Digital Commons Network^™

Environmental Conditions And The Fertility Intentions Of Utahns, Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed, Jennifer E. Givens

Utah People and Environment Poll (UPEP)

One of the most important decisions a person may make in their lifetime is whether to have children. Many factors shape fertility intentions and outcomes. A better understanding of individual reproductive intentions can shed light on current fertility patterns, enable more accurate population projections^1-2 and planning efforts, and improve our ability to address environmental drivers and implications.

Early Sibling Play Interactions As A Source Of Developmental Support For Toddlers: Observation Of Young Children's Developmental Support During Play With Toddler Siblings, Tasha L. Olson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The sibling relationship is a unique and important context for infant and early child development. Despite the important role of siblings and the unique aspects of the sibling relationship, sibling interactions are largely overlooked by scholars as a resource of potential developmental support. Identifying and fostering developmentally supportive interaction (DSI) behaviors in sibling relationships may expand available supports for children’s early development and may also support family well-being.

This study used a sample of 15 child-toddler sibling pairs to identify DSI behaviors in interactions between young children and their toddler-aged siblings, determine if and how well DSI behaviors could be …

Substance Use Initiation Among Mexican Children: An Examination Of Individual And Ecological Factors, Alejandro L. Vázquez

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mexico is experiencing increased rates of substance use among children and adolescents. This is concerning as early substance use is associated with an increased risk for developing mental and physical health problems during adulthood. These outcomes may be prevented through early identification and intervention before individuals encounter the negative consequences of substance use/abuse. The current dissertation sought to improve our knowledge regarding factors associated with substance use and intention for first time use among Mexican children. Three manuscripts examined child individual characteristics and aspects of their environment. The first manuscript examined demographic characteristics to determine whether particular groups of children …

Preschool Children's Development In Number, Geometry, And Executive Function: A Cross-Lagged Examination, Brionne G. Neilson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Children develop rapidly during early childhood, and this includes their mathematics and executive function (EF) skills. Past research has focused on connections between early mathematics and EF, but more work was needed to fully understand these relations. In particular, past studies have generally used numeracy-based measures to assess early mathematics, although professional guidelines indicate a more comprehensive construct that includes geometry. The research herein addresses some of the gaps of previous work as it examines unique connections between early number, geometry, and EF. One hundred eighteen preschool children from urban and rural communities, being an average age of 53 months …

Validation Of A Brief Prosody Rating Scale For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sarai S. Holbrook

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Differences in the speech prosody, or "melody" of speech, of persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have long been noted by researchers. Yet, despite many studies, researchers have not identified a universal description of speech prosody in ASD. It may be flat or monotonous, not different from typical, or overly variable. However, atypical speech prosody can immediately set someone apart from their peers. This distinction could negatively social, academic, and vocational interactions. For those persons with ASD whose speech prosody is different from typical and interferes with daily functioning, valid, reliable, and efficient assessments of speech prosody are needed. Currently, …

Working Memory And Syntactic Processing In Bilingual And Monolingual Children, Carla I. Orellana

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between complex auditory working memory, syntactic knowledge, and complex sentence comprehension in bilingual and monolingual children using both offline (behavioral) and online (eye-tracking) measures. There were 19 children in the monolingual group and 19 children in the bilingual group with an average age of 11 years. The children listened to sentences, while looking at a screen with three images of the three nouns in the sentence. They were instructed to select the doer of the action (agent). Their eye movements were recorded as they completed this task. The four sentence …

Risk And Protective Factors With Native American Indian And Alaska Native Children Who Have A History Of Suicidal Behavior, Jennifer Weniger, Sonya Young, Christine Hernandez

