Digital Commons Network^™

Horses Helping Children Grow, Louise Graham, Allison Lindsey

Counselor Education Faculty Publications

A review of Animal-Assisted Therapy and related terms such as "Animal-Assisted Activities" is presented as an introduction to the exploration of additional equine applications with children. Animal-Assisted Therapy has been studied, but Animal-Assisted Activities with children facing normal developmental struggles has not received much attention. Definitions and research for various animal activities and therapies are reviewed. Subsequent focus will be on equines helping children via Animal-Assisted Activities to meet normal developmental challenges. Creating parallels using a horse is an avenue to working with children, aiding them in the process of introspection, self-monitoring, self-efficacy, self-esteem, metacognitions, and overcoming angst associated with …

Liberia : Maternal Health & Ebola, Chelsey Hernandez

Global Public Health

Throughout the world, many low-income countries suffer from poor nutrition, lack of health resources, and little to no access to other valuable resources. Previous research has demonstrated the poor state of health in Liberia as a result of these various socioeconomic factors. Although Liberia faces many public health issues, the 2014 Ebola epidemic reversed whatever progress was made. Maternal and child health in particular has severely decreased, especially in recent years. This brief focuses on the impact of the 2014 Ebola epidemic had on maternal health.

Vulnerability To Alcohol-Related Problems: A Policy Brief With Implications For The Regulation Of Alcohol Marketing, Thomas F. Babor, Katherine Robaina, Jonathan K. Noel, E. Bruce Ritson

Health & Wellness Department Faculty Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Behavioural Problems In Children With 46xy Disorders Of Sex Development, N.M. Selveindran, S.Z.S. Zakaria, M.Y. Jalaludin, R. Rasat

Research Publications (2016 to 2020)

The aim of this study is to determine the behavioural problems of children with 46XY disorders of sex development (DSD) with genital ambiguity and to identify the risk factors that may influence behaviour. The 27 participants (aged 6–18 years) consisted of 21 patients raised as boys and 6 patients raised as girls. Control data were obtained from a representative sibling of each patient who was matched for age and gender. The study tool used was the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), which is a parent-administered questionnaire. The analysis of the behavioural scores revealed that the patient group had poorer scores in …

Spina Bifida, Grayson N. Holmbeck, Kathy Zebracki, Jaclyn Lennon Papadakis, Colleen F. Bechtel Driscoll

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Spina bifida (SB) is a relatively common congenital birth defect that has a pervasive impact on the physical, neurocognitive, psychological, and social functioning of affected individuals and their families. Given the characteristics of this condition as well as the complexities of medical adherence in this population, pediatric psychologists are uniquely qualified to provide assessment and intervention services to these individuals.

Gender And Incarceration — Family Relationships And The Right To Be A Parent, Carol Strickman

Western New England Law Review

Parental incarceration thwarts the relationships of children with their parents. Nurturing family bonds run counter to the dominant philosophy and practices of incarceration, which punish people by removing them from their families and communities, restraining them in small spaces, and depriving them of ordinary freedoms, pleasures, and self-determination. Family-friendly programs mandated by the legislature often fail in the implementation phase due to a lack of political and community support.

This article examines three California prison programs that focus on prisoners’ relationships with their children and other family members. California’s mother-infant programs provide innovative alternatives to traditional prison, where pregnant women …

Effect Of Slant Boards In Combination With Handwriting Practice, Kristen N. Brevoort

Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Handwriting difficulties affect 10% to 30% of children in elementary school often hindering their successful participation in a number of occupations, including academic participation. Occupational therapists provide treatments for handwriting difficulties; however, many of these interventions have limited to no evidence to support their effectiveness. One of these interventions is the use of a slant board, a treatment strategy often combined with handwriting practice. Clinicians commonly combine the use of slant boards and handwriting practice to facilitate the development of handwriting skills in young children. However, the effectiveness of this combination of interventions in improving the quality of handwriting remains …

Universal Design Across The Curriculum: Training For Students And Teachers, Trish Mackeogh, James Hubbard, Kieran O'Callaghan

Research and Innovation - Articles

Providing an inclusive educational setting for children with disabilities is essential if they are to truly benefit from mainstream education. Universal design (UD) provides a framework to develop our classrooms, materials and methods to accommodate diverse learners and students with special educational needs without the need to retrofit or remove the student from the classroom. This paper outlines the theory and the approach of two training courses on Universal Design developed for teachers and students.

