Family dynamics and child outcomes in early intervention: the role of developmental theory in the specification of effects

Evaluations of early intervention for children facing biological and/or socioeconomic risk have tended to focus most directly on change in the child, treating family variables primarily as mediators of change. In contrast, the current study used developmental theory to articulate hypotheses that address one way in which a focus on the relationship between mother and child may be related to intervention efficacy. This study examined maternal control strategy and child compliance as a function of early intervention beginning at birth for low birth weight, preterm infants and their families and related these aspects of mother–child interaction to behavioral outcomes at age 3 (n=645). Overall, mothers receiving early intervention were no more likely to use a preferred control strategy, guidance orientation, in a structured compliance task than were mothers participating in a follow-up only condition. However, an association between early intervention and maternal guidance was observed among mothers of children who were consistently noncompliant during the task. As a result, maternal guidance as observed in the compliance interaction was associated with reduced externalizing and internalizing behavior at program end for children participating in the intervention but not the follow-up only condition. Findings highlight the value of focusing on the mother–child dyad and illustrate one way in which developmental theory can assist in the specification of treatment effects.     

Infant signs as intervention? Promoting symbolic gestures for preverbal children in low-income families supports responsive parent–child relationships

Gestures are a natural form of communication between preverbal children and parents which support children's social and language development; however, low-income parents gesture less frequently, disadvantaging their children. In addition to pointing and waving, children are capable of learning many symbolic gestures, known as “infant signs,” if modeled by adults. The practice of signing with infants is increasingly popular in middle-income populations around the world, but has not been examined as an intervention to promote positive qualities of the parent–child relationship. This study tested whether an infant sign intervention (ISI) encouraging low-income parents to use symbolic gestures could enhance the parent–child relationship. A final sample of twenty-nine toddlers and their families were followed for 7 months after assignment to the ISI or a control group. Children and mothers in ISI group families used more symbolic gestures than those in control families. Mothers’ in the ISI group were more attuned to changes in children's affect and more responsive to children's distress cues. Mothers in the intervention group also viewed their children more positively, reducing parenting-related stress. This study provides evidence that a simple infant sign intervention is an effective tool to promote bidirectional communication and positive interactions for preverbal children and their parents.     

Everyone Playing in Class: a group play provision for enhancing the emotional well‐being of children in school

‘Everyone Playing in Class’ is an unstructured free play based provision for small classes or groups. The intervention involves training staff in attachment theory, presenting up‐to‐date research findings on the role of play in emotional well‐being and relationship building, as well as teaching reflective communication skills. In this article Alison Woolf, who is a Member of British Association of Play Therapists (BAPT), describes how these weekly class play sessions can provide experiences that are beneficial for staff and for pupils. The essential elements that create the therapeutic intervention are described and explored, and set in context through their relationship to SEAL. The ethical considerations of school staff providing therapeutic opportunities are considered. Results of pre‐ and post‐intervention assessments are given, and the responses of staff and pupils to the sessions are summarised. Results show improvements for pupils in the areas of self‐esteem and of social development. Most significantly the results demonstrate an increase in the staff's ability to understand and respond to the children in their class.     

Investigating the effect of an adaptive learning intervention on students’ learning

Educators agree on the benefits of adaptive learning, but evidence-based research remains limited as the field of adaptive learning is still evolving within higher education. In this study, we investigated the impact of an adaptive learning intervention to provide remedial instruction in biology, chemistry, math, and information literacy to first-year students (n = 128) entering a pharmacy professional degree program. Using a mixed methods design, we examined students’ learning in each of the four content areas, their experience using the adaptive system, and student characteristics as related to their choice of participating in the intervention. The findings showed the adaptive learning intervention helped address the knowledge gap for chemistry, but the same effect was not observed for the other three content areas. Math anxiety was the only student characteristic that showed a significant relationship with students’ participation. While the students reported an overall positive experience, the results also revealed time factor and several design flaws that could have contributed to the lack of more student success. The findings highlight the importance of design in adaptive learning.     

School consultation: The training needs of teachers and school psychologists

This paper describes the roles of teachers and school psychologists and presents an overview of current and prospective methods of providing services to special needs children. On the basis of the literature and professional experience, it is suggested that changes are needed in the provision of special education services. The consultative relationship between teachers and school psychologists is viewed as the key to successful classroom intervention for special needs children. Although each profession brings expertise into the consultative relationship, better training is needed for teachers and school psychologists to ensure that effective intervention strategies are developed.     

