Toddlers with Developmental Delays and Challenging Behaviors

Behavior problems and parental expectations and practices were studied in a sample of 58 toddlers with developmental disabilities who were consecutively referred to a mental health clinic. The majority of children (70.7%) exceeded the clinical cut-off score for significant behavior problems including tantrums, aggression, defiance, and hyperactivity, and 77.6% met the DSM-IV criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis with oppositional defiant disorder being the most common. Consistent with previous research, child behavior problems were related to parental use of verbal and corporal punishment and were detrimental to the quality of the parent-child relationship. A new finding was that parental expectations also were positively related to the emergence of early child behavior problems

Illness perceptions in irritable bowel syndrome: change over time and relationship with self-reported quality of life

Background: Pathways in an ‘extended’ common-sense model of illness representations (CSM) were examined in those affected by Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) over time. As complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is extensive in IBS, participants were grouped according to CAM use (CAM-users and non-users). Methods: An online survey examined 197 participant responses (125 CAM-users, 72 non-users) at baseline and again after a minimum of six months. Illness perceptions, conventional treatment beliefs (captured by the IPQ-R and BMQ-General scale respectively), coping (Brief COPE) and domain specific quality of life (IBS-QOL) were measured at both time-points. Related t-tests were used to examine changes over time within each group and regression analyses were used to assess theorised pathways proposed by the CSM. Findings: Both groups showed improved quality of life ratings (CAM-users: t(124)= -5.97, p<.001; non-users: t(71)= -3.31, p<.01) and significantly lower emotional representations at time-two (CAM-users: t(117)= 3.33, p<.01; non-users: t(68)= 2.60, p<.05). Stronger perceptions of illness consequences CAM-users: Beta=-.67, p<.001; non-users: Beta=-.62, p<.001) and emotional representations at time-one (CAM-users: Beta=-.58; non-users: Beta=-.51, p<.001) predicted reduced quality of life at time-two in both groups. Mediation tests revealed that self-blame and behavioural disengagement mediated the pathway from illness perceptions to quality of life in the CAM-user group only. Discussion: Findings suggest some consistency with CSM theory and addressing components of illness perceptions early in the health care process may improve quality of life in those affected by IBS. CAM-users (and those intending to use CAM) may receive greater benefit from such intervention

Teacher educator perceptions of mathematical knowledge for teaching – A phenomenographic study

Teacher education is a complex policy and practice landscape and teacher educator roles are changing. This thesis investigates variation in how teacher educators in England account for their practices within initial teacher education, in the context of secondary mathematics. It sets out a view of their experiences of teacher education in relation to different ways of accounting for relations between knowledge about teaching and learning mathematics and knowledge of mathematics. Outcomes are based on interviews with sixteen participants, including both school-based and university-based teacher educators. Teacher educator accounts comprised four, hierarchically inclusive descriptions of learning in teacher education: (1) understanding teaching and learning in mathematics (2) linking teaching and learning with the subject discipline of mathematics (3) integrating teaching and learning with the subject discipline of mathematics (4) reconceptualisation of teaching and learning with mathematics. Accounts of teacher education are structured as expanding opportunities for student teachers to engage critically with the process of reconceptualising mathematical knowledge into ‘school maths’ knowledge. The most developed accounts position teacher education as drawing on opportunities for student teachers to experience interplay between mathematics and school mathematics through advanced and multiple mathematics perspectives. This interplay is a site of learning in teacher education. Participants hold a range of teacher educator roles, including school-based and university-based roles. Teacher educators in school-led roles were less able to draw on this interplay in practice and so this thesis is a further and timely contribution to the research about university-based teacher educators. This thesis contributes a curriculum forms perspective that focuses on teacher educator positions on the role of the curriculum in developing new teachers

Explaining use of complementary and alternative medicine in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: a common-sense model approach

Background: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a prevalent chronic functional gastrointestinal condition. Conventional medical treatment can be unsuccessful and many of those affected use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for symptom relief, despite concerns over CAM treatment efficacy. An ‘extended’ common-sense model of illness representations (CSM) was used to examine psychological influences on CAM use. Methods: 653 participants with IBS completed an online survey which included the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R), the (general) Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ), the Complementary and Alternative Medicines Beliefs Inventory (CAMBI) and questions regarding CAM use. Unrelated t-tests compared the illness and treatment perceptions of CAM-users to those not using CAM. A binary logistic regression analysis examined which factors predicted CAM use. Findings: 57% of participants reported using CAM to relieve IBS symptoms. CAM-users reported significantly stronger illness identity, illness consequences, medication harm beliefs and stronger emotional representations. CAM-users had more positive beliefs about CAM in terms of feelings towards natural treatments, client participation in treatment and beliefs in holistic treatments. Logistic regression analysis revealed 3-4 years (Odds ratio = 3.62) or over 5 years (3.19) since diagnosis, having A’ levels (1.89) or postgraduate qualifications (2.34), and stronger illness identity (1.10), consequences (1.07), cyclical timeline beliefs (1.08) and medication harm beliefs (1.10) predicted CAM use. Discussion: Findings suggest CAM use is influenced by certain illness and treatment perceptions. Health psychology interventions which address these components may have potential to improve IBS symptom management and support patient’s informed decision making regarding treatment

