Development of a Routines-Based Early Childhood Intervention model

The Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) literature recommends that intervention is embedded within everyday routines that occur in the natural environment. However, little research has examined the implementation of routines-based models of ECI. The aim of this paper was to describe the development of a Routines-Based Early Childhood Intervention (RBECI) model. The RBECI model consists of four key components: a) Routines-Based Interviews (RBIs); b) participation-based goals; c) home visits; and d) community consultations. Empirical evidence supporting each component of the model is provided, and results from a preliminary evaluation of the implementation of the model are discussed. Further research is required evaluating processes involved in the implementation of the model by ECI professionals and its impact on children and families

DEECD Early Childhood Intervention Reform Project

This literature review was commissioned by the Office for Children and Early Childhood Development, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD), as part of its Early Childhood Intervention Services (ECIS) Reform Project (Stage 2): Developing Options and Next Steps. This Project aims to significantly enhance the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of Victoria’s ECIS system and improve outcomes for children with a disability or developmental delay and their families. Early childhood intervention services (ECIS) support children with a disability or developmental delay from birth to school entry and their families. ECIS provides special education, therapy, counselling, service planning and coordination, assistance and support to access services such as kindergarten and child care. The services funded through DEECD are provided by government Specialist Children\u27s Services teams and non-government Early Childhood Intervention agencies. In addition to the services provided by ECIS teams and agencies, the state and federal governments fund a range of complementary programs to support young children with developmental disabilities and their families. These include initiatives to support families (My Time parent groups, Family Support Packages), services to support inclusion (Preschool Field Officers, Inclusion Support Facilitators), and funding to support particular disability groups (Helping Children with Autism packages). These additional services and supports, together with the ECIS teams and agencies, make up the totality of early childhood intervention provision for young children with disabilities. The focus of the literature review is research on contemporary Australian and international evidence-based service delivery models for children with a disability, developmental delay or additional needs aged 0-8 years

Using Common Determinants of Out-of-Home Care to Profile Parents of Children and Adolescents with a Disability: an Exploratory Study

Objectives This study examined whether interrelationships between common psychosocial determinants of parental decisions to seek out-of-home care can identify parent profiles within a sample of parents of children and adolescents with a disability. Method Two hundred and sixteen parents completed a questionnaire containing measures of nine commonly reported psychosocial determinants of out-of-home care (e.g. child behaviour and support needs; parent hassles, mental health and coping). Result K-means cluster analysis revealed four parent profiles. The ‘parents with significant parenting stressors and demands’ resemble parents who have sought out-of-home care in the past (e.g. children/adolescents with high support needs and poor psychosocial adjustment). In contrast, the ‘parents with low parenting stressors and demands’ display positive psychosocial adjustment to the parenting role. The ‘parents with parenting resilience’ exhibit positive psychosocial adjustment to the difficult parenting circumstances they are experiencing. In contrast, the ‘parents with psychosocial adjustment difficulties’ show negative psychosocial adjustment despite the absence of difficult parenting circumstances. Conclusion Psychosocial factors related to out-of-home care can meaningfully distinguish parents raising children and adolescents with a disability from one another. With further validation, the profiles uncovered within this study could inform service responses to build parenting capacity, and mitigate risk of seeking out-of-home care

Understanding emotion regulation in Venezuelan immigrants to Peru and Peruvian internal migrants: a comparative study

Migration is a phenomenon that impacts a range of areas in people's lives. However, research identifying differences and similarities in socio-emotional processes, considering different types of migration, is scant. Adopting a resilient framework, the present study sought to fill a gap in knowledge by comparing Venezuelan migrants (n = 346) to Peru with Peruvian internal migrants (n = 294) residing in the same city. The results showed significant differences in the emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and suppression) in favour of Venezuelan migrants, while a higher level of perception of social support from friends was observed in the Peruvian sample. A greater number of social predictors (perceived social support from family and significant other) and sociodemographic variables (gender and student status) on emotion regulation were observed in the Venezuelan sample; whereas in the Peruvian sample only two significant predictors (perceived social support from family and work status) contributed to emotion regulation strategies. It is concluded that migration, whether international or internal, is associated with adaptive processes, whereby social supports and socio-demographic characteristics can act as protective or risk factors. These findings have implications for the development of policies in support of migrants’ psychological well-being

The emotional and behavioural functioning of siblings of children with chronic health conditions across childhood

This study examined the emotional and behavioural functioning of siblings of children with special health care needs identified in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Of the 106 siblings identified, 15–52% had emotional and behavioural difficulties in the at-risk or clinical range on the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) subscales when aged 4–5 (wave 1), 6–7 (wave 2), 8–9 (wave 3) and 10–11 years (wave 4). After controlling for differences in socio-economic position, siblings had significantly higher difficulties on all subscales than their peers without a brother or sister with a special health care need at most time points. Latent growth modelling revealed little change in emotional and behavioural symptoms for siblings across childhood, while behavioural symptoms decreased for their peers. These findings suggest that some siblings are at heightened risk of emotional and behavioural difficulties across childhood, underscoring the importance of assessing and promoting the wellbeing of all family members when providing services to children with special health care needs.