Enhancing teacher-student relationship quality: A narrative review of school-based interventions

There is a large body of cross-sectional and longitudinal research that demonstrates the link between high-quality teacher-student relationships and numerous beneficial student outcomes such as reduced problem behavior, increased academic achievement, enhanced school engagement, and improved social standing among peers. Much less is known, however, about specific interventions that target teacher-student relationship quality. This article provides a comprehensive and integrative review of the literature on school-based interventions that included an outcome measure of teacher-student relationship quality. Our synthesis of 24 studies revealed four approaches targeting teacher-student relationship quality by (a) increasing closeness; (b) decreasing conflict; (c) promoting social-emotional learning; and (d) emphasizing relationship-driven classroom management. For each approach we describe the relationship building mechanisms, intervention components, effects, and conclusions. A final discussion includes common elements across intervention approaches, limitations and suggestions for future research, and implications for teacher training.     

Playing With Ideas: Evaluating the Impact of the Ultimate Block Party,a Collective Experiential Intervention to Enrich Perceptions of Play

Parental attitudes shape play opportunities afforded to children in home, community, and school settings. This study presents evaluation of an intervention designed to enrich parent's conception of play and its relationship with socially valued skills and capacities. On the basis of data from 291 racially and ethnically diverse parents/caregivers of young children (median age between 3 and 6) attending an event in NYC, we find the intervention helped parents conceptualize play in complex ways and altered perceptions of its impact on children's current—but not future—lives. Multivariate analyses reveal the causal pathway for these changes as exposure to multiple play sites, rather than time at the event—a finding with direct implications for exposing parents to developmental science in community settings.     

Engaging mothers with substance use issues and their children in early intervention: Understanding use of service and outcomes

Mothers who use substances need integrated, multi-sectoral intervention services to support substance use discontinuation. We explored mothers’ service use at Breaking the Cycle, an early intervention and prevention program for pregnant and parenting women and their young children in Toronto, Canada. We conducted retrospective analyses of families’ service records and client charts (N = 160). Aims were to 1) describe women’s use of service, 2) examine how early engagement of pregnant women related to postnatal service use, and 3) examine the circumstances in which women ended their service relationship with Breaking the Cycle. Specifically, we examined circumstances at service ending relating to women’s service goals; custody status with children; and global substance-use, parent-child relationship, and child development outcomes. We found that these vulnerable women were actively engaged in many services and for a long duration, early engagement was associated with greater service use, and greater service use was associated with more positive circumstances upon ending service. Results provide support for a relational approach to service that promotes not only the relationship between mother and child, and mother and service provider, but also highlights relationships among staff, between staff and management, and between community partners as integral to effective service delivery. Integrating positive relationships at all levels is critical to support vulnerable families with complex needs.     

Relationship between pre‐intervention data and post‐intervention reading fluency and growth: A meta‐analysis of assessment data for individual students

Curriculum‐based measurement is commonly used within a response‐to‐intervention framework to assess the effectiveness of intervention and to triage students into intervention tiers (e.g., the lowest 10% receive a Tier 3 intervention, and those in the 11th to 25th percentiles receive a Tier 2 intervention). We conducted a meta‐analysis of 18 studies to examine the relationship between pre‐intervention assessments and post‐intervention level and growth in reading fluency. The results indicated that several pre‐intervention measures were moderately related to post‐intervention fluency, but only a percentage of comprehension questions answered during baseline assessments, reading fluency age or grade‐based standard scores (SS), and word attack SS resulted in even a small to moderate relationship with reading growth. Moreover, there was no significant difference between the correlation of any two pre‐intervention measures with reading growth, which suggested that all of the measures were equally poorly related to reading growth. Implications for research and practice are discussed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A tale of two variances: between and within

In response to Worobey and Brazelton's thoughtful and welcome commentary on my assessment of the effectiveness of a Brazelton-based newborn intervention, 2 points are made. The first is that a healthy difference of opinion exists regarding the effectiveness of such interventions; I view the available evidence as less striking than they, but not as limited as they feel my initial study report implies. The second point of this essay is to provide empirical support for my critics' contention that how an intervention is delivered is as important as the fact that an intervention is delivered. By presenting data excised from my original submission to Child Development, it is shown that variation in parents' interest in, involvement with, and enjoyment of the Brazelton intervention was directly related to the intervention's outcome within the joint mother-father treatment condition--even often controlling for background factors related to engagement of the intervention. It is thus concluded that assessment of the process of intervention is critical to any complete evaluation of an intervention, regardless of the results of experimental-control group comparisons.     

