Parent-Child Relationships in Early Learning.

Parental behavior during a child’s first five years of life is critical for the development of important social and cognitive outcomes in children that set the stage for life-long adaptation and functioning. This chapter will review some of the key findings about the importance of parent-child relationships in early learning. Three dimensions of parent behavior will be described as “parental engagement”: (a) warmth and sensitivity, (b) support for a child’s emerging autonomy, and (c) active participation in learning. Cross cultural variations in which the styles of these behaviors are expressed are also considered, contrasting physical, social, and cognitive styles of communicating parental care

Injury associated with methamphetamine use: A review of the literature

This paper reviews the literature exploring issues around methamphetamine and injury. There was a paucity of peer reviewed quantitative research and a lack of large scale epidemiological studies. Further sources described cases and others described injury risk as part of an overall review of methamphetamine misuse. Thus, a number of limitations and potential biases exist within the literature. The main areas where associations were noted or extrapolated with methamphetamine use and injury were around driving and violence. Other associations with injury related to methamphetamine manufacture. There was also circumstantial evidence for third party injury (that is injury to those not specifically involved in drug use or drug manufacture); however, the available data are inadequate to confirm these associations/risks

Implementation of a relationship-based school readiness intervention: A multidimensional approach to fidelity measurement for early childhood

The implementation efforts of 65 early childhood professionals involved in the Getting Ready project, an integrated, multi-systemic intervention that promotes school readiness through parent engagement for children from birth to age five, were investigated. Digital videotaped records of professionals engaged in home visits with families across both treatment and comparison conditions were coded objectively using a partial–interval recording system to identify and record early childhood professionals’ implementation of intervention strategies and their effectiveness in promoting parent engagement and interest in their child. Adherence, quality of intervention delivery, differentiation between groups, and participant responsiveness were assessed as multiple dimensions of fidelity. Early childhood professionals in the treatment group relative to the comparison group demonstrated greater frequency of adherence to some intervention strategies, as well as higher rates of total strategy use. In addition, significant positive relationships were found between years of experience, education and quality of intervention delivery. Quality of intervention delivery was different by program type (Early Head Start versus Head Start). Adherence in the treatment group was correlated with the rate of contact between parent and early childhood professional during the home visit

Efficacy of the Getting Ready Intervention and the Role of Parental Depression

This study reports the results of a randomized trial of a parent engagement intervention (the Getting Ready Project) on directly observed learning-related social behaviors of children from families of low-income in the context of parent-child interactions. The study explored the moderating effect of parental depression on intervention outcomes. Participants were 204 children and their parents, and 29 Head Start teachers. Semi-structured parent-child interaction tasks were videotaped two times annually over the course of two academic years. Observational codes of child behaviors included agency, persistence, activity level, positive affect, distractibility, and verbalizations. Controlling for gender and disability concerns, relative to children in the control group, those in the treatment condition experienced a significant decline in activity level. Furthermore, compared to children of non-depressed mothers and to control children, those in the experimental condition whose parent reported elevated levels of depression showed greater gains in positive affect and in verbalizations

Measuring & Mapping Mortality in the Elm City: Identifying and Addressing Health Inequities in New Haven with Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) and Other Health Determinants

Population health in the City of New Haven, including health care access, health outcomes, and mortality, is influenced by socioeconomic disparities. These disparities exist on both the individual and neighborhood scale, and across demographics such as age, sex, race, and ethnicity. Continued analyses to understand these disparities is imperative to elucidate public health concerns and to design and to implement appropriate initiatives and interventions. The objectives of this study were as follows: To measure the leading causes of death, average life expectancy, and premature death in New Haven using mortality data and stratifying by key variables including age, sex, race, and ethnicity, and to characterize the relationships between mortality, geographic location, and other demographic variables.https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysph_pbchrr/1019/thumbnail.jp

Contextualizing our Leadership Education Approach to Complex Problem Solving: Shifting Paradigms and Evolving Knowledge: Priority 5 of the National Leadership Education Research Agenda 2020–2025

Complex problems characterized by uncertainty, interconnectedness, poorly defined goals, and high risk are not new to the human experience. Yet humanity is increasingly faced with multifaceted and pervasive global challenges, and leadership education must adapt accordingly. These complex problems transcend borders and require a collective, adaptive, and iterative learning response. Complex problems such as failure to act on climate change, unemployment, food crises, governance failures, pandemics, cyberattacks, and involuntary migration are interrelated challenges that require paradigm shifts in responses and leadership (Global Risk Report, 2020)

