Executive function performance and trauma exposure in a community sample of children

ObjectiveThough children exposed to familial violence are reported to have difficulties with a range of emotional and behavioral problems (e.g., lower school achievement) that implicate executive function (EF) deficits, relatively little research has specifically examined EF as a function of trauma exposure in children.MethodsBased on parent report of children's exposure to potentially traumatic events, children (N = 110; Age_Mean = 10.39) from an ethnically diverse community sample were compared across three trauma-exposure groups: familial trauma, non-familial trauma, and no trauma. Children completed a battery of tests to assess working memory, behavioral inhibition, processing speed, auditory attention, and interference control.ResultsFamilial trauma (relative to non-familial and no trauma exposure) was associated with poorer performance on an EF composite (composed of working memory, inhibition, auditory attention, and processing speed tasks); the effect size was medium. Both trauma-exposure status and dissociation symptoms explained unique variance in EF performance after controlling for anxiety symptoms, socio-economic status, and potential traumatic brain injury. While IQ and EF performance were related, SES predicted unique variance in IQ (and not EF) scores, while familial-trauma exposure did not.ConclusionsThe contribution of trauma exposure to basic executive functioning held after taking into account symptoms (anxiety and dissociation), socio-economic status, and possible traumatic brain injury exposure. EF problems may provide one route via which maltreated children become at risk for peer, academic, and behavior problems relative to their peers.Practice implicationsEF problems may provide one route via which maltreated children become at risk for peer, academic, psychological, and behavior problems relative to their peers. Recently, intervention strategies have emerged in the anxiety and mood disorder treatment literatures that appear to effectively target EFs. As future research continues to specify the relationship between child trauma exposure and EF performance, these innovative treatments may have important practice implications for addressing EF deficits.     

The mathematics skills of children with reading difficulties

Although many children with reading difficulty (RD) are reported to struggle with mathematics, little research has empirically investigated whether this is the case for different types of RD. This study examined the mathematics skills of third graders with one of two types of RD: dyslexia (n = 18) or specific reading comprehension difficulty (n = 22), as contrasted to a comparison group (n = 247). Children's performance on arithmetic fact fluency, operations, and applied problems was assessed using standardized measures. The results indicated that children with dyslexia experienced particular difficulty with arithmetic fact fluency and operations: they were 5.60 times and 8.54 times more likely than other children to experience deficits in fact fluency and operations, respectively. Our findings related to arithmetic fact fluency were more consistent with domain-general explanations of the co-morbidity between RD and mathematics difficulty, whereas our findings related to operations were more consistent with domain-specific accounts.     

Abnormal emotional processing in maltreated children diagnosed of Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Maltreated children usually show a specific pattern of emotional and behavioral symptoms that exceed those relating to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These symptoms have been defined as Complex PTSD (CPTSD). The underlying attentional mechanisms of abnormal emotional processing and their relation to the clinical presentation of CPTSD are not well understood. A visual dot-probe paradigm involving pre-attentive (i.e., 500 ms) and attentive (i.e., 1500 ms) presentation rates of neutral versus emotional (i.e., angry, happy or sad) facial expressions was applied. Twenty-one maltreated CPTSD children were compared with twenty-six controls. The results are as follows: an attention bias away from threatening faces and an attentional bias towards sad faces were observed in maltreated CPTSD children during pre-attentive and attentive processing. Whereas the attentional bias away from angry faces was associated with social problems, the attentional bias towards sad faces was associated with depressive and withdrawn symptoms. Therefore, CPTSD children develop maladaptive negative cognitive styles, which may underlie not only social problems (by a cognitive avoidance of threatening stimuli) but also depressive symptoms (by a cognitive approach to sad stimuli). Attention processing abnormalities should be considered as therapeutic targets for new treatment approaches in this population.     

Early intervention with children of dyslexic parents: Effects of computer-based reading instruction at home on literacy acquisition

The hereditary basis of dyslexia makes it possible to identify children at risk early on. Pre-reading children genetically at risk received during 14 weeks a home- and computer-based training in phonemic awareness and letter–sound relationships in the context of reading instruction. At posttest training effects were found for both phonemic awareness and letter knowledge. Trained at-risk children (n = 31) made more progress than untrained at-risk controls (n = 26) and kept up with untrained not-at-risk controls (n = 16). However, the headstart of the trained group did not affect beneficially first and second grade reading and spelling proficiency. Following the start of phonics-based instruction at school, the trained at-risk children could not be discriminated from the untrained at-risk controls, and they were delayed relative to the not-at-risk controls. In order to promote long-term benefits and prevent undoing the advantage of early intervention, delivery should be both home- and school-based and more effort needs to be put in throughout first grade.     