Attitudes towards being assessed in group work: The effects of self-efficacy and collective efficacy moderated by a short educational intervention

Being assessed in group work is a balance between cooperation and competition. Self-efficacy and collective efficacy are important concepts in understanding how group work progresses and what attitudes assessment evokes. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of a short educational intervention on the association between efficacy beliefs and attitudes towards being assessed in group work. In a randomized, controlled study of 22 pupil work groups, half of them got a short educational intervention. The work groups were formed for this study. The pupils answered a questionnaire before the intervention and after doing group work for 3 to 6 weeks with a study-specific task. A moderated mediation analysis showed that attitudes towards being assessed in group work significantly are related to self-efficacy mediated through perceived collective efficacy and that this relationship is stronger in the intervention group. In the context of work group assessment, we have shown that self-efficacy and collective efficacy are two separate, but related concepts that are dependent on each other when it comes to pupil attitudes towards group work assessment, and that a relatively short educational intervention to teachers and pupils had an effect on the attitude. However, the older girls' attitude towards group work assessment was the least positive of all, which may indicate that the intervention depends on gender and age.     

观点采择能力的理论与实证研究述评

儿童社会认知发展的核心体现是观点采择能力的发展。观点采择与个体社会性发展的诸多方面如同伴关系、亲社会行为、道德发展水平密切关联,对个体的社会适应起着重要的作用。这一研究领域已有了较长久的发展,不仅体现在系统的理论学说的提出,还体现在一系列相关关系的证实以及干预手段和技术的发展。本文将介绍一些有影响的相关理论学说,并对相关领域大量的实证研究进行概括和总结。     

The role of gratitude in enhancing the relationship between doctoral research students and their supervisors

While increasing attention is being placed on the crucial importance of a positive supervisor–student relationship, few studies have investigated how to enhance this. Our paper investigates the effect of gratitude practices, proposing it brings both focus and intentionality to the student–supervisor relationship resulting in better research outcomes and, by implication, a positive impact on attrition rates. Recent research has demonstrated that increased attention to gratitude can enhance relational well-being, but only a few studies investigate the role of gratitude in the higher education context. This qualitative case study explores the impact of gratitude as an intervention, following eight Ph.D. students and their two supervisors, in the schools of physical sciences, and medicine over a six-week period of focused attention on practices of gratitude. Findings revealed that all participants noted a positive impact in the areas of communication, social and emotional well-being, as well as on the research process itself.     

Assessing parental understanding of sexualized behavior in children and adolescents

The current study assessed parents’ ability to identify normal, concerning and harmful sexualized behaviors in children and adolescents, as well as the parents’ ability to identify and select an appropriate level of intervention. The influence of a parent’s relationship with the victim or the perpetrator on the level of action taken was also examined. A cross-sectional survey incorporating a randomized experimental vignette condition determined that parents (N = 244) were not able to consistently identify sexualized behaviors accurately, and they provided lower-than-recommended levels of intervention responses. Parents were best able to identify and respond to behaviors considered normal and age-appropriate, but had greater difficulty with behaviors considered concerning or harmful. Parents were significantly less able to accurately identify and respond to behaviors exhibited by very young children (in the 0–4 year-old age-bracket). In three vignette comparisons, no significant difference in the level of intervention responses was found between parents who viewed the victim as their own child and parents who viewed the perpetrator as their child; while parents who viewed both the victim and perpetrator as being their children (siblings) reported lower intervention response levels. Because a lack of accurate knowledge around risks and indicators of child sexual abuse negatively affects the ability to prevent and detect abuse, the results have implications for a shift from a forensic model of child protection towards a public health model, which emphasizes parent and community education.     

Two studies of low income parents' involvement in schooling

An interview and an intervention study are reported. Interview findings extend research on the positive relationship of parent involvement to school success. That is, although most of the low income families reported low-moderate participation, a postive relationship was found between parent involvement and school adjustment as early as kindergarten. With respect to negative valuing and barrier interpretations of low participation, the data support the latter; all but a few parents reported positive attitudes toward school involvement, while the majority indicated significant barriers. In comparing Latino and non-Latino groups, the former reported more barriers. Within the Latino group, parents whose children had made a good school adjustment indicated the most participation. Non-English proficient parents reported more barriers than those proficient in English but comparable degrees of involvement. In the intervention study, a simple strategy resulted in more treatment than control parents attending a school event. Differences in attendance were related to ethnicity and language.This work was carried out in conjunction with a dropout prevention demonstration project conducted as a collaborative effort of the School Mental Health unit (Janelle Munn, Director) and Dropout Prevention unit (Pete Martinez, Director) of the Los Angeles Unified School District and the School Mental Health Project at UCLA (Howard Adelman and Linda Taylor, Co-directors). Partial support for the project came from the U.S. Department of Education. The authors, of course, assume full responsibility for the contents, but we want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of participating schools and project staff (especially Mary Beth DiCecco and Alison McAlpine). And although she declined author credit, this work could not have been accomplished with the many contributions of Linda Taylor, the project director. We would also like to thank Regina DeWitter, Teresa Gonzales, Kathy Eides and the many other UCLA students who assisted in various phases of the research.     

