Developing Children (developing + child)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


EMOTION REGULATION AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN THE DEVELOPING CHILD

PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 2008
Article first published online: 12 AUG 200
No abstract is available for this article. [source]


On the Difference Between Designing Children and Raising Them: Ethics and the Use of Educationally Oriented Biotechnology

MIND, BRAIN, AND EDUCATION, Issue 2 2010
Zachary Stein
The use of educationally oriented biotechnology has grown drastically in recent decades and is likely to continue to grow. Advances in both the neurosciences and genetics have opened up important areas of application and industry, from psychopharmacology to gene-chip technologies. This article reviews the current state of educationally oriented biological technologies, eventually focusing on the use of psychiatric drugs with children and adolescents to improve their academic performance. Distinguishing between "good" and "bad" uses of biological technologies is complicated by conflicting theoretical views about human development, the etiology of disability, and the diagnostic categories that structure treatments. To address these issues I introduce a set of ethical concepts, which are based on a biopsychosocial approach to human development. The difference between designing children and raising children marks an ethically salient difference between approaches that focus on only part of the child (e.g., her brain) and approaches that focus on the full biopsychosocial complexity of the developing child in context. This clarifies the importance of the child's right to both autonomy and care. Implications for policy and practice are offered. [source]


Fertility, body size, and shape: An empirical test of the covert maternal depletion hypothesis,

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2009
Ilona Nenko
In populations with limited resources, high-reproductive effort may lead to poor nutritional status of the mother (the maternal depletion syndrome), whereas in well-nourished populations woman's body weight tends to increase after each pregnancy. However, in affluent populations, women's body shape may change due to mobilization of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) from the lower parts of their bodies to meet the needs of the developing child (the "covert maternal depletion"). We studied relationships between reproductive history traits and body size and shape for 296 rural, parous women in good nutritional status (mean body mass index, BMI = 27.9, SD = 5.94), aged 22,85 (mean 47.8, SD = 16.34) from southern Poland. Body mass adjusted for age, age of menarche, body height, and similarly adjusted BMI were each positively related to the number of children born by a woman (R = 0.13, P = 0.02 and R = 0.13, P = 0.02, respectively). Waist and hip circumferences, adjusted for confounders, did not show statistically significant relationships with the number of children. Moreover, groups with low and high parity did not significantly differ in hip/BMI and waist/BMI ratios, which were proposed to be indicators of covert form of maternal depletion (after controlling for overall body fatness and age). In conclusion, parity caused a slightly higher body mass and BMI later in life. However, parity did not lead to covert maternal depletion, perhaps because women in this population have relatively high-dietary intake of PUFAs. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


The relationship between unimanual capacity and bimanual performance in children with congenital hemiplegia

DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 9 2010
LEANNE SAKZEWSKI
Aim, This study explores the relationship between unimanual capacity and bimanual performance for children with congenital hemiplegia aged 5 to 16 years. It also examines the relationship between impairments and unimanual capacity and bimanual performance. Method, Participants in this cross-sectional study attended a screening assessment before participating in a large, randomized trial. They comprised 70 children with congenital hemiplegia (39 males, 31 females; mean age 10y 6mo, SD 3y); 18 were classified in the Manual Ability Classification System level I, 51 in level II, and one in level III. Eighteen were in Gross Motor Function Classification System, level I and 52 in level II. Sixty-five participants had spasticity and five had dystonia and spasticity. Fifteen typically developing children (7 males, 8 females; mean age 8y 8mo, SD 2y 7mo), matched to study participants for age and sex, were recruited as a comparison group for measures of sensation, grip strength, and movement efficiency. Outcome measures for unimanual capacity were the Melbourne Assessment of Unilateral Upper Limb Function (MUUL), and the Jebsen,Taylor Hand Function Test (JTHFT). The Assisting Hand Assessment (AHA) evaluated bimanual performance. Upper limb impairments were measured using assessments of stereognosis, moving two-point discrimination, spasticity, and grip strength. Results, There was a strong relationship between unimanual capacity (MUUL) and bimanual performance (AHA; r=0.83). Linear regression indicated MUUL and stereognosis accounted for 75% of the variance in AHA logit scores. Sensory measures were moderately correlated with unimanual capacity and bimanual performance. Age, sex, and grip strength did not significantly influence bimanual performance. There was no difference between children with right- and left-sided hemiplegia for motor performance. Interpretation, Findings of our study confirm a strong relationship between unimanual capacity and bimanual performance in a cohort of children with congenital hemiplegia. However, the directionality of the relationship is unknown and therapists cannot assume improvements in unimanual capacity will lead to gains in bimanual performance. [source]


Aspiration during swallowing in typically developing children of the first nations and inuit in Canada

PEDIATRIC PULMONOLOGY, Issue 10 2006
Gina R. Rempel MD
Abstract Children of the First Nations and Inuit in Canada have a high propensity for lower respiratory tract infections. Overcrowding, poor housing, passive smoke exposure, and lack of breast feeding (Martens P, Bond R, Jebamani L, Burchill C, et al. http://www.umanitoba.ca/centres/mchp/reports/pdfs/rfn_pdfs/rfn_report.pdf.; MacMillan H, Walsh C, Jamieson E, Crawford A, Boyle M. http://www.hcsc.gc.ca/fnihbdgspni/fnihb/aboriginalhealth/reports_summaries/regional_survey_ch1.pdf.; Wardman AE, Khan NA. Int J Circumpolar Health 2004;63:81,92) have been cited as important contributing factors in the occurrence of lower respiratory tract infections. However, aspiration during swallowing has thus far not been considered as a co-factor in the occurrence of lower respiratory tract infections in these children. We present a retrospective case series of seven typically developing children of the Canadian First Nations and Inuit, in whom aspiration during swallowing was detected in the course of investigating associations with recurrent lower respiratory tract infections. None of the children had any of the known risk factors for aspiration during swallowing such as developmental variation, prematurity, neuromotor problems, or anatomic abnormalities of the upper aerodigestive tract. We speculate that aspiration during swallowing in typically developing children may be an important, previously unrecognized co-factor in the occurrence of lower respiratory tract infections, particularly in the communities of the Canadian First Nations and Inuit. Further prospective studies will be needed to determine whether aspiration during swallowing represents an independent risk factor for the occurrence of lower respiratory tract infections in these children. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2006, 41:912,915. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Functional analysis and habit-reversal treatment of tics

BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS, Issue 3 2005
James E. Carr
Although there is empirical support for a biological etiology of Tourette syndrome and other tic disorders, researchers have recently begun examining the role of reinforcement in tic maintenance. Using experimental functional analyses, researchers have identified both social and nonsocial functions for the tics of a variety of individuals. However, there are at least two problems with this developing literature. First, all but one of the studies employed a single participant and many of them were referred for clinical treatment. These factors leave open the possibility that the selection or referral process may have contributed to the reported outcomes. Second, five of the seven participants had a developmental disability or delay. Thus, the majority of participants in this literature are unrepresentative of most individuals with tic disorders. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the operant functions of the tics of multiple children who were recruited for the study. We evaluated the tics of three typically developing children using functional analysis. Results indicated nonsocial functions for all tics. Two of the participants were then treated using habit reversal; both of them experienced tic reductions. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]