Depressive Stories for Children

While stories with a depressing message are now common for teenagers, resistance to them remains where smaller children are concerned. But is this more a case of the publishers and providers concerned protecting their own particular image of childhood? This article looks at the case for books that also convey a sense of sadness to infants, starting with the stories of Hans Andersen and ending with some of the challenging picture books published more recently.     

Influences on Student Cognitions About Evaluation

Interviews on two occasions with 71 Grade 2, 4 and 6 students in a multi-ethnic setting in Toronto, Canada, found that student cognitions about evaluation mediated the relationship between evaluation and achievement. Parents, peers and student characteristics influenced student cognitions about evaluation. Parents identified the evaluation dimensions their children should attend to, raised student aspirations, stated how well student work attained standards and recommended actions children should take in response to the evaluation. Peer interpretations influenced whether a given performance was viewed as superior or inferior. Older student peers focused attention, to a greater extent than parents, on specific aspects of student performance that could be ameliorated through self-remediation. Children became more sophisticated evaluation consumers as they grew older. Females processed evaluation data more productively than males. There were few cultural differences in response to evaluation. Students responded to traditional and alternate evaluation in very similar ways.     

The physical activity levels of preschool-aged children: A systematic review

This systematic review presents research on the physical activity levels of preschool-aged children (aged 2–6 years). Thirty-nine primary studies (published 1986–2007) representing a total of 10,316 participants (5236 male and 5080 female), from seven countries are described and the physical activity behaviors of this population are considered in accordance with the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) physical activity guidelines for preschoolers. Upon review of the evidence, it is apparent that nearly half of preschool-aged children do not engage in sufficient physical activity. Current recommendations suggest a minimum of 60 min of physical activity per day; only 54% of participants throughout the studies achieved this. Furthermore, as with other age groups, boys participate in considerably more physical activity than girls. It is clear from this systematic review that nearly half of children studied are not meeting the recommended guidelines for physical activity. Therefore, effective interventions that promote and foster physical activity in children are necessary, especially in females. However, a more objective physical activity guideline for preschoolers is necessary; measurement of activity needs to become more unified to compare and track activity more effectively.     

Do allegations of emotional maltreatment predict developmental outcomes beyond that of other forms of maltreatment?

OBJECTIVES: To understand the features of child abuse/neglect (CA/N) allegations in cases with emotional maltreatment (EMT) allegations, as well as the features of the EMT allegations themselves, and to describe any associations of EMT with distinct impairments of children's behavior, emotion and functioning. METHOD: The sample consisted of 806 high-risk children, 545 with one or more maltreatment reports to CPS. The Maltreatment Classification System was used to record the number and severity levels of maltreatment allegations, which compared cases with and without EMT. Multiple regression analyses were conducted using 10 outcome scales from the Child Behavior Checklist, Vineland Screener, and Trauma Symptom Checklist. Successive blocks of predictor variables included demographics, maltreatment classification variables, maternal and family characteristics, and study site. RESULTS: When there were allegations of EMT as well as CA/N in a CPS case-record (by age 8), the CA/N allegations tended to be either more frequent or less severe than those kinds of allegations in cases without EMT. When neglect was alleged to occur with EMT, neglect allegations outnumbered allegations of EMT. However, when sexual abuse allegations were accompanied by EMT allegations, there were more EMT allegations than sexual abuse allegations in the cases. Higher severity ratings for EMT allegations than for physical abuse occurred when cases included any abuse. Distinctive effects of EMT subtypes were found between problems of safety/restriction and self-reported anger symptoms, and between problems of self-esteem/autonomy and posttraumatic stress. CONCLUSION: Differences exist between the CA/N allegations in cases with and without EMT. Having few cases containing only EMT allegations made it difficult to assess distinctive harm associated with EMT. Certain types of EMT allegations were associated with increases in children's anger and posttraumatic stress.