George Floyd AFUM Scholarship Announcement

Fundraising plea from University President Joan Ferrini-Mundy and AFUM President Lisa K. Neuman, to all UMaine staff, introducing the George Floyd AFUM Scholarship established at the University of Maine Foundation by individuals concerned about the violent death of George Floyd, an African-American man, while in police custody on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota

George Floyd AFUM Scholarship Announcement

Fundraising plea from University President Joan Ferrini-Mundy and AFUM President Lisa K. Neuman, to all UMaine staff, introducing the George Floyd AFUM Scholarship established at the University of Maine Foundation by individuals concerned about the violent death of George Floyd, an African-American man, while in police custody on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/racial_justice/1135/thumbnail.jp

Infant attention, motor activity and cardiac activity and the effects of prenatal smoke exposure

To advance our understanding of the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and the development of ADHD in offspring, studies using a prospective and longitudinal design, beginning with the study of temperament during infancy are required. The aim of this thesis was to investigate domains of infant temperament that could be considered early precursors and correlates of ADHD and to examine the effect of prenatal smoke exposure on these domains. Attention together with motor activity and heart rate (HR), measured during cognitive and emotional challenge, were studied in a representative, community sample of 130 infants at 6 and 12 months. At 6 months infants exposed to prenatal smoke showed more sustained attention, increased motor activity and increased HR compared with non-exposed infants. However, at 12 months there was no evidence of an effect of prenatal smoke exposure on attention or motor activity but there was evidence of an effect on HR. Given the importance of understanding temperament in infants, we examined 50 infants in an intensive laboratory assessment, using measures of vagal tone (VT) as well as HR, to enhance our understanding of the relationship between temperament and physiology. Results supported the use of HR as an index of temperament and although VT results were ambiguous, the indication was that measures of VT reactivity may be useful in future research. Combining the novel and rigorous designs presented in this thesis to study the effects of prenatal smoke exposure on offspring development, beginning during the neonatal period and with several assessments during the first year of life, utilizing physiological measures in combination with parent reports and behavioural observations, both at home and in more intensive laboratory settings, will be an important task for the future to enhance our knowledge of potential pathways from prenatal smoke exposure to the development of behaviour disorders, such as ADHD.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Infant attention, motor activity and cardiac activity and the effects of prenatal smoke exposure

To advance our understanding of the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and the development of ADHD in offspring, studies using a prospective and longitudinal design, beginning with the study of temperament during infancy are required. The aim of this thesis was to investigate domains of infant temperament that could be considered early precursors and correlates of ADHD and to examine the effect of prenatal smoke exposure on these domains. Attention together with motor activity and heart rate (HR), measured during cognitive and emotional challenge, were studied in a representative, community sample of 130 infants at 6 and 12 months. At 6 months infants exposed to prenatal smoke showed more sustained attention, increased motor activity and increased HR compared with non-exposed infants. However, at 12 months there was no evidence of an effect of prenatal smoke exposure on attention or motor activity but there was evidence of an effect on HR. Given the importance of understanding temperament in infants, we examined 50 infants in an intensive laboratory assessment, using measures of vagal tone (VT) as well as HR, to enhance our understanding of the relationship between temperament and physiology. Results supported the use of HR as an index of temperament and although VT results were ambiguous, the indication was that measures of VT reactivity may be useful in future research. Combining the novel and rigorous designs presented in this thesis to study the effects of prenatal smoke exposure on offspring development, beginning during the neonatal period and with several assessments during the first year of life, utilizing physiological measures in combination with parent reports and behavioural observations, both at home and in more intensive laboratory settings, will be an important task for the future to enhance our knowledge of potential pathways from prenatal smoke exposure to the development of behaviour disorders, such as ADHD

Metacognitive Awareness of Facial Affect in Higher-Functioning Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Higher-functioning participants with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) viewed a series of face stimuli, made decisions regarding the affect of each face, and indicated their confidence in each decision. Confidence significantly predicted accuracy across all participants, but this relation was stronger for participants with typical development than participants with ASD. In the hierarchical linear modeling analysis, there were no differences in face processing accuracy between participants with and without ASD, but participants with ASD were more confident in their decisions. These results suggest that individuals with ASD have metacognitive impairments and are overconfident in face processing. Additionally, greater metacognitive awareness was predictive of better face processing accuracy, suggesting that metacognition may be a pivotal skill to teach in interventions

Joint Attention in Preschool Children: Is it a Meaningful Measure?

