Traumatic and stressful events in early childhood: can treatment help those at highest risk?

Objective

This study involves a reanalysis of data from a randomized controlled trial to examine whether child-parent psychotherapy (CPP), an empirically based treatment focusing on the parent-child relationship as the vehicle for child improvement, is efficacious for children who experienced multiple traumatic and stressful life events (TSEs).

Methods

Participants comprised 75 preschool-aged children and their mothers referred to treatment following the child's exposure to domestic violence. Dyads were randomly assigned to CPP or to a comparison group that received monthly case management plus referrals to community services and were assessed at intake, posttest, and 6-month follow-up. Treatment effectiveness was examined by level of child TSE risk exposure (<4 risks versus 4+ TSEs).

Results

For children in the 4+ risk group, those who received CPP showed significantly greater improvements in PTSD and depression symptoms, PTSD diagnosis, number of co-occurring diagnoses, and behavior problems compared to those in the comparison group. CPP children with <4 risks showed greater improvements in symptoms of PTSD than those in the comparison group. Mothers of children with 4+ TSEs in the CPP group showed greater reductions in symptoms of PTSD and depression than those randomized to the comparison condition. Analyses of 6-month follow-up data suggest improvements were maintained for the high risk group.

Conclusions

The data provide evidence that CPP is effective in improving outcomes for children who experienced four or more TSEs and had positive effects for their mothers as well.

Practice implications

Numerous studies show that exposure to childhood trauma and adversity has negative consequences for later physical and mental health, but few interventions have been specifically evaluated to determine their effectiveness for children who experienced multiple TSEs. The findings suggest that including the parent as an integral participant in the child's treatment may be particularly effective in the treatment of young children exposed to multiple risks.     

Reading achievement in relation to phonological coding and awareness in deaf readers: a meta-analysis

The relation between reading ability and phonological coding and awareness (PCA) skills in individuals who are severely and profoundly deaf was investigated with a meta-analysis. From an initial set of 230 relevant publications, 57 studies were analyzed that experimentally tested PCA skills in 2,078 deaf participants. Half of the studies found statistically significant evidence for PCA skills and half did not. A subset of 25 studies also tested reading proficiency and showed a wide range of effect sizes. Overall PCA skills predicted 11% of the variance in reading proficiency in the deaf participants. Other possible modulating factors, such as task type and reading grade level, did not explain the remaining variance. In 7 studies where it was measured, language ability predicted 35% of the variance in reading proficiency. These meta-analytic results indicate that PCA skills are a low to moderate predictor of reading achievement in deaf individuals and that other factors, most notably language ability, have a greater influence on reading development, as has been found to be the case in the hearing population.     

Dribbling speed along curved paths predicts attacking performance in match-realistic one vs. one soccer games

This study assessed whether a new, closed-skill dribbling or sprinting task could predict attacking performance in soccer. Twenty-five male players were recruited from the Londrina Junior Team Football Academy in Brazil and asked to either dribble the ball or sprint through five custom circuits that varied in average curvature (0–1.37 radians.m^?1). These measures were then validated using a realistic one vs. one competition in which each player acted as attacker or defender in turn (N = 1330 bouts). Sprinting (ICC = 0.96) and dribbling (ICC = 0.97) performances were highly repeatable for individual players. Average dribbling speed decreased non-linearly with increasing circuit curvature (F = 239.5; P < 0.001) from 5.19 ± 0.11 ms^?1 on the straightest path to 2.13 ± 0.03 ms^?1 on the curviest. Overall, dribbling but not sprinting performance predicted attacking success in the one vs. one competition, explaining more than 50% of the variation in attacking success alone (r_p = 0.70; P < 0.001). In conclusion, our new closed-skill dribbling assessment is a valid and reliable protocol to predict a soccer player’s success in attacking performance in one vs. one situation, and can be used to identify talented players.     

Gf-Gc theory of human cognition: Differentiation of short-term auditory and visual memory factors

A principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation was performed for 50 subjects on 18 cognitive and achievement variables. Four, five, six, and seven factors were specified for extraction. Variables were chosen to allow for investigation of factor loadings among measures of short-term auditory and short-term visual memory. Also included in the analysis were tests representative of other Gf-Gc factors. The results provide support for a model of Gf-Gc theory with distinct and separate short-term visual and short-term auditory memory factors.     

她是唯一

Robbie Williams是公认的反叛才子,以“坏孩子”的绰号闻名流行乐坛,天生就是一位表演艺人。由TakeThat时期到现在的不同阶段,     

Collaborative scholarship as a means of improving both university teaching practice and research capability

The literature suggests generic workshops on the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) rarely have a lasting impact on teaching. Seeking an alternative approach, academic developers designed a four-stage Collaborative Scholarship Model where they provided individualised SoTL mentoring to academics implementing a teaching innovation. Project outcomes included sustained change to teaching, openness to new ideas, scholarly contributions and peer recognition (through awards, publications or invited presentations). This model had a sustained impact on participants’ teaching and increased research productivity. Although few individuals can be mentored at one time in this labour-intensive model, long-term benefits may still outweigh limitations in scalability.