Maternal well-being and its association to risk of developmental problems in children at school entry

The importance of psychological and social issues for children's well-being has long been recognized and their importance in the practice of pediatrics is well documented. However, many of the studies looking at this issue have emphasized psychiatric problems rather than issues commonly referred to as the new morbidity. The goal of this research was to refocus interest on the problems of the new morbidity. This study examined the rates and predictors of psychological problems in 19 of 23 randomly chosen pediatric practices in the greater New Haven area. Families of all 4- to 8-year-old children were invited to participate and to complete the Child Behavior Checklist prior to seeing a clinician. Clinicians completed a 13-category checklist of psychosocial and developmental problems based on a World Health Organization-sponsored primary care, child-oriented classification system. Of the 2006 eligible families, 1886 (94%) participated. Clinicians identified at least one psychosocial or developmental problem in 515 children (27.3%). Thirty-one percent of the children with problems received no active intervention, 40% received intervention by the clinician, and 16% were referred to specialty services. Not surprisingly, children whose problems were rated as moderate or severe were twice as likely to be referred compared with children with mild problems. Recognition of a problem was related to four characteristics: if the visit was for well child rather than acute care; if the clinician felt he or she knew a child well; if the child was male; and if the child had unmarried parents (all P ≤ .05). The data suggest that, when asked to use a taxonomy appropriate for primary care, clinicians recognize problems in many 4- to 8-year-old children (515/1886; 27.3%). This rate is considerably higher than the rates previously reported. Further, many children with identified problems (56%) were reported by their clinicians to receive some form of active intervention. Characteristics of the visit (type of visit, clinician's knowledge of a child) that influence the recognition of problems were also identified. These results suggest that investigators must define what types of problems they are interested in and under what circumstances to determine accurately what pediatric practitioners know about psychosocial and developmental problems in their young patients and families.

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Health Care of Foster Children

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.79.4.644 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 79 (4) ◽

pp. 644-646 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Health Care ◽

Foster Care ◽

Foster Children ◽

Formal Education ◽

Well Being ◽

High Rate ◽

Best Interests ◽

Social Service Agencies ◽

Developmental Problems

Children entering foster care generally have a higher than average number of health problems, and the care they receive is usually insufficient to meet their needs. These circumstances arise from the preplacement history of these children and from within the dual systems of foster care and publicly funded health care to which responsibility for their well-being is assigned. BACKGROUND Children enter foster care because their parents are unwilling or unable to provide for their physical and emotional needs. Most often, these children come from single-parent households where poverty, lack of formal education, and absence of social support contribute to inadequate and inappropriate child care. More than 80% of the children have experienced physical or sexual abuse and/or neglect. Their previous health care is likely to have been fragmented. As a consequence, foster children are likely to have unrecognized or untreated chronic disorders, a high rate of emotional and developmental problems, and impaired school performance. Placement of children into foster care is ordinarily a court-ordered process used when the application of resources by social service agencies fail to, or appear unlikely to, improve a home situation deemed detrimental to the children's well-being. Foster care is intended to be a planned temporary service designed to strengthen families and to enhance the quality of life for children. The imposed separation of children from parents is a decision intended to be based on the best interests of the children. It is to be an opportunity for families to receive the social support and counsel they require to be reconstituted.

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Maternal Depression in Early Childhood and Developmental Vulnerability at School Entry

International Journal for Population Data Science ◽

10.23889/ijpds.v5i5.1425 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (5) ◽

Author(s):

Elizabeth Wall-Wieler ◽

Leslie L. Roos ◽

Ian Gotlib

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Maternal Depression ◽

Well Being ◽

Population Based ◽

School Entry ◽

Childhood Development ◽

Small Samples ◽

Physician Visits ◽

Developmental Domains ◽

The Relationship

IntroductionStudies on the relationship between exposure to maternal depression in early childhood and childhood development have been limited by small samples, lack of information on timing of maternal depression, and use of a composite measure of childhood development. Objectives and ApproachWe linked multiple Manitoba datasets to examine the relationship between exposure to maternal depression in early childhood and childhood development at school entry across five domains, and age at exposure to maternal depression on developmental outcomes using a population-based cohort (n = 52,103). Maternal depression was defined using physician visits, hospitalizations, and pharmaceutical data, while developmental vulnerability was assessed using the well-validated Early Development Instrument. Relative risk of developmental vulnerability was assessed using log-binomial regression models, adjusted for maternal and childhood characteristics at the birth of the child. ResultsChildren exposed to maternal depression before age 5 had a 17% higher risk of having at least one developmental vulnerability at school entry than children not exposed to such depression before age 5. Exposure to maternal depression before age 5 was most strongly associated with social competence (aRR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.20, 1.38), physical health and well-being (aRR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.20, 1.36), and emotional maturity (aRR = 1.27, 95% CI 1.18, 1.37). For most developmental domains, exposure to maternal depression before age 1 and between ages 4 and 5 had the greatest association with developmental vulnerability. Conclusion / ImplicationsOur findings that children exposed to maternal depression were at higher risk of developmental vulnerability at school entry is consistent with previous studies. However, we found that the association between exposure to maternal depression and development varied across developmental domains, and the relationship varied depending on the age of exposure to maternal depression. Ongoing analyses of discordant cousins will shed more light on the causal nature of this relationship.