An intervention to improve sibling relationship quality among youth in foster care: Results of a randomized clinical trial

Sibling programming is an important part of a prevention framework, particularly for youth in foster care. After children are removed from their families and placed into foster care in the aftermath of maltreatment, the sibling relationship is often the most viable ongoing relationship available to the child, and may be critical to a youth’s sense of connection, emotional support, and continuity. The promise of dyadic sibling programming in particular rests on the ability of interventions to enhance the quality of sibling relationships; yet little research exists that suggests that sibling interventions can improve relationship quality among foster youth. The primary aim of the current study was to examine the effects of a specific dyadic sibling-focused intervention for older and younger siblings on sibling relationship quality. One hundred sixty four dyads (328 youth) participated in the study, with each dyad consisting of an older sibling between 11 and 15 years of age at baseline and a younger sibling separated in age by less than 4 years. Hierarchical linear models were applied to self-reported, observer-reported and observational data over the 18-month study period. Findings suggest that the sibling intervention holds promise for improving sibling relationship quality among youth in foster care. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.     

从干预主义到管制治理:高校去行政化的制度逻辑

高校去行政化的核心问题是如何正确处理政府与高校的关系.高校行政化的宏观制度表现为一种干预主义,标志是政府和高校之间形成了“行政文化”,以及高校实质性办学自主权受到干预.解除管制是在新自由 主义、新公共管理理念下对政府干预主义的一种回应,但不是解决行政化的正确选择.高校去行政化改革的制度选择是要建立一种管制治理模式,正确区分政府与高校各自的责任和义务,并通过契约管理、增强管制透明度和政策回应性等对政府干预行为进行限制,对市场力量进行引导,对高校行为进行约束.从干预主义到管制治理的改革需要遵循一定的原则稳步推进.     

国内青少年社交焦虑研究进展

在青少年社交焦虑的人口学特点上,国内研究结果存在矛盾;在影响青少年社交焦虑的因素上,研究发现不但消极的家庭教养方式、留守经历与社交焦虑关系密切,而且个体的社交技能、应对方式、人格特征、自我效能感和自尊等个体因素也对社交焦虑有重要影响。国内干预社交焦虑的常用方法主要有认知行为疗法、箱庭疗法、体育疗法、音乐疗法、综合性团体干预等。目前国内对不同疗法干预青少年社交焦虑效果的比较性研究还较缺乏,对留守儿童等特定群体社交焦虑的干预研究及社交焦虑的生理基础研究还有待深入。     

治理因素、国企现金股利与过度投资

本文选取2014-2018年度国有上市公司作为样本,探讨治理因素、现金股利和国有企业过度投资三者间的关系。研究发现:国有企业过度投资行为普遍存在,整体上过度投资程度逐年上升;支付现金股利的行为对过度投资有显著的抑制作用,支付现金股利的水平也能起到抑制作用,但结果却不显著;第一大股东持股比例与过度投资水平之间呈倒“U”型关系,其他大股东持股比例与过度投资水平显著正相关;政府对市场的干预程度、市场中介组织发育和法律制度环境与过度投资水平呈负相关关系,但不显著。     

促进学习的评价:在线开放课程中同伴互评投入度研究

后疫情时代,提质增效是在线开放课程内涵式发展的重要抓手。重申促进学习的评价,强调学习者的深度参与,探究学习者参与同伴互评的特点及现存问题具有重要的现实意义。文章基于国内一门在线开放课程,采用学习分析技术从结构化与非结构化数据入手,分析在线开放课程同伴互评过程中学习者的投入度,并进一步探究同伴互评投入度与学习绩效的关系。研究结果表明,在线开放课程中学习者同伴互评的行为投入及认知投入不高,但是参与同伴互评能够识别更有动力通过课程的学习者,且其认知投入度能够预测其学习绩效。基于FBM(学习行为模型)模型提出促进同伴互评投入度的两阶段干预策略,从而提高学习者参与同伴互评的投入度,并为教师及平台提供更具针对性的策略建议。