Child Psychology Commons^™

Effects Of Animal-Assisted Therapy Among Children With Mental Health Disorders, Alysa Amelio

Grace Peterson Nursing Research Colloquium

Abstract

Background: Mental health illness is on the rise amongst children in the United States. Research is still underway about alternative forms of therapy to provide to this vulnerable population. One of the alternative therapies utilized is Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT).

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the effects of AAT on children whom have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder.

Method: An integrative literature review was conducted to include primary research that was peer reviewed, and completed within the last ten years. Data synthesis and analysis was completed to identify themes within the literature. The themes …

Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress: An Integrative Literature Review, Cassia Onken

Grace Peterson Nursing Research Colloquium

Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress (PMTS) is a common occurrence and not well understood by the medical community. Therefore, identifying key concepts is necessary to provide early intervention for children and parents. The purpose of this literature review is to evaluate current research to determine common themes of PMTS. Questions included “What is known about the defining characteristics of PMTS?” and “What variable interactions predispose a child to PMTS development?” Articles were found using CINAHL, PsychInfo, PubMed, ProQuest, and Academic Search Complete using key words like acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress, medical traumatic stress, pediatric, child, parent, and guardian. Studies had …

Diversity Of Diagnoses And Student Learning Experiences In An On-Campus School Psychology Assessment Center: Future Directions And Focus, Nina M. Ellis-Hervey Ph.D., N.C.S.P., L.S.S.P., P.L.P., Ashley Doss B.S., Maio-Cert, Deshae Davis-Gatti M.A., Juliet Aura Bs/P

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

School Psychology Assessment Centers (SPAC) developed at the University-level are crucial in developing competent school psychologists. While many models on how to develop mental health centers are in existence, a new model exists for creating a SPAC on a University campus that is specifically designed to serve the diverse surrounding community and postsecondary students (see Ellis-Hervey et al., 2016). The community’s needs were reviewed, including missing service links in the region, and identification of potential clients who would benefit most from services provided. Senior students who work with clients in the SPAC gain assessment skills and build supervision skills through …

Family Income, Cumulative Risk Exposure, And White Matter Structure In Middle Childhood, Alexander J. Dufford, Pilyoung Kim

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Family income is associated with gray matter morphometry in children, but little is known about the relationship between family income and white matter structure. In this paper, using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics, a whole brain, voxel-wise approach, we examined the relationship between family income (assessed by income-to-needs ratio) and white matter organization in middle childhood (N = 27, M = 8.66 years). Results from a non-parametric, voxel-wise, multiple regression (threshold-free cluster enhancement, p < 0.05 FWE corrected) indicated that lower family income was associated with lower white matter organization [assessed by fractional anisotropy (FA)] for several clusters in white matter tracts involved in cognitive and emotional functions including fronto-limbic circuitry (uncinate fasciculus and cingulum bundle), association fibers (inferior longitudinal fasciculus, superior longitudinal fasciculus), and corticospinal tracts. Further, we examined the possibility that cumulative risk (CR) exposure might function as one of the potential pathways by which family income influences neural outcomes. Using multiple regressions, we found lower FA in portions of these tracts, including those found in the left cingulum bundle and left superior longitudinal fasciculus, was significantly related to greater exposure to CR (β = -0.47, p < 0.05 and β = -0.45, p < 0.05).

Preliminary Evidence For The Impact Of Combat Experiences On Gray Matter Volume Of The Posterior Insula, Ashley N. Clausen, Sandra A. Billinger, Jason-Flor V. Sisante, Hideo Suzuki, Robin L. Aupperle

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background: Combat-exposed veteran populations are at an increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and insula have been implicated in both autonomic arousal to emotional stressors and homeostatic processes, which may contribute to cardiovascular dysfunction in combat veteran populations. The aim of the present study was to explore the intersecting relationships of combat experiences, rostral ACC and posterior insula volume, and cardiovascular health in a sample of combat veterans.

Method: Twenty-four male combat veterans completed clinical assessment of combat experiences and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Subjects completed a magnetic resonance imaging scan and autosegmentation using FreeSurfer was …

Principles For Responding To Children In A Traumatic Time, Sal Vascellaro

Occasional Paper Series

A list of principles that aim to help educators in their struggle to respond to the range of traumatic experiences many children have to live with—the death of a loved one, serious illness, violence, drug addiction, homelessness. This list offers something tangible to use as they respond to the children in their care.

The Children Keep Reminding Us: One School's Experience After 9/11, Kate Delacorte

Occasional Paper Series

This essay reflects on the experience of a new preschool that was located a few blocks away from the World Trade Center and had not yet opened at the time of September 11. After the event, the school held meetings with teachers, parents, and their children. The conversations highlighted the overwhelming difference between the needs of the parents and the needs of the children. Through sharing of fears, experiences, and emotions, the new community grew closer.

"Building Up": Block Play After September 11, Lisa Edstrom

Occasional Paper Series

Like most people in New York City, the children in Edstrom's class were affected by the events of September 11. However, not until five weeks later did these particular five- and six year-olds begin to make sense of what happened. Through the use of block play, they were able to explore the difficult emotions and questions we all had about the World Trade Center attack

Introduction: Teaching Through A Crisis: September 11 And Beyond, Alison Mckersie

Occasional Paper Series

An introduction to a volume of essays that provided a vehicle through which educators could share their experiences following September 11. This includes how teachers were addressing the troubling questions that the tragedy raised: What kinds of conversations had been sparked among children, teachers, and parents? How had curriculum shifted in response to this heretofore unimaginable event?

