Play beliefs and responsive parenting among low-income mothers of preschoolers in the United States

This study examined associations between parents’ developmentally appropriate beliefs about young children’s play and responsive parenting. Low-income parents and their children enrolled in Head Start programmes (n = 231) in the United States participated in the study. Responsive parenting skills (characterized by high levels of warmth and responsiveness, and lower levels of hostility) were related to parents’ beliefs endorsing play as valuable (Play Support) for promoting preschool children’s social skills and school readiness. Additionally, higher levels of parent depression were negatively associated with Play Support beliefs while higher levels of parent efficacy were positively associated. Parent education showed a positive relation with Play Support beliefs and a negative relationship with beliefs regarding focusing on academic readiness of children without playful learning (Academic Focus). Implications for understanding play-based approaches for promoting children’s developmental outcomes within early childhood programmes and family interventions are discussed

A Validation Study of the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale with Urban Hispanic and African American Preschool Children

The development of culturally and linguistically appropriate measurement is necessary to enable accurate assessment of preschool children’s interpersonal competence and behavioral difficulties. This need is most pressing for children from Hispanic backgrounds, who currently represent the fastest growing population of U.S. children. The present study investigated the psychometric properties of a Spanish and English version of the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (PIPPS; Fantuzzo et al., 1995) when employed with Spanish- and English-speaking teachers and students in an urban, Southeastern community. Psychometrically sound structures were obtained with the Spanish translation of the PIPPS in support of the three original dimensions named Play Interaction, Play Disruption, and Play Disconnection, which were derived from studies of African American preschool children in lower income, Northeastern communities. Concurrent validity was supported by significant correlationsbetween the three Spanish PIPPS constructs and teacher ratings of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. Significant group differences in class-room peer play interactions were also detected for children’s gender and ethnicity. The independent emergence of comparable Spanish and English PIPPS factor structures across two distinct regional samples provides initial support for use of this measure in research with Hispanic preschool children from low-income backgrounds. Implications for school psychologists engaging in outreach to preschool programs servicing diverse groups of children are discussed, including the generalizability of interactive peer play constructs for preschool children across racial, ethnic, linguistic, and geographic back-grounds

Impact of trauma exposure and acculturative stress on internalizing symptoms for recently arrived migrant-origin youth: Results from a community-based partnership

Migrant youth face cultural challenges upon initial adjustment into the United States. Although there is considerable empirical evidence that trauma impacts interpersonal relations, there is a dearth of research examining the association between adverse events and the initial social and cultural exchange experience, and whether this is associated with psychological adjustment. This study examined self-report data for 87 newly arrived migrant-origin students in Grades 5–10 from Latin American, Caribbean, Asian, and African backgrounds attending a public alternative school in the Southeastern United States. Data were collected as part of a community-based partnership. The relation between cumulative trauma exposure and internalizing symptoms was fully mediated by acculturative stress (p < .05), suggesting prior trauma exposure negatively affected these students’ capacity to navigate a new cultural milieu, which in turn is directly associated with internalizing symptoms. Behavioral health care practitioners can use screening procedures early in the academic year to detect which migrant students may be experiencing difficult cultural transitions

Adapting Clinical Services To Accommodate Needs of Refugee Populations

The diversity of the refugee population in the United States requires practicing psychologists to respond by adapting clinical services to meet their mental health needs. However, the available literature on culturally adapted treatments is only a first step in guiding the process for adapting clinical services. This paper describes our experiences with designing and adapting a variety of clinical services for youth and families with refugee status. Guided by Sue\u27s (2006) tenets for culturally competent service delivery, we discuss a therapeutic model of tiered service delivery used to deliver preventative services and treatment to refugee youth and adults. We discuss how we adapted treatments to help overcome access barriers to mental health treatment, and we provide specific examples of how existing treatments were used with refugee populations. In addition, we discuss information and approaches for how practicing psychologists can develop additional skills for working with refugee populations. We conclude by focusing on the need for our field to work toward improving access to mental health treatment for refugee youth and families and developing evidence-based treatments for this population

Parent characteristics, economic stress and neighborhood context as predictors of parent involvement in preschool children’s education.

