Digital Commons Network^™

Academic Proficiency In Ugandan Children With Sickle Cell Anemia: A Cross-Sectional Study, Robert Opoka, Shubaya Kasule Naggayi, Paul Bangirana, Simple Ouma, Betty Nyangoma, Annet Birabwa, Grace Nambatya, Maxencia Kabatabaazi, Ann Jacqueline Nakitende, Dennis Kalibbala

Paediatrics and Child Health, East Africa

Introduction: Academic proficiency is crucial for advancing learning goals, school advancement, and future economic security. Children with sickle cell anemia (SCA) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) may be at risk of disease-associated learning difficulties. Limited data exist on this topic among school-age children in the region. We aimed to assess academic proficiency in a sample of children with SCA in Uganda compared with unaffected controls.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Kampala, Uganda. Participants were school-going children with SCA, aged 6–12 years, attending Mulago Hospital SCA Clinic, and age-matched sibling controls without SCA. Academic proficiency was assessed by the Wide …

Minnesota's Path To Prosperity: A Single Case Study Examining The Evolution Of Children's Programs And The Birth Of The Department Of Children, Youth And Families (Dcyf) - Implications For The Well-Being Of Minnesota Families, Shaneen D. Moore

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

This case study research inquiry delves into the possibilities of restructuring children's programs, with a specific focus on the establishment of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) in Minnesota. The goal is to address and rectify ongoing challenges in the current system by employing a human-centered design approach. These challenges encompass program silos, restricted access to essential resources, and the pervasive scarcity mindset that detrimentally affects the well-being of Minnesota families. The study endeavors to investigate how the restructuring, realignment, and innovation of children's services can result in an adaptive, transformative, and people-centric system capable of providing holistic …

National Para Social Workers Handbook, Ministry Of Gender Labour And Social Development, Republic Of Uganda

Humanitarian Task Force

A resource guide for supporting para social workers in delivery of child protection and well-being services at community level in Uganda. This revised handbook integrates the Baobab project's sexual violence screening intervention.

Improving Policies And Addressing Regulatory Barriers To Grow And Support Tennessee's Child Care Industry

Miscellaneous Reports

No abstract provided.

What About The Children? An Exploration Of Family Counselors' Play Therapy Training And Preparedness To Integrate Children Into Family Counseling, Patricia J. Walker Monical

Dissertations

Children are an important part of families, yet family counselor education programs often do not incorporate training for including children in family counseling. At some point in their careers, family counselors and therapists will encounter clients who have children 3–12 years old. The problem is that since these professionals often receive little to no training in play therapy and thus do not typically include young children in family therapy, these younger family members are often overlooked. Research has confirmed that, due to a lack of sufficient training and supervision in play therapy, many family therapists report feeling unprepared to work …

Pick Up A Frog, Or Pet A Dog; Animals Are Our First Teachers, Allison Ratner

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation’s goal was an attempt to answer the question: What are the emotional, cognitive, and/or spiritual effects of children’s relationships/interactions with animals that potentially impact their development? By utilizing autoethnography, I analyzed instances from my own life where interacting with animals changed me permanently; my thinking, my knowing, my feeling, my judgement, my empathy, my attitude, and my ethics. With a standpoint rooted in the research of experts from the fields of psychology and education, I combined my personal knowledge gained over a lifetime, to grant merit to the profundity of children’s relationships with animals. With the analyzed data, …

Balancing Digital Presents And Futures: Understanding First-Time Parents’ Practices, Plans And Perceptions Of ‘Quality’ And Risk In Young Children's Digital Engagements, Katrin Langton, Emma Jayakumar, Harrison W. See, Catherine Archer, Giselle Woodley

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Parents in Australia today have to make decisions about what counts as appropriate digital media use for their young children in a cultural context characterised by conflicting advice, impractical screen use recommendations and risk-focussed media messaging. These conditions make it challenging for parents to purposefully approach and plan not only their children's current digital engagements but also their futures as digital citizens. How parents negotiate these tensions in managing their young children's digital presents, and how they approach planning for their digital futures, remains underexplored. This paper presents the findings of two rounds of qualitative interviews and three focus groups …

"They Don't Get It": Marginalized Mothers And Their Experiences With Social Support", Zuleida Herba

Counseling and Psychology Dissertations

Maternal caregivers of children with developmental disabilities (DD) experience a significant burden of care and increased parenting stress, making social support crucial to family well-being. This qualitative study used a feminist, intersectional framework to examine how marginalized mothers of children with DD, who have been less extensively studied than majority mothers (Stober & Franzese, 2018), perceive and experience social support from extended family, friends and community members. It also examined how social supports impact the mother’s quality of life, understanding that the caregiver's well-being is a determining factor for the child's well-being. The study investigated, from mothers’ perspectives, what kind …

Beyond Fear: Opportunities And Positive Use Of Ict Among Children And Adolescents, Mariana Buenestado-Fernández, Rosa García-Ruiz, Estefanía Jiménez-Iglesias, Rosario Barba-González

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This study aimed to understand the advantages of digital connectivity in children and teenagers up to 18 years. Utilizing the PRISMA protocol, a decade’s worth of literature was reviewed, analyzing 128 articles from WOS and Scopus databases. The research highlighted five key areas where digital connectivity can exert a positive impact on children: 1) Entertainment, information, and communication; 2) Emotional and social development; 3) Healthy lifestyle; 4) Citizen participation; and 5) education. Recent trends show a rise in studies related to education and training, mainly employing qualitative methods, and predominantly focusing on European adolescents (12 to 18). The research’s goal …

Emotional Wellbeing Of Asylum-Seeking Children After Release From Immigration Detention, Luis H. Zayas, Alice P. Villatoro, Tatiana Londoño, Jaime Fuentes-Balderrama

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Families seeking asylum in the United States are often placed in detention centers after fleeing crime, violence, and government ineffectiveness in their countries. Migration brings more hardship, terror, and trauma. The cumulative psychological and social effects from detention need to be better understood. This exploratory study examines the effects of detention and family separation on immigrant children’s psychosocial wellbeing after released. We recruited 81 Central American children previously detained with their parents to assess their wellbeing since release. A third of the children had been separated from their parents during detention. Over a third of parents and less than a …

Reducing Food Insecurity In Pediatric Patients And Families, Alexandra Yusah Cramer

General Submissions: Clinical Settings Materials

This pilot was designed to evaluate the feasibility of implementing food insecurity interventions on our pediatric general surgery and orthopedic inpatient unit.

Supporting African Communities To Increase Resilience And Mental Health Of Kids With Developmental Disabilities And Their Caregivers Using The World Health Organization’S Caregiver Skills Training Programme (Spark Trial): Study Protocol For A Cluster Randomised Clinical Controlled Trial, Melissa Nortey, Vibian Angweny, Beatrice Mkubwa, Rosa Hoekstra, Andrew Healey, Rahel Birhane, Nadine Seward, Temesgen Azmeraw, Fikite Girma

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Background: Most children with developmental disabilities (DD) live in low- and middle-income countries, but access to services is limited, impacting their ability to thrive. Pilot study findings of the World Health Organization’s Caregiver Skills Training (WHO CST) intervention, which equips caregivers with strategies to facilitate learning and adaptive behaviours in children with DD, are promising but evidence from an appropriately powered trial delivered by non-specialist facilitators is lacking. This study will investigate the effectiveness and the resource impacts and costs and consequences of the WHO CST intervention in four sites in rural and urban Kenya and Ethiopia.

Methods: …

Examining The Adjustment And Coping Trajectories In Healthy Siblings Of Children With Life-Threatening Conditions, Joanne Tay

Dissertations

Siblings of children with life-threatening conditions are often referred to as "forgotten" mourners as focus tends to be on the ill child and parents. With limited knowledge about siblings' experience, it is challenging to provide appropriate supports.

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine and expand current evidence about siblings' experiences to guide research and clinical practice.

Using Latent Class Analysis To Conceptualize Heterogeneity Among Non-Resident Parents With Current Child Support Orders And Arrears: Identifying Windows Of Opportunity, Victoria Adkins Charles

Theses and Dissertations

Approximately 40% of children living in poverty are in a single parent household headed by their mother (Grall, 2017). The public child support services program exists to provide the service of establishing and enforcing child support orders for parents with primary legal custody of their child. Even with the child support services system in place, child support goes uncollected (Grall, 2020). Many of the non-resident parents (NRP) who are not paying live at poverty level as well. Child support research has focused primarily on NRPs’ ability to pay, but, generally, has drawn on the information contained in the constellation of …

Effectiveness Of An Occupational Therapy-Led Social Skills Group Using Parent Training: A Pilot Study, Sheryl Eckberg Zylstra, Yvonne L. Swinth, Aimee Sidhu, Julie Anderson

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Social skills support the development of a positive self-concept and engagement in a variety of life roles, habits, and routines. The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework clearly defines the occupational therapist’s role in working with children with difficulties in social skills; however, little research exists examining the effectiveness of occupational therapy-led group interventions to support social skills development. Incorporating parent training into social skill development can improve overall outcomes and reinforce skill development across contexts.