The Psychological Harms of Screening: the Evidence We Have Versus the Evidence We Need

BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews for the US Preventive Services Task Force have found less high-quality evidence on psychological than physical harms of screening. To understand the extent of evidence on psychological harms, we developed an evidence map that quantifies the distribution of evidence on psychological harms for five adult screening services. We also note gaps in the literature and make recommendations for future research. METHODS: We systematically searched PubMed, PsycInfo, and CINAHL from 2002 to 2012 for studies of any research design that assessed the burden or frequency of psychological harm associated with screening for: prostate and lung cancers, osteoporosis, abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and carotid artery stenosis (CAS). We also searched for studies that estimated rates of overdiagnosis (a marker for unnecessary labeling). We included studies published in English and used dual independent review to determine study inclusion and to abstract information on design, types of measures, and outcomes assessed. RESULTS: Sixty-eight studies assessing psychological harms met our criteria; 62 % concerned prostate cancer and 16 % concerned lung cancer. Evidence was scant for the other three screening services. Overall, only about one-third of the studies used both longitudinal designs and condition-specific measures (ranging from 0 % for AAA and CAS to 78 % for lung cancer), which can provide the best evidence on harms. An additional 20 studies that met our criteria estimated rates of overdiagnosis in lung or prostate cancer. No studies estimated overdiagnosis for the non-cancer screening services. DISCUSSION: Evidence on psychological harms varied markedly across screening services in number and potential usefulness. We found important evidence gaps for all five screening services. The evidence that we have on psychological harms is inadequate in number of studies and in research design and measures. Future research should focus more clearly on the evidence that we need for decision making about screening

Physical activity promotion in physiotherapy practice: a systematic scoping review of a decade of literature

Background: The health benefits of physical activity (PA) have been extensively documented. Globally PA levels are low with only a small proportion of the population reaching recommended levels. Insufficient PA is seen as a major public health problem with high cost to society. Physiotherapists work with people to manage long-term conditions and are well-placed to deliver individual interventions to increase PA. Despite this little is known about the evidence that exists in this field. Methods: This scoping review comprises a comprehensive search of key databases using pre-determined search terms. This is supplemented with a parallel search that incorporated novel social media strands. In-line with current guidance, a robust screening process took place using agreed inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Thirty one studies met the inclusion criteria. The number of studies published annually increased over the decade. Ireland and USA yielded the largest number of publications with only one study from the UK. The target populations included physiotherapists and service users from a range of clinical populations. The studies were mainly quantitative and observational in design with a predominance of studies that scoped attitudes, perceptions, barriers and current practice. Conclusions: This reconnaissance has shown the state of the evidence to be sparse and disparate. However, the sharp rise in published work in recent years is encouraging. The predominance of scoping studies and the clear social, economic and political drivers for change in this area highlights a need for more pragmatic, interventional studies that can inform clinical practice

Optimization of propagation-based x-ray phase-contrast tomography for breast cancer imaging

The aim of this study was to optimise the experimental protocol and data analysis for in-vivo breast cancer X-ray imaging. Results are presented of the experiment at the SYRMEP beamline of Elettra Synchrotron using the propagation-based phase-contrast mammographic tomography method, which incorporates not only absorption, but also X-ray phase information. In this study the images of breast tissue samples, of a size corresponding to a full human breast, with radiologically acceptable X-ray doses were obtained, and the degree of improvement of the image quality (from the diagnostic point of view) achievable using propagation-based phase-contrast image acquisition protocols with proper incorporation of X-ray phase retrieval into the reconstruction pipeline was investigated. Parameters such as the X-ray energy, sample-to-detector distance and data processing methods were tested, evaluated and optimized with respect to the estimated diagnostic value using a mastectomy sample with a malignant lesion. The results of quantitative evaluation of images were obtained by means of radiological assessment carried out by 13 experienced specialists. A comparative analysis was performed between the X-ray and the histological images of the specimen. The results of the analysis indicate that, within the investigated range of parameters, both the objective image quality characteristics and the subjective radiological scores of propagation-based phase-contrast images of breast tissues monotonically increase with the strength of phase contrast which in turn is directly proportional to the product of the radiation wavelength and the sample-to-detector distance. The outcomes of this study serve to define the practical imaging conditions and the CT reconstruction procedures appropriate for low-dose phase-contrast mammographic imaging of live patients at specially designed synchrotron beamlines