Journal of Indigenous Research

Suicide is a leading public health problem in the United States, and Native American Indian and Alaska Native individuals are at an increased risk for suicide. This study sought to understand the demographic and clinical risk and protective factors for young Native American Indian and Alaska Native children who were hospitalized due to suicide ideation, or an attempt. The demographic and clinical variables evaluated included religious preference, sexual orientation, prior suicidal behavior and psychiatric admissions, history of abuse, CPS involvement, family history of mental illness, family history of substance use, family history of suicidal behaviors, domestic violence, recent significant losses, …

Innovative Identification Of Substance Use Predictors: Machine Learning In A National Sample Of Mexican Children, Alejandro L. Vázquez, Melanie M. Domenech Rodríguez, Tyson S. Barrett, Sarah E. Schwartz Sarah.Schwartz@Usu.Edu, Nancy G. Amador Buenabad, Marycarmen N. Bustos Gamiño, María De Lourdes Gutiérrez López, Jorge A. Villatoro Velázquez

Psychology Faculty Publications

Machine learning provides a method of identifying factors that discriminate between substance users and non-users potentially improving our ability to match need with available prevention services within context with limited resources. Our aim was to utilize machine learning to identify high impact factors that best discriminate between substance users and non-users among a national sample (N = 52,171) of Mexican children (i.e., 5th, 6th grade; Mage = 10.40, SDage = 0.82). Participants reported information on individual factors (e.g., gender, grade, religiosity, sensation seeking, self-esteem, perceived risk of substance use), socioecological factors (e.g., neighborhood quality, community type, peer influences, parenting), and …

Hearing Care And Management Priority Among Parents Of Children With Down Syndrome: A Grounded Theory, John J. Whicker, Karen F. Muñoz, Nicole J. Pearson, Trenton J. Landon, Lauri H. Nelson, Karl R. White, Michael P. Twohig

Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education Faculty Publications

Objective: This study qualitatively explored the factors that influence how parents of children who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing with Down syndrome prioritize hearing care and management and developed an associated theory to explain that priority.

Design: Grounded theory was used for the purposes of this qualitative study. Data were collected using in-depth interviews which were analyzed using a three-tiered qualitative coding process.

Study Sample: Eighteen mothers of children who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing with Down syndrome participated in this study.

Results: The higher the extent of engaged professional support, perception of benefit for child, parent activation, and family engagement, the …

The Influence Of Perceived Parenting On Substance Initiation Among Mexican Children, Alejandro L. Vázquez, Melanie M. Domenech-Rodriguez, Nancy G. Amador Buenabad, Marycarmen N. Bustos Gamiño, María De Lourdes Gutierrez López, Jorge A. Villatoro Velázquez

Psychology Faculty Publications

Parents shape their children's behaviors and impact their developmental trajectories. Despite this, few studies have examined the potential relationship between child reported parenting factors and lifetime substance use and use intentions. The current study examined the potential impact of parenting factors (i.e., positive parenting, supervision, parental illicit substance use, substance-specific communication) on early substance use and intentions among Latinx children. Data for the present study utilized a representative sample of Mexican children (n = 52,171; 5th and 6th grades) who participated in a national survey on substance use. Children reported their demographics, lifetime substance use/intentions, and perceived parenting characteristic …

Body Dissatisfaction And Weight Bias In Children, Megan Janette Jensen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This article reviews the rate of body dissatisfaction and weight bias among young children. It was initially hypothesized that body-image begins much earlier than adolescence, where most interventions take place. Out of fifty articles read on the subject, forty-five peer reviewed articles were included in this review. The findings of these articles were synthesized for a comprehensive review on the topic. Results suggested that weight bias begins around three years of age, while body dissatisfaction begins around age five for girls, and seven for boys. Rates of body dissatisfaction among children were similar to the rate among adolescents, averaging out …

Grammatical Accuracy Of Narratives Produced By Typically Developing Children Ages 4-7 In Three Story Contexts, Sierra Martin Southwick

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Guo & Schneider (2016) explored different approaches to identifying grammatical impairments in 128 children developing typically (TL) and those with language impairments (LI) between the ages of 6 and 8. The measures that they explored included: calculating the finite verb morphology composite (FVMC), the number of errors per C-unit (Errors/CU), and the percent of grammatical C-units (PGCUs) in narrative samples. They found that all three outcome measures provided acceptable diagnostic accuracy when applied to six-year-olds, but PCGUs were found to be the most accurate tool with eight-year-olds.