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Development and Evaluation of a Positive Youth Development Course for University Students in Hong Kong

The Scientific World JOURNAL ◽

10.1100/2012/263731 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Daniel T. L. Shek ◽

Rachel C. F. Sun ◽

Y. H. Chui ◽

S. W. Lit ◽

Walter W. Yuen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

University Students ◽

Youth Development ◽

Positive Youth Development ◽

Well Being ◽

Outcome Evaluation ◽

Preliminary Evaluation ◽

Holistic Development ◽

Developmental Problems ◽

Academic Year

With higher education, university graduates are important elements of the labor force in knowledge-based economies. With reference to the mental health and developmental problems in university students, there is a need to review university’s role in nurturing holistic development of students. Based on the positive youth development approach, it is argued that promoting intrapersonal competencies is an important strategy to facilitate holistic development of young people in Hong Kong. In The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, a course entitled Tomorrow’s Leader focusing on positive youth development constructs to promote student well-being will be offered on a compulsory basis starting from 2012/13 academic year under the new undergraduate curriculum structure. The proposed course was piloted in 2010/11 school year. Different evaluation strategies, including objective outcome evaluation, subjective outcome evaluation, process evaluation, and qualitative evaluation, are being carried out to evaluate the developed course. Preliminary evaluation findings based on the piloting experience in 2010/11 academic year are presented in this paper.

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Posttraumatic growth among adolescents victims of bullying

Psikologia: Jurnal Pemikiran dan Penelitian Psikologi ◽

10.32734/psikologia.v15i1.4342 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 13-25

Author(s):

Cokorde Istri Ayu Laksmi Dewi ◽

Tience Debora Valentina

Keyword(s):

Posttraumatic Growth ◽

Life Events ◽

Well Being ◽

Intervention Programs ◽

Present Review ◽

Life Event ◽

Developmental Problems ◽

Traumatic Life Events ◽

Victims Of Bullying

Being a victim of bullying is a traumatic life event that may lead to various developmental problems among adolescents. Such a traumatic life event could negatively affect individuals’ emotional and physical well-being. However, for some individuals, traumatic life events could promote posttraumatic growth. The present paper describes posttraumatic growth among victims of bullying. Specifically, we describe some indicators and encouraging factors of posttraumatic growth among adolescents who had been victims of bullying. The present review can contribute to intervention programs to encourage posttraumatic growth among adolescents who had been victims of bullying. Menjadi korban bullying merupakan peristiwa kehidupan traumatis yang dapat menimbulkan berbagai masalah perkembangan di kalangan remaja. Peristiwa kehidupan traumatis semacam ini dapat berdampak negatif pada kesejahteraan emosional dan fisik individu. Namun, bagi sebagian individu, peristiwa kehidupan traumatis dapat mendorong posttraumatic growth. Makalah ini menjelaskan posttraumatic growth di antara korban bullying. Secara spesifik, kami menjabarkan beberapa indikator dan faktor pendorong posttraumatic growth di kalangan remaja yang pernah menjadi korban bullying. Ulasan ini dapat berkontribusi pada program intervensi untuk mendorong posttraumatic growth di antara remaja korban bullying.

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School readiness and transition into school

10.1093/med/9780198788850.003.0031 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Alan Emond ◽

Jane Coad

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Development ◽

School Readiness ◽

Communication Skills ◽

Good Practice ◽

Well Being ◽

School Entry ◽

Emotional Maturity ◽

Medical Needs ◽

Health Assessments ◽

Health And Well Being

School readiness is a complex construct which includes physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, and communication skills. This chapter reviews the evidence for interventions which help children, and their families, be ready to start school, and highlights good practice in schools being ready and welcoming for new children. The issues of transition into school are discussed, and evidence presented on how children with medical needs can be helped to integrate and participate. Health assessments at school entry are reviewed, and the complicated area of medication in schools is summarized.

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