating role of family instability in relations involving destructive interparental conflict, children's internal representations of insecurity in the family system, and their early school maladjustment. Two hundred forty-three preschool children (M age = 4.60 years; 56 % girls) and their families participated in this multi-method (i.e., observations, structured interview, surveys) multi-informant (i.e., observer, parent, teacher), longitudinal study. Findings indicated that the mediational role of children's insecure family representations in the pathway between destructive interparental conflict and children's adjustment problems varied significantly depending on the level of family instability. Interparental conflict was specifically associated with insecure family representations only under conditions of low family instability. In supporting the role of family instability as a vulnerable-stable risk factor, follow up analyses revealed that children's concerns about security in the family were uniformly high under conditions of heightened instability regardless of their level of exposure to interparental conflict.

The Bears Family Projective Test: evaluating stories of children with emotional difficulties.

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Iandolo, Giuseppe; Esposito, Gianluca; Venuti, Paola

2012-06-01

The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the storytelling of children with emotional difficulties. Forty children with emotional and relational difficulties (inhibited and impulsive), ages between 5.5 and 9.4 years old, were assessed by a multiaxial procedure and the bears family projective test. The bears family test is a constructive-thematic-projective method based on an anthropomorphic family of bears that children can manipulate to tell a story. The stories of 40 children without emotional difficulties (matched by IQ, socio-economic status, and gender) and 322 typically developing children, aged between four and 10 years old, were used as a reference for comparisons. Results indicated that the stories of children with emotional difficulties showed many unsolved problematic events, unclear characters, negative relationships, and negative behaviors. Unlike the stories of children without emotional difficulties, positive contents didn't prevail over negative, and there wasn't a positive compensation for negative elements.

The family drawings of at-risk children: concurrent relations with contact with incarcerated parents, caregiver behavior, and stress.

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Dallaire, Danielle H; Ciccone, Anne; Wilson, Laura C

2012-01-01

The current study examined children's attachment representations as assessed with their family drawings in relation to contact with an incarcerated or estranged parent, caregiver behavior, and family stress in a high-risk sample of children (N = 44, M (age) = 8.14), 55% of whom had incarcerated parents. Greater phone, mail, and physical contact with an incarcerated parent was associated with more role reversal in children's family drawings. Additional results show that child-reports of more hostile caregiver behavior were associated with greater overall insecurity in their family drawings; child and caregiver reports of stress were associated with increased global pathology and bizarreness/dissociation in children's family drawings. Given the lack of research on concurrent familial-based correlates of ratings made of children's family drawings, these results provide additional insights into children's representations of attachment relationships in early middle childhood. Further, the results regarding contact with incarcerated parents have implications for researchers and clinicians working with families impacted by parental incarceration.

How Sensory Experiences of Children With and Without Autism Affect Family Occupations

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Bagby, Molly Shields; Dickie, Virginia A.; Baranek, Grace T.

2012-01-01

We used a grounded theory approach to data analysis to discover what effect, if any, children's sensory experiences have on family occupations. We chose this approach because the existing literature does not provide a theory to account for the effect of children's sensory experiences on family occupations. Parents of six children who were typically developing and six children who had autism were interviewed. We analyzed the data using open, axial, and selective coding techniques. Children's sensory experiences affect family occupations in three ways: (1) what a family chooses to do or not do; (2) how the family prepares; and (3) the extent to which experiences, meaning, and feelings are shared. PMID:22389942

Family characteristics and parents' and children's health behaviour are associated with public health nurses' concerns at children's health examinations.

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Poutiainen, Hannele; Hakulinen, Tuovi; Mäki, Päivi; Laatikainen, Tiina

2016-12-01

The study aimed to establish whether family characteristics and the health behaviour and illnesses of parents and children are associated with public health nurses' (PHNs') concerns about children's physical health and psychosocial development in the context of health examinations. Factors affecting children's health and well-being should be identified as early as possible to provide children and families appropriate support. In 2007-2009, a cross-sectional study in Finland collected information about PHNs' concerns, children's health and well-being as well as the background factors affecting them during health examinations of preschool-age children and school-aged children (n = 4795). Associations between family characteristics, parents' and children's behaviour and diseases, and PHNs' concerns were assessed using logistic regression analysis. Overweight in children, the long-term illnesses of both children and parents, and parental smoking were the factors most strongly associated with PHNs' concerns about a child's physical health whereas non-nuclear family types, the father's low educational level and unemployment, the child's lack of sleep, and bullying were associated with concerns about the child's psychosocial development. The connections found demonstrate that health examinations should address factors that affect the whole family's well-being so as to comprehensively promote children's health, growth and development. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Harnessing the Power of Play in Emotionally Focused Family Therapy With Preschool Children.

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Willis, Amber B; Haslam, Darryl R; Bermudez, J Maria

2016-10-01

Emotionally focused family therapy (EFFT) is an attachment-based therapy model that has been used with older children and adolescents. More recently, it has been suggested for use with young children. EFFT holds promise as a clinical treatment for young children coping with attachment problems, but more detailed guidelines are needed for implementing the model with this age-group. Whereas preschool and kindergarten age children are less able to participate in talk therapy than older children, accommodations need to be made to this approach when the identified patient is a young child. This article offers a variety of play therapy activities that may be incorporated within an EFFT framework to strengthen the emotional bonds in families with children ages four to six. © 2016 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Parental Stress in Families of Children With Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities.