The purpose of the current study was to analyze the narrative samples of …

An Examination Of Entrainment In Typically Developing Children, Kiersten A. Pope

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Purpose: Conversational entrainment describes the tendency for individuals to align their behavior with their communication partners and is essential for successful interaction. Evidence of entrainment in adults is robust, yet research regarding its development is sparse. Here, we investigate the effectiveness of a quasi-conversational paradigm for the purpose of identifying the speech rate entrainment abilities of children.

Method: Data were collected from a total of 50 typically developing children from 5-14 years old. Participants completed an entrainment task to identify the presence of speech rate modification depending on the presence of “fast” or “slow” stimuli. The entrainment task utilized a …

Incentivizing Fruit, Vegetable, And Physical Activity Level Change: Expansion And Evaluation Of The Fit Game Program For Healthy Behavior Change In Elementary Schools, Damon L. Joyner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Researchers in the Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Science department and Psychology department sought to improve healthy behaviors in elementary schools such as fruit and vegetable consumption (FV) and daily physical activity (PA). We chose to use a healthy behavior program called the “FIT Game” that has successfully increased FV consumption among elementary-aged children over short periods of time. Our aim was to improve the program by lowering operating costs, adjusting its materials to target PA and see if it could maintain healthy eating improvements over a longer period of time. Our series of research shows encouraging results: short term improvements …

Parenting Advice And Regrets Of Empty-Nesters, Ashton Chapman, David G. Schramm

Human Development and Family Studies Faculty Publications

Objective: To identify the advice and regrets empty-nest parents have when reflecting on their experiences as parents, and to investigate the utility of the parenting pyramid framework for parent education on the basis of that advice and those regrets.

Background: The parenting pyramid specifies that the parent–child relationship, teaching, and corection are key components of parenting, and that they should be emphasized in that order or priority. However, the extent to which this model is reflective of what parents actually think or do, or wish they would have done, remains unclear.

Method: Empty-nesters were recruited through social media, professional e-mail …

A Systematic Review Of Language Therapy In Pediatric Brain Tumor Survivors, Ari Watt

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Purpose: Brain tumors and associated treatments in children have been shown to cause long term neurological damage. While there is a large body of research focusing on treating associated cognitive deficits, relatively little research has focused on improving linguistic ability in this population. This systematic review identified and summarized the available evidence related to language treatment for pediatric brain tumor survivors.

Methods: A systematic electronic database search resulted in the identification of four relevant treatment studies, two position papers and one online forum. A data extraction manual and form was used to methodically extract study information related to participant demographics, …

Changing The World Through The Word: Developing Critical Consciousness Through Multicultural Children’S Literature With Critical Literacy In An Elementary Classroom, Hyekyoung Lee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to explore how fifth graders develop critical consciousness regarding the self and the world through critical literacy approaches using multicultural children’s literature. I employed Lewison, Flint, and Van Sluys’ four dimensions of critical literacy. I used a qualitative case study to design, frame and conduct this study in order to collect data and examine students’ cultural patterns including values, beliefs, behaviors, and language that they enacted in the critical literacy practices. I collected data through classroom observations, semi-structured students and teacher interviews, informal conversation, researcher’s reflective journal entries and field notes, and student-made artifacts. …

A Dynamic Measure Of Morphological Awareness In Young Children, Frances Elizabeth Gibson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Although sound awareness has been proven critical for skilled literacy development, further investigation is needed to examine additional factors that could also be critical. Awareness of meaning or morphological awareness is an additional factor that could impact literacy development. Although morphological awareness is mastered early in spoken language, little is known in regard to this skill in other language and literacy contexts. This study investigated the validity of a dynamic measure of morphological awareness (DMMA) in young children. Seventy-eight first-grade children completed a language and literacy battery. Morphological awareness was assessed using both a standardized and an experimental measure comprised …

