Assessing the play beliefs of African American mothers with preschool children

A rating scale measuring parent beliefs about play was developed and validated with a sample of 224 African American mothers of children attending Head Start. Principal components analyses of the Parent Play Beliefs Scale (PPBS) revealed two factors, Play Support and Academic Focus, which capture parent attitudes regarding the developmental significance of play. Maternal ratings of Play Support correlated positively with ratings of children's interactive peer play and were positively associated with parent education. Maternal ratings of Academic Focus were negatively correlated with prosocial peer play ratings and positively correlated with ratings of disruptive and disconnected play in children. Findings support the psychometric utility of the new measure. Future directions involving parent play beliefs in conceptual models of children's social competence during early childhood are discussed.     

Cross-cultural counseling: A systematic approach to understanding the issues

Counseling theory and practice tend to be dominated by a European-American orientation. Cross-cultural counseling is advanced as an approach that transcends European dominance while focusing on the specific needs of African American, Asian and Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American cultures. This paper reviews the major conceptual models, described by social scientists, and advances a more culturally sensitive, cross-cultural approach to conceptualizing counseling theory and practice when counseling members of large minority groups living in the United States.     

Parents' Use of Inductive Discipline: Relations to Children's Empathy and Prosocial Behavior

Relations between parents' discipline, children's empathic responses, and children's prosocial behavior were examined in order to evaluate Martin Hoffman's claim that children's empathy and empathy-based guilt mediate the socialization of children's prosocial behavior. 78 sixth and seventh graders (138–172 months in age), their mothers, and teachers completed multiple measures of Hoffman's constructs. Results were largely consistent with theory. Parents' use of inductive as opposed to power-assertive discipline was related to children's prosocial behavior. Children of inductive parents were more empathic; and more empathic children were more prosocial. Moreover, children's empathy was found to mediate the relation between parents' discipline and children's prosocial behavior. Few relations were obtained for children's guilt indices, but post hoc analyses yielded theoretically consistent results. Contrary to expectations, parents' use of statements of disappointment was the component of the inductive discipline score which was most strongly related to children's prosocial behavior.     

Intelligence, parental depression, and behavior adaptability in deaf children being considered for cochlear implantation

Cognitive ability and behavioral adaptability are distinct, yet related, constructs that can impact childhood development. Both are often reduced in deaf children of hearing parents who do not provide sufficient language and communication access. Additionally, parental depression is commonly observed due to parent-child communication difficulties that can lead to parents' feelings of inadequacy and frustration. We sought to assess whether adaptive behavior in deaf children was associated with nonverbal intelligence and parental depression. Parents of precochlear implant patients seen for neuropsychological assessment were administered the Parenting Stress Index and Vineland Behavior Adaptive Scales to obtain measures of parental distress and child's behavioral adaptability. Precochlear implant patients' cognitive functioning was assessed via the Mullen Scales of Early Learning or the Leiter International Performance Scale-Revised, depending on the child's age at the time of testing. Regardless of age or neurological status, the deaf child's adaptive behavior consistently showed a strong relationship with intelligence. Moderate correlation between parental depression and the child's adaptive behavior was observed only in the younger group. The relationship between parental depression and communication subscale was moderated by intelligence for deaf children without neurological complications. The findings provide important implications for promoting family-centered interventions with early communication and language development.     

The impact of adverse childhood experiences on an urban pediatric population

Objective

The goal of this study was to investigate the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in youth in a low-income, urban community.

Study design

Data from a retrospective chart review of 701 subjects from the Bayview Child Health Center in San Francisco are presented. Medical chart documentation of ACEs as defined in previous studies were coded and each ACE criterion endorsed by a traumatic event received a score of 1 (range = 0-9). This study reports on the prevalence of various ACE categories in this population, as well as the association between ACE score and two pediatric problems: learning/behavior problems and body mass index (BMI) ≥ 85% (i.e., overweight or obese).

Results

The majority of subjects (67.2%, N = 471) had experienced 1 or more categories of adverse childhood experiences (ACE ≥ 1) and 12.0% (N = 84) had experienced 4 or more ACEs (ACE ≥ 4). Increased ACE scores correlated with increased risk of learning/behavior problems and obesity.

Conclusions

There was a significant prevalence of endorsed ACE categories in this urban population. Exposure to 4 or greater ACE categories was associated with increased risk for learning/behavior problems, as well as obesity.

Practice implications

Results from this study demonstrate the need both for screening of ACEs among youth in urban areas and for developing effective primary prevention and intervention models.     

Childhood trauma and psychiatric disorders as correlates of school dropout in a national sample of young adults

The effect of childhood trauma, psychiatric diagnoses, and mental health services on school dropout among U.S.-born and immigrant youth is examined using data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys, a nationally representative probability sample of African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, Asians, Latinos, and non-Latino Whites, including 2,532 young adults, aged 21-29. The dropout prevalence rate was 16% overall, with variation by childhood trauma, childhood psychiatric diagnosis, race/ethnicity, and nativity. Childhood substance and conduct disorders mediated the relation between trauma and school dropout. Likelihood of dropout was decreased for Asians, and increased for African Americans and Latinos, compared to non-Latino Whites as a function of psychiatric disorders and trauma. Timing of U.S. immigration during adolescence increased risk of dropout.     

Strengthening Universal Primary Education in Uganda: The potential role of an asset-based development policy

This paper is divided into three complementary parts. First, we examine the challenges to the Universal Primary Education (UPE) policy in Uganda, including insufficient instructional materials and family-level poverty. Second, guided by asset theory, and based on a systematic review of studies on asset-based development programs and interventions, we assess the potential of these programs in addressing the challenges of UPE, and improving access to UPE. Third, we conclude with a discussion of the implication of using asset-based development as one structural-level approach that may strengthen the UPE policy.     

Implementation of the Peer-Led Team-Learning Instructional Model as a Stopgap Measure Improves Student Achievement for Students Opting Out of Laboratory

In entry-level university courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, students participating in associated laboratory sessions generally do better than those who have no related lab classes. This is a problem when, for various reasons, not enough lab sections can be offered for students and/or when students opt out of optional available lab courses. Faced with such a situation, this study evaluated the efficacy of the peer-led team-learning (PLTL) instructional model as a potential method for narrowing the achievement gap among undergraduate students electing not to enroll in an optional laboratory component of an introductory biology course. In peer-led workshops, small groups of students participated in solving problems and other activities that encouraged active learning. Students led by peer leaders attained significantly higher exam and final course grades in introductory biology than comparable students not participating in PLTL. Among the introductory biology students who opted not to enroll in the optional lab course, those who participated in PLTL averaged more than a letter grade higher than those who did not. This difference was statistically significant, and the PLTL workshops almost entirely closed the achievement gap in lecture exam and final grades for students who did not take the lab.     

‘Development in reverse’? A longitudinal analysis of armed conflict,fragility and school enrolment

This paper presents a longitudinal analysis of cross-national data on armed conflict, state fragility, and enrolment in primary and secondary schooling. The study is motivated by questions raised in the 2012 Human Security Report, which challenges the widely held assumption that conflict is necessarily detrimental to educational outcomes. We use multilevel modelling techniques to determine how conflict and fragility relate to changes in enrolment. Our findings suggest that growth in enrolment is significantly lower in conflict-affected countries but that the effect is dependent upon countries' overall enrolment level. However, when we control for fragility, the effect of conflict is not significant, which is consistent with the Human Security Report's suggestion that fragility is an underlying cause of both conflict and poor educational outcomes. We conclude by discussing the relevance of our findings and challenges for future research on fragility and education.