Language skills,mathematical thinking,and achievement motivation in children with ADHD,disruptive behavior disorders,and normal controls

Recent models of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suggest that the association between achievement motivation and school performance may be stronger in children with ADHD than in typically developing children. Therefore, the present study investigated associations between achievement motivation and performance on language skills and mathematical thinking in children with ADHD (n = 23; M = 9.4 years, SD = 1.1 years; 78% boys) and two matched control groups, i.e., a clinical control group (children with related disruptive behavior disorders; DBD), and a non-clinical control group (NC). Results confirmed stronger associations between achievement motivation and performance on receptive language and mathematical thinking in children with ADHD than in NC. Specifically, performance of children with ADHD was equal to NC for highly motivated ADHD children. These results underscore the importance of achievement motivation as a more essential key factor in the performance of children with ADHD as compared to typically developing children.     

The mediating role of secrecy in the development of psychopathology in sexually abused children

Although child sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with psychopathology, limited research examined mechanisms through which CSA leads to psychopathology in children. It is generally assumed that CSA is associated with secrecy among children, to our knowledge this assumption has not yet been empirically tested. This gap in our understanding of the aftermath of CSA is surprising in light of abundant evidence linking secrecy to psychopathology among children. The current study examined whether, as compared to children who have not experienced CSA, CSA victims have a greater tendency for secrecy as reported by mothers and children, and whether psychopathology in CSA victims may be explained by their tendency to keep secrets. Sixty-three non-offending mothers and their sexually abused children (68.3% female; M age = 10.89) and 48 mothers and their non-abused children (62.5% female; M age = 11.17) completed questionnaires on secrecy and psychopathology (i.e., internalizing and externalizing behavior problems). Mothers of abused children perceived higher levels of secrecy and psychopathology in their children as compared to mothers of non-abused children. There were no differences in child-reported secrecy between abused and non-abused children. Mediation analyses revealed that mother-reported secrecy mediated the association between CSA and psychopathology. These findings suggest that secrecy is a potential mechanism underlying psychopathology associated with CSA, which has important implications for treatment of abused children.     

Why do Kenyan children live on the streets? Evidence from a cross-section of semi-rural maternal caregivers

Globally, study of factors contributing to the street-migration of the tens of millions of street-involved children focus almost exclusively on children’s perspectives. In this study, we assess household and maternal factors associated with street-migration of children through self-report of 1974 randomly selected women in semi-rural Kenya. Contributing new perspectives on this global phenomenon, data show a statistically significant association between increased maternal childhood adversities and street-migration of children (p < 0.001). Higher household wealth (p < 0.01) and maternal education (p < 0.05) were associated with lower odds of street-migration of children. Social support, reporting HIV+, school enrollment of biologically-related children, overall health, reported alcohol use, and functional literacy significantly mediated these pathways. Protecting children from street-migration in the next generation requires reducing childhood adversities in the present generation.     

The impact of HeadsUp! Reading on early childhood educators’ literacy practices and preschool children's literacy skills

This study evaluated the effects of HeadsUp! Reading (HUR), a professional development literacy workshop series, with and without supplementary mentoring on early childhood educators’ (ECEs) practices and its subsequent effect on preschool children's literacy skills. ECEs who served children in high poverty communities participated in a 15-week satellite broadcast training series. Pre- and post-assessments were completed for both the control and intervention groups. Participants in HUR and HUR + mentoring significantly exceeded the control ECEs on the quality of their classroom environments. Children's literacy skills improved more in the HUR classrooms than in control classrooms. Mentoring did not enhance preschool children's literacy skills more than HUR alone. The treatment was equally effective for Spanish- and English-speaking children. Early childhood educator participation in HeadsUp! Reading can enhance the effectiveness of classroom literacy practices and has subsequent benefits on language and literacy skills of preschool children from poverty backgrounds. These findings further support the crucial role of high quality programs for the development of children's literacy skills.     

