Universal Screening in Positive School Mental Health Using the ASEBA Methodology for Teachers: A Pilot Epidemiological Study

School-based detection and intervention are critical components in ensuring positive mental health in children, with teachers playing an essential role in assessing students’ well-being. The current research aims to be a pilot epidemiological study on positive school mental health in Malaga, Spain, using the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA). Data were collected in the COVID-19 pre-pandemic setting, using the Caregiver-Teacher Report Form (C-TRF) and the Teacher Report Form (TRF) in a sample of 420 children, who were between 5 and 8 years old at the time of the data collection. In 5-year-old children, the DSM-oriented scale with the highest clinical prevalence corresponds to attention deficit and hyperactivity problems (1.13%). In this same sub-sample, clinical levels of externalizing problems (4.52%) were non-significantly more common than internalizing conditions (1.69%). As for children between 6 and 8 years old, the DSM-oriented scale with the highest prevalence of clinical scores corresponds to anxiety problems (4.12%) and conduct problems (2.88%). Clinical levels of externalizing problems (9.47%) were non-significantly more prevalent than internalizing problems (6.58%). The results present 95% confidence intervals prevalence data in the general population and sex-differentiated descriptive statistics. The results are discussed according to their implication for school mental health.

Behavioral and Social Functioning of Children With and Without Positional Plagiocephaly: Late Infancy to School Age

Positional plagiocephaly and/or brachycephaly (PPB) is associated with cognition, motor, and other developmental outcomes, but little is known about the social-behavioral adjustment of children with PPB. The primary aim of this study was to compare the social-behavioral development of preschool and school-age children with and without PPB and to examine the potential moderating effects of PPB severity on group differences. Two hundred twenty children with a history of PPB and 164 controls participated in at least one behavioral assessment at 4-11 months, 18 months, 36 months, and 7 years. The frequencies of observed problem behaviors and social competence were estimated using the Child Behavior Checklist Ages 1.5-5 (CBCL/1.5-5), Caregiver-Teacher Report Form(C-TRF), CBCL/6-18, and Teacher Report Form. Children with PPB were similar to controls on the internalizing, externalizing, or total problems composites. At 7 years, CBCL/6-18 total competence scores were significantly lower in children with histories of PPB than controls. In analyses stratified by PPB severity, we found that children with moderate/severe PPB had slightly higher scores on the C-TRF internalizing scale at 36 months and lower total competence scores at age 7 years. Children who had a history of mild PPB were similar to controls on all outcomes. This study is the first to examine social and behavioral outcomes in a large cohort of children with and without a history of PPB. We found limited evidence of an association between PPB and parent and teacher-reported social-emotional and behavioral adjustment through early school-age.

Salivary oxytocin after play with parents predicts behavioral problems in preschool children

Background: Oxytocin (OXT) has attracted research interest for its potential involvement in many of the behavioural problems observed in childhood. Due to its logistical advantages, saliva is an attractive fluid to quantify neuropeptides in children. Salivary OXT has been suggested as a potential biomarker for psychopathology during childhood. However, several questions still remain about the extent to which, and under what conditions, concentrations of OXT in saliva can be reliably measured and are related to behavioural problems in preschool age children.Methods: Seven samples of saliva from 30 preschool children (17 girls) were collected in five different days at their homes. Three of the samples were collected by the children's parents at baseline daily routine conditions, and four of the samples were collected by researchers during two home-visits: before and after two 15-minute dyadic play sessions (one with mothers and one fathers) between each individual parent and the child. Oxytocin concentrations were quantified by Radioimmunoassay with prior extraction. Children's behavioural problems were assessed by the Caregiver-Teacher Report Form (C-TRF) questionnaire, completed by the child's’ preschool teacher.Results: Salivary OXT measured in baseline samples collected by the parents could not predict any of the behavioural problems measured by the C-TRF. However, when collected by the researchers, salivary OXT before playing with parents correlated negatively with the C-TRF depression and anxiety subscales. Additionally there was a richer and stronger pattern of negative correlations between the salivary OXT measured after playing with parents and the depression, opposition, externalization and total problem scales of the C-TRF. Furthermore, salivary OXT was unlikely to be reliably measured using single sampling, but acceptable reliabilities were achieved when averaging several samples. Finally, the salivary OXT evoked after an episode of play with parents showed better reliabilities than collected at baseline.Conclusion: measurements of OXT evoked after positive affect interactions with parents seem to capture aspects of the OXT system in young children that are relevant for understanding the role of this system in children’s social behaviour.

Evidence of validity for Socially Skillful Responses Questionnaires - SSRQ-Teachers and SSRQ-Parents

There is a lack of free-of-charge validated instruments whereby parents and teachers may be respondents to assess child social skills. Social skills are known to prevent behavioral problems among preschool and school-aged children. This study fills in this gap, the objective of which is to assess the internal consistency and construct and discriminant validity of the Questionários de Respostas Socialmente Habilidosas [Socially Skillful Responses Questionnaire] - teachers’ version - SSRQ-Teachers and parents’ version - SSRQ-Parents. A total of 134 primary school and preschool teachers and 183 mothers/fathers/caregivers of 88 school-aged children and 95 preschoolers of both sexes participated in the study. In addition to the SSRQ teachers’ and parents’ versions, the participants completed an additional instrument: the teachers completed the Teacher Report Form - TRF and the parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The results obtained in the exploratory factor analysis and ROC curve analysis, along with alpha values, indicate good psychometric properties. Thus, the SSRQ-Teachers and SSRQ-Parents presented in this paper are appropriate for assessing both preschool and school-aged children.

