La influencia del lenguaje de los adultos en el desarrollo morfosintáctico de niños pequeños con Síndrome de Down

From a sociohistorical point of view, we stress that children acquire language through involvement in verbal interaction and in joint activity with other more competent language users. The goal of this paper is to compare the educational strategies used by mothers of young children with Down Syndrome in their linguistic interactions with their children, and those used by the therapist during a period of language intervention. Muny significant differences were found. Compared with the strategies used by the therapist, the strategies used by the mothers could not be considered optimal for language development. The optimal difference between the language the therapist addresses to the children and the complexity of their utterances enhances their inorphosyntactic development

Early intervention services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain: toward a model of family-centered practices

Early intervention services (EIS) worked hard to continue serving children and their families during the COVID-19 lockdown, using online applications. This study aimed to determine families' and professionals' perceptions of the functioning of the early intervention (EI) model in Spain during the pandemic. The study sample comprised two subsamples: 81 families of children attended at an EIS (72 mothers and 9 fathers) and 213 professionals recruited from EIS. The survey was conducted online several weeks after the end of the strict lockdown in Spain. Descriptive statistics of the questionnaire answered by families and professionals were compiled, comparisons were made between the families' and the professionals' responses, and the relationships with several sociodemographic variables were analyzed. The results indicated that parents who cared for their children and were fully responsible for housework, parents who had used telematic tools before the lockdown, and younger professionals had a more positive perception of the EI model and the incorporation of family-centered practices (FCP) during the pandemic. The results also showed statistically significant differences in some items between parents and professionals: for example, professionals perceived more advantages than families during the lockdown, quoting the greater participation of families in the intervention and a greater focus on families' needs. The data obtained from professionals suggested a more positive attitude toward FCP: however, the results show that they continued to adopt a directive role in the intervention, a position that is at odds with the tenets of FCP. There is a clear need for more training if a paradigm shift to FCP is to be achieved. Families' and caregivers' perceptions of telerehabilitation, and their adherence to telerehabilitation programs, are discussed. The implications of this study with regard to guiding future telematic interventions and family support are also considered

Parenting behaviors of mothers and fathers of young children with intellectual disability evaluated in a natural context

The aims of this study were to analyze the interactions of mothers and fathers with their children with intellectual disabilities, focusing on certain parental behaviors previously identified as promoting child development, and to explore the relations between parenting and some sociodemographic variables. A sample of 87 pairs of mothers and fathers of the same children were recruited from Early Intervention Centers. The children (58 male and 29 female) were aged 20-47 months. Most of the families (92%) were from the province of Barcelona (Spain), and the remaining 8% were from the other provinces of Catalonia (Spain). Parenting behaviors, divided into four domains (Affection, Responsiveness, Encouragement, and Teaching) were assessed from self-recorded videotapes, in accordance with the validated Spanish version of the PICCOLO (Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes). Parents were administered a sociodemographic questionnaire. The results revealed strong similarities between mothers' and fathers' parental behaviors. Mothers and fathers were more likely to engage in affectionate behavior than in teaching behavior. Only maternal teaching presented a significant positive relation to the child's age. With respect to the child's gender, no differences were observed in mothers' parenting. Conversely, fathers scored significantly higher in Responsiveness, Encouragement and Teaching (and had higher total parenting scores) when interacting with boys. The severity of the child's ID had a statistically significant effect only on fathers' Teaching, which showed lower mean scores in the severe ID group than in the moderate and mild ID groups. Teaching also presented a significant positive relation to mother's age, but father's age was not related to any parenting domain. Mothers with a higher educational level scored significantly higher in Encouragement and Teaching, and the fathers' educational level was not significantly related to any parenting domain. Mothers' and fathers' Teaching, and fathers' Responsiveness, Encouragement and total parenting scores, presented a significant positive relation to family income. Finally, mothers spent more time in childcare activities than fathers, particularly on workdays. Our main conclusion is that mothers and fathers show very similar strengths and weaknesses when interacting with their children with intellectual disabilities during play

Assessing Parenting Interactions With Children: Spanish Validation of PICCOLO With Fathers

Background/Objective: To gain knowledge about mothers' and fathers' interactions with their sons and daughters, we need reliable and valid tools to assess parental behaviors that can be used for different caregivers and in a variety of cultural contexts. The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (PICCOLO) to assess fathers' interaction with their children at early ages. PICCOLO is an observational tool originally developed in the United States for mothers and fathers and previously validated in Spain with a sample of mothers. Methods: One hundred and ninety-one father-child dyads were observed during free-play situations at home when the children were between 10 and 47 months of age (55.0% male). The fathers auto recorded 8-10 minutes of interaction and trained evaluators assessed the recordings with PICCOLO. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the dimensional structure of the original version of the scale: four first-order factors (Affection, Responsiveness, Encouragement and Teaching) and one second-order factor (Parenting). The tool was found to have high inter-rater reliability at domain and total score level. Ordinal alpha and omega coefficients for each domain ranged between 0.79 and 0.85, and 0.64 and 0.79, respectively. No statistically significant differences were found in any PICCOLO domain or in the total score according to the child's gender. In assessments of the child's development with the Bayley-III scales, moderate positive correlations were found between Encouragement and receptive language ( r = 0.32), and between Teaching and expressive ( r = 0.34) and composite language ( r = 0.31). Conclusion: The Spanish version of PICCOLO can be used to assess fathers' parenting. As PICCOLO is clearly linked to intervention goals, it is of particular interest for practitioners in early intervention and family programs

La influencia del lenguaje de los adultos en el desarrollo morfosintáctico de niños pequeños con síndrome de Down