Predicting word-level reading fluency outcomes in three contrastive groups: Remedial and computer-assisted remedial reading intervention,and mainstream instruction

The aim of the longitudinal intervention study was to build a model of predictive values of reading fluency in three contrastive reading groups: remedial and computer-assisted remedial reading intervention, and mainstream instruction, to identify the most effective type of intervention for children with different profiles of compromised pre-reading skills. The participants were 7-year-old Finnish school beginners (N = 166). Two remedial interventions took place in four weekly sessions of 45 min over a period of 28 weeks in Grade 1. For a child with deficits in the core pre-reading skills (letter knowledge, phonological awareness or rapid automatized naming), the computer-assisted remedial intervention would be the most successful in remediating reading fluency in the transparent Finnish language. Furthermore, children in the computer-assisted intervention were able to reach the average level of the mainstream children by the end of Grade 2.     

Visual processing of pictures and letters in alphabet books and the implications for letter learning

Alphabet books as studied in this research typically highlight one letter per page combined with a depiction of a word that begins with the letter (e.g., a bear illustrates B). This study tests whether children’s letter knowledge improves as a result of alphabet book sharing and how the visual processing of pictures and letters affects learning from repeated alphabet book readings. The study is designed as a randomized control trial in which participants were assigned to one of two experimental groups (N = 30) or a control group (N = 15). Half of the experimental group received version A in which the letters A–L were illustrated with anthropomorphic figures and the letters M–Z with objects. Half received version B in which the letters A–L were illustrated with objects and the letters M–Z with anthropomorphic figures. Mean age of the children was 57.6 months (SD = 3.6). While sharing the alphabet book we registered children’s eye movements in the first and fourth (last) reading session. Alphabet book reading stimulated letter knowledge although the make-up of the alphabet book moderated the effects. Relatively more visual attention to pictures of anthropomorphic figures interfered with learning letters from alphabet book sharing. Visual attention to letters also predicted letter knowledge and learning. Only a small part of each letter attracted children’s attention and the briefer their fixations on this distinctive area, the more letters they knew at the pretest and were able to learn from alphabet book sharing.     

Attention problems,phonological short-term memory,and visuospatial short-term memory: Differential effects on near- and long-term scholastic achievement

The current study examined individual differences in children's phonological and visuospatial short-term memory as potential mediators of the relationship among attention problems and near- and long-term scholastic achievement. Nested structural equation models revealed that teacher-reported attention problems were associated negatively with composite scholastic achievement (reading, math, language), both initially and at 4-year follow-up in an ethnically diverse sample of children (N = 317). Much of this influence, however, was attenuated by phonological short-term memory's contribution to near-term achievement and visuospatial short-term memory's contribution to long-term achievement. Domain-specific reading and math models showed similar results with some exceptions. In all models, measured intelligence made no contribution to later achievement beyond its initial influence on early achievement. The results contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms associated with individual differences in children's scholastic achievement, and have potential implications for identifying early predictors of children at risk for academic failure, and developing remedial programs targeting phonological and visuospatial short-term memory deficits in children with attention problems.     

The relations among L1 (Spanish) literacy skills,L2 (English) language,L2 text reading fluency,and L2 reading comprehension for Spanish-speaking ELL first grade students

We investigated the relations of L2 (i.e., English) oral reading fluency, silent reading fluency, word reading automaticity, oral language skills, and L1 literacy skills (i.e., Spanish) to L2 reading comprehension for Spanish-speaking English language learners in the first grade (N = 150). An analysis was conducted for the entire sample as well as for skilled and less skilled word readers. Results showed that word reading automaticity was strongly related to oral and silent reading fluency, but oral language skill was not. This was the case not only for the entire sample but also for subsamples of skilled and less skilled word readers, which is a discrepant finding from a study with English-only children (Kim et al., 2011). With regard to the relations among L2 oral language, text reading fluency, word reading automaticity, reading comprehension, and L1 literacy skills, patterns of relations were similar for skilled versus less skilled word readers with oral reading fluency, but different with silent reading fluency. When oral and silent reading fluency were in the model simultaneously, oral reading fluency, but not silent reading fluency, was uniquely related to reading comprehension. Children's L1 literacy skill was not uniquely related to reading comprehension after accounting for other L2 language and literacy skills. These results are discussed in light of a developmental theory of text reading fluency.     