Abstract: This study examines factors related to three dimensions of parent involvement in preschool: school-based involvement, home-based involvement, and the parent-teacher relationship. Participants were 154 predominantly African American parents recruited from two Head Start programs. Results of bivariate and canonical correlation analyses support the validity of a multidimensional, ecological conceptualization of parent involvement. Perceived context variables, including economic stress and neighborhood social disorder, related negatively to parent involvement. Parent characteristics, including sense of efficacy regarding education and level of education, related positively to parent involvement. Regression analyses detected different patterns of association between predictors and the three dimensions of parent involvement. Parent characteristics were associated with home involvement, while perceived context variables were predictive of the teacher-parent relationship. Implications of differential predictors for different domains of parent involvement and directions for future research and intervention with low-income families are discussed

Quasar Candidates in the Hubble Deep Field

We focus on the search for unresolved faint quasars and AGN in the crude combine images using a multicolor imaging analysis that has proven very successful in recent years. Quasar selection was carried out both in multicolor space and in "profile space," defined as the multi-parameter space formed by the radial profiles of the objects in the different images. By combining the dither frames available for each filter, we were able to obtain well-sampled radial profiles of the objects and measure their deviation from that of a stellar source. We also generated synthetic quasar spectra in the range 1.0 < z < 5.5 and computed expected quasar colors. We determined that the data are 90% complete for point sources at 26.2, 28.0, 27.8, 26.8 in the F300W, F450W, F606W and F814W filters, respectively. We find 41 compact objects in the HDF: 8 pointlike objects with colors consistent with quasars or stars, 18 stars, and 15 slightly resolved objects, 12 of which have colors consistent with quasars or stars. We estimate the upper limit of unresolved and slightly resolved quasars/AGNs with V < 27.0 and z < 3.5 to be 20 objects (16,200 per deg^2). We find good agreement among authors on the number of stars and the lack of quasar candidates with z > 3.5. We find more quasar candidates than previous work because of our more extensive modeling and use of all of the available color information. (abridged)Comment: We have clarified our discussion and conclusions, added some references and removed the appendix, which is now available from the first author. 37 pages including 10 embedded postscript figures and 6 tables. To appear in the Feb. 99 issue of A

Familism Through a Developmental Lens

This article reviews an emerging literature examining the effects of familism across childhood and adolescence. Familism has been described as a Latino cultural value that emphasizes obligation, filial piety, family support and obedience, and its effects have been documented as primarily protective across childhood and adolescence. This review seeks to organize and critique existing research using a developmental science framework. Key tenets of this perspective that are highlighted in the review are close consideration of how familism develops within an individual across time, manifests itself at different points in development, and impacts child, adolescent, and family functioning. Forty-four articles were examined and categorized with results showing that the protective influence of familism is most evident during the period of adolescence. Consideration of expressions of familism and the impact of familism on outcomes during earlier and later periods of development is offered as a recommendation for deriving a more complete understanding of the function of familism in Latino families

Current Transition Practice for Primary Immunodeficiencies and Autoinflammatory Diseases in Europe: a RITA-ERN Survey

background due to the absence of curative treatments for inborn errors of immunity (IEI), children born with IEI require long-term follow-up for disease manifestations and related complications that occur over the lifespan. effective transition from pediatric to adult services is known to significantly improve adherence to treatment and long-term outcomes. It is currently not known what transition services are available for young people with IEI in europe. objective to understand the prevalence and practice of transition services in europe for young people with IEI, encompassing both primary immunodeficiencies (PID) and systemic autoinflammatory disorders (AID). methods a survey was generated by the european reference network on immunodeficiency, autoinflammatory, and autoimmune diseases transition working group and electronically circulated, through professional networks, to pediatric centers across europe looking after children with IEI. results seventy-six responses were received from 52 centers, in 45 cities across 17 different countries. all services transitioned patients to adult services, mainly to specialist PID or AID centers, typically transferring up to ten patients to adult care each year. the transition process started at a median age of 16-18 years with transfer to the adult center occurring at a median age of 18-20 years. 75% of PID and 68% of AID centers held at least one joint appointment with pediatric and adult services prior to the transfer of care. approximately 75% of PID and AID services reported having a defined transition process, but few centers reported national disease-specific transition guidelines to refer to. conclusions transition services for children with IEI in europe are available in many countries but lack standardized guidelines to promote best practice

Vaccines for the Leishmaniases: Proposals for a Research Agenda

The International Symposium on Leishmaniasis Vaccines, held in Olinda, Brazil, on March 9–11, 2009, congregated international experts who conduct research on vaccines against the leishmaniases. The questions that were raised during that meeting and the ensuing discussions are compiled in this report and may assist in guiding a research agenda. A group to further discussion on issues raised in this policy platform has been set up at http://groups.google.com/group/leishvaccines-l

Chaos, decoherence and quantum cosmology

In this topical review we discuss the connections between chaos, decoherence and quantum cosmology. We understand chaos as classical chaos in systems with a finite number of degrees of freedom, decoherence as environment induced decoherence and quantum cosmology as the theory of the Wheeler - DeWitt equation or else the consistent history formulation thereof, first in mini super spaces and later through its extension to midi super spaces. The overall conclusion is that consideration of decoherence is necessary (and probably sufficient) to sustain an interpretation of quantum cosmology based on the Wave function of the Universe adopting a Wentzel - Kramers - Brillouin form for large Universes, but a definitive account of the semiclassical transition in classically chaotic cosmological models is not available in the literature yet.Comment: 40 page