Agreement Between Parental Report and Clinician Observation of Infant Developmental Skills

Understanding the convergence between parent report and clinician observation measures of development is important and became even more critical during the COVID-19 pandemic as clinician contact with families was significantly limited. Previous research points to inconsistencies in the degree of agreement between parents and clinicians and very little research has examined these associations for infants within the first year of life. This study investigated the association between parent report and clinician observation measures of social communication and motor skills in 27 young infants who were assessed at 9 and 12 months of age. Results suggest a strong relation between clinician and parent rated motor skills, but weak to moderate associations between clinician and parent rated communication skills. Infant temperament played a significant role in parent ratings of infant communication. Together, these results provide support for data collection via parent report or clinician observation of infant motor skills, but suggest that multiple measures of infant communication may be helpful to obtain high-quality, perhaps more accurate, assessment social-communication skills. Specifically, multiple parent report measures along with an observation of parent-infant interactions will likely provide a more rich and accurate characterization of infant social-communication abilities.

Early intervention programs for toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a systematic review

This review identified 8 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated early intervention (EI) programs for infants in the age-group 18-48 months who either had been diagnosed with, or were considered at risk for, autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The studies were summarized in terms of participant characteristics, intervention characteristics, rigor of study/research and outcomes. Intervention characteristics included the provision of training to parents. All the studies used RCT design, with control subjects who were either toddlers of typical development (TD) or toddlers with ASD following “treatment as usual” (TAU) or another treatment, and all were rated as strong in terms of quality/rigor. Positive results were recorded for parental acceptability and satisfaction, and reduction of parenting stress. In most of the studies, the social communication and developmental skills of the toddlers were enhanced. We conclude that EI programs for ASD show promise, and may be beneficial for both the toddlers and the parents, but the limited number of RCTs and the wide variety in intervention programs and assessment instruments used indicates the need for additional research to evaluate the specific benefits.

Prevalence of Sleep Problems in Infancy and Developmental Outcomes From 6 to 24 Months

Background: The study objectives were to assess the prevalence of sleep problems in infants observed at 6, 12 and 24 months, to investigate the relationship between infants’ sleep problems and development from 6 to 24 months, and to determine to what extent sleep problems at 6 months were related to changes in the developmental course from 12 to 24 months.Methods: Infant sleep problems were measured by use of a parent-reported sleep questionnaire. The Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ-II/ASQ:SE) were used to measure developmental skills in the areas of communication, motor, problem-solving, personal-social and social-emotional development in a large longitudinal study with a population-based sample of 1,555 infants. The sample was recruited from nine well-baby clinics in five municipalities in South-Eastern Norway. At 6, 12 and 24 months, ASQ domain scores were compared between infants with and without sleep problems by using two-sample t-tests. The relationship between infant sleep problems at 6 months and changes in ASQ/ASQ:SE scores from 12 to 24 months was investigated using linear mixed effects models.Results: The prevalence of infant sleep problems during the infants’ two first years of life decreased over time, with 14.6% at 6 months, 7.4% at 12 months, and 3.3% at 24 months. There was no clear evidence of differences in ASQ or ASQ:SE scores by sleep problems from 6 to 24 months, but the results suggested a slightly larger increase in communication and problem-solving ASQ scores for infants who had sleep problems at 6 months. Conclusion: Our findings indicate prevalence rates of parent-reported sleep problems between 3 and 14% in infants aged from 6 to 24 months, with the highest prevalence in the youngest age group. There was no clear evidence of early sleep disturbance and later development problems, but our results show evidence of a relationship between sleep problems at 6 months and positive changes in communication and problem-solving scores from 12 to 24 months.