Increasing Fruit And Vegetable Intake Among Children And Youth Through Gardening-Based Interventions: A Systematic Review, Mateja R. Savoie-Roskos

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Although there are numerous health benefits associated with eating fruit and vegetables (FV), few children are consuming recommended amounts. Gardening interventions have been implemented in various settings in an effort to increase FV consumption of children by expanding knowledge, exposure, and preferences for a variety of FV.
Objective: The purpose of this review was to identify the effectiveness of gardening interventions that have been implemented to increase FV consumption among children.
Methods: A systematic review was conducted using four electronic databases: Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and CINAHL. English language studies conducted in developed countries between …

The Influence Of Prior Motor Actions On Motor Planning In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Daisha Lynn Cummins

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Studies have found children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have a rigidity of motor plans and difficulties planning and executing movements. Children with ASD also exhibit repetitive behaviors such as nail biting and rocking back and forth. When planning for movements, repetitive behaviors might manifest as difficulty in formulating new or switching between different motor plans. In typically developing individuals, actions are often influence by recently performed motor actions. We sought to determine if this influence was stronger in children with ASD.

A rotation motor task was created to evaluate the rigidity of motor planning of five children with ASD …

Children As A Reserve Labor Force, David F. Lancy

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Human life history is unique in the great length of the juvenile or immature period. The lengthened period is often attributed to the time required for youth to master the culture, particularly subsistence and survival skills. But an increasing number of studies show that children become skilled well before they gain complete independence and the status of adults. It seems, as they learn through play and participation in the domestic economy, children are acquiring a “reserve capacity” of skills and knowledge, which they may not fully employ for many years. The theory offered here to resolve this paradox poses that, …

Bridging Music And The Early Childhood Curriculum In Listening And Spoken Language Programs For Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing, Whitney Wright

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Music is an integral aspect of human life. Its impact weaves through arts, culture, communication, recreation, and education. In addition to benefits of enjoyment and entertainment, music is a vital component of early childhood educational settings. Educators routinely utilize music as an embedded component of instruction to meet both group and individual needs of young children in early childhood classrooms. In fact, specialized musical instruction can be particularly beneficial for children with disabilities, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) (Gfeller, Driscoll, Kenworthy, & Van Voorst, 2011). Children who are DHH are at significant risk for speech, …

Teacher Perception Of Social/Emotional Skills Of Preschool Children And The Relationship To Common Core Standards, A. Mi'kel Price

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Sampson is a 4-year-old preschooler. It is difficult for him to make friends, understand simple social settings, and interact with peers. He struggles to interpret incoming contextual information (such as talking to a peer about the blocks they are playing with), has difficulty comprehending non-literal/figurative expressions (such as jokes and irony), and implicit messages (such as when a child does not want to play with him). Sampson’s difficulties increase his risk of social isolation and lower self-esteem.

This vignette offers a glimpse into the challenges faced by children with low social/emotional skills. The social use of language, often referred to …

Dramatic Play Affordances Of Natural And Manufactured Outdoor Settings For Preschool-Aged Children, Kimberly K. Cloward Drown

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Concern for child wellness has led play professionals to explore natural playscapes as a means to enhance free play and consequently child development. For preschool children, dramatic or make-believe play is particularly beneficial for enhancing cognitive, social, and emotional skill. Dramatic play in collaboration with other children (sociodramatic play) and, surpassing that, complex socio-dramatic play (group make-believe with a sustained theme that uses sophisticated symbolism) are most valuable for development.

