The perpetrators of medical child abuse (Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy) – A systematic review of 796 cases

IntroductionLittle is known about the perpetrators of medical child abuse (MCA) which is often described as “Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy” or “factitious disorder imposed on another”. The demographic and clinical characteristics of these abusers have yet to be described in a sufficiently large sample. We aimed to address this issue through a systematic review of case reports and series in the professional literature.MethodA systematic search for case reports and series published since 1965 was undertaken using MEDLINE, Web of Science and EMBASE. 4100 database records were screened. A supplementary search was then conducted using GoogleScholar and reference lists of eligible studies. Our search yielded a total sample of 796 perpetrators: 309 from case reports and 487 from case series. Information extracted included demographic and clinical characteristics, in addition to methods of abuse and case outcomes.ResultsNearly all abusers were female (97.6%) and the victim’s mother (95.6%). Most were married (75.8%). Mean caretaker age at the child’s presentation was 27.6 years. Perpetrators were frequently reported to be in healthcare-related professions (45.6%), to have had obstetric complications (23.5%), or to have histories of childhood maltreatment (30%). The most common psychiatric diagnoses recorded were factitious disorder imposed on self (30.9%), personality disorder (18.6%), and depression (14.2%).ConclusionsFrom the largest analysis of MCA perpetrators to date, we provide several clinical recommendations. In particular, we urge clinicians to consider mothers with a personal history of childhood maltreatment, obstetric complications, and/or factitious disorder at heightened risk for MCA. Longitudinal studies are required to establish the true prognostic value of these factors as our method may have been vulnerable to publication bias.     

小学英语课前学习活动例谈

目前小学英语教学中的课前学习活动,问题主要集中在目标不明,形式单一,教师常用的方法是听录音机跟读词句、课文,将听读的遍数作为预习效果的评价标准,忽视了成功实施课前学习活动必须关注的一些问题,如内容设计、方法掌握、学习反馈、激励评价等等。对此,笔者在多年的课堂教学中进行了积极的实践与初步的反思。一、内容设计:以课堂教学知识点为载体课前的活动设计必须以课堂学习的语言知     

我们是“团结”的小水滴

7～11岁的小学生正处于认知发展的具体运算阶段,这一阶段的儿童已经初步具备逻辑推理的能力,但是此时的逻辑推理尚离不开具体事物的支持。因此,本文结合该阶段学生的认知发展特点,探讨如何有效地将具体事物应用到小学科学教学的过程中。     

Parental Response to Child's Incongruence: Verbal versus Nonverbal Primacy in Parent–child Interactions

Whereas the question of verbal versus nonverbal primacy has gained intensive interest, considerably less attention has been devoted to parental response to children's verbal/nonverbal incongruence. This study comprehensively analyzed parental responses to children's incongruence during mutual interactions. Parent–child interactions (n = 160) in structured joint game sequences were filmed in their homes and analyzed using a mixed multivariate design. Unexpectedly, parents related almost equally to verbal and nonverbal channels. The analysis of a wide range of social and situational contexts, including child's sex, parent's sex, SES, and task difficulty, highlighted their significant effects and delineated the contexts that activated verbal primacy, nonverbal primacy, and incongruent responses. This study provides a composite theoretical framework for the relative dominance of verbal versus nonverbal communication.     

浅议独生子女与素质教育问题

中国庞大的独生子女群体已经对社会的各个方面产生了很大的影响。开展对独生子女与素质教育问题的研究有重要的现实意义。我们应该高度重视独生子女问题,认真调研,掌握实情,构建综合素质教育体系;要充分理解和关爱独生子女,实事求是,因势利导;要加强学校和家庭的沟通,发挥家庭教育的作用,全面做好独生子女素质教育工作。     

关于一个社会交往退缩孩子的个案研究

采用个案研究的方法,通过参与式观察、开放式访谈法,对遵义市某幼儿园一男童进行了跟踪研究,结果显示：内部因素和外部因素是形成该男童社会退缩行为的主要原因。同时,在消除其社会退缩行为上,宜从家庭、幼儿园及儿童自身着手,科学实施干预措施。     

从儿童中心到探究群体--李普曼儿童哲学对杜威教学理论的新发展

儿童哲学是产生于当代美国,并具有世界性影响的一门学科课程,“探究群体”,是儿童哲学的一个核心概念和重要的实施途径。本文在阐述“探究群体”基本观点的基础上,比较分析了儿童哲学与杜威教学理论的弄同,认为儿童哲学在一定程度上发展了杜威的教学理论。     

Recasts Used with Preschoolers Learning English as their Second Language

This study examined linguistic recasts provided by 16 early childhood educators to preschool children learning English as a second language (EL2). Recasts are semantic and syntactic revisions of children’s utterances. The educator–child interactions were filmed during book reading and play dough activities with small groups of four children, one of whom was EL2. The EL2 children were rated by their educators as having less well-developed expressive language skills than their unilingual peers. However, despite this finding, educators provided similar rates of recasts to both groups of children. Eight EL2 children with the lowest expressive language skills demonstrated fewer uptakes of their educator’s recasts in comparison to EL2 children with higher expressive language skills. The implications of this study include increasing the rate of recasts and reducing their complexity to provide language-learning opportunities for all preschool children, especially for those learning English as a second language.     

On the Difference between Chinese and Western Child Education

By comparing the models of Chinese and Western education,this paper offers a hypothesis as to which learning curriculum is best suited for optimum academic development.Ideally,an improved education model could inspire new ideas in the education industry;ef fecting not only children,but also the roles of both schools and parents.