Attention deficit in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder at primary school age measured with the attention network test (ANT) : a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Attentional deficits are among the most bothersome symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To date, the neurological basis of attentional deficits has not been fully described according to the diagnostic criteria. ADHD may result from deficits in various attributes of attention. There is no specialist neuropsychological diagnostic method that allows reliable distinction between primary attention disorders in the etiology of ADHD and secondary problems that may arise due to co-morbidities. This protocol aims to systematically review the literature to evaluate patterns of attention common to school-age children either diagnosed with ADHD or at high risk of ADHD, as measured by the neuropsychological attention network test (ANT). Methods: Our search strategy will consist of electronic databases (PubMed, PsychInfo, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library) and hand searching. Both prospective cohort studies and prospective studies of intervention effects will be included, provided they used the ANT. The primary output variable will be attention deficits. Screening and eligibility will be done independently by two reviewers based on pre-specified eligibility criteria. Data extraction will be based on a pre-pilot data extraction form and conducted by two authors independently. The risk of bias will be assessed by two authors independently. The rating of the certainty of the entire body of evidence will be evaluated using the GRADE approach. Any discrepancies identified at any stage of the review will be resolved by discussion or/and consultation with another reviewer. We plan a narrative synthesis of findings and a quantitative meta-analysis if the data allow. Discussion: The research will identify patterns of neuropsychological ANT results characteristic of both school-age children diagnosed with ADHD and those at high risk of having ADHD. Our results could be used to check whether the pattern of a child’s performance in the ANT corresponds to the characteristic pattern of the results of children with ADHD. At present, the ANT is used only in research; the results of this review will serve as a useful benchmark. Hopefully, in the future, it will be possible to use the ANT in the wider diagnosis of ADHD

Associations of Maternal-Infant Bonding with Maternal Mental Health, Infant’s Characteristics and Socio-Demographical Variables in the Early Postpartum Period: A Cross-Sectional Study

(1) Background: There is a continuing discussion concerning the impact of preterm birth on Maternal-Infant bonding with inconsistent results. The large burden of preterm births calls for research to evaluate the impact of it on material psychological outcome in the early postpartum period. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between maternal postpartum bonding with maternal mental health, socio-demographical factors, and child’s characteristics. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used. In total, 72 women (a mean age of 31.44 years old) of preterm infants (mean gestational age = 33.54; range 24–36) filled out socio-demographic questionnaires, Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ), Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS), Postpartum Depression Screening Scale (PDSS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7), and Parental Stress Scale (PSS) 1–3 days post-delivery; (3) Results: The results analyses have shown positive correlations between the overall result of maternal postpartum bonding with stress (p < 0.01), maternal educational level (p < 0.01), maternal age (p < 0.05) and the number of children (p < 0.01). However, there were no significant relationships between other investigated variables. The results of linear regression have revelated the important role of the overall scores in experience of stress among mothers (explaining 49% of the variability). The mediating role of maternal stress on maternal postpartum bonding was not found. That relationship of maternal postpartum bonding and maternal stress was not moderated through socio-demographic variables. (4) Conclusions: In this study mothers of prematurely born children had a good level of Maternal-Infant bonding. Maternal stress was found to be a predictor of maternal postpartum bonding among the tested variables. Surprisingly, the study results did not show significant relationships between maternal postpartum bonding and maternal mental health (depression and anxiety)

Original article Personality superfactors and healthy behaviors of professional athletes

Background Personality traits seem to be excellent predictors of starting, continuing and discontinuing physical activity. Moreover, they constitute an important determinant of health-seeking behaviors. Therefore, consideration of personality-related variables may be helpful in explaining either motivation of athletes or the goals they achieve. Participants and procedure The study included 1229 individuals, among them 532 active athletes and 697 persons with no history of competitive sporting activities. The group of sportspersons included 286 team sport athletes, 124 representatives of individual sport disciplines and 125 combat sport athletes. Results The athletes were found to have moderate levels of all analyzed personality dimensions. Multiple regression analysis showed that personality traits explained 46% of variance in the level of Positive Psychological Attitudes (F = 4.0, p = 0.009) and 36% of variance in the level of Health Practices (F = 2.7, p = 0.043) presented by female combat sport athletes. Personality profile explained 30% of variance in the level of Proper Nutrition Habits (F = 7.8, p < 0.001) and 40% of variance in Positive Psychological Attitudes (F = 11.2, p < 0.001) of male combat sport athletes. Personality profile explained 38% of variance in the level of Proper Nutrition Habits (F = 7.2, p < 0.001) and 30% of variance in Positive Psychological Attitudes (F = 5.1, p = 0.001) presented by men who practiced individual sport disciplines. Conclusions Our study confirmed that the personality super-factors are associated with health-seeking behaviors of athletes regarding proper nutrition habits, positive psychological attitudes and health practices