This study compared natural and manufactured outdoor play settings to determine which provided the most opportunity for quality dramatic play. Twenty-four 3- to 5- year olds were observed during daily …

Validating Resonance Raman Spectroscopy: A Non-Invasive Assessment Of Skin Carotenoids As A Biomarker Of Fruit And Vegetable Intake In Children, Sheryl Swain Aguilar

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Background: Adult studies have found a strong correlation between serum carotenoids and skin carotenoids measured by resonance Raman spectroscopy (RRS). No published studies have examined correlations between skin and serum carotenoids among children.

Objectives: (1) To validate skin RRS methodology against serum carotenoid measurements by high-performance liquid chromatography and (2) to determine if RRS skin carotenoids can be used as a valid biomarker of total fruit and vegetable (FV) intake among children.

Design: Participants were 45 healthy children age 5-17 who provided 3 blood samples used to assess serum carotenoid concentrations and 3 RRS skin measurements (using a Biophotonic ScannerTM) …

Does Teaching Narrative Structure To Children With Language Impairments Improve Comprehension Of Expository Text?, Brynne Cook Evans

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Research has shown that knowledge of narrative text structure enhances students’ abilities to comprehend and produce narrative discourse. The current study was designed to determine if training in narrative text structure was associated with improved comprehension for expository passages that adhered to a narrative structure. Six children between the ages of 5:3 and 9:7 with language impairments participated. Children were matched by grade and randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. Participants in the intervention group received instruction 2 times a week for 45-minute sessions for a duration of 12 weeks from a graduate student in speech-language pathology with …

Speech Production Tool For Children With Hearing Loss, Brittney Lamb

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Acoustics are particularly important to consider when assessing the speech production of young children with hearing loss who use listening and spoken language as their main communication modality. Even though standardized assessments, such as the Goldman-Fristoe test of Articulation-2nd Edition (GFTA-2: Goldman & Fristoe, 2000), are appropriate speech production measures for children with hearing loss, they are not designed to facilitate interpretation related to a child’s access to acoustic information (e.g., Flipsen & Connor, 2004; Ertmer, 2010; Flipsen 2011). The Acoustic Monitoring Protocol (AMP; Blaiser & Lamb, 2012) was created to be used with the GFTA-2 Sounds in Words subsection …

Do Attitudes About Spoiling Children Affect Attitudes Regarding What Infants Need For Early Social-Emotional Development, Kathleen Westover

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Infants that are raised in a warm loving environment have an increased probability of growing into responsible loving adults. Infants have the ability to make their needs known through different cues such as crying. Many parents do not understand how to respond appropriately to their infant’s cues. For instance many parents believe that if you pick up an infant every time they cry they will become spoiled. Researchers have studied the effects of responding appropriately to an infant. Infants who have their needs met when they demonstrate signs of distress learn that the world is a safe place for exploration. …

Dads' Parent Interactions With Children-Checklist Of Observations Linked To Outcomes (Piccolo-D): Developing An Observational Measure Of Father-Child Interaction, Sheila Anderson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Intervention programs providing support for father parenting skills need a practical but psychometrically strong observational measure of fathers’ early positive parenting interactions with children. The primary purpose of this project was to develop a valid, reliable observational measure of father-child interaction, based on research and theory, that predicts child outcomes, identifies fathers’ strengths, and will be useful for home visiting practitioners. This study sought to fulfill this need by developing a new measure called Dads’ Parenting Interactions with Children—Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (PICCOLO-D) for home visitors to use to identify fathering strengths. Developed with extant video observations of …

Utah Preschool Outcomes Data System, Sandeep Venigalla

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

In the State of Utah, both state and federal government agencies work together to provide special education services to eligible children. An important part of this effort is to document the effectiveness of the program, which can be measured in terms of the outcomes, namely, the progress of the individual children. This information can help identify both strengths and weaknesses of special education programs within the state, which in turn can lead to program improvements and better allocation of resources. This report describes a software system that supports the tracking of child and program outcomes for special education within Utah. …