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

Cultural Relevance of the Transtheoretical Model in Physical Activity Promotion: Mexican-American Women’s use of the Processes of Change

Hispanic women in the U.S. have disproportionately high rates of obesity and health disparities related to insufficient physical activity (PA). While the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) is one of the most commonly used behavioral theories in interventions promoting PA, there is a lack of evidence to support the cultural relevance of theoretical constructs for increasing PA in Hispanic women. To learn about Hispanic women’s use and interpretation of the construct Processes of Change (POC) for increasing PA, we conducted focus groups with overweight/obese Mexican/Mexican-American females (N=13) ages 27-40 years. Major themes centered on the importance of children and family caretaking, social support, and PA to promote weight loss. Participants identified strategies they use to enact the POC for increasing PA such as retos (challenges), exercise as an alternative to eating, and clothing as a reward/reminder for PA. This study examined culture-specific factors used by Mexican-American women for becoming more physically active as they correspond to the theoretical constructs of the TTM. We showed that the POC examined in our study are culturally relevant and enacted by Mexican-American women for increasing PA, and are poised to be deployed in culturally appropriate PA promotion and weight loss interventions

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

Characterization of the Arthropod Communities and Aphid Feeding Behavior Associated with Perennial Warm-Season Grasses (Poaceae) Composition in Nebraska and Wisconsin

Switchgrass, Panicum virgatum L., along with two other perennial warm-season grasses, big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) and indiangrass, (Sorghastrum nutans L), compose a majority of the grasses found in North American tall grass prairies and have recently received attention as potential bioenergy feedstock. Limited research has been carried out on the relationship of arthropods on these three warm-season grasses in North America. Due to this limited research, the first objective of this research was to document the arthropods associated with switchgrass, big bluestem and indiangrass in Nebraska and Wisconsin over three sampling seasons. More than 10 arthropod orders and over 67 families were collected between the two locations with some of the most abundant families collected including: Carabidae, Chloropidae, Cicadellidae, Figitidae, and Thripidae. Previous research has documented greenbugs (Schizaphis graminum Rondani) and yellow sugarcane aphids (Sipha flava Forbes) as potential pests of switchgrass, but limited information is available on the host suitability of big bluestem and indiangrass to these two aphid species. Therefore, the second objective of this research was to document aphid feeding preference among these three grass species through a series of choice studies and to characterize greenbug feeding behaviors using the electric penetration graph (EPG) technique. Choice studies identified differences in the preference of two aphid species in response to the three grasses with switchgrass being most preferred by Schizaphis graminum at 1, 2 and 4 h; whereas switchgrass was the least preferred by S. flava starting at 24 h after aphid introduction. Feeding behavior studies of S. graminum on switchgrass, big bluestem and indiangrass indicated that greenbugs took significantly more time before achieving the first sieve-element phase (salivation and ingestion of sieve element phloem sap) when feeding on indiangrass compared to both switchgrass and big bluestem, suggesting resistance factors in indiangrass are associated with phloem tissue. These studies are the first to examine the feeding preference of S. graminum and S. flava on big bluestem and indiangrass. This research provides important baseline information about the arthropod communities associated with the three warm-season grasses, and advances our understanding of the plant-insect interactions within this system. Advisors: Tiffany Heng-Moss and Thomas J. Weisslin

Characterization of the Arthropod Communities and Aphid Feeding Behavior Associated with Perennial Warm-Season Grasses (Poaceae) Composition in Nebraska and Wisconsin

Switchgrass, Panicum virgatum L., along with two other perennial warm-season grasses, big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) and indiangrass, (Sorghastrum nutans L), compose a majority of the grasses found in North American tall grass prairies and have recently received attention as potential bioenergy feedstock. Limited research has been carried out on the relationship of arthropods on these three warm-season grasses in North America. Due to this limited research, the first objective of this research was to document the arthropods associated with switchgrass, big bluestem and indiangrass in Nebraska and Wisconsin over three sampling seasons. More than 10 arthropod orders and over 67 families were collected between the two locations with some of the most abundant families collected including: Carabidae, Chloropidae, Cicadellidae, Figitidae, and Thripidae. Previous research has documented greenbugs (Schizaphis graminum Rondani) and yellow sugarcane aphids (Sipha flava Forbes) as potential pests of switchgrass, but limited information is available on the host suitability of big bluestem and indiangrass to these two aphid species. Therefore, the second objective of this research was to document aphid feeding preference among these three grass species through a series of choice studies and to characterize greenbug feeding behaviors using the electric penetration graph (EPG) technique. Choice studies identified differences in the preference of two aphid species in response to the three grasses with switchgrass being most preferred by Schizaphis graminum at 1, 2 and 4 h; whereas switchgrass was the least preferred by S. flava starting at 24 h after aphid introduction. Feeding behavior studies of S. graminum on switchgrass, big bluestem and indiangrass indicated that greenbugs took significantly more time before achieving the first sieve-element phase (salivation and ingestion of sieve element phloem sap) when feeding on indiangrass compared to both switchgrass and big bluestem, suggesting resistance factors in indiangrass are associated with phloem tissue. These studies are the first to examine the feeding preference of S. graminum and S. flava on big bluestem and indiangrass. This research provides important baseline information about the arthropod communities associated with the three warm-season grasses, and advances our understanding of the plant-insect interactions within this system. Advisors: Tiffany Heng-Moss and Thomas J. Weisslin

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

Reducing CO2 Emissions in the Upper Midwest: Technology, Resources, Economics, and Policy

We develop scenarios for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity sector in the upper Midwest (Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Manitoba) by 80% relative to 1990 levels. The report has three major components: 1) an inventory of CO2 emissions from all fossil fuel combustion in the region from 1960-2001, subdividing by economic sector and specific electricity generating station; 2) an evaluation of all electricity resources in the region and all technologies for utilizing them, taking into account the overall scale of the resource, technology costs, and other issues that influence the selection of a certain technology; and 3) the development of a simulation model to examine the impact of various factors (policies, prices, technologies, resources) on the regional electricity supply and its emissions from 2005-2055.Environmental Economics and Policy,