Abstract The goal of this study was to evaluate the degree to which measuring joint attention an aspect of social attention, is meaningful for the learning and development of preschool children. Joint attention refers to the executive capacity to coordinate visual attention with another person. This pivotal skill begins to develop from 6 to 18 months of age and continues to be refined and coordinated throughout individual developmental trajectories. In this study joint attention was measured in forty-three 4 to 5-year-olds asked to coordinate their attention with that of an unfamiliar adult during a social attention word learning task. The results revealed that there were individual differences in joint attention for children in this age group which suggests that this may be a meaningful construct to measure. These data contribute to a small but growing literature on the potential utility of joint attention theory and measurement in preschool aged children to further our understanding of social attention coordination in classroom contexts

Sleep problems increase the risk of musculoskeletal pain in boys but not girls : a prospective cohort study

Adults with sleep problems are at higher risk for onset of musculoskeletal pain, but the evidence is less clear for children. This prospective cohort study investigated whether children with sleep problems are at higher risk for onset of musculoskeletal pain and explored whether sex is a modifier of this association. In a prospective cohort study of Australian schoolchildren (n = 1239, mean age 9 years), the associations between sleep problems at baseline and new onset of both musculoskeletal pain and persistent musculoskeletal pain (pain lasting > 3 months) 1 year later were investigated using logistic regression. The potential modifying effect of sex was also assessed. One-year incidence proportion for musculoskeletal pain onset is 43% and 7% for persistent musculoskeletal pain. Sleep problems were associated with musculoskeletal pain onset and persistent musculoskeletal pain onset in boys, odds ratio 2.80 (95% CI 1.39, 5.62) and OR 3.70 (1.30, 10.54), respectively, but not girls OR 0.58 (0.28, 1.19) and OR 1.43 (0.41, 4.95), respectively. Conclusions: Rates of musculoskeletal pain are high in children. Boys with sleep problems are at greater risk of onset of musculoskeletal pain, but girls do not appear to have higher risk. Consideration of sleep health may help prevent persistent musculoskeletal pain in children.What is Known:center dot Sleep problems are associated with the onset of musculoskeletal pain in adults.center dot It is not clear if the association between sleep problems and the onset of musculoskeletal pain is present also in children and if sex plays a role in this association.What is New:center dot This is the first large population-based study that has prospectively investigated the relationship between sleep problems and onset of musculoskeletal pain in school-aged children.center dot Children, especially boys with sleep problems, were at increased risk for the development of persistent musculoskeletal pain.Peer reviewe

Electronic media use and academic performance in late childhood: A longitudinal study

Introduction The effects of electronic media use on health has received much attention but less is known about links with academic performance. This study prospectively examines the effect of media use on academic performance in late childhood. Materials and methods 1239 8- to 9-year-olds and their parents were recruited to take part in a prospective, longitudinal study. Academic performance was measured on a national achievement test at baseline and 10–11 years of age. Parents reported on their child’s duration of electronic media use. Results After control for baseline reading, watching more than two hours of television per day at 8–9 years of age predicted a 12-point lower performance in reading at 10–11 years, equivalent to the loss of a third of a year in learning. Using a computer for more than one hour a day predicted a similar 12-point lower numeracy performance. Regarding cross-sectional associations (presumed to capture short-term effects) of media use on numeracy, after controlling for prior media exposure, watching more than two hours of television per day at 10–11 years was concurrently associated with a 12-point lower numeracy score and using a computer for more than one hour per day with a 13-point lower numeracy performance. There was little evidence for concurrent effects on reading. There was no evidence of short- or long-term associations between videogame use and academic performance. Discussion Cumulative television use is associated with poor reading and cumulative computer use with poorer numeracy. Beyond any links between heavy media use and health risks such as obesity, physical activity and mental health, these findings raise a possibility of additional risks of both television and computer use for learning in mid-childhood. These findings carry implications for parents, teachers and clinicians to consider the type and timing of media exposure in developing media plans for children.Peer reviewe