Construction and validation of the Parenting Beliefs and Caring Practices Scale for the early childhood

O presente estudo teve como objetivo construir e validar uma escala de crenças parentais e práticas de cuidado na primeira infância para o contexto brasileiro. Após a construção teórica dos itens, a versão final da escala foi aplicada em dois estudos com populações distintas (estudo preliminar - 250 mães; estudo final - 600 mães), visando avaliar a frequência de comportamento e o grau de importância atribuído às práticas. Para as análises psicométricas, foram realizadas: análise fatorial e o cálculo da consistência interna. Em ambos os estudos a análise fatorial resultou em dois fatores, sendo o primeiro denominado "cuidados primários" e o segundo "estimulação". Os alfas de Cronbach apresentaram-se satisfatórios, variando de 0,68 a 0,83. Os resultados do estudo demonstraram a validade e precisão da escala, a qual poderá ser utilizada em futuras pesquisas, bem como em práticas de intervenção familiar, principalmente durante os primeiros anos de vida das crianças.This study aimed to develop and validate a scale of parenting beliefs and caring practices in the early childhood in Brazilian contexts. After the theoretical construction of items, the final version of the scale was administered in two studies with different samples of mothers (preliminary study N=250; final study N=600), assessing the frequency of each behavior and the degree of importance attributed to the practices. The psychometric analyses used for the validation of the scale were: factorial analysis and calculation of internal consistency. In both studies, the factorial analysis resulted in two factors: the first was called "primary care" and the second "stimulation". The Cronbach's coefficient properties were satisfactory, ranging from .68 to .83. The results demonstrated the validity and reliability of the scale, which can be used for future studies and intervention practices with families, especially during children's early years

Cuidado parental e apoio social em mães residentes na capital e interior de Santa Catarina

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between mother’s childrearing practices and their social support in the capital versus the countryside of Santa Catarina. In each cultural environment, fifty mothers participated in the study and were interviewed with two scales that evaluated their childrearing practices using two factors: primary care and stimulation. One scale evaluated the frequency of mother’s childrearing practices and the other evaluated the degree of importance the mothers attributed to those practices. The mother’s social support network was analyzed using a third scale. The results demonstrated that: (a) there was are significant differences in mother’s reported childrearing practices and their social network between the cultural environments studied, suggesting that mothers from the countryside give more importance to primary care and have more extensive social support systems; and (b) even though there are some relationships between mother’s childrearing practices and their social support, these relationships cannot be explained indiscriminately, once other variables, possibly related to mother’s environment, interfere with their beliefs and practices regarding childcare.   Keywords: childrearing practices; social network; cultural environment.O objetivo do estudo foi investigar a relação entre cuidado parental e apoio social recebido por mães da capital e do interior de Santa Catarina. Participaram 50 mães de cada contexto, que responderam a duas escalas sobre cuidado parental. Uma que avalia a frequência de realização das práticas e outra que avalia o grau de importância atribuída às mesmas. Ambas as escalas eram compostas por itens relacionados às dimensões de cuidados primários e de estimulação. O apoio social foi avaliado através de uma terceira escala. Os resultados indicaram que: (a) existem diferenças significativas entre crenças sobre cuidado e apoio social das mães nos dois contextos, apontando para uma maior valorização dos cuidados primários e um maior apoio social entre as mães do interior; e (b) embora exista relação positiva entre apoio social e valorização dos cuidados de estimulação entre as mães da capital, o mesmo não se aplica às mães do interior; portanto, tal relação não pode ser aplicada indiscriminadamente, já que outras variáveis, possivelmente relacionadas ao contexto em que a mãe vive, influenciam suas crenças e práticas de cuidado.   Palavras-chave: cuidado parental; apoio social; contexto cultural

Intraperitoneal exposure to nano/microparticles of fullerene (C60) increases acetylcholinesterase activity and lipid peroxidation in adult zebrafish (danio rerio) brain

Even though technologies involving nano/microparticles have great potential, it is crucial to determine possible toxicity of these technological products before extensive use. Fullerenes C60 are nanomaterials with unique physicochemical and biological properties that are important for the development of many technological applications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the consequences of nonphotoexcited fullerene C60 exposure in brain acetylcholinesterase expression and activity, antioxidant responses, and oxidative damage using adult zebrafish as an animal model. None of the doses tested (7.5, 15, and 30 mg/kg) altered AChE activity, antioxidant responses, and oxidative damage when zebrafish were exposed to nonphotoexcited C60 nano/microparticles during 6 and 12 hours. However, adult zebrafish exposed to the 30 mg/kg dose for 24 hours have shown enhanced AChE activity and augmented lipid peroxidation (TBARS assays) in brain. In addition, the up-regulation of brain AChE activity was neither related to the transcriptional control (RT-qPCR analysis) nor to the direct action of nonphotoexcited C60 nano/microparticles on the protein (in vitro results) but probably involved a posttranscriptional or posttranslational modulation of this enzymatic activity. Taken together these findings provided further evidence of toxic effects on brain after C60 exposure