Determinants of response to a parent questionnaire about development and behaviour in 3 year olds: European multicentre study of congenital toxoplasmosis.

Background: We aimed to determine how response to a parent-completed postal questionnaire measuring development, behaviour, impairment, and parental concerns and anxiety, varies in different European centres. Methods: Prospective cohort study of 3 year old children, with and without congenital toxoplasmosis, who were identified by prenatal or neonatal screening for toxoplasmosis in 11 centres in 7 countries. Parents were mailed a questionnaire that comprised all or part of existing validated tools. We determined the effect of characteristics of the centre and child on response, age at questionnaire completion, and response to child drawing tasks. Results: The questionnaire took 21 minutes to complete on average. 67% (714/1058) of parents responded. Few parents (60/1058) refused to participate. The strongest determinants of response were the score for organisational attributes of the study centre (such as direct involvement in follow up and access to an address register), and infection with congenital toxoplasmosis. Age at completion was associated with study centre, presence of neurological abnormalities in early infancy, and duration of prenatal treatment. Completion rates for individual questions exceeded 92% except for child completed drawings of a man (70%), which were completed more by girls, older children, and in certain centres. Conclusion: Differences in response across European centres were predominantly related to the organisation of follow up and access to correct addresses. The questionnaire was acceptable in all six countries and offers a low cost tool for assessing development, behaviour, and parental concerns and anxiety, in multinational studies

Família de crianças com deficiência e profissionais: componentes da parceria colaborativa na escola Family of children with disabilities and professionals: components of the collaborative partnership in school

O presente estudo tem como objetivo identificar e descrever os comportamentos dos profissionais da escola e dos familiares de crianças com deficiência que, na perspectiva dos dois lados, são propiciadores e mantenedores de uma parceria colaborativa efetiva e bem sucedida. O estudo foi conduzido com quatro grupos focais, compostos por familiares (FAM1 e FAM2) e por profissionais (PROF1 e PROF2). Foram conduzidas duas etapas de coleta de dados. Na Etapa 1, as reuniões tiveram por objetivo identificar os componentes da parceria colaborativa. Na Etapa 2, cada um dos grupos focais foi confrontado com os dados obtidos na primeira etapa, sendo que familiares foram confrontados com os dados dos profissionais e vice-versa. Por meio da análise qualitativa dos dados obtidos, foram identificadas e descritas as categorias levantadas pelos participantes referentes aos comportamentos que devem ser emitidos. O estudo apontou que, entre as categorias levantadas, são observadas características essenciais do processo colaborativo, tais como respeito mútuo, comunicação, confiança, participação, amabilidade, sinceridade, seriedade e imparcialidade. Espera-se que o levantamento e a descrição das categorias possam nortear os profissionais da escola e familiares de crianças com deficiência na busca do estabelecimento de uma parceria colaborativa efetiva e de sucesso.<br>This present study aims to identify and describe the behavior of professionals that work in the school and the family of children with disabilities that promote and maintain an effective and successful collaborative partnership, as viewed from both sides. The study was carried out with four focal groups, composed by families (FAM1 and FAM2) and professionals (PROF1 and PROF2). Two phases of data collection were conducted. In Phase 1 the meetings aimed to identify the components of collaborative partnerships. In Phase 2 each of the focal groups was confronted with data obtained during the first phase, i.e. the parents were presented with the data given by the professionals and vice versa. By qualitative analyses of the obtained data, the categories elicited by the participants related to the behaviors that should be emitted were identified and described. The study pointed out that among the elicited categories, essential characteristics of the collaborative process can be observed, such as mutual respect, communication, trust, participation, amicability, sincerity and impartiality. It is expected that the survey and description of the categories will guide professionals and family members of disabled children in search of successful and effective collaborative partnership

Maternal self-efficacy and maternal perception of child language competence in pre-school children with a communication disability

Background: The aim of this study was to describe maternal self-efficacy beliefs within the parenting domain and maternal ratings of pre-school children's language abilities, where the child has a communication disability. The association between these two constructs was also investigated. Method: Twenty-five mothers completed a questionnaire consisting of two subsections: parental self-efficacy and maternal rating of child language ability. Convenience sampling was used, and mothers with children attending four special-education schools in the Pretoria area consented to participate in the study. Results: The results revealed that mothers generally had high self-efficacy beliefs within certain parenting roles, in spite of the fact that their child has a communication disability. The lowest competence was reported in discipline and teaching roles. In addition, mothers' reports of patterns of child ability correlated with what has been written in the literature. Correlation statistics generally revealed weak association between the constructs, with the strongest association between the parental domain of discipline and maternal reports of their child's receptive language abilities. Conclusions: Possible reasons for the weak correlation values are proposed. These include factors that may alter the way parents of children with disabilities construct and maintain self-efficacy beliefs; as well as the fact that the two sections of the questionnaire measure maternal appraisals at two very different levels (objective observations and evaluative self-regulatory processes)