Real Time Monitoring Of Children, And Adults With Mental Disabilities Using A Low-Cost Non-Invasive Electronic Device, Carlos Polanco, Ignacio Islas Vazquez, Adrian Martinez-Rivas, Miguel Arias-Estrada, Thomas Buhse, Juan J. Calva, Carlos Aguilar Salinas, Claudia Pimentel Instituto Nacional De Pediatría, Vladimir N. Uversky

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

There are a growing number of small children—as well as adults—with mental disabilities (including elderly citizens with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of age-related dementia) that are getting lost in rural and urban areas for various reasons. Establishing their location within the first 72 h is crucial because lost people are exposed to all kinds of adverse conditions and in the case of the elderly, this is further aggravated if prescribed medication is needed. Herein we describe a non-invasive, low-cost electronic device that operates constantly, keeping track of time, the geographical location and the identification of the subject using it. …

Effects Of Cumulative Risk On Asthma Outcomes In Urban Children And Adolescents, Samantha A. Miadich

Theses and Dissertations

Pediatric asthma disproportionately affects racial/ethnic minority children and children living in low-income, urban areas. Many families living in low-income, urban areas experience a number of stressors that can place children/adolescents at risk for worse asthma outcomes. This study examined the impact of a cumulative risk model of stressors (e.g., ED visits, quick-relief medication use, lung function, asthma control, QOL) in urban children (7-12 years) with persistent asthma. This study further aimed to examine both the original cumulative risk model and an adolescent-specific cumulative risk model as predictors of asthma outcomes in a sample of 60 adolescents (13-17 years). Asthma-related caregiver …

Effects Of Pre-Session Exposure To Reinforcers On Correct Responding And Problem Behavior Of Children With Autism, Charlotte C. Mann

Doctoral Dissertations - College of Arts and Sciences

"Reinforcer sampling has been demonstrated to increase correct academic responding during teaching sessions (Park, Pereia Delgado, Choi & Greer, 2008) and to increase the frequency of hospital patients exchanging tokens for reinforcing events (Ayllon & Azrin, 1968). Further research is warranted to evaluate the impact of pre-teaching events, such as reinforcer sampling, on subsequent performance of children with autism. The purpose of Study 1 was to compare academic skill acquisition, academic skill maintenance, and problem behavior with and without pre-session exposure to reinforcing stimuli. Two children diagnosed with autism participated in the study. Data were collected on percentage correct performance …

Effects Of Specific Home Environment Factors On A Child's Weight, Molly Millage

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: In 2011-2014 8.9% of children 2-5 years old were classified as obese. Obesity in children predisposes them to negative health and psychological consequences. One of the most significant factors that influences a child is the physical environment the child is exposed to, which includes the home environment.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine how the home environment ie. cooking equipment, food preparation/availability, and frequency of family meals eaten at home, contribute to childhood obesity in children 3-5 years old.
Design: This study was a cross-sectional analysis of the iGrow Readers study.
Participants/setting: Total of 229 parent/child …

Civil Rights Gone Wrong: Racial Nostalgia, Historical Memory, And The Boston Busing Crisis In Contemporary Children’S Literature, Lynnell L. Thomas

American Studies Faculty Publication Series

On May 14, 2014, three white Boston city councilors refused to vote to approve a resolution honoring the sixtieth anniversary of Brown v. the Board of Education because, as one remarked, “I didn’t want to get into a debate regarding forced busing in Boston.” Against the recent national proliferation of celebrations of civil rights milestones and legislation, the controversy surrounding the fortieth anniversary of the court decision that mandated busing to desegregate Boston public schools speaks volumes about the historical memory of Boston’s civil rights movement. Two highly acclaimed contemporary works of children’s literature set during or inspired by Boston’s …

Predictors Of Health Related Quality Of Life In Childhood Epilepsy And Comparison Withhealthy Children: Findings From An Indian Study, Dipika Bansal, Chandrika Azad, Kapil Gudala, Anil Dasari

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Background/aim: Children with epilepsy have reduced health-related quality of life (HRQOL) due to disease and medications. We aimed to assess child-reported HRQOL in Indian children with epilepsy and compare it with that in healthy children. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study of 256 children with epilepsy aged between 5 and 18 years on antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment for at least 3 months was performed and 125 age and sex matched healthy children were included. A generic version of the Pediatric Quality of Life (PedsQL version 4) scale was used to assess HRQOL. Results: Children with epilepsy had diminished scores in …

Early Life Factors And Health Outcomes In Children And Mothers, Olubunmi Olufunke Orekoya

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focused on early life exposures and their impact on children and mothers’ health. It consists of three distinct studies with an overarching goal of understanding how early life factors influence health outcomes among children and mothers. The broad aims are: 1) to examine the association between maternal gestational weight gain and offspring weight at 1 year, while assessing the mediating role of birth weight; 2) to determine the association between breastfeeding practices and development of allergic conditions (eczema/skin allergy, hay fever/respiratory allergy, and asthma); and 3) to examine the association between breastfeeding and postpartum weight retention at 12 …

Counteracting Diminished Privacy In An Augmented Reality: Protecting Geolocation Privacy, Diana Martinez

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.