Increased risk for mental illness,injuries, and violence in children born to mothers with intellectual disability: A register study in Sweden during 1999–2012

Several studies have demonstrated that mothers with intellectual disability (ID) have a higher prevalence of mental health illness, lower socio-economic status, and a higher risk of alcohol and drug use compared to mothers without ID. The children of mothers with ID are over-represented in child protection and legal proceedings but are generally a less studied group than the mothers. The aim of this study was to investigate if children born to mothers with ID had an increased risk of being diagnosed with mental illness, injuries, and violence compared with children of mothers without ID. The study comprised a population-based cohort of children born in Sweden between 1999 and 2005. Data were collected from the Medical Birth Register and linked with two other national registers; ICD-10 codes were used for medical diagnoses, including ID. The children were followed from birth to seven years of age. In total, 478,577 children were included, of whom 2749 were born to mothers with ID. Children of mothers with ID were at a greater risk of having mental health problems (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 2.02; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.74–2.35) and ID (OR = 4.14; CI = 2.95–5.82) in early childhood. They had an increased risk for injuries due to falls (OR = 1.15; Cl 1.04–1.27). The largest risk related to trauma was violence and child abuse (OR = 3.11; CI = 1.89–5.12). In conclusion, children of mothers with ID had an increased risk for injuries, violence, and child abuse. We therefore suggest that parents with ID should receive evidence based support so that their children receive the best care and protection.     

Validating the English Language Learner Motivation Scale (ELLMS): Pre-college to measure language learning motivational orientations among young ELLs

This study modified and validated a measure of motivational orientations – grounded in self-determination theory and originally developed for postsecondary students – for use with younger (pre-college) English language learners (ELLs). Exploratory factor analysis results in Sample A (n = 528) indicated that the data were best explained by a three-factor solution (intrinsic motivation, introjected regulation, and external regulation) that explained 51.6% of the variance. These results were corroborated by a confirmatory factor analysis in an independent Sample B (n = 529; GFI = .97, CFI = .96, SRMR = .04, RMSEA = .05). The test for invariance across the two samples further supported the validity of the measure. The modified instrument, named English Language Learner Motivation Scale (ELLMS): Pre-College, showed strong psychometric characteristics for use with elementary (ages 9–11 years), middle (ages 12–14 years), and high school (ages 16–17) ELLs. Applications of the measure are discussed.     

Disparate plasma cortisol concentrations in sexually abused female children from Johannesburg,South Africa

A growing body of research indicates that a bidirectional response to a stressor may occur in maltreated children and may be associated with later life psychopathology. However, few studies have investigated stress reactivity in children when they first present to a sexual abuse clinic. Thus, in order to evaluate whether HPA axis dysregulation would be evident at first presentation to a sexual abuse clinic in young girls (n = 26), between the ages of 6–12 years old, blood samples were obtained immediately following examination at a forensic sexual abuse clinic and from the matched control group of children (n = 14; 10.1 ± 0.8) immediately following a bone density scan. Stratification of the sexually abused group into those children who were reportedly abused by a stranger and had no other family stressors (n = 15, 10.4 ± 1.8) and those children whose parents reported abuse of the child by a stranger and other family stressors (n = 11; 9.5 ± 1.8) revealed differences in stress reactivity. Plasma concentrations, of the children from the forensic clinic, were significantly increased in children who reported abuse by a stranger only (322.3 ± 117.4 nmol/l) and significantly decreased in children whose histories indicated sexual abuse by a stranger and other family stressors (149.6 ± 39.7 nmol/l) when compared to the control group (225.5 ± 47.5 nmol/l). In conclusion, following sexual abuse and a secondary stressor, the forensic examination, there is evidence of divergent cortisol responses in the stratified clinical group of children.     

Home environments and young Latino children's school readiness

This exploratory study examined the relations among characteristics of children's home environments and two school readiness skills: their oral language and social functioning. Low SES Latino mothers of 122 (65 girls; 57 boys) preschoolers (39–49 months (M = 45.00; S.D. = 5.40) completed questionnaires about their family demography, their home environments, and their perceived parenting stress. Preschool teachers rated children's social functioning, and children were administered the PPVT-R (or the TVIP). Results of path analyses showed that when controlling for children's age and factors that potentially influence children's opportunities for learning, the relation between parents’ literacy involvement and children's PPVT-R/TVIP scores and social functioning was mediated by children's interest in literacy. In addition, mothers’ perceived parenting stress was directly associated with children's PPVT-R/TVIP scores and social functioning. The findings highlight within-group variations in the home literacy environments of low SES Latino families.     

