Child Psychology Commons^™

Health And Quality Of Life Of Children Undergoing Elective Surgery, Vivian Luong

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Multiple studies have found that poorer health is associated with significantly lower quality of life when comparing children and adults with health conditions such as cancer, diabetes, asthma, and ADHD to their normal healthy counterparts. The relationship between health and quality of life, however, has yet to be examined in children who have undergone elective surgery. More than 5 million children in the U.S. undergo surgery each year. These children are often undergoing surgery for a number of health issues that may impede quality of life. Consequently, this study analyzes the effects of health on the quality of life of …

Paper Prototyping Comfortable Vr Play For Diverse Sensory Needs, Louanne E. Boyd, Kendra Day, Ben Wasserman, Kaitlyn Abdo, Gillian Hayes, Erik J. Linstead

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

We co-designed paper prototype dashboards for virtual environments for three children with diverse sensory needs. Our goal was to determine individual interaction styles in order to enable comfortable and inclusive play. As a first step towards an inclusive virtual world, we began with designing for three sensory-diverse children who have labels of neurotypical, ADHD, and autism respectively. We focused on their leisure interests and their individual sensory profiles. We present the results of co-design with family members and paper prototyping sessions conducted by family members with the children. The results contribute preliminary empirical findings for accommodating different levels of engagement …

Impact Of Experience Corps® Participation On Children’S Academic Achievement And School Behavior, George W. Rebok, Jeanine M. Parisi, Jeremy S. Barron, Michelle C. Carlson, Ike Diibor, Kevin D. Frick, Linda P. Fried, Tara L. Gruenewald, Jin Huang, Sylvia Mcgill, Christine M. Ramsey, William A. Romani, Teresa E. Seeman, Erwin Tan, Elizabeth K. Tanner, Li Xing, Qian-Li Xue

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

This article reports on the impact of the Experience Corps® (EC) Baltimore program, an intergenerational, school-based program aimed at improving academic achievement and reducing disruptive school behavior in urban, elementary school students in Kindergarten through third grade (K-3). Teams of adult volunteers aged 60 and older were placed in public schools, serving 15 h or more per week, to perform meaningful and important roles to improve the educational outcomes of children and the health and well-being of volunteers. Findings indicate no significant impact of the EC program on standardized reading or mathematical achievement test scores among children in grades 1–3 …

Measuring Novel Antecedents Of Mental Illness: The Questionnaire Of Unpredictability In Childhood, Laura M. Glynn, Hal S. Stern, Mariann A. Howland, Victoria B. Risbrough, Dewleen G. Baker, Caroline M. Nievergelt, Tallie Z. Baram, Elysia P. Davis

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Increasing evidence indicates that, in addition to poverty, maternal depression, and other well-established factors, unpredictability of maternal and environmental signals early in life influences trajectories of brain development, determining risk for subsequent mental illness. However, whereas most risk factors for later vulnerability to mental illness are readily measured using existing, clinically available tools, there are no similar measures for assessing early-life unpredictability. Here we validate the Questionnaire of Unpredictability in Childhood (QUIC) and examine its associations with mental health in the context of other indicators of childhood adversity (e.g., traumatic life events, socioeconomic status, and parenting quality). The QUIC was …

Emotion Regulation And Positive Affect In The Context Of Salivary Alpha-Amylase Response To Pain In Children With Cancer, Brooke N. Jenkins, Douglas A. Granger, Ryan J. Roemer, Ariana Martinez, Tara K. Torres, Michelle A. Fortier

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Children with cancer routinely undergo painful medical procedures invoking strong physiological stress responses. Resilience to this pain may be conferred through resources such as emotion regulation strategies and positive affect.

Procedure

This study measured dispositional positive affect in children with cancer (N = 73) and randomly assigned participants to one of three emotion regulation strategy conditions (distraction, reappraisal, or reassurance). Children applied their assigned strategy during an experimental pain procedure (the cold pressor task [CPT]) and provided saliva samples before, immediately after, and 15 min after the CPT. Saliva samples were later assayed for salivary alpha amylase (sAA)—a surrogate …

Temperament Factors And Dimensional, Latent Bifactor Models Of Child Psychopathology: Transdiagnostic And Specific Associations In Two Youth Samples, Benjamin L. Hankin, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Hannah Snyder, Jami F. Young, Laura M. Glynn, Curt A. Sandman

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Common emotional and behavioral symptoms co-occur and are associated with core temperament factors. This study investigated links between temperament and dimensional, latent psychopathology factors, including a general common psychopathology factor (p factor) and specific latent internalizing and externalizing liabilities, as captured by a bifactor model, in two independent samples of youth. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that temperament factors of negative affectivity (NA), positive affectivity (PA), and effortful control (EC) could serve as both transdiagnostic and specific risks in relation to recent bifactor models of child psychopathology. Sample 1 included 571 youth (average age 13.6, SD = 2.37, range 9.3–17.5) …

Socio-Emotional Cues Can Help 10-Month-Olds Understand The Relationship Between Others' Words And Goals, Youn Mi Cathy Lee, Minju Kim, Hyun-Joo Song

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective

Methods

Gluten-Free And Casein-Free Dietary Intervention For Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Avalon Derlacki

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

In the United States, autism spectrum disorders (ASD) had a prevalence of 1 in 150 children in 2000. In the year 2012, the prevalence of ASD in the United States jumped to 1 in 68 children (Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). Due to the increase in diagnoses of ASD, researchers have sought out different ways to help decrease maladaptive symptoms associated with ASD’s. Many parents of children diagnosed with ASD administer a gluten-free and casein-free (GFCF) diet to their children in hopes of reducing their maladaptive symptoms. The project hypothesis states that if a child under the age …

The Experiences Of Siblings Of Individuals With Disabilities: A Holistic View, Ashley Mc Adams

Educational Studies Dissertations

The research on siblings of individuals with disabilities has rarely addressed the perceived benefits of having a sibling with a disability. The existing research on the experience of siblings of persons with disabilities is also limited to European American families (Sage & Jegatheesan, 2010). With families from different cultures, I sought to capture the experiences of brothers and sisters who have siblings with disabilities. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationships of siblings with disabilities and typical developing siblings, and present a holistic picture from the perspective of the typical developing siblings. These gaps in the literature …

Adult Relationships In Multiple Contexts And Associations With Adolescent Mental Health, Gordon Capp, Ruth Berkowitz, Kate Sullivan, Ron Avi Astor, Kris T. De Pedro, Tamika D. Gilreath, Eric Rice

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose: Adult relationships provide critical support for adolescents because of their potential to foster positive development and provide protective influences. Few studies examine multiple ecological layers of adult relationships in connection with well-being and depression. This study examines the influence of relationships from multiple contexts for adolescents and their mental health.
Method: Data from the 2011 California Healthy Kids Survey was used for this analysis; a sample of 7th-, 9th-, and 11th-grade students (N = 14,931) was drawn from 6 school districts in Southern California.
Results: Regression analyses revealed that parent, teacher, and community adult support were …

Child Maltreatment And Military-Connected Youth: Developing Protective School Communities: School Responses Of Referral And Clinical Interventions Do Not Address Needs Of Military Families, Kris T. De Pedro

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"Since the beginning of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, more than 2 million school-aged youth in the United States have had a parent enlist in the military. About 1.2 million of these youth have experienced the deployment of a parent. Multiple and prolonged deployments and exposure to veteran trauma disrupt family relationships and financial stability. The deployment cycle also effects the mental health and well-being of service members and left-behind caregivers and children. Indeed, the caregivers in particular must cope with emotional stress and may have feelings of social isolation. Even when seeking help, left-behind caregivers may have difficulty locating …

School Psychologists’ Training And Knowledge Of Tourette Syndrome, Leticia Cornejo

Educational Studies Dissertations

A web-based survey was conducted that included 97 practicing school psychologists in California. The results from the survey indicated that the majority (88%) of respondents were knowledgeable about Tourette Syndrome. Many respondents (28%) had never worked with a student with Tourette’s, 20% had at least one case, and 52% indicated that they had worked with more than two cases in their careers as school psychologists. The majority of respondents indicated that their school psychology program did not adequately train them to assess or counsel students with Tourette’s. The majority of participants also did not feel confident to work with students …

Revisiting A Common Measure Of Child Postoperative Recovery: Development Of The Post Hospitalization Behavior Questionnaire For Ambulatory Surgery (Phbq-As), Brooke N. Jenkins, Zeev N. Kain, Sherrie H. Kaplan, Robert S. Stevenson, Linda C. Mayes, Josue Guadarrama, Michelle A. Fortier

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

The Post Hospitalization Behavior Questionnaire (PHBQ) was designed for assessing children's posthospitalization and postoperative new‐onset behavioral changes. However, the psychometric properties of the scale have not been re‐evaluated in the past five decades despite substantial changes in the practice of surgery and anesthesia. In this investigation, we examined the psychometric properties of the PHBQ to potentially increase the efficacy and relevance of the instrument in current perioperative settings.

Method

This study used principal components analysis, a panel of experts, Cronbach's alpha, and correlations to examine the current subscale structure of the PHBQ and eliminate items to create the Post …

The Development Of Korean Preschoolers' Ability To Understand Transitive Sentences Using Case-Markers, Kyong-Sun Jin, Minju Kim, Hyun Joo Song

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

We examined whether Korean 2- and 3-year-old children can use case markers to understand the meaning of Korean canonical (subject–object–verb; SOV) and noncanonical (object–subject–verb; OSV) word order in a transitive sentence. Side-by-side videos depicted the same caused motion events, both of which involved the same two characters but with the agent versus patient roles reversed. Along with the videos, children heard SOV sentences (e.g., Bear-nominative Rabbit-accusative is pushing.) or OSV sentences (e.g., Rabbit-accusative Bear-nominative is pushing.), both of which were marked with nominative and accusative case markers. Two-year-olds correctly understood only the canonical sentences (Experiment 1). In contrast, 3-year-olds understood …

Ten-Month-Olds’ Ability To Use Verbal Information When Understanding Others’ Goal-Directed Actions, Minju Kim, Hyun Joo Song

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

In the current research we used the violation-of-expectation paradigm to examine whether 10-month-olds use linguistic cues when understanding others’ goals. During four (short-familiarization condition) or six (long-familiarization condition) familiarization trials, 10-month-olds heard a female agent saying “Here’s a modi!” twice and saw her grasping one of two objects. The locations of the two objects were switched during the pre-display trial. During test trials, infants heard a different linguistic cue (“Here’s a papu!”), and saw the actor reach for either the same object as before (the old-goal event) or the other object (the new-goal event). Ten-month-olds looked longer at the new-goal …

The Psychology Of Competitive Dance: A Study Of The Motivations For Adolescent Involvement, Samantha Sobash

e-Research: A Journal of Undergraduate Work

"Competition is a social process that is so pervasive in Western civilization that no one can escape it" (Robson 2004). Dance training for most people begins at an early age, and thus the art form akin to sports introduces youth to competition. The booming dance competition industry has only enhanced the competitive aspect of the art form. Currently there are upwards of 200 local, regional, and national competitions held annually with participants as young as four years old. Is competition innate or are we introducing it as part of youth development in the Western world? Youth are increasingly pushed by …

Introduction To Sand Tray, Naveen Jonathan

Marriage and Family Therapy Faculty Presentations

Discusses play therapy, especially with sand, as an option for counseling children.

Development Of A Short Version Of The Modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale, Brooke N. Jenkins, Michelle Fortier, Sherrie H. Kaplan, Linda C. Mayes, Zeev N. Kain

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

BACKGROUND: The modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (mYPAS) is the current “criterion standard” for assessing child anxiety during induction of anesthesia and has been used in >100 studies. This observational instrument covers 5 items and is typically administered at 4 perioperative time points. Application of this complex instrument in busy operating room (OR) settings, however, presents a challenge. In this investigation, we examined whether the instrument could be modified and made easier to use in OR settings.

METHODS: This study used qualitative methods, principal component analyses, Cronbach αs, and effect sizes to create the mYPAS-Short Form (mYPAS-SF) and reduce time …

Assessing Intern Impact Factors For Program Evaluation And Improvement, John Brady, Randy T. Busse, Jeanne Anne Carriere, Michael Hass, Kelly S. Kennedy

Education Faculty Articles and Research

We present the results of a program evaluation system for examining school psychology interns' impact on the academic and behavioral functioning of children. Outcome data from a variety of single-case problem-solving interventions conducted from 2008-2012 indicated overall moderate, positive effects. Global supervisor ratings indicated strong perceptions of the interns' positive impact on the children they served.

The Development Of Korean Children’S Abilities To Use Structural Cues For Sentence Comprehension, 연세대학교 심리학과, Minju Kim, Hyun Joo Song

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The present study used a preferential looking paradigm to examine the types of structural cues used by 24- and 21-months-old Korean children when processing the meaning of sentences with a novel verb in Korean. In the first two of the three experiments, participants were shown two videos positioned adjacent to each other, depicting independent or causative behaviors, and were made to listen to sentences with a nominative or accusative case marker. It was found that in Experiment 1, the 24-month-old infants looked at causative rather than independent behaviors for longer in the accusative condition, but not in the nominative condition. …

Suicide Risk At Young Adulthood: Continuities And Discontinuities From Adolescence, Carole Hooven, Karen A. Snedker, Elaine Adams Thompson

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Young adult suicide is an important social problem, yet little is known about how risk for young adult suicide develops from earlier life stages. In this study the authors report on 759 young adults who were potential high school dropouts as youth. At both adolescence and young adulthood, measures of suicide risk status and related suicide risk factors are collected. With a two-by-two classification on the basis of suicide risk status at both adolescence and young adulthood, the authors distinguish four mutually exclusive groups reflecting suicide risk at two life stages. Using ANOVA and logistic regression, both adolescent and young …

Working With Divorced Families: Effective Interventions For A Difficult Transition, Naveen Jonathan

Marriage and Family Therapy Faculty Presentations

Gives tips and advice for counseling children of divorce.

Prenatal Maternal Stress Programs Infant Stress Regulation, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Laura M. Glynn, Feizal Waffarn, Curt A. Sandman

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective: Prenatal exposure to inappropriate levels of glucocorticoids (GCs) and maternal stress are putative mechanisms for the fetal programming of later health outcomes. The current investigation examined the influence of prenatal maternal cortisol and maternal psychosocial stress on infant physiological and behavioral responses to stress.

Methods: The study sample comprised 116 women and their full term infants. Maternal plasma cortisol and report of stress, anxiety and depression were assessed at 15, 19, 25, 31 and 36 + weeks' gestational age. Infant cortisol and behavioral responses to the painful stress of a heel-stick blood draw were evaluated at 24 hours after …

Long-Term Outcomes For The Promoting Care Suicide Prevention Program, Carole Hooven, Jerald R. Herting, Karen A. Snedker

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Objectives : To provide a long-term look at suicide risk from adolescence to young adulthood for former participants in Promoting CARE, an indicated suicide prevention program. Methods : Five hundred ninety-three suicide-vulnerable high school youth were involved in a long-term follow-up study. Latent class growth models identify patterns of change in suicide risk over this period. Results : Three distinct trajectories are determined, all showing a maintenance of decreased suicide risk from postintervention in adolescence into young adulthood for direct suicide-risk behaviors, depression and anger. Intervention conditions as well as key risk/protective factors are identified that predict to the long-term …

Is It The Blues? Depression & Suicide Prevention In Our Schools, Naveen Jonathan

Marriage and Family Therapy Faculty Presentations

Discusses the prevalence of depression and suicide among children and teenagers, the factors behind it, signs and symptoms, and what educators can do to help prevent it and help suffering students.

Bullying Prevention, Naveen Jonathan

Marriage and Family Therapy Faculty Presentations

Defines various forms of bullying, addresses why they are issues, discusses the motives behind bullying, and gives tips on how to stop bullying.

Necessary Steps: A Bereavement Support Program For Children And Their Families, Michael Hass, Kathy Mccaleb, Annette Iversen, Karin Crilly

Education Faculty Articles and Research

A manual for running grief support groups for children.

Empathy, Communication Skills, And Group Cohesiveness: A Systematic Approach, Michael Hass

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"This article presents an approach to the teaching of interpersonal communication skills to children from 7-11 years of age, and should be of great interest to professionals in the fields of psychology, social work, education and people involved in training such persons."