Training Community-Based Professionals to Implement an Empirically Supported Parenting Program

Professionals representing 14 community-based organizations were trained at three different sites serving urban and rural families to implement an empirically supported parenting program for families of young children with challenging behaviors. Of the 44 practitioners trained, 23 successfully completed the program, which involved passing a knowledge test and facilitating the entire 10session program with a family. A total of 28, primarily low-income families completed the program. The family outcomes obtained by the facilitators, based on multiple pre-program and post-program measures, were comparable with those reported previously in the literature for facilitators trained in university settings. The challenges inherent in efforts to increase the community’s capacity to implement empirically supported programs are addressed

The Pervasiveness of Technocracy in Sanitation Development and its Impact on Project Sustainability: A Case Study of the Microbial Fuel Cell Latrine Pilot Project in Nyakrom, Ghana

Approximately 2.5 billion people in the world currently lack access to adequate sanitation facilities. Improving sanitation access in the developing world is vitally important to public health, economies, and the environment. Non-governmental organizations and the private sector have played a significant role in increasing sanitation access through the construction of sanitation and hygiene systems. However, these projects have been plagued with sustainability problems with the rate of non-functional systems remaining consistently at 30 to 40 percent since the 1980s. Studies have found that meaningful community engagement and the consideration of community capacity during project development are vitally important to long-term project sustainability. However, development practitioners frequently undervalue the importance of these factors and fail to adequately employ them when developing sanitation projects. This thesis examines the dominance and impact of one key influence that leads development practitioners to overlook community context and engagement – the prioritization and overvaluation of technological solutions to development problems. Through a case study of the Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) Latrine built by three University of Massachusetts Amherst engineers in Nyakrom Ghana I demonstrate an example of the impact that a technocratic focus can have on the operation and maintenance sustainability of a sanitation project. In this thesis I maintain that the technocratic focus of this project is not unique but is part of a larger trend toward technocracy among water, sanitation, and hygiene development donors and practitioners. These technological approaches can neglect the important role that political, social, economic, and cultural factors play in increasing sanitation access. This thesis reviews three frameworks that the MFC Latrine engineers and other practitioners could use to better understand and incorporate community capacity and participation into sanitation projects – Asset Based Community Development, the appropriate technology framework by the World Health Organization and IRC Water and Sanitation Centre, and the WASHTech Technology Applicability Framework

Drones, Signals, and the Techno-Colonisation of Landscape

This research project is a cross-disciplinary, creative practice-led investigation that interrogates increasing military interest in the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS). The project’s central argument is that painted visualisations of normally invisible aspects of contemporary EMS-enabled warfare can reveal useful, novel, and speculative but informed perspectives that contribute to debates about war and technology. It pays particular attention to how visualising normally invisible signals reveals an insidious techno-colonisation of our extended environment from Earth to orbiting satellites

A Mental Health Clinic for Toddlers with Developmental Delays and Behavior Problems

A mental health clinic was developed for toddlers with developmental disabilities and significant behavior problems from families living in poverty. The clinic was a collaborative effort between a community-based Birth-to-Three agency and a university. The purpose of this clinic was threefold: to provide direct mental health services for these young children, to train graduate students to work with this population, and to begin to contribute to the limited research available in this area. This paper describes the clinical intake procedures and outcomes for the 81 children served by the clinic over a 2-year period. Referral concerns included tantrums, aggression, oppositional behaviors, hyperactivity, and self-injury. The children came from a diverse group of families living in poverty; single mothers with less than a high school education headed most of the households. The clinical intake included direct observations of parent–child interactions, child behavior assessments, and parental interviews and self-report measures. For the present sample, 77% of the children met the criteria for a developmental disability and nearly 70% also met the criteria for a psychiatric disorder. The most common diagnosis was oppositional defiant disorder. Discussion regarding the challenges inherent in working with families of toddlers with developmental delays and psychiatric disorders living in low-income circumstances is included