Examining the associations between parent concerns and school-age children’s language and reading abilities: A comparison of samples recruited for in-school vs. online participation.

Purpose: To examine the relationship between parent concerns about children’s oral language, reading, and related skills and their children’s performance on standardized assessments of language and reading, with a particular focus on whether those relationships differed between children recruited for in-school versus remote participation. Methods: This study used data from a larger, longitudinal project focused on children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD) and/or dyslexia. The “in-school” sample (n = 133) completed assessments in-person before the COVID-19 school closures, and the “remote” sample (n = 84) recruited via advertisements completed all assessments online. Parents completed a checklist of concerns regarding language and literacy development, attention and executive functions. All children completed norm-referenced assessments of language and reading.Results: The two recruitment strategies yielded samples that differed in racial diversity (higher in the in-school sample), caregiver education levels and financial resources (higher in the remote sample), and word reading test scores (higher in the remote sample). Parents in both samples reported higher levels of concerns about literacy skills than oral language skills, and the correlation between parent concerns about literacy and children’s word reading test scores was stronger than the correlation between parent concerns about oral language and children’s language test scores. We did not find higher level of concerns or a higher correlation between concerns and reading and language performance in the remote sample than the in-school sample.Conclusions: Researchers should be aware of the impact of different recruitment strategies on sample attainment. Referral models that rely on parent and teacher concerns about oral language to prompt a language evaluation may contribute to low rates of identification of children who meet criteria for DLD. Future research can consider parent concerns about literacy, attention, and executive functions as indicators of a need for language evaluation, especially considering the high comorbidity between language and other developmental disorders.

Family planning with inflammatory bowel disease: the challenge of childlessness and parent concerns

Background In patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), diagnosis is often established at the beginning of childbearing age. Accordingly, concerns about family planning and pregnancy (FPP) are common. Poor knowledge regarding FPP might contribute to increased childlessness in patients with IBD. Methods The Crohn’s and Colitis Pregnancy Knowledge Score (CCPKnow, 17 multiple-choice questions) was translated into German and then used for a web-based survey. Childlessness was analyzed with respect to socio-demographic and disease-related information, and the knowledge (CCPKnow) and concerns of IBD patients with children were compared to those of voluntarily childless (VC) and non-voluntarily childless (NVC) IBD patients. Results Childlessness was observed in 57.4 % of the 533 participants (90.6 % women, 63.0 % Crohn’s disease, 31.5 % ulcerative colitis, mean age 33.2 ± 8.6 years), voluntary childlessness in 9 %. The mean overall CCPKnow was adequate (9.38 ± 3.96). Poor knowledge was not associated with increased childlessness (CCPKnow of < 8 was found in 29.8 % of patients with children and 28.9 % of childless patients, p > 0.5). Instead, the patients’ education, medical advice, FPP-related concerns, impaired body image, and sexual dysfunction had a significant impact on childlessness. Frequent concerns included adverse effects of the patient’s medication on their child (36 % of the respondents), malformation (33 %), miscarriage (34.5 %), and the inheritability of IBD (57 %). Conclusions Factual knowledge does not reduce disease-related concerns or childlessness. Correct but possibly bothersome information on FPP might contribute to childlessness in patients with IBD. Our findings underline the need for qualified counseling of IBD patients regarding FPP by an experienced IBD physician.

The Utility of Parent-Report Screening Tools in Differentiating Autism vs. ADHD in School-age Children

Symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often co-occur, challenging timely and accurate diagnosis. We assessed the performance of three parent-report measures in discriminating ASD from ADHD without ASD (ADHDw/oASD) in school-age verbally fluent children. We examined the Autism Symptom Interview (ASI) School-Age and two widely used parent questionnaires: Social Responsiveness Scale-2nd Edition (SRS-2) and Social Communication Questionnaire-Lifetime (SCQ-L). Receiver operating characteristic curves assessed each instrument’s performance against the best-estimate clinician DSM-5 diagnosis of ASD or of ADHDw/oASD (n=74, n=102, respectively; 6-11 years). These yielded moderate accuracies: AUC=0.85, 0.79, 0.78 for SCQ-L, ASI, SRS-2, respectively. AUC pairwise comparisons reached our statistical significance (p&lt;0.01) for the SCQ-L vs. the SRS-2. Within instruments, sensitivity and specificity varied across ASD cutoffs. Along with the between-instrument variability, this indicates that clinicians and researchers have valid options, depending on the settings and their goals. Comparing children correctly and incorrectly classified as ASD showed no differences in demographics, intellectual abilities, nor in any specific clinical profile(s), except for the degree of parent concerns across ASD- and comorbid psychopathology-related symptoms. Together, results suggest that complementing parent screeners with multiple sources may be needed to best differentiate school-age verbally fluent children with ASD vs. ADHDw/oASD.

Partnership with families in early childhood education: Exploratory study

CHILDREN LEARN in the context of relationships with important caregivers. The early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector increasingly recognises that supporting strong relationships between families and ECEC services is a powerful way to improve children’s educational, health and wellbeing outcomes. We report findings from a study which, via online surveys and focus groups with parents and educators, sought to understand (a) parents’ experiences of collaborative practice, (b) educators’ confidence in working with families, and (c) educators’ perceptions of training needs. The results suggest families commonly feel welcomed and respected but desire improvements in educator communication. Most educators reported high confidence to share children’s progress but less confidence to greet families by name, raise or respond to parent concerns, or work with families facing significant parenting stressors. These findings indicate a need for practice support and training to improve educators’ skills and confidence in partnering with families.

Parents With Advanced Cancer: Worries About Their Children’s Unspoken Concerns

Background: Parents with advanced cancer struggle initiating conversations with their children about the cancer. When parents do not have the tools to talk with their children, they silently watch their children attempt to navigate their illness but can only wonder but not know what their children are thinking. The objective of the current study is to describe, from parents living with advanced cancer, the worries and concerns parents wonder their child holds, but has not spoken, about the parent’s cancer. Methods: Twenty-seven parents with incurable cancer enrolled in a 5 session telephone intervention pilot study during which they were asked, “What questions do you have about what your child is thinking or feeling about the cancer?” Data were transcribed and inductively coded using content analysis methods adapted from grounded theory. Results: Analysis yielded 14 categories of parent concerns organized into 6 larger conceptual domains: Being Concerned and Scared about My Cancer; Worrying about Me; Changing How We Talk and Live Day-to-Day; Not Knowing What Will Happen; Having Unanswered Questions about My Cancer; and Understanding My Disease Is Terminal. Conclusions: Study results add to our understanding of the magnitude of the emotional burden parents with advanced cancer carry as they struggle to balance their diagnosis and treatment and their life as parents.