Psychomotor development of preterm babies in the context of biomedical predictors in a Polish sample

Background Preterm birth represents the most frequent complication of pregnancy all over the world. Much research is addressed to psychomotor development of preterm infants during the initial years of their life. Many authors emphasize the role of birth weight, gestational age, and gender in determining the child’s psychomotor development. This study adds to this knowledge as we analyzed the synergistic effect of biomedical predictors such as gestational age, birth weight, Apgar score, time in incubator, type of pregnancy defined based on its outcome, neonatal status immediately after delivery, infant’s gender, and possessing twin sibling. Combined effects of these factors represent an important niche in the studies of the developmental psychology of preterm infants. Participants and procedure The study included 49 preterm infants born in 2008-2009 at the Department of Obstetrics of the Medical University of Gdańsk. The psychomotor development of preterm infants was evaluated according to the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development®, Third Edition (BSID-III) at a mean, non-corrected age of 33.80 months (SD = 5.16). For the purpose of the study we developed a basic model in the form of a pathway diagram, describing the cumulative influence of eight biomedical predictors on the development of the infants during early childhood. Results Our study revealed a synergistic influence of biomedical predictors on the development of preterm infants with regards to cognitive functioning (28% of variance), language skills (10% of variance), motor skills (18% of variance), fine motor skills (16% of variance), and gross motor skills (20% of variance). Moreover, we observed an independent effect of birth weight, child’s gender, and final Apgar score on the psychomotor development of preterm infants. Higher birth weight was associated with higher level of cognitive function and fine motor skills. Male gender of a child was reflected by a higher level of cognitive function and language skills, including expressive communication. Finally, higher final Apgar scores resulted in better gross motor skills. Conclusions This study confirmed the independent influence of biomedical predictors, such as birth weight, gender, and Apgar score, on the psychomotor development of preterm babies during early childhood. Medical factors play a crucial role in the evaluation of psychomotor development in preterm infants, and their importance should not be undervalued

Rozwój psychoruchowy jedynaków i bliźniąt przedwcześnie urodzonych

Poród przedwczesny jest jednym z głównych problemów medycznych, psychologicznych i społeczno-ekonomicznych na świecie. Dzieci przedwcześnie urodzone znajdują się w grupie ryzyka śmiertelności okołoporodowej, powikłań okołoporodowych, a także zaburzeń, deficytów czy długotrwałych problemów zdrowotnych. Celem podjętych badań była ocena rozwoju psychoruchowego jedynaków i bliźniąt urodzonych przedwcześnie w okresie wczesnego dzieciństwa. W badaniu wzięło udział 49 wcześniaków, w tym 21 jedynaków i 28 bliźniąt. Rozwój psychoruchowy dzieci przedwcześnie urodzonych został oceniony na podstawie skali Bayley-III w nieskorygowanym wieku 33,80 miesięcy (SD = 5,16). Wyniki badań wskazują na brak różnic istotnych statystycznie w sferze poznawczej, językowej i motorycznej pomiędzy jedynakami i bliźniętami. Obserwuje się natomiast różnicę istotną statystycznie między badanymi grupami w zakresie umiejętności motoryki dużej, przy czym jedynacy przedwcześnie urodzeni uzyskują niższe wyniki w porównaniu do bliźniąt przedwcześnie urodzonych. Niniejszy artykuł przedstawia analizę i dyskusję nad uzyskanymi wynikami