Doing More For Children With Less: Multidisciplinary Representation Of Poor Children In Family Court And Probate Court, Robert N. Jacobs, Christina Riehl

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

Family court and probate court are Barmecide feasts for too many children, especially poor children with special needs. “Multidisciplinary representation” of children enables the courts to address needs and risks that cannot be resolved by fine-tuning a custody schedule, frequently at little or no additional cost to the taxpayers. Since most children cannot identify the salient issues in their cases and do not have standing in family court or probate court much less lawyers to represent them, it becomes the court’s responsibility in every case to identify the issues most relevant to children’s interests and decide whether multidisciplinary representation is …

Mom, Dad, Help Please: The Home Environment’S Influences On A Child’S Math Ability, Nicole Kerkhof

CMC Senior Theses

Recently, there has been a big surge of research and public interest in increasing the math capabilities and skills of American children. This paper serves as a literature review examining how the home environment, specifically parents, can help with that. This meta-analysis delves into the factors of maternal math talk, a parent’s own math anxiety, and the relationship between a parent and child in the context of a parent’s gender stereotypes and a parent’s perception on his or her child’s math abilities. Interventions, suggestions, and future implications are also discussed. This paper will hopefully bring needed awareness to parents about …

Unconditional Government Cash Transfer In Support Of Orphaned And Vulnerable Adolescents In Western Kenya: Is There An Association With Psychological Wellbeing?, Sylvia Shangani, Don Operario, Becky Genberg, Kipruto Kirwa, Miriam Midoun, Lukoye Atwoli, David Ayuku, Omar Galárraga, Paula Braitstein

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background

Orphaned and vulnerable adolescents (OVA) in sub-Saharan Africa are at greater risk for adverse psychological outcomes compared with their non-OVA counterparts. Social interventions that provide cash transfers (CTs) have been shown to improve health outcomes among young people, but little is known about their impact on the psychological wellbeing of OVA.

Objective

Among OVA in western Kenya, we assessed the association between living in a household that received monthly unconditional government CTs and psychological wellbeing.

Methods

We examined the likelihood of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and positive future outlook among 655 OVA aged between 10 and 18 …

Evaluating The Quality Of Physical Education Programs Provided By State Department Of Education Websites And The Relationships Between Adolescent Obesity And Sedentary Prevalence, Payton C. Mcwilliams

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research seeks to determine the relationships between the quality of physical education (PE) programs provided by state departments of education (DOE), obesity rates, and sedentary behaviors described as physical inactivity in adolescents ages 10-17 years old. A modified rubric based on the “Let’s Move Active Schools Assessment” was created and used to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the PE programs and physical activity (PA) opportunities provided by websites of the state’s DOE. A total of fourteen states were chosen to be assessed due to having either the highest or lowest obesity or physical inactivity rates. It was believed that the …

A Comparison Of Attitudes Towards Stuttering Of Non-Stuttering Preschoolers In The United States And Turkey, Mary E. Weidner, Kenneth O. St. Louis, Egemen Nakisci, Ramazan S. Ozdemir

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background and objectives: Extensive research documents ubiquitous negative attitudes towards stuttering, but when and how they develop is unclear. This non-experimental, comparative study examined US and Turkish preschoolers to explore the origin of stuttering attitudes cross-culturally.

Method: The authors compared stuttering attitudes of 28 US and 31 Turkish non-stuttering preschoolers on English and Turkish versions of experimental prototypes of the newly developed Public Opinion Survey on Human Attributes–Stuttering/Child (POSHA–S/Child). Children first watched a short video of two stuttering avatar characters and then answered oral questions about stuttering. Parents completed a demographic questionnaire. Differences in the US and Turkish …

A Case Study Exploration Of Teachers' Perspectives On Children's Mental Health Service Needs In Title I Elementary Schools, Natalie Denise Yates

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Children go to school for approximately 32 hours each week of an academic year. Many children who are in need of mental health treatment do not get the services they need because of barriers such as lack of access and stigma. Teachers are one of the primary sources of referrals for children's mental health services, and they often make referrals based on their perceptions of their students' mental health needs. Although teachers are typically the primary source of referrals for mental health services, they usually do not have any specialized mental health training. The purpose of this study was to …

A Mixed Methods Study Examining Parent Impressions Of A Psychoeducational Program On Common Issues During Childhood, Erika Rajo

Theses and Dissertations

The rate of youth suffering from untreated emotional and behavioral problems has risen in recent years. Various barriers to treatment utilization of youth and their families have been identified in the literature, including logistical factors (i.e. transportation, lack of child care), financial barriers, as well as system barriers (i.e. limited knowledge of mental health difficulties among parents of young children). Parents/caregivers are often the primary gatekeepers to treatment for children suffering from mental health problems. Additionally, psychoeducational programs have increasingly gained support as an effective evidence-based practice that may bolster treatment utilization among youth. A psychoeducational program for parents of …

