Imaginary Companions of Blind, Deaf, and Typically Developing School Children

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-314
Author(s):  
Maureen Claire Smith
Keyword(s):  
Peer Relationships ◽  
Pretend Play ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Child Reports ◽  
At Risk Children ◽  
Blind Children ◽  
Imaginary Companion

Having an imaginary companion (IC) during childhood is associated with developmental advantages. ICs also appear to persist and may serve as a coping mechanism for at-risk children. Few studies have examined imagination in blind and deaf children, two groups who may struggle with peer relationships and loneliness. This study explores the presence of ICs in a sample of 12 blind, 13 deaf, and 26 typically developing, ethnically diverse 8- to 12-year-old children. It examines teacher- and child-reports of competence potentially associated with having an IC. Results indicate that 54% of the children reported a current or prior IC, and those children engaged in more pretend play and fantasy than children without ICs. Deaf children reported the highest rates, and blind children the lowest rates, of ICs. The data suggest that having an IC may be associated with social and emotional benefits for deaf and blind children.

scholarly journals 0962 Sleep and Daytime Functioning in Gifted and Twice Exceptional Children

SLEEP ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A365-A366
Author(s):  
R Théoret ◽  
L Bastien ◽  
R Godbout
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Quality ◽  
Internalizing Problems ◽  
Intellectual Development ◽  
Child Behavior Checklist ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Sleep Habits ◽  
Daytime Functioning ◽  
Twice Exceptional ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Children’S Sleep

Abstract Introduction Gifted (G) children display an asynchrony between intellectual development and social and emotional development. Twice exceptional (2e) children are G children with a neuropsychological disability. We compared the sleep and daytime behavior of G, 2e and typically developing (TD) children and we sought for group-specific relationships between sleep and daytime behavior. Methods 23 children were recruited: seven G (8.7 years old, SD = 1.7), six 2e (9.8 years old, SD = 1.8) and 10 TD children (10.0 years old, SD = 2.2). Giftedness was diagnosed with neuropsychological tools. The Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) assessed sleep quality, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) assessed daytime functioning. Sleep quality and its impact on daytime functioning was measured with a MANCOVA, with the CBCL’s three main factors as dependent variables (internalizing problems, IP; externalizing problems, EP and total problems, TP), children group as the independent variable and the CSHQ total score as the covariate. Results G, 2e and TD groups scored 39.86, 39.17 and 39.70 on the CSHQ, respectively (n.s.). The three groups were not different on the CBCL, with respective mean T scores of 57.86, 50.33 and 48.60 for IP, 56.43, 55.67 and 47.80 for EP and 55.29, 53.83 and 46.40 for TP. Pillai’s trace statistics disclosed a significant relationship between CSHQ and CBCL scores regardless of groups (p = 0.04) but the influence of sleep quality did not differ among the groups for any of the three factors. The CSHQ total score was positively and significantly related to IP (p = 0.03, r = 0.47); relationships were not significant for EP (p = 0.96, r = -0.01) and TP (p = 0.17, r = 0.31). Conclusion Sleep quality influences internalizing problems in children, without group-specific relationships, but this association does not seem to differ between gifted, twice exceptional and TD children. Support N/A

scholarly journals Can children’s play themes be assessed to inform play therapy practice?

2020 ◽  
pp. 135910452096451
Author(s):  
Bridget Sarah ◽  
Judi Parson ◽  
Kate Renshaw ◽  
Karen Stagnitti
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Play Therapy ◽  
Pretend Play ◽  
Therapeutic Change ◽  
Standardized Assessment ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Baseline Measure ◽  
Child Play

In play therapy with children, identifying play themes is key to understanding the meaning within sessions, and allows therapists to systematically track therapeutic change. This study investigated if play themes could be identified using a time limited, standardized assessment, for children aged 5–7 years. A descriptive, observational mixed methods, non-experimental study with 30 typically developing children was conducted, with participants assessed individually on one occasion using the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment (ChIPPA). Play themes were able to be identified for 26 of the 30 participants. Of these 26 children, a range of primary and subthemes were observed. These findings indicate that a baseline measure of both play ability and play themes can be integrated to prescribe and align the model of play therapy with the needs of the child. Play themes were not identified for four participants which may be due to limited pretend play ability, indicating that deficits in play ability may need to be addressed in the first instance.

