scholarly journals How Living in Vulnerable Conditions Undermines Cognitive Development: Evidence from the Pediatric Population of Guatemala

Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 90
Author(s):  
Joaquín A. Ibáñez-Alfonso ◽  
Rosalba Company-Córdoba ◽  
Claudia García de la Cadena ◽  
Antonio Sianes ◽  
Ian Craig Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Pediatric Population ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Educational Interventions ◽  
Vulnerable Group ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
High Exposure ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Children And Adolescent

Low-socioeconomic backgrounds represent a risk factor for children’s cognitive development and well-being. Evidence from many studies highlights that cognitive processes may be adversely affected by vulnerable contexts. The aim of this study was to determine if living in vulnerable conditions affects childhood cognitive development. To achieve this, we assessed the performance of a sample of 347 Guatemalan children and adolescents aged from 6 to 17 years (M = 10.8, SD = 3) in a series of 10 neuropsychological tasks recently standardized for the pediatric population of this country. Two-fifths of the sample (41.5%) could be considered to have vulnerable backgrounds, coming from families with low-socioeconomic status or having had a high exposure to violence. As expected, results showed lower scores in language and attention for the vulnerable group. However, contrary to expectations, consistent systematic differences were not found in the executive function tasks. Vulnerable children obtained lower scores in cognitive flexibility compared to the non-vulnerable group, but higher scores in inhibition and problem-solving tasks. These results suggest the importance of developing pediatric standards of cognitive performance that take environmental vulnerable conditions into consideration. These findings, one of the first obtained in the Guatemalan population, also provide relevant information for specific educational interventions and public health policies which will enhance vulnerable children and adolescent cognitive development.

scholarly journals Medical Students’ Participation in Longitudinal Community Service During Preclerkship Years: A Qualitative Study on Experiences and Perceived Outcomes

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 238212052093661
Author(s):  
Amier Haidar ◽  
Samuel G Erickson ◽  
Tiffany Champagne-Langabeer
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Nutrition Education ◽  
Community Service ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Volunteer Program ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Community Issues ◽  
The Impact

The aim of this study was to qualitatively evaluate medical students perspectives of the benefits of a longitudinal volunteering experience compared with a 1-day community service experience. Fifteen medical students participated in 2 types of community service: (1) longitudinal, weekly volunteering from February to April of 2019 and (2) a single day of community service in March of 2019. Semistructured interviews were conducted to identify medical students perspectives of the impact of volunteering. Interview data was analyzed thematically based on the common ideas expressed by the participants. Four themes emerged: development of communication and interpersonal skills; understanding how to teach; ability to understand community issues in a low socioeconomic status (SES) neighborhood and the improvement of overall well-being. Medical students’ participation in a longitudinal nutrition education volunteer program was perceived as being an effective way to develop communication, interpersonal, and teaching skills. Medical students were able to interact with a diverse and vulnerable community located in a low SES neighborhood, to help them understand current community issues and risk factors.

scholarly journals An Insight Into the Involvement of Mothers of Low Socioeconomic Status in Scottish Primary School Health Education Activities

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-122
Author(s):  
Samantha Donnelly ◽  
Duncan S. Buchan ◽  
Ann-Marie Gibson ◽  
Gillian Mclellan ◽  
Rosie Arthur
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
School Health ◽  
Family Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Low Ses ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
School Based ◽  
School Health Education ◽  
Parent Component

School-based health activities that involve parents are more likely to be effective for child health and well-being than activities without a parent component. However, such school-based interventions tend to recruit the most motivated parents, and limited evidence exists surrounding the involvement of hard-to-reach parents with low socioeconomic status (SES). Mothers remain responsible for the majority of family care; therefore, this study investigated mothers with low SES to establish the reasons and barriers to their involvement in school-based health activities and to propose strategies to increase their involvement in those activities. Interviews were conducted with mothers with low SES, who were typically not involved in school-based health activities ( n = 16). An inductive–deductive approach to hierarchical analysis revealed that there are several barriers resulting in mothers being less involved, particularly due to issues surrounding the schools’ Parent Councils and the exclusivity of school-based events. Efforts made by the school to promote health activities and involve parents in such activities were revealed, alongside recommendations to improve on these practices. The findings offer multiple ways in which future school-based health interventions can recruit and involve mothers with low SES.

scholarly journals Peer Acceptance and Cognitive Development

1999 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 611-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. F. Sisto ◽  
S. Urquijo ◽  
M. T. C. C. Souza
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Peer Group ◽  
Peer Acceptance ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Socially Isolated ◽  
Mental Imaging ◽  
Group Acceptance

To verify whether development of cognitive skills and peer acceptance are necessarily linked, 212 students of low socioeconomic status in the first, second, and third grades of a public school in Brazil were studied. A sociometric evaluation of peer group acceptance in play and study situations was conducted. The cognitive tasks were the mental imaging and conservation of mass and length (operative casks) as well as location of dice and equidistancing arrangements (creation of possibilities tasks). Analysis showed the children identified as desirable study companions had highly developed general cognitive abilities, and those chosen as desirable for both study and play not only had highly developed general cognitive abilities but also highly developed operativeness. Children who were socially isolated, however, had even higher mean cognitive assessment score in relation to both creation of possibilities and general cognitive development than did those with ratings of negative or positive salience.

Properties of adult and adolescent mothers' speech, children's verbal performance and cognitive development in different socioeconomic groups: a longitudinal study

2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Véronique Lacroix ◽  
Andrée Pomerleau ◽  
Gérard Malcuit
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Adolescent Mothers ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Socioeconomic Groups ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Middle Socioeconomic Status ◽  
And Function

The research analysed longitudinally the properties of maternal utterances and their relation with child's language and cognitive development. The sample consisted of 125 mother-child dyads divided in three groups: 32 adolescent mothers, 54 adult mothers of low socioeconomic status (LSES), and 39 adult mothers of middle socioeconomic status (MSES). The form and function of each mother's utterances to her child at 18, 30 and 36 months of age were evaluated during a free-play session in the laboratory. Results showed differences between the three groups in the properties of maternal utterances. Adolescent and adult LSES mothers used more utterances that controlled or directed what the child was doing, and fewer utterances that informed or questioned the child. During their second and third year of life, children from the MSES group obtained higher scores than children of adolescent and adult LSES mothers on measures of language and cognitive development. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the forms and functions of maternal utterances were important predictors of child development. Most importantly, the forms and functions of maternal utterances from 18 to 36 months explained 45% of the variance in the children's score on the Stanford-Binet.

The Association Between Past Sexual Abuse and Depression in Older Adults From Colombia

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renee J. Flores ◽  
Adalberto Campo-Arias ◽  
Jim P. Stimpson ◽  
Claudia M. Chalela ◽  
Carlos A. Reyes-Ortiz
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Geriatric Depression Scale ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
History Of ◽  
Study Participants

To explore the association between past sexual abuse and depression in elders living in Bogotá, Colombia, we used data from the SABE (Salud, Bienestar y Envejecimiento [Health, Well-being, and Aging]) Bogotá Study. Participants were 2000 community-dwelling adults aged 60 years and older in 2012. Sexual abuse was assessed by self-report. Depression was measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale. The weighted prevalence estimate was 2.6% for past sexual abuse and 23.4% for depression. Multivariate data analyses showed significantly higher odds of depression for past sexual abuse (odds ratio [OR] = 3.91, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.13-7.16). Other characteristics associated with depression were history of being displaced by violence (OR = 1.77, 95% CI: 1.30-2.40), low socioeconomic status, low education, poor self-rated health status, and poor self-rated memory. Thus, past sexual abuse and history of being displaced by violence were strongly associated with depression among Colombian elderly individuals.

scholarly journals Environmental Justice in The Netherlands: Presence and Quality of Greenspace Differ by Socioeconomic Status of Neighbourhoods

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 5889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sjerp de Vries ◽  
Arjen E. Buijs ◽  
Robbert P. H. Snep
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Deprived Neighbourhoods ◽  
Policy And Planning

Making our cities more sustainable includes the need to make the transition a just one. This paper focuses on distributive justice with regard to greenspace in cities. Urbanisation and densification will likely result in less greenspace in urban residential areas, especially in deprived neighbourhoods. This is a threat to the aim of healthy and liveable cities, as greenspace has positive effects on human health and well-being. In this study, we show that in The Netherlands, neighbourhoods with a low socioeconomic status already tend to have a lower presence and quality of greenspace than those with a high socioeconomic status. This outcome is independent of the greenness metric that was used. However, depending on the precise greenness metric, socioeconomic differences in greenness between neighbourhoods are smaller in highly urban municipalities than in less urban municipalities, rather than larger. The paper discusses the implications of these outcomes for policy and planning regarding urban greenspace.

scholarly journals The Effects of Gender and Family Wealth on Sexual Abuse of Adolescents

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. 1788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyglo Runarsdottir ◽  
Edward Smith ◽  
Arsaell Arnarsson
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Female Gender ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sexual Assaults ◽  
Family Affluence ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
Family Wealth ◽  
10Th Grade

Background: Sexual abuse and sexual assaults against adolescents are among the most significant threats to their health and well-being. Some studies have found poverty to be a risk factor for sexual abuse. The present study investigates the effects of gender and family affluence on the prevalence of sexual abuse of 15-year-old Icelanders in the 10th grade. Methods: The study is based on data collected for the Icelandic part of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study in 2014. Standardized questionnaires were sent to all students in the 10th grade in Iceland, of which 3618 participated (85% of all registered students in this grade). Results: Girls were more than twice as likely to be sexually abused as boys (20.2% versus 9.1%). Adolescents perceiving their families to be less well off than others were twice as likely to report sexual abuse as those of ample or medium family affluence. However, family affluence had more effect on the prevalence of abuse in girls than in boys. Conclusion: Female gender and low socioeconomic status may independently contribute to the risk of sexual abuse.

scholarly journals An Experimental Laboratory Examination of the Psychological and Physiological Effects of Civic Empowerment: A Novel Methodological Approach

2020 ◽  
pp. 089976402093336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parissa J. Ballard ◽  
Keely A. Muscatell ◽  
Lindsay Till Hoyt ◽  
Abdiel J. Flores ◽  
Wendy Berry Mendes
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Physiological Reactivity ◽  
Laboratory Examination ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Class Background ◽  
Experimental Laboratory

Civic engagement can be empowering and might promote well-being, especially for individuals from marginalized backgrounds. This study uses a novel experimental approach to simulate civic engagement in a laboratory study and to test whether this approach engenders civic empowerment and buffers psychological and physiological reactivity to stress and social rejection. Young adults, primarily experiencing low socioeconomic status ( N = 128), were randomly assigned to deliver a speech about a civic or a neutral issue. Giving a civic speech leads to higher feelings of empowerment compared with giving a neutral speech. Delivering the civic speech buffers sympathetic nervous system reactivity to stress (measured through the pre-ejection period) and leads to higher identification with social class background. This is one of the first studies to use an experimental approach and psychophysiological methods to examine the effects of civic empowerment on civic, psychosocial, and physiological reactivity outcomes.

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