Early Adverse Experiences and Repeated Wheezing From 6 to 30 Months of Age: Investigating the Roles of Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Axis Functioning,Child Sex,and Caregiving Sensitivity

This study examined associations among early adversity, diurnal cortisol, child sex, and caregiver sensitivity at age 6 months in relation to wheezing in children (47% male) followed to 30 months. Analyses included 676 mother-child dyads, 393 of whom completed an observational caregiver sensitivity measure. Participants were primarily ethnic minorities (42.7% Black, 25.4% Hispanic); 22.1% of children had ≥ 1 wheezing episode. Higher adversity was associated with increased wheeze frequency and blunted diurnal cortisol slope. The indirect effect of adversity on wheezing through cortisol slope was significant for females, but not males. Higher caregiver sensitivity was protective against wheezing for males, but not females, with high cortisol. Findings suggest complex associations among adversity, cortisol, child sex, and caregiver sensitivity in predicting wheezing.     

First-Year College Students’ Conflict with Religion and Science

This study took place during a First Year Seminar course where 20 incoming college freshmen studied the central topic of the nature of science within the context of biological evolution. The instructor researched students’ understandings in the nature of science as they progressed through the course by examining a variety of qualitative and quantitative data including class writings, pre- and post-test selected items from the VOSTS (Views on Science-Technology-Society), and interviews. The intended outcomes of the course were to reduce the number of student misconceptions in the nature of science and to ease student apprehension when learning about evolution. Data were analyzed to determine whether students were moving toward a more generally accepted idea of the nature of science or toward another type of misconception.     

What are Middle School Students Talking About During Clicker Questions? Characterizing Small-Group Conversations Mediated by Classroom Response Systems

There is a growing interest in using classroom response systems or clickers in science classrooms at both the university and K-12 levels. Typically, when instructors use this technology, students are asked to answer and discuss clicker questions with their peers. The existing literature on using clickers at the K-12 level has largely focused on the efficacy of clicker implementation, with few studies investigating collaboration and discourse among students. To expand on this work, we investigated the question: Does clicker use promote productive peer discussion among middle school science students? Specifically, we collected data from middle school students in a physical science course. Students were asked to answer a clicker question individually, discuss the question with their peers, answer the same question again, and then subsequently answer a new matched-pair question individually. We audio recorded the peer conversations to characterize the nature of the student discourse. To analyze these conversations, we used a grounded analysis approach and drew on literature about collaborative knowledge co-construction. The analysis of the conversations revealed that middle school students talked about science content and collaboratively discussed ideas. Furthermore, the majority of conversations, both ones that positively and negatively impacted student performance, contained evidence of collaborative knowledge co-construction.     

Parental strategies to scaffold emergent writing skills in the pre‐school child within the home environment

Joint writing activities between parent and child can enhance literacy skills in young children. This paper describes the strategies used by a mother to scaffold her daughter’s alphabet letter shaping, word and story writing in the years before formal schooling. The strategies included identifying alphabet letters embedded in environmental print and books, tracing letter shapes with fingers whilst using directional language, and using whole‐arm movements to form letter shapes in the air. Writing samples and examples of parent–child interactions were collected at three to four years of age and are described within the framework of Gentry’s writing stages. The joint writing techniques and activities illustrated in this case study emphasise the use of letter names and letter shapes and may provide effective strategies for parents and early childhood educators to scaffold emergent writing development in young children.     

Does a paradox exist in child well-being risks among foreign-born Latinos,U.S.-born Latinos,and Whites? Findings from 50 California cities

Past research has identified “paradoxes” in infant health and child welfare services involvement, whereby children of Latinos and immigrants often demonstrate better health and decreased risk for child protective services involvement when compared to whites of similar socioeconomic position. This population-based study examined whether a paradox exists among immigrant and U.S.-born Latino caregivers in the prevalence and magnitude of risks to child well-being when compared to whites of similar socioeconomic position. Data were drawn from a random, general population telephone survey of parenting practices in 50 California cities (n = 2,259), which was administered in English and Spanish. The sample included 1,625 U.S.-born whites (72.0%), 351 U.S.-born Latinos (15.5%) and 283 foreign-born Latino respondents (12.5%). After adjusting for covariates in logistic regression models stratified by household income, immigrant caregivers in lower income households reported odds of insufficient food for the child that were 12 times as large as those for whites (OR 11.97, 95% CI 2.87, 49.86); odds of reported inability to take the child to the doctor and leaving a child in a place of questionable safety were nearly eight times as large (OR 7.92, 95% CI 2.38, 26.36 and OR 7.93, 95% CI 1.73, 36.46 respectively). These relationships were attenuated or insignificant for immigrant caregivers in households with greater resources. Therefore, a paradoxical relationship between socioeconomic position and risks to child well-being was not identified. Further research is needed to better understand the complex relationships between such risks, child health, and child protective services involvement.     

Mothers’ and Fathers’ Roles in Caring for an Adult Child with an Intellectual Disability

To date, there have been few studies of mothers’ and fathers’ roles in caring for their adult children with intellectual disabilities. The present study investigated the care-giving roles of mother and father couples caring for their adult offspring with an intellectual disability, their psychological health, and the demands and satisfaction of their care-giving roles. Twelve Anglo-Australian middle-aged mother and father couples with an adult child with intellectual disability (mean age?=?24 years) participated in semi-structured interviews about their care-giving roles and completed a series of questionnaires pertaining to care-giving difficulties and satisfaction, hassles and uplifts, and general health. Findings indicated that an extremely high proportion of both mothers and fathers were in the clinical range for social dysfunction, anxiety/insomnia, and somatic complaints, although levels of depression were relatively low. The present study found that mothers undertake more daily care-giving tasks than fathers, but that the range of tasks is similar. Mothers also reported significantly more care-giving difficulties and satisfaction than fathers. Associations between measures differed somewhat for the two parent groups, indicating the need for further exploration of both mothers’ and fathers’ experiences.