Child Rights Trending: Accommodating Children With Disabilities In The Global Human Rights Framework And Us Foreign Policy, Janet E. Lord

Articles

This Article proceeds in three parts. Following the introduction, Part I analyzes the concept of child rights as applied to children with disabilities in instruments antecedent to the CRPD. It goes on to examine the treatment of children with disabilities in the CRC and in the text of the CRPD. In so doing, it exposes the significant conceptual shift in how children with disabilities are characterized as agents and holders of rights in the CRPD, in contrast to prior articulations. Part II explains how this new framework is used to expose and address major human rights issues that face children …

Ibusy: Research On Children, Families, And Smartphones, Bill R. Garris, Lindsay Lester, Erin Doran, Andrea Lowery

ETSU Faculty Works

Within the past 10 years, mobile devices have been widely adopted by adults and are now present in the lives of almost all U.S. children. While phones are common, our understanding of what effect this technology has upon children's development is lagging. Bioecological theory and attachment theory suggest that this new technology may be disruptive, especially to the degree to which it interferes with the parent-child relationship. This article reflects a National Organization for Human Services conference presentation and shares preliminary results from semi-structured interviews conducted with 18 youth, ages 7 through 11. Only four of eighteen interviewees voiced any …

Reducing Children's Behavior Problems Through Social Capital: A Causal Assessment, Ruth N.López Turley, Adam Gamoran, Alyn Turner Mccarty, Rachel Fish

Education and Child Study: Faculty Publications

Behavior problems among young children have serious detrimental effects on short and long-term educational outcomes. An especially promising prevention strategy may be one that focuses on strengthening the relationships among families in schools, or social capital. However, empirical research on social capital has been constrained by conceptual and causal ambiguity. This study attempts to construct a more focused conceptualization of social capital and aims to determine the causal effects of social capital on children's behavior. Using data from a cluster randomized trial of 52 elementary schools, we apply several multilevel models to assess the causal relationship, including intent to treat …

The Influence Of Books, Television, And Computers On Empathy And Altruistic Behavior In Young Children, Alicia Breyer

Scripps Senior Theses

The rising prevalence of media use and the decreasing use of books create a need for research on the positive learning effects these platforms may have on children. This study will explore how learning platforms (specifically books, television, and computers) in early childhood affect development of social awareness – in particular, empathy and altruistic behavior. The researcher will recruit approximately 192 participants, ages 3 to 5, and randomly assign them to one of three groups: book readers, television viewers, and computer gamers. The subject of the platform will be kept consistent through the use of the children’s television program Daniel …

Innocent Until Proven Guilty : ǂB Not For The Families Vicarious Incarceration Within A County Jail, Molly O'Connor

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

When an individual goes to jail, family members are often left in the shadow of the incarceration.This qualitative research study contributes to the incarceration literature by focusing on caregivers’ experiences at county jails, and by suggesting the usage of the term vicarious incarceration to fully encompass the levels of impact that incarceration has on the family. Caregivers in the present study engaged in a semi-structured interview modeled after Megan Comfort’s (2009) examination of secondary prisonization at San Quentin. Findings indicate that caregivers visiting a county jail do experience secondary prisonization, both at the jail and within the home. However the …

Enhancing Access To Post-Rape Care For Child Survivors In The Context Of Police And Health Services In Zambia: A Feasibility Assessment Of A Police Response Model, Nachela Chelwa, Kshipra Hemal, George Msipu Phiri, Michael Mbizvo, Chi-Chi Undie

Reproductive Health

This study builds on previous interventions by the Population Council and the Zambia Police Service to mitigate unintended pregnancy and HIV among survivors of sexual violence by involving trained police in task-sharing interventions. These previous efforts have involved police providing emergency contraceptive pills and HIV post-exposure prophylaxis to survivors reporting to police stations, in addition to referrals to health facilities. The objective of the current study was to assess the feasibility of implementing a transportation intervention within police stations, coupled with training and sensitization for police officers to perform their government-mandated roles in post-rape care. This intervention was developed as …

The Effects Of A Lag 5 Schedule Of Reinforcement On Toy Play Response Variability, Holly Lynn Sutton

All Master's Theses

Variability in behaviors is a necessary part of living and thriving. Variability allows a person to adapt to new settings, problem solve, and survive. Individuals with an autism spectrum diagnosis lack response variability in their behavioral repertoire, which leads to a lack of problem solving and adaptive skills. Rigid toy play is a common symptom of autism spectrum disorder and shows a larger lack of overall response variability. A lag schedule of reinforcement requires the organism to vary their current response from previous responses in order to receive reinforcement. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effect …