The Relative Importance of Selected Communication Skills for Positive Peer Relations: American Adolescents’ Opinions

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-150
Author(s):  
Vicki A. Reed ◽  
Susan Trumbo
Keyword(s):  
Peer Relationships ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Peer Relations ◽  
Figurative Language ◽  
Variable Importance ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Management Skills ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Discourse Management

Typically developing, American adolescents in Grade 10 ( n = 38) ranked the relative importance of 14 communication skills in their friends’ communication with them. The skills were considered those associated with figurative language (e.g., appropriate slang use), empathy (e.g., vocal tone comprehension), or discourse management (e.g., appropriate topic selection). Five skills emerged as more important and were primarily considered to be empathy-related communication skills. Four skills, representing a mix of figurative language and discourse management skills, were ranked as lower in importance. The remaining five skills were of intermediate or variable importance and a mix of discourse management and empathy-related communication skills. Results were similar to those of previous investigations with Australian adolescents. Adolescents’ gender did not result in different rankings. Knowing what adolescents opine to be more and less important communication skills for positive peer relationships can help speech-language pathologists decide on intervention objectives to improve adolescents’ peer relationships.

scholarly journals Toddler dysregulated fear predicts continued risk for social anxiety symptoms in early adolescence

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin A. Buss ◽  
Sunghye Cho ◽  
Santiago Morales ◽  
Meghan McDoniel ◽  
Ann Frank Webb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Peer Relationships ◽  
Parental Monitoring ◽  
Social Withdrawal ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Child Reports ◽  
Two Samples

Abstract Identifying early risk factors for the development of social anxiety symptoms has important translational implications. Accurately identifying which children are at the highest risk is of critical importance, especially if we can identify risk early in development. We examined continued risk for social anxiety symptoms at the transition to adolescence in a community sample of children (n = 112) that had been observed for high fearfulness at age 2 and tracked for social anxiety symptoms from preschool through age 6. In our previous studies, we found that a pattern of dysregulated fear (DF), characterized by high fear in low threat contexts, predicted social anxiety symptoms at ages 3, 4, 5, and 6 years across two samples. In the current study, we re-evaluated these children at 11–13 years of age by using parent and child reports of social anxiety symptoms, parental monitoring, and peer relationship quality. The scores for DF uniquely predicted adolescents’ social anxiety symptoms beyond the prediction that was made by more proximal measures of behavioral (e.g., kindergarten social withdrawal) and concurrent environmental risk factors (e.g., parental monitoring, peer relationships). Implications for early detection, prevention, and intervention are discussed.

scholarly journals You Pretend, I Laugh: Associations Between Dyadic Pretend Play and Children's Display of Positive Emotions

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Rao ◽  
Jenny L. Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Pretend Play ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Age And Gender ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Age And Gender Differences ◽  
And Gender

Background: Understanding how pretend play is related to positive emotions is important for supporting children's development and promoting their wellbeing. However, previous studies have mainly examined this association at individual levels and overlooked the potential links at interpersonal levels. This is an important knowledge gap because pretend play is commonly performed in social contexts. The current study investigates how peer pretend play is associated with children's display of positive emotions at both individual and dyadic levels.Methods: One hundred and eight Chinese children (Mage = 8.95 years, SD = 0.99, 51.9% girls) were observed playing in peer dyads with toys. An interaction of 10 min was coded for each child's pretend play behavior, social and emotional pretend play themes, and display of positive emotions. Multilevel modeling was used to examine age and gender differences in peer pretend play. Actor–Partner Interdependence Models (APIM) were estimated to test the hypothesized associations between dyadic pretend play and children' display of positive emotions.Results: Compared to children whose playmates engaged in less pretend play, children whose playmates engaged in more pretend play were more likely to display positive emotions (p = 0.021). Additionally, children's display of positive emotions was predicted by both their own (p = 0.027) and their playmate's (p = 0.01) pretend play with emotional themes. Compared to younger children, older children were less likely to engage in pretend play (p = 0.002), but more likely to engage in pretend play with social themes (p = 0.03) when the total frequency of pretend play was controlled for. Boys were 4.9 times and 2.16 times as likely as girls to create aggressive pretend themes (p < 0.001) and non-aggressive negative pretend themes (p = 0.007), respectively. No significant gender differences were found in positive pretend themes.Conclusions: Pretending with peers may increase not only children's own, but also their play partner's display of positive emotions. Pretend play may not simply decline in middle childhood as previously assumed.

The Connection Project: Changing the peer environment to improve outcomes for marginalized adolescents

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Joseph P. Allen ◽  
Rachel K. Narr ◽  
Alison G. Nagel ◽  
Meghan A. Costello ◽  
Karen Guskin
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Peer Relationships ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
School Context ◽  
Program Completion ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
School Based ◽  
Marginalized Groups

Abstract This study evaluated a school-based intervention to enhance adolescent peer relationships and improve functional outcomes, building upon Ed Zigler’s seminal contribution in recognizing the potential of academic contexts to enhance social and emotional development. Adolescents (N = 610) primarily from economically or racially/ethnically marginalized groups were assessed preintervention, postintervention, and at 4-month follow-up in a randomized controlled trial. At program completion, intervention participants reported significantly increased quality of peer relationships; by 4-month follow-up, this increased quality was also observable by peers outside of the program, and program participants also displayed higher levels of academic engagement and lower levels of depressive symptoms. These latter effects appear to have potentially been mediated via participants’ increased use of social support. The potential of the Connection Project intervention specifically, and of broader efforts to activate adolescent peer relationships as potent sources of social support and growth more generally within the secondary school context, is discussed.

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