From a sociohistorical point of view, we stress that children acquire language through involvement in verbal interaction and in joint activity with other more competent language users. The goal of this paper is to compare the educational strategies used by mothers of young children with Down Syndrome in their linguistic interactions with their children, and those used by the therapist during a period of language intervention. Muny significant differences were found. Compared with the strategies used by the therapist, the strategies used by the mothers could not be considered optimal for language development. The optimal difference between the language the therapist addresses to the children and the complexity of their utterances enhances their inorphosyntactic development.Desde una perspectiva sociohistórica se resulta que el lenguaje se adquiere y desarrolla con la participación del niño en situaciones de interacción y actividad conjunta con otras personas más competentes. El objetivo de este articulo es analizar, por un lado, las estrategias educativas que utilizan las madres de niños pequeños con Síndrome de Down cuandointeractúan verbalmente con ellos y, por el otro, analizar las mismas estrategias utilizadas por el terapeuta a 10 largo de un periodo de intervención en el que se incide en la inclusión del verbo en las emisiones verbales de 10s sujetos. Se han observado claras diferencias en el uso de estas estrategias por parte de las madres y del terapeuta. Las madres utilizanestrategias educativas poco optimizadoras del desarrollo del lenguaje, a diferencia de las usadas por el terapeuta. Se constata que el desnivel óptimo que proporciona el terapeuta a las emisiones verbales de 10s niños, permite a éstos aprender y avanzar en su desarrollo moflosintáctico

Non-intrusive maternal style as a mediator between playfulness and children's development in low-income Chilean adolescent mothers

The aim of this study was to describe the relationship between low-income Chilean adolescent maternal playfulness and mothers' non-intrusiveness in their children's development and to analyze whether a mother's non-intrusiveness mediates the relationship between maternal playfulness and children's development. The Parental Playfulness Scale and the Subscale of Intrusiveness from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project were used to assess maternal playfulness and mothers' non-intrusiveness respectively. Ages and Stages Questionnaire 3rd Edition (ASQ-3) was applied to measure the children's communication, gross and fine motor skills, problem- solving and personal-social development. The sample consisted of 79 mother-child dyads with children aged 10-24 months (M = 15.5, SD = 4.2) and their mothers aged 15-21 years old (M = 19.1, SD = 1.7). A bivariate analysis showed that maternal playfulness was significantly associated with communication, fine motor, problem-solving and personal-social development. Moreover, higher levels of communication, fine motor skills and problem-solving development were observed in the children of less intrusive mothers. Maternal playfulness had a significant effect on children's development of language, problem-solving and personal-social skills when their mothers showed less intrusiveness during interaction. These findings contribute to the understanding of the interaction between adolescent mothers and their children. Active play and less intrusiveness can enhance child development

Maternal self-efficacy and emotional well-being in Chilean adolescent mothers: the relationship with their children's social-emotional development

Background: Low maternal self-efficacy and high levels of anxiety, depression, and stress can be triggered in adolescent mothers because they have not completed their development process, thus they would not be physically or psychologically prepared to take on maternity responsibilities. Those factors can be related to children's socioemotional development problems. The present study aims to: a) analyze the relationship between maternal self-efficacy and the levels of stress and depressive and anxious symptoms, in adolescent mothers; b) examine the relationship between maternal self-efficacy and well-being and children's socioemotional development; and c) describe the effects of maternal self-efficacy mediated of maternal well-being on children's socioemotional development. Methods: A sample of 79 dyads of Chilean adolescent mothers and their children aged 10 to 24 months participated in this research. A set of psychometric scales were used to measure maternal self-efficacy (EEP), mother's anxiety and depression (HADS), maternal stress (PSS), and children's socioemotional development (ASQ-SE). Bivariate analyses as well as mediation models were employed to estimate and test the relevant relationships. Results: A bivariate analysis showed that maternal self-efficacy was negatively related to mother's anxiety, depression, and stress. Moreover, there is a significant relationship between maternal self-efficacy and maternal stress, and children's self-regulation and socioemotional development. The effect of maternal self-efficacy on children's self-regulation development mediated of mother's anxiety, mother's depression and maternal stress scores was significant. Conclusions: Those results confirm the importance of the adolescent mothers' emotional well-being regarding their relationship on the socioemotional development of their children. The preceding is necessary to have detailed information about how emotional and self-perception status influences mother's role in the development of her children

Comparison of different wastewater treatments for colour removal of reactive dye baths

The generation of high-coloured wastewater is one of the main environmental problems of the textile industry. Reactive dyes are widely used in the dyeing of cellulosic fibres. However, they have low exhaustion degree (70–90%). The degradation of residual dyes by aerobic biological treatment is very poor, being necessary the application of specific treatments. In this work, three different methods for the removal of reactive dyes were compared: electrochemical treatment, coagulation with Moringa oleifera waste and enzymatic treatment with laccase. Two azo bifunctional dyes with different reactive groups were selected: C.I. Reactive Black 5 (vinyl sulphone) and C.I. Reactive Red 231 (chlorotriazine). The influence of pH (5 and 9) and dye hydrolysis on the decolourisation yield was studied. The electrochemical treatment was the most efficient, with 95–100% colour removal yield. The coagulation with M. oleifera waste also achieved high colour removal efficiency (91–94%). Both methods showed an independent behaviour with respect to pH or dye hydrolysis. The enzymatic treatment should be performed at pH 5. This method was suitable to remove the chlorotriazine dye (92–93% efficiency), whereas the vinyl sulphone one showed a marked dependence on dye hydrolysis: moderately efficient for the hydrolysed dye and highly efficient without hydrolysis. The activity of laccase was not modified by the usual salinity of the reactive dyeing effluent (20 g/L NaCl). Nevertheless, the effluent salinity enhanced the electrochemical and M. oleifera treatment yield.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft