Introduction

Why do parent\u2013child argumentative interactions matter? What is the reason for such an interest? This chapter provides the reasons that motivated the study of parent\u2013child argumentation with the aim to understand the function of this type of interactions. Focusing on the activity of family mealtime, in the first part, the chapter draws attention to the distinctive features of parent\u2013child conversations. A second section of the chapter is devoted to discussing whether and, eventually, when children have the competence to construct arguments and engage in argumentative discussions with the aim to convince their parents to change opinion. In the last part of the chapter, research questions and structure of the volume are presented

Play Behavior and Attachment in Toddlers with Autism

Play helps to develop social skills. Children with autism show deviances in their play behavior that may be associated with delays in their social development. In this study, we investigated manipulative, functional and symbolic play behavior of toddlers with and without autism (mean age: 26.45, SD 5.63). The results showed that the quality of interaction between the child and the caregiver was related to the development of play behavior. In particular, security of attachment was related to better play behavior. When the developmental level of the child is taken into account, the attachment relationship of the child with the caregiver at this young age is a better predictor of the level of play behavior than the child's disorder

The Impact of Emotional Abuse on Psychological Distress among Child Protective Services-Involved Adolescents with Borderline-to-Mild Intellectual Disability

DOI 10.1080/19361521.2011.574677Childhood maltreatment is a robust contributing factor to mental health problems in adolescents. The current study examines the impact of childhood emotional abuse on adolescent psychological distress in 48 youths with borderline-to-mild intellectual disability (ID), as compared to 117 peers with average intellectual functioning. Both emotional abuse and intellectual functioning predicted the severity of youth psychological distress. Childhood emotional abuse has an impact on adolescent distress, and maltreated child welfare-involved youth with lower IQ levels may be more vulnerable to distress than youth with average IQ. This raises a question regarding the detection of subtle manifestations of ID and the need to attend to mental health within this sub-population receiving child welfare services.Ontario Mental Health Foundatio

Rotinas familiares de ribeirinhos amazônicos: uma possibilidade de investigação

A rotina das famílias tem se revelado uma estratégia interessante que permite conhecer não apenas seu funcionamento, mas também o desenvolvimento de seus membros. Todavia, investigar rotinas constitui um desafio para os pesquisadores interessados nessa temática, principalmente quando se trata de grupos inseridos em contextos culturais diferenciados. Com o intuito de contribuir metodologicamente, o presente trabalho descreve um instrumento de investigação qualitativo (Questionário de Rotinas Familiares - QRF), utilizado para coletar dados de rotinas de famílias que vivem em uma comunidade ribeirinha amazônica, cuja característica principal é o isolamento geográfico e social. São apresentadas as etapas de construção do instrumento, as adaptações necessárias e o modo de organização dos resultados (Diagrama de Atividades Familiares - DAF), ilustrados a partir de um caso investigado