CLINICAL STUDIES ON LEARNING DISORDER IN AYURVEDA - A REVIEW

Learning disorders are defined as problems in securing of developmental skills, academic achievement, social adjustment and secondarily emotional growth and development as a consequence of perceptual and linguistic processing deficits. The prevalence of learning disorders is 15.17 % in Southern India. In ayurvedic classics no separate narrative of such disease is seen, but many times delayed developmental skills such as Vāksḳalanam, alpamedha-smṛti etc. are stated and different remedies are considered for them. The Indriyās (sense faculties), Manas (mind), Buddhi (intellect) are comprised in the process of Jñānotpatti. Any altered function in these components hampers the learning process. Even if several studies have been conducted in Ayurveda on Learning disorder, the area remains still non conclusive. This is an attempt to report the studies from the postgraduate institute for Ayurveda psychiatry, with the available conclusions so as to augment the accessible possibilities in the clinical practice.

Protocol for the Adaptation of a Direct Observational Measure of Parent-Child Interaction for Use With 7–8-Year-Old Children

ObjectiveParenting sensitivity and mutual parent-child attunement are key features of environments that support children’s learning and development. To-date, observational measures of these constructs have focused on children aged 2–6 years and are less relevant to the more sophisticated developmental skills of children aged 7–8 years, despite parenting being equally important at these ages. We undertook a rigorous process to adapt an existing observational measure for 7–8-year-old children and their parents. This paper aimed to: (i) describe a protocol for adapting an existing framework for rating parent-child interactions, (ii) determine variations in parents’ sensitive responding and parent-child mutual attunement (‘positive mutuality’) by family demographics, and (iii) evaluate the psychometric properties of the newly developed measure (i.e., inter-rater reliability, construct validity).MethodParent-child dyads completed one home visit, including a free-play observation and parent questionnaire. Dyads were provided with three toy sets: LEGO® Classic Box, Classic Jenga®, and animal cards. The Coding of Attachment-Related Parenting (CARP) was adapted for use with 7–8-year-old children, and rating procedures were streamlined for reliable use by non-clinician/student raters, producing the SCARP:7–8 Years. Trained staff rated video-recorded observations on 11 behaviors across two domains (five for parents’ sensitive responding, six for parent-child positive mutuality).ResultsData were available for 596 dyads. Consistently strong inter-rater agreement on the 11 observed behaviors was achieved across the 10-week rating period (average: 87.6%, range: 71.7% to 96.7%). Average ICCs were 0.77 for sensitive responding and 0.84 for positive mutuality. These domains were found to be related but distinct constructs (r = 0.49, p < 0.001). For both domains, average ratings were strongly associated with the main toy used during the observation (p < 0.001, highest: cards, lowest: LEGO®). Adjusted multivariate linear regression models (accounting for toy choice) revealed that less sensitive responding was associated with younger parent (p = 0.04), male parent (p = 0.03), non-English speaking background (p = 0.04), and greater neighborhood disadvantage (p = 0.02). Construct validity was demonstrated using six parent-reported psychosocial and parenting measures.ConclusionThe SCARP: 7–8 Years shows promise as a reliable and valid measure of parent-child interaction in the early school years. Toy selection for direct observation should be considered carefully in research and practice settings.

Advanced Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Agricultural Technology Among Technical Vocational Education and Training College Students

This study sought to document students' experiences on the use of advanced scholarship of teaching and learning (instructional methods) in agricultural technology. Agricultural technology aims to aid TVET students with sustainable developmental skills for agricultural sector. This includes gearing them towards productivity along the agriculture value chains and improve the economic growth. Hence, the study purposively sampled 50 agricultural technology students and each group contained 10 members. Furthermore, this study used slow scholarship and world café as a theoretical framework. Through a phenomenological approach, students revealed how the slow scholarship and world café methods have developed their ability to learn agricultural concepts and acquiring essential life skills. Thus, it was recommended that agriculture technology lecturers in TVET colleges should be trained more frequently on student centered approaches in order to align with the goals of agricultural technology curriculum.

Complementary Feeding in Preterm Infants: A Systematic Review

Background: This systematic review summarizes available literature regarding complementary feeding (CF) in preterm infants, with or without comorbidities that may interfere with oral functions. Methods: A literature search was conducted in PubMed and the Cochrane Library. Studies relating to preterm infants (gestational age <37 weeks) were included in the analysis. Retrieved papers were categorized according to their main topic: CF timing and quality; clinical outcome; recommendations; strategies in infants with oral dysfunction. Results: The literature search in PubMed retrieved 6295 papers. Forty met inclusion criteria. The Cochrane search identified four additional study protocols, two related to studies included among PubMed search results, and two ongoing trials. Moreover, among 112 papers dealing with oral feeding, four aiming at managing CF in preterm infants with oral dysfunctions were identified. Conclusions: The available literature does not provide specific guidelines on the management of CF in preterm infants, who are generally weaned earlier than term infants. There is a paucity of data regarding the relationship between CF and growth/quality of growth and health outcomes in preterm infants. It could be suggested to start CF between five and eight months of chronological age if infants have reached three months corrected age and if they have acquired the necessary developmental skills. An individualized multidisciplinary intervention is advisable for preterm infants with oral dysfunctions.

O10.3. EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT AND LATER PSYCHOTIC EXPERIENCES: FINDINGS FROM THE RAINE STUDY

Background Early childhood development is considered to be the most critical developmental phase throughout the lifespan. Cognitive and motor dysfunction are hallmark features found along the psychosis spectrum and have also been shown in young people who report subclinical psychotic experiences (PE). Whether such deficits can be detected in infancy is not yet known. The aim of the present research was to examine early childhood developmental skills and their association with PE in childhood and adolescence. Methods Data was taken from the Western Australia Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study, a pregnancy cohort study in which 2,868 infants were enrolled. Early childhood development was measured at age 1, 2 and 3 using the Infant Monitoring Questionnaire (IMQ; now the Ages and Stages questionnaire. Outcome of interest: PE was measured at age 10 via parent-report, and at age 14 and 17 via self-report by the participants using the 2 items (‘hearing things’ and ‘seeing things’) from the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL)/Youth Self-Report (YSR) thought problems subscale. The PE group included any participant who endorsed either or both of the items at any of the 3 time-points. The PE group was further subdivided into those who endorsed transient PE (one time-point) or recurring PE (2 or more time-points). Random effects logistic regression models were performed to investigate the relationship between early childhood development and later risk. Developmental time specific investigations (at age 1, 2 and 3 years of age separately) were also conducted using logistic regressions. Cumulative risk based on category specific deficits at age 3 was also calculated. This analysis was also applied to compare the PE group vs. controls, the transient PE group vs. controls and the recurring PE group vs. controls. Results In the first 3 years of life, lower scores in communication (adjusted OR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.01–1.72, p = 0.05) and adaptive (problem-solving) (adjusted OR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.01–1.59, p = 0.048) skills were found to be predictive of PE in childhood and/or adolescence. For the age specific analysis, adaptive skill deficits specifically at 1 year of age predicted PE (adjusted OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.03–1.35, p = 0.017), while at 2 years of age, deficits in communication (adjusted OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.18–1.54, p&lt;0.001) and adaptive skills (adjusted OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.08–1.45, p&lt;0.005) predicted PE. Importantly, at 3 years of age, deficits in any of the 5 categories (communication, gross motor, fine motor, adaptive and personal social) were predictive of PE. Deficits (lowest 10th percentile) in 1–2 categories at 3 years of age led to an almost a 2-fold increase risk of having a PE (adjusted OR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.38–2.71, p &lt; 0.001), while deficits in 3–5 categories led to a 3-fold increased risk of having a PE (adjusted OR = 3.02, 95% CI = 1.65–5.50, p = &lt;0.001). When subdividing PE into those with transient and recurring PE, different patterns emerged, in which motor deficits in the first 3 years of life were more associated with the recurring PE group. Discussion The present research suggests that lower scores in early childhood developmental skills in the first 3 years of life are strongly associated with childhood and adolescent PE. Results showed that deviances in communication and problem-solving abilities during the first 3 years of life are particularly associated. At age 3 specifically, deficits in all domains of development are predictive of PE, and the greater the number of category deficits, the greater the risk. Differing patterns of development emerge for the transient PE and recurring PE groups. The findings enlighten the understanding of the neurodevelopmental origins of early onset PE for a proportion of individuals.