Objective: The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether an occupational therapy-led social skill group, combined with parent training, was effective …

Making Room, Rachel Strompf

Masters Theses

Massachusetts is the only state in the United States with a right-to-shelter law which guarantees shelter for families with children and pregnant women.¹ As of February 2024, 3,500 homeless families with children are being sheltered in a motel or hotel with an average length of stay of 14 months, because traditional family shelters have reached capacity.^2,3 While these families are provided temporary shelter, these shelters do not allow for the development of a true sense of “home.” While a motel meets the needs of rudimentary shelter, motels were never designed as long-term accommodations and certainly not with a …

Dance/Movement Therapy In The Treatment Of Emotional Dysregulation In Children With Emotional, Social, And Behavioral Challenges: A Literature Review, Sarah E. Scarbrough

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review examines the topic of emotional regulation as it relates to children with emotional, cognitive and behavioral impairments and the effectiveness of current treatment modalities. In this paper emotional regulation is conceptualized as the ability to modulate the intensity and/or duration of emotional responses. Emotional regulation is explored for both its intrinsic and extrinsic features and how they interact with treatment outcomes. Current psychotherapeutic and dance/ movement therapy interventions aimed at improving emotional awareness, expression, and regulation coping skills are discussed. Group interventions are investigated for their unique contributions to the development of emotional regulation skills. The importance …

A Comparison Of Body-Based Therapies Of Infant Development: A Literature Review, Nicole Rivera

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

In this thesis, I discuss two body-based therapies and explore their theory, body movement observation, assessments, application, and qualifications within an infant population. After my research, I have a more in-depth understanding of the differences and similarities between the methods and have more comprehension around what makes dance/movement therapy unique. I discovered that dance/movement therapists can collaboratively work alongside any medical facility due to the extensive training one must go through. A dance/movement therapist can use an assortment of assessments to give a client a treatment plan designed uniquely for them and their therapeutic goals. A dance/movement therapist can hold …

Music Therapy As A Support Model In Massachusetts Special Education: A Literature Review, Bonnie Diamond

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Mental health directly impacts student propensity for making academic progress in the public education system. For children with disabilities, it is especially vital to develop and implement techniques within special education that deliver personally tailored benefits. According to the United States Department of Education, music therapy offers highly effective support to a wide range of students within the school setting so that they may achieve academic success and be supported in their social/emotional development (U.S Department of Education, 2011; AMTA, 2021). In examining the multifaceted ways that music therapy can offer support within the structure of education and mental health, …

Exploring The Development Of Self-Concept Through Self-Portraits In Children With Significant Psychosocial And Emotional Needs, Kelsey Werner

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

An individual’s self-concept is under significant development during childhood and adolescents. For children with significant psychosocial and emotional needs their environment, peer group, and accommodations can have a significant impact on the emotional development of their self-concept. Establishing a sense of belonging within relationships is a crucial part of the human experience. A negative self-concept can create barriers to children engaging positively with their peers, family, and community, which diminishes the opportunity for a felt sense of belonging. This capstone thesis is an attempt to develop an art therapy method informed by the expressive therapies continuum (ETC) to support the …

Sexual Exploitation: The Crisis And Eradicative Solution, Tonnie Adams Bracey

Nonprofit and NGO Studies Student Projects

French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” I find this to be true in our current era of the digital age. Although technology has gifted a newly improved and vast method of making worldwide connections and broadening our perceptions and views, a change in how we communicate has conveniently presented itself, but the historic pattern of how we handle these new advancements have indeed stayed the same.
Smart phones are a mainstream vessel employing the world with a plethora of information while giving all sorts of people access to individual’s lives …

Resilience In Fatherhood: Exploring The Impact Of Absent Fathers On Black American Men's Parenting Narratives And Practices, Ericah Thomas

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study explores the role of Black American fathers and how they parent in the absence of their fathers growing up. Though a common narrative frames Black fathers as largely absent in the lives of their children, recent literature has aimed to demystify societal factors that may lead to this judgment. Influences such as media representation, welfare policies, and child support laws may contribute to the preservation of this trope (Rambert, 2021). Considering this misconception, it is important to advance the knowledge regarding Black fatherhood through their lived experiences despite circumstances that may perpetuate this myth.