Research Brief: "Service Delivery Experiences And Intervention Needs Of Military Families With Children With Asd", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This study describes the service delivery challenges and intervention needs of military families that include children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have relocated. In practice and policy, military families with children with ASD living on a military base should consider serving as a mentor to new families on the base to offer information on schools and community resources, and would also benefit from the increased accessibility of resources by the Department of Defense (DoD). More research is needed to learn the best practices of service delivery for military families with children with ASD, and future studies on service delivery …

The Need To Be Apart In An Inclusive Educational Setting, Zenaida Muslin

Occasional Paper Series

This paper illustrates the need for direct acknowledgement and support of children and faculty of color in inclusive educational settings. Muslin recounts her experiences at many different schools and how each offered a new perspective on diversity. The most profound impacts she has made in her community stem from her work at Bank Street School for Children, where she and her fellow faculty recognized the importance of having separate meetings and focus groups devoted to the concerns of people of color within the institution.

Conversations With Children About Death, Molly Sexton-Reade

Occasional Paper Series

This paper emphasizes the need for conversations around death in the classroom. Today's children are exposed to information about death through a wide variety of media. Teachers have a responsibility to provide opportunities for children to process this information in ways that are developmentally appropriate - acknowledging children's "magical thinking" as well as experiences children may have surrounding death.

Wouldn't It Be Cool If Everyone Turned Out To Be Blue? Building A Curriculum About Sexual Orientation For Nine- And Ten-Year-Olds, Stephanie Nelson

Occasional Paper Series

Nelson draws upon her experiences as an elementary school teacher to discuss ways in which sexual orientation can be addressed through curriculum. Aspects of the curriculum implemented in the Bank Street School for Children included "Gay Talks", read alouds, debates, and discussions about civil rights and how they relate to the LGBTQ community.

Performing Gender In The Elementary Classroom, Gail Masuchika Boldt

Occasional Paper Series

This paper raises questions about teachers’ interventions into children’s exchanges around gender in elementary classrooms. Masuchika Boldt argues that gender is ever-present in the classroom and children are constantly making assertions about the meaning of gender and the authenticity of their own and others’ gender performances. She speaks to the question, “If a teacher does interpret this exchange as being at least in part about gender, what, if any, response is called for?”

Introduction: Talking Tough Topics In The Classroom, Jonathan G. Silin

Occasional Paper Series

An introduction to this Occasional Paper, in which four educators describe their approaches to tough topics in the classroom—gender, sexual identity, death, and diversity. Despite differing subject matter, the essays have much in common from which we can learn. An important commonality is the involvement of at least three kinds of learning— cognitive, emotional, and social.

Learning To Keep My Heart Open, Marika Paez

Occasional Paper Series

Paez's first year of teaching was a great challenge, but she recalls one moment when her second-grade class helped her learn that the job of a teacher requires much more than to be an organized dispenser of curriculum or an efficient manager of individuals. Rather, it requires being a person who can stay in the moment, listen carefully, respond authentically, and thoughtfully guide students closer to becoming their own best selves.

Age Patterns In Risk Taking Across The World, Natasha Duell, Laurence Steinberg, Grace Icenogle, Jason Chein, Nandita Chaudhary, Laura Di Giunta, Kenneth A. Dodge, Kostas A. Fanti, Jennifer E. Lansford, Paul Oburu, Concetta Pastorelli, Ann T. Skinner, Emma Sorbring, Sombat Tapanya, Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Liane Peña Alampay, Suha M. Al-Hassan, Hanan M S Takash, Dario Bacchini, Lei Chang

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

Epidemiological data indicate that risk behaviors are among the leading causes of adolescent morbidity and mortality worldwide. Consistent with this, laboratory-based studies of age differences in risk behavior allude to a peak in adolescence, suggesting that adolescents demonstrate a heightened propensity, or inherent inclination, to take risks. Unlike epidemiological reports, studies of risk taking propensity have been limited to Western samples, leaving questions about the extent to which heightened risk taking propensity is an inherent or culturally constructed aspect of adolescence. In the present study, age patterns in risk-taking propensity (using two laboratory tasks: the Stoplight and the BART) and …

The Power Of More Than One, Jane King

Occasional Paper Series

Jane King reflects on her experiences as a preschool teacher eager to use methods outside of the norm. She resists activities that encourage homogeneity and strives to promote autonomy and free thinking in her students. After transitioning from teacher to parent, she still uses this philosophy to make small changes in her daughter's classroom and encourage her children to engage in acts of resistance and critical thinking both in and out of school.

The Pleasure Of Resistance: Jouissance And Reconceiving "Misbehavior", Peter Taubman

Occasional Paper Series

Taubman offers an alternative to resistance theory through Lacanian psychoanalysis and Lacan's concept of jouissance - a term associated with intense pleasure. Through this perspective, it is important to understand why children resist on an individual level. An appreciation of the jouissance in schools would work against the impulse to domesticate, to control or to appropriate the subjectivities of students and children.

Everyday Tactics And The Carnavalesque: New Lenses For Viewing Resistance In Preschool, Joseph Tobin

Occasional Paper Series

Tobin builds upon Steve Schultz's argument that young children’s resisting authority in preschool is a rehearsal or training ground for resisting authority later in life. Using this perspective, this article turns to theories of power and resistance to help us understand everyday events in preschools, and to suggest implications for the choices we make as adults who work with young children.