Prematurity and Difficult Parenting in the Pre- and Perinatal Period

Functioning of a family, in terms of premature birth and potential developmental disorders related to prematurity, disease and/or disability of a child, is conditioned by a configuration of the following factors: premature birth, giving birth to a premature baby (especially with extremely low birth weight), the onset of a disease, its course, the child's disability resulting from the disease and family resources. Difficult parenting, which is the subject of the following analysis, can begin already during the pregnancy, from the moment parents hear the diagnosis that the pregnancy belongs to the high perinatal risk group. Currently one of the most frequent reasons of qualifying pregnancy to the risk group is the threat of premature birth. Therefore the article is focused on difficult parenting resulting from the sole fact of prematurity (e.g. long-term health problems, for example respiratory, sensory, motor disorders), and premature birth (considered in terms of a distressing and traumatic event). The article was illustrated with casuistic cases, referring to: 1. the difficulty of being a parent of a child born prematurely with cerebral palsy, 2. the inaccurate (detrimental) perception of a prematurely born child by its mother in the period of early childhood. The article presents phases of adaptation to the chronic disease, both of the child and of its parents. The significant role of the parents' adaptive abilities was emphasized. Depending on the way the parents perceive the situation (as harm, threat or challenge), they are featured by different emotions, parental attitudes, perception of prematurity and illness, and the quality of life.Funkcjonowanie rodziny w kontekście porodu przedwczesnego i ewentualnie wynikających z wcześniactwa problemów rozwojowych, choroby i/lub niepełnosprawności dziecka uwarunkowane jest konfiguracją następujących czynników: porodem przedwczesnym, urodzeniem dziecka wcześniaczego (szczególnie o ekstremalnie niskiej masie urodzeniowej), początkiem choroby, jej przebiegiem, niepełnosprawnością dziecka wynikającą z choroby oraz zasobami rodziny. Trudne rodzicielstwo, które jest tematem niniejszej analizy, może pojawić się już w czasie ciąży od momentu uzyskania przez rodziców diagnozy, że ciąża należy do grupy wysokiego ryzyka perinatalnego. Aktualnie jedną z najczęstszych przyczyn zakwalifikowania ciąży do grupy ryzyka jest zagrożenie porodem przedwczesnym. Stąd w artykule skupiono się na trudnym rodzicielstwie wynikającym z samego faktu wcześniactwa (np. długofalowe problemy zdrowotne, jak zaburzenia oddechowe, sensoryczne, ruchowe), jak i z porodu przedwczesnego (traktowanego w kategoriach wydarzenia stresogennego i traumatogennego). Artykuł został zilustrowany przypadkami kazuistycznymi: 1) odnosi się do trudności bycia rodzicem dziecka urodzonego przedwcześnie z mózgowym porażeniem dziecięcym, 2) do braku trafności spostrzegania umiejętności dziecka urodzonego przedwcześnie przez matkę dziecka w okresie wczesnego dzieciństwa (na jego niekorzyść). Pokazano fazy przystosowania się do przewlekłej choroby dziecka, jak również przewlekle chorego dziecka do choroby. Podkreślono istotną rolę zdolności przystosowawczych rodziców w procesie przystosowania się do choroby dziecka. W zależności od przyjętego przez rodziców sposobu percepcji sytuacji (jako krzywda, jako zagrożenie lub jako wyzwanie), dominują u nich inne emocje, postawy rodzicielskie, percepcja sytuacji wcześniactwa i choroby oraz jakość życia

Case study Early psychomotor development of children from triple pregnancy – case study

The aim of this study was to analyze the specificity and dynamics of psychomotor development in children from triplet pregnancy. The studied group was composed of siblings from triple pregnancy (T1, T2, T3), including two girls and one boy. This longitudinal study comprised three stages: stage I – children aged 25 months, stage II – children aged 29 months, and stage III – children aged 38 months. At each stage, the psychomotor development of children was examined with the Third Edition of Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (BSID-III) and subjectively by their mother. Additionally, medical and nursing documentation was analyzed. Individual psychomotor development of children from triple pregnancy is different with regards to various spheres, and has different rates and dynamics throughout consecutive years. Psychomotor development of children from triple pregnancies is determined by gender and postnatal clinical parameters, i.e. birth weight, head circumference, postnatal morbidity, and prematurity-related conditions

The development of speech in early childhood in children from twin pregnancies with twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS)

The aim of the study was verifying, whether speech development is conditioned by a preterm birth, multiple pregnancy or pregnancy complicated with TTTS. We examined 52 preterm children, 15 of which were born after a single pregnancy and 42 after a multiple pregnancy. 23 children came from a pregnancy complicated by TTTS. The average age of the subjects was 32.5 months (SD=5.54). The research methods used in our study were as follows: analysis of medical documentation, a structured clinical interview and psychological conversation. Speech development of a child was assessed using BSID-III. An analysis of the results we obtained showed that there was a lower level of EC in the TTTS children in comparison to multiple-birth children without TTTS and single-birth children. We also found statistically signifi cant relations between the EC scores and gender, age at the time of testing, disability, gestational age, birth weight