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Valicenti-McDermott, Maria; Lawson, Katharine; Hottinger, Kathryn; Seijo, Rosa; Schechtman, Merryl; Shulman, Lisa; Shinnar, Shlomo

2015-11-01

The level of parental stress in families of children with autism and other developmental disabilities and its association with child comorbid symptoms was studied in an ethnically diverse population, in a cross-sectional study with structured interview. The sample included 50 families of children with autism and 50 families of children with other developmental disabilities, matched by age/gender. Interview included Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, Gastrointestinal Questionnaire, Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire, and Aberrant Behavior Checklist. In this ethnically diverse sample, parental stress was significantly higher for the autism group and for non-Hispanic and US-born mothers. In both study groups, parental stress was related to child irritability. Parental stress was also related to gastrointestinal problems in the autism group and to sleep difficulties in the developmental disabilities group. Targeting child irritability may be particularly important in reducing parental stress for families of children with autism and other developmental disabilities. © The Author(s) 2015.

The extent of community and public support available to families caring for orphans in Malawi.

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Kidman, Rachel; Heymann, S Jody

2009-04-01

There are an estimated 15 million AIDS orphans worldwide. Families play an important role in safeguarding orphans, but they may be increasingly compromised by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The international aid community has recognized the need to help families continue caring for orphaned children by strengthening their safety nets. Before we build new structures, however, we need to know the extent to which community and public safety nets already provide support to families with orphans. To address this gap, we analyzed nationally representative data from 27,495 children in the 2004-2005 Malawi Integrated Household Survey. We found that communities commonly assisted orphan households through private transfers; organized responses to the orphan crisis were far less frequent. Friends and relatives provided assistance to over 75% of orphan households through private gifts, but the value of such support was relatively low. Over 40% of orphans lived in a community with support groups for the chronically ill and approximately a third of these communities provided services specifically for orphans and other vulnerable children. Public programs, which form a final safety net for vulnerable households, were more widespread. Free/subsidized agricultural inputs and food were the most commonly used public safety nets by children's households in the past year (44 and 13%, respectively), and households with orphans were more likely to be beneficiaries. Malawi is poised to drastically expand safety nets to orphans and their families, and these findings provide an important foundation for this process.

Children's television viewing and objectively measured physical activity: associations with family circumstance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salmon Jo

2006-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The contribution of family circumstance to physical activity and television viewing has not been widely investigated in pre-adolescents, and available information is inconsistent. This study examines whether television viewing and objectively measured physical activity vary by different indicators of family circumstance. Methods Data from the 2001 Children's Leisure Activity Study and the 2002/3 Health, Eating and Play Study, involving Australian children in Grades Prep (mean age 6y and 5–6 (mean age 11y, were combined. Children wore accelerometers for six consecutive 24 hour periods. Average min/day in low-intensity activity (1.0–1.9 METs and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity activity (≥3 METs were calculated. Parents reported children's television viewing and family circumstance. Linear regression analyses were conducted separately for young girls, young boys, older girls and older boys. Results Complete data were available for 2458 children. Parental education and, to a lesser extent, employment level were inversely associated with television viewing. Children in single-parent families, those whose fathers were not in paid employment, and those without siblings tended to spend more time in low-intensity activity than their peers. Children with siblings spent more time in moderate-to-vigorous-intensity activity; associations were stronger for girls. Maternal education was positively associated with moderate-to-vigorous-intensity activity for younger children. Maternal employment was positively associated with moderate-to-vigorous-intensity activity for older children. Multivariable models did not demonstrate a cumulative explanatory effect. Conclusion Individual measures of family circumstance were differentially associated with television, low-intensity activity and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity activity and associations were often not consistent across age-by-gender groups. Interventions may need to be tailored

Working With Children in Families With Parental Substance Abuse: Nurses' Experiences and Complexity in Relationships.

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Wallström, Rebecca; Persson, Renée Ståleborg; Salzmann-Erikson, Martin

2016-06-01

Children who grow up in families with parental substance abuse are exposed to increased risk of developing a variety of disorders. As nurses encounter these children, it is important for them to be supportive. The aim of the current study was to describe nurses' experiences and reflections regarding their work with children in families with parental substance abuse. A qualitative descriptive approach was adopted. Seven nurses were interviewed, and data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. The results were presented in four categories: (a) nurses' responsibilities; (b) identification of children's social network; (c) ethical concerns; and (d) assessment and evaluation of children's behavior. Nurses' preventive work and intervention in dysfunctional families may have direct consequences on children's present and future development and well-being. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 54(6), 38-44.]. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

Family processes as pathways from income to young children's development.

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Linver, Miriam R; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne; Kohen, Dafna E

2002-09-01

A variety of family processes have been hypothesized to mediate associations between income and young children's development. Maternal emotional distress, parental authoritative and authoritarian behavior (videotaped mother-child interactions), and provision of cognitively stimulating activities (Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment [HOME] scales) were examined as possible mediators in a sample of 493 White and African American low-birth-weight premature infants who were followed from birth through age 5. Cognitive ability was assessed by standardized test, and child behavior problems by maternal report, when the children were 3 and 5 years of age. As expected, family income was associated with child outcomes. The provision of stimulating experiences in the home mediated the relation between family income and both children's outcomes; maternal emotional distress and parenting practices mediated the relation between income and children's behavior problems.