Extended follow-up of neurological,cognitive, behavioral and academic outcomes after severe abusive head trauma

Studies about long-term outcome following abusive head trauma (AHT) are scarce. The aims of this study were to report long-term neurological, cognitive, behavioral and academic outcomes, ongoing treatments and/or rehabilitation, several years after AHT diagnosis, and factors associated with outcome. In this retrospective study, all patients admitted to a single rehabilitation unit following AHT between 1996 and 2005, with subsequent follow-up exceeding 3 years, were included. Medical files were reviewed and a medical interview was performed with parents on the phone when possible. The primary outcome measure was the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS). Forty-seven children (out of 66) met the inclusion criteria (mean age at injury 5.7 months; SD = 3.2). After a median length of follow-up of 8 years (range 3.7–12), only seven children (15%) had “good outcome” (normal life – GOS I) and 19 children (40%) presented with severe neurological impairment (GOS III and IV). Children sustained epilepsy (38%), motor deficits (45%), visual deficit (45%), sleep disorders (17%), language abnormalities (49%), attention deficits (79%) and behavioral disorders (53%). Most children (83%) had ongoing rehabilitation. Only 30% followed a normal curriculum, whereas 30% required special education services. Children with better overall outcome (GOS I and II) had significantly higher educated mothers than those with worse outcomes (GOS III and IV): graduation from high school 59% and 21% respectively (p = 0.006). This study highlights the high rate of severe sequelae and health care needs several years post-AHT, and emphasizes the need for extended follow-up of medical, cognitive and academic outcomes.     

Working memory as a moderator of training and transfer of analogical reasoning in children

Working memory is related to children’s ability to solve analogies and other inductive reasoning tasks. The aim of this study was to examine whether working memory also plays a role in training and transfer effects of inductive reasoning in the context of a short training procedure within a pretest-training-posttest-transfer design. Participants were 64 children, aged 7–8 years (M = 7.6 years; SD = 4.7 months). All of the children were pre-tested on inductive reasoning and working memory tasks. The children were trained in figural analogy solving according to either the graduated prompts method or practice without feedback. The children were then post-tested on the trained task and three additional inductive reasoning measures. Regression models revealed that visuo-spatial working memory was related to initial performance on each of the inductive reasoning tasks (r ≈ .35). Children’s improvement from pretest to posttest in figural analogy solving, as measured with item response theory models, was somewhat related to visuo-spatial WM but not verbal WM scores or pretest scores. Furthermore, transfer of reasoning skills to an analogy construction task was related to initial ability, but not working memory; transfer to two inductive reasoning tasks with dissimilar content was not apparent. Performance change and ability to transfer trained skills to new tasks are not often used in psycho-educational assessment but may be separate constructs indicative of children’s learning and change.     

The impact of drop-in centers on the health of street children in New Delhi,India: A cross-sectional study

Objectives(1) To determine whether street children who visit drop-in centers experience better physical and mental health, and engage in less substance use than street children who do not visit centers. (2) To determine whether the duration of attendance at a center has an impact on the above outcomes.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study with 69 street children from two drop-in centers in New Delhi, India (attenders) and a comparison group of 65 street children who did not visit drop-in centers (non-attenders). We used pretested questionnaires to assess their physical health, substance use status and mental health.ResultsAttenders experienced fewer ill health outcomes, engaged in less substance use, and had better mental health outcomes than non-attenders (p < 0.01). For every month of attendance at a drop-in center, street children experienced 2.1% (95% CI 0% to 4.1%, p = 0.05) fewer ill health outcomes per month and used 4.6% (95% CI 1.3% to 8%, p = 0.01) fewer substances. Street children were also less likely to have been a current substance user than a never substance user for every additional month of attendance at a center (OR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.66–0.96, p = 0.02). Duration of drop-in center attendance was not a significant factor in predicting mental health problems.ConclusionDrop-in centers may improve the physical health of street children and reduce their substance abuse. Rigorous longitudinal studies are needed to better determine if drop-in centers impact the health and substance use status of street children in LMICs.     

Visuospatial superiority in developmental dyslexia: Myth or reality?

Anecdotal evidence indicates that dyslexia is positively associated with superior visuospatial ability but empirical evidence is inconsistent. We explicitly tested the hypothesis that dyslexia is associated with visuospatial advantage in 20 dyslexic and 21 unimpaired adult readers using paper-and-pencil measures and tests of 'everyday' visuospatial ability. We found no main effect of group on visuospatial task performance but did observe a series of significant sex × group interactions. Relative to dyslexic and unimpaired women, dyslexic men were significantly better at identifying shapes in ambiguous figures, reproducing complex figures, reproducing designs using coloured blocks, and recalling the direction of the Queen's head on a postage stamp. They were also significantly faster and more accurate than unimpaired men at navigating and recreating a virtual environment. These data suggest that visuospatial advantage in dyslexia may be confined to men. Possible explanations for this are discussed.