Realização acadêmica e problemas de internalização em alunos do ensino básico e secundário em Portugal

Resumo O presente estudo teve como objetivo geral analisar as diferenças nos problemas de internalização (ansiedade, depressão, queixas somáticas), avaliados por diferentes informadores (pais, professores e jovens), em função do nível de realização acadêmica, em alunos do ensino básico e secundário. Para tal, recorreu-se a uma amostra estratificada representativa da população portuguesa constituída por 1.510 alunos, com idades compreendidas entre os 11 e 18 anos. Do conjunto de provas da bateria Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment validados para a população portuguesa, foram utilizadas a Child Behavior Checklist 6-18, a Youth Self-Report 11-18 e a Teacher Report Form 6-18. De uma forma geral, os resultados evidenciam que os alunos com realização acadêmica baixa apresentam mais problemas de internalização do que alunos com realização acadêmica média e/ou elevada. No entanto, no 3º ciclo do ensino básico, na perspectiva dos próprios jovens, os alunos com realização acadêmica elevada apresentam maiores níveis de ansiedade/depressão, comparativamente aos alunos com realização acadêmica baixa. Estes resultados indicam-nos que, para além de os alunos com realização acadêmica baixa se encontrarem numa situação de risco e vulnerabilidade para problemas de internalização, é necessário ter também especial atenção aos alunos com realização acadêmica elevada. Destes resultados decorrem implicações práticas relevantes para os contextos escolares, nomeadamente ao nível da consideração da relação entre a realização acadêmica e o bem-estar psicológico.

Executive functioning and neurodevelopmental disorders in early childhood: a prospective population-based study

Background Executive functioning deficits are common in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. However, prior research mainly focused on clinical populations employing cross-sectional designs, impeding conclusions on temporal neurodevelopmental pathways. Here, we examined the prospective association of executive functioning with subsequent autism spectrum disorder (ASD) traits and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) traits. Methods This study included young children from the Generation R Study, a general population birth cohort. The Brief Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version was used to assess parent-reported behavioral executive functioning when the children were 4 years old. ASD traits were assessed at age 6 (n = 3938) using the parent-reported Social Responsiveness Scale. The Teacher Report Form was used to assess ADHD traits at age 7 (n = 2749). Children with high scores were screened to determine possible clinical ASD or ADHD diagnoses. We were able to confirm an ASD diagnosis for n = 56 children by retrieving their medical records and established an ADHD diagnosis for n = 194 children using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-Young Child version (DISC-YC). Data were analyzed using hierarchical linear and logistic regressions. Results Impaired executive functioning was associated with more ASD and ADHD traits across informants (for ASD traits and diagnoses: β = 0.33, 95% CI [0.30–0.37]; OR = 2.69, 95% CI [1.92–3.77], respectively; for ADHD traits and diagnoses: β = 0.12, 95% CI [0.07–0.16]; OR = 2.32, 95% CI [1.89–2.85], respectively). Deficits in all subdomains were associated with higher levels of ASD traits, whereas only impaired inhibition, working memory, and planning/organization were associated with more ADHD traits. Conclusions The findings of the current study suggest a graded association of executive functioning difficulties along the continuum of ASD and ADHD and that problems in executive functioning may be a precursor of ASD and ADHD traits from an early age onwards.

Understanding the Externalizing Behavior of School-Age Boys: The Role of a Mother’s Mentalization and Attachment

Objectives Externalizing behavior problems are considered to be a serious impediment to a child’s development, and therefore it is important to identify their predictors. In this study, we investigated the connections between school-aged boys’ externalizing problems, the mother’s reflective functioning (RF) and the mother’s perception of her childhood relationship with her own caregivers. Methods The study sample comprised 39 school-age boys diagnosed with externalizing behavior problems together with their mothers. A child’s psychopathology was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist and Teacher Report Form. Our assessment of the mothers’ mentalizing capacities was based on the Adult Attachment Interview and Reflective Functioning Scale. The perception of a mother’s childhood relationship with her parents was assessed using the Parental Bonding Instrument. Results The analysis revealed that more severe cases of aggressive and rule-breaking behavior in boys were associated with lower RF in mothers, as well as with a mother’s perception of her childhood relationship with her own parents as less autonomous. More aggressive behavior in boys was also associated with a mother’s perception of herself as experiencing a higher degree of care from her father during her own childhood. Conclusions These are only preliminary findings and we have discussed them with a view to understanding the possible ways in which a mother’s RF and the intergenerational context of relationship quality are associated with externalizing behavior problems in middle childhood.