The Life Skills Assessment Scale: Measuring Life Skills of Disadvantaged Children in the Developing World

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Kennedy ◽  
David Pearson ◽  
Lucy Brett-Taylor ◽  
Vishal Talreja
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Child Development ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Life Skills ◽  
Assessment Scale ◽  
Skills Assessment ◽  
Effective Measure ◽  
Program Impact ◽  
Children In Poverty ◽  
Disadvantaged Children

Adversity, including malnutrition, has had irrefutable effects on child development and mental health. India, for example, has approximately 160 million children in poverty: The growth of up to 59% of rural and 48% of all children is stunted. Hundreds of thousands of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) work with these disadvantaged children to increase their life skills and ameliorate effects of adversity. Yet a simple effective measure of program impact has remained elusive. We used observational data from 1,136 disadvantaged children aged 8 to 16 years to construct a simple 5-item impact assessment scale. Although the scale was developed in India, we envisage that it could be used with disadvantaged children worldwide.

scholarly journals The Life Skills Assessment Scale: Norms for young people aged 17–19 and 20–22 years

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
David Pearson ◽  
Fiona Kennedy ◽  
Vishal Talreja ◽  
Suchetha Bhat ◽  
Katherine Newman-Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Life Skills ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Assessment Scale ◽  
Skills Assessment ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Age Norms ◽  
Disadvantaged Children

Severe poverty, adversity, and malnutrition have irrefutable negative effects on the development and mental health of children and young people. The Life Skills Assessment Scale (LSAS), is a 5-item impact assessment scale developed in India, that provides a simple, yet valid and reliable, instrument to assess life skills of disadvantaged children and young people, with age norms of 8–16 years. In the present study, in Bengaluru, India, we used observational data obtained from 656 disadvantaged young people to extend the LSAS age norms to 17–19 and 20–22 years age groups, resulting in a simple, valid, and reliable assessment tool for children and young people aged from 8 to 22 years.

scholarly journals Reducing Emotional and Behavioral Problems by Improving Life Skills and Self-Esteem of Institutionalized Children: Effectiveness of an Art-Based Intervention

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 595-616
Author(s):  
Zoya Amjad ◽  
Humaira Jami
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Life Skills ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Assessment Scale ◽  
Emotional And Behavioral Problems ◽  
Skills Assessment ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Strengths And Difficulties ◽  
Experimental Group

The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an art based intervention program on reducing emotional and behavioral problems by improving life skills and self-esteem of institutionalized children. Pre-test Post-test control group design was used for the purpose of the study. Scales used were the English caregiver version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1977), Urdu self-report version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Younis, Jami, & Masood, 2016) and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965). The Life Skills Assessment Scale was developed and validated. The study was conducted at Child Protection Bureau, Rawalpindi containing a sample of 28 boys aged 11 to 17. After screening based on the assessment of the teacher on The Life Skills Assessment Scale and SDQ, children were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. Pre-test was conducted with the children using SDQ and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale while the teacher had filled SDQ and the Life Skills Assessment Scale. The experimental group received four weeks of an art based intervention while the control group received regular classroom lectures on life skills. After post-test and analysis in SPSS 21, results confirmed that life skills and self-esteem of the experimental group improved significantly while emotional and behavioral problems decreased.

Parenthood, maternal mental health, early interactions and child development in the context of maternal perinatal cancer

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Wendland ◽  
E. Lemoine ◽  
M. Cazenave ◽  
E. Gacoin ◽  
C. Lasseron ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Child Development ◽  
Maternal Mental Health

scholarly journals A holistic approach to promoting early child development: a cluster randomised trial of a group-based, multicomponent intervention in rural Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. e004307
Author(s):  
Helen O Pitchik ◽  
Fahmida Tofail ◽  
Mahbubur Rahman ◽  
Fahmida Akter ◽  
Jesmin Sultana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Child Development ◽  
Dietary Diversity ◽  
Primary Caregivers ◽  
Secondary Outcome ◽  
Early Child Development ◽  
Early Child ◽  
Rural Bangladesh ◽  
Cluster Randomised ◽  
Adjusted Means

IntroductionIn low- and middle-income countries, children experience multiple risks for delayed development. We evaluated a multicomponent, group-based early child development intervention including behavioural recommendations on responsive stimulation, nutrition, water, sanitation, hygiene, mental health and lead exposure prevention.MethodsWe conducted a 9-month, parallel, multiarm, cluster-randomised controlled trial in 31 rural villages in Kishoreganj District, Bangladesh. Villages were randomly allocated to: group sessions (‘group’); alternating groups and home visits (‘combined’); or a passive control arm. Sessions were delivered fortnightly by trained community members. The primary outcome was child stimulation (Family Care Indicators); the secondary outcome was child development (Ages and Stages Questionnaire Inventory, ASQi). Other outcomes included dietary diversity, latrine status, use of a child potty, handwashing infrastructure, caregiver mental health and knowledge of lead. Analyses were intention to treat. Data collectors were independent from implementers.ResultsIn July–August 2017, 621 pregnant women and primary caregivers of children<15 months were enrolled (group n=160, combined n=160, control n=301). At endline, immediately following intervention completion (July–August 2018), 574 participants were assessed (group n=144, combined n=149, control n=281). Primary caregivers in both intervention arms participated in more play activities than control caregivers (age-adjusted means: group 4.22, 95% CI 3.97 to 4.47; combined 4.77, 4.60 to 4.96; control 3.24, 3.05 to 3.39), and provided a larger variety of play materials (age-adjusted means: group 3.63, 3.31 to 3.96; combined 3.81, 3.62 to 3.99; control 2.48, 2.34 to 2.59). Compared with the control arm, children in the group arm had higher total ASQi scores (adjusted mean difference in standardised scores: 0.39, 0.15 to 0.64), while in the combined arm scores were not significantly different from the control (0.25, –0.07 to 0.54).ConclusionOur findings suggest that group-based, multicomponent interventions can be effective at improving child development outcomes in rural Bangladesh, and that they have the potential to be delivered at scale.Trial registration numberThe trial is registered in ISRCTN (ISRCTN16001234).

Effects of air pollution, land-use type, and maternal mental health on child development in the first two years of life in the Greater Taipei area

2021 ◽  
Vol 197 ◽  
pp. 111168
Author(s):  
Ming-Lun Zou ◽  
Chuen-Bin Jiang ◽  
Yi-Hua Chen ◽  
Chih-Da Wu ◽  
Shih-Chun Candice Lung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Child Development ◽  
Maternal Mental Health ◽  
Land Use Type
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