The primary goal of …

Interpersonal Violence And The Impact On Children’S Educational Outcomes, Samantha Hurst

Senior Capstone Papers

This capstone explores the complex topic of interpersonal violence which impacts children in the home and their school outcomes. Understanding children who are not getting their emotional or physical needs met could have a harder time focusing, staying awake, or being present in the classroom is incredibly important. This paper examines the pre-existing literature on the topic of how children react to interpersonal violence and how punishment in schools can affect academic outcomes. A solution is proposed for teachers to be taught trauma informed care to increase empathy towards students and decrease behavioral suspensions. Trauma informed care can mitigate partial …

Protecting American Children: A Social-Ecological Analysis Of Pactp4, Julia Rossmiller

Student Works

The quantity of pesticides used annually in the United States exceeds one billion pounds every year, and the amount is only rising. The current law that governs the use of pesticides—The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), permits the use of 72 known pesticides that have been proven harmful and are banned in other countries. Research links the usage of pesticides to the health of individuals, families, and whole communities within the environment. Moreover, dangerous pesticides have been shown to disproportionately affect children, agricultural workers, people of color, and low-income communities. Despite the mounting evidence that confirms the adverse …

Juvenile Delinquency As A Contemporary Issue In Nigeria: Understanding The Impacts Of Parenting Styles, Single Parenting, And Marital Discord, Sunkanmi Folorunsho, Oluwakemi Abdulrazaq, Victor Ajayi

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

When addressing juvenile delinquencies in Nigeria, it is important to consider the roles and effects of parenting styles and family structures. Although, there are no universally accepted parenting styles, evidence and studies have pointed to some parenting styles that expose children to delinquent behaviors. We examined different parenting styles comprehensively in this article and how these styles can influence juvenile delinquencies. We also discussed the association between single-parenting and behavioral outcomes; accounting how single-parenting may increase risks of delinquencies. Furthermore, marital discord was discussed and social learning theory by Albert Bandura was adopted to buttress our positions. We concluded that …

Examining The Utility Of The Early Childhood Development Index (Ecdi) Among Children In The Nigeria Context, Ngozi V. Enelamah, Smitha Rao, Margaret Lombe, Mansoo Yu, Chrisann Newransky, Chrisann Newransky, Melissa L. Villodas, Andrew Foell, Von Nebbitt

Faculty Publications

An estimated 6 million children under the age of five in Nigeria (out of nearly 31 million) risk not reaching their full developmental potential. The dearth of context-relevant measures poses a challenge to the planning and implementation of effective interventions. This study assesses the utility of the Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI) in Nigeria. We used the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys to track progress among 3- to 4-year-old children (n = 11,073); 3-year-old, 51%; female, 49%. Using random calibration samples, the results from psychometric tests indicate that while over half of the children were on track in their development based …

2024-02: Transforming Educational Neglect: Advocating For A Family Centered Approach Through Community-Based Response, Sydney Barrett, Ash-Lee Conley, Cindi Lindstrom, Madison Roth

Master of Social Work Student Policy Advocacy Briefs

Addressing educational neglect cases through the child welfare system does more harm than good. SF 4747 proposes to amend the state statute, allowing for an alternative response to reports of educational neglect. This change will help address the needs of children and families that face systemic challenges that lead to educational neglect. Currently, counties are required to open a child protection case for all educational neglect reports. Amending the statute will allow counties to develop their own response to educational neglect. This more collaborative approach will help reduce the negative effects a one-size-fits-all solution can have on students and their …

“There’S A Connection That Is Just Beyond Words”: A Qualitative Study Of Therapy Dogs In A Child Trauma Assessment Center, Angela M. Moe

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

The utilization of animal-assisted interventions with trauma survivors is a growing field of practice and research. This study explored staff perceptions of the impact of therapy dogs in comprehensive neurodevelopmental assessments of children who have experienced significant maltreatment. Such victimization causes devastating and long-term consequences across physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral domains. Trauma assessments have been used as a means of understanding the impacts of maltreatment and in guiding treatment. Following a go-along qualitative approach, the study occurred over 16 months wherein experienced therapy dogs were incorporated into assessments of 323 children. Data were collected through field interviews and participant …

Optimal Dosage And Session Structure Of Mindfulness-Based Programming For Youth Across Developmental Periods: Delphi Approach Outcomes, Joshua Felver, Emily C. Helminen, Mary Katherine A. Schutt, Emily L. Cary, Deborah L. Schussler, Rebecca N. Baelen, Laura F. Gould, Robert W. Roeser

Social Work Faculty Scholarship

Purpose: Research of mindfulness-based programming/interventions (MBP) for youth has proliferated in recent years; however, heterogeneity of MBP for youth impede determination of optimal programmatic structure across developmental periods. Design/Approach/Methods: Expert MBP scientists and instructors were iteratively surveyed using the Delphi method to assess optimal MBP session structure across developmental periods. Findings: Survey Round 1 defined the participants’ perspective of ideal structure across early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence. In Survey Rounds 2 and 3, participants considered the preceding Round’s results (means and SDs) and indicated what they believed the ideal structure of a single MBP class. Final results following the …

Scoping Review: Health Care Use In Foster Care Children, Karen Mcwaters

Post-Professional Occupational Therapy Doctorate - Innovations in OT Symposium: Transforming Possibilities into Practice

No abstract provided.