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At-risk Children (at-risk + child)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	41%
Psychology	25%

Selected Abstracts

Hope, Social Support, and Behavioral Problems in At-Risk Children

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 2 2005
Kristine Amlund Hagen PhD
This study investigated the effects of hope, social support, and stress on behavioral problems in a high-risk group of 65 children of incarcerated mothers. Children with low levels of hope had more externalizing and internalizing problems. Children who perceived less social support had more externalizing problems, and children who had experienced more life stressors reported more internalizing problems. Regression analyses indicated that hope contributed unique variance to both internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems after social support and stress were controlled. These findings suggest that being confident in one's ability to overcome challenges and having a positive outlook function as protective factors, whereas being less hopeful may place a child at risk for developing adjustment problems. Whether it is possible to foster agency and teach pathways to children with lower levels of hope is discussed. [source]

Visual spatial attention and speech segmentation are both impaired in preschoolers at familial risk for developmental dyslexia

DYSLEXIA, Issue 3 2010
Andrea Facoetti
Abstract Phonological skills are foundational of reading acquisition and impaired phonological processing is widely assumed to characterize dyslexic individuals. However, reading by phonological decoding also requires rapid selection of sublexical orthographic units through serial attentional orienting, and recent studies have shown that visual spatial attention is impaired in dyslexic children. Our study investigated these different neurocognitive dysfunctions, before reading acquisition, in a sample of preschoolers including children with (N=20) and without (N=67) familial risk for developmental dyslexia. Children were tested on phonological skills, rapid automatized naming, and visual spatial attention. At-risk children presented deficits in both visual spatial attention and syllabic segmentation at the group level. Moreover, the combination of visual spatial attention and syllabic segmentation scores was more reliable than either single measure for the identification of at-risk children. These findings suggest that both visuo-attentional and perisylvian-auditory dysfunctions might adversely affect reading acquisition, and may offer a new approach for early identification and remediation of developmental dyslexia. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Differential development of infants at risk for psychopathology: the moderating role of early maternal responsivity

DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 5 2001
Manfred Laucht PhD
The development of behaviour problems in infants born with biological risk (low birthweight) and psychosocial risk (psychosocially disadvantaged family) was studied in a sample of 347 children (171 males, 176 females) at the ages of 2, 4:6, and 8 years. In the search for factors that moderate the effects of early risks, the role of early responsive caregiving was examined. Results indicate that infants at psychosocial risk exhibited both more externalizing and internalizing problems across ages than infants not at psychosocial risk, while no overall differences were apparent between normal-and low-birthweight groups. With one exception, no interactions between biological and psychosocial risk factors emerged, suggesting that their simultaneous effect is largely additive. Maternal responsivity was found to moderate the effects of low birthweight on hyperkinetic and internalizing problems as well as to influence the consequences of family disadvantage on total problems. These findings stress the importance of early parenting in the behavioural development of at-risk children. [source]

Visual spatial attention and speech segmentation are both impaired in preschoolers at familial risk for developmental dyslexia

The behaviour style observation system for young children predicts teacher-reported externalizing behaviour in middle childhood

INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2009
Alexa Martin-Storey
Abstract The Behaviour Style Observation System for Young Children (BSOS) was used to predict preschool-aged children's externalizing and internalizing behaviour problems in middle childhood, 3,5 years after the initial assessment. This observational measurement tool was designed to sample and assess young children's disruptive, non-compliant, and unresponsive behaviour, during a brief (11,min) observation in the child's home. In the current study, the BSOS was used to predict parent and teacher ratings of child behaviour problems after school entry in a longitudinal sample (N=81) of at-risk children at time 2. The BSOS predicted teacher-reported externalizing problems at time 2. In contrast, parent reports of behaviour problems, although correlated with repeated parent reports at time 2, were not significantly predictive of teacher-reported behaviour problems at school age. The BSOS was not associated with either parent or teacher reports of internalizing problems. These findings emphasize the importance and utility of using observational measures when examining the continuity of behaviour problems in young children over time. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Differential effects of high-quality child care

JOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2002
Jennifer Hill
In policy research a frequent aim is to estimate treatment effects separately by subgroups. This endeavor becomes a methodological challenge when the subgroups are defined by post-treatment, rather than pre-treatment, variables because if analyses are performed in the same way as with pre-treatment variables, causal interpretations are no longer valid. The authors illustrate a new approach to this challenge within the context of the Infant Health and Development Program, a multisite randomized study that provided at-risk children with intensive, center-based child care. This strategy is used to examine the differential causal effects of access to high-quality child care for children who would otherwise have participated in one of three child care options: no non-maternal care, home-based non-maternal care, and center-based care. Results of this study indicate that children participating in the first two types of care would have gained the most from high-quality center-based care and, moreover, would have more consistently retained the bulk of these positive benefits over time. These results may have implications for policy, particularly with regard to the debate about the potential implications of providing universal child care. © 2002 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. [source]

Young children at risk of literacy difficulties: factors predicting recovery from risk following phonologically based intervention

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 3 2007
Helen E. Whiteley
This longitudinal project identified young children at risk of literacy difficulties and asked why some of these children fail to benefit from phonologically based intervention. Reception class children were screened to identify a group at risk of literacy difficulties and a matched group of children not at risk. Profiles were compiled for each child including measures of reading, spelling, memory, rapid naming, vocabulary and phonological awareness. A daily, 15-week, small group intervention was implemented with 67 at-risk children. Those who had not made progress in their literacy following this intervention participated in a second, individually administered intervention. The results indicate that letter knowledge and expressive vocabulary are key factors mediating a child's ability to benefit from a phonologically based intervention. Findings are discussed in the context of a lexical restructuring account of the development of spoken word recognition. [source]

Providing Interdisciplinary Services to At-Risk Families to Prevent the Placement of Children In Foster Care

JUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL, Issue 4 2009
Deborah J. Weimer
ABSTRACT Grandparents need support to take on the responsibility of children whose parents cannot care for them due to drug addiction, mental health issues, HIV illness, or other health problems. Without support and assistance, these families and children are likely to end up enmeshed in the already overburdened child abuse and neglect system. The University of Maryland has created a model program providing social work and legal services to at-risk grandparent families to help avoid the unnecessary placement of these children in foster care. In this new program, student attorneys and student social workers worked with the grandparent client to help stabilize the family, providing representation or advice on housing, public benefits, custody, and school-related issues. Joint education of student attorneys and student social workers in a clinical experience enhances their understanding of their roles and those of the other profession and prepares them for a more thoughtful and informed approach to family law, child welfare cases, and at-risk children. [source]

Responsiveness to General Education Instruction as the First Gate to Learning Disabilities Identification

LEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 3 2003
Deborah L. Speece
Most definitions of learning disabilities (LD) include a qualification that adequate general education instruction was received and the child with LD did not benefit. Rarely is this tenet assessed in either practice or research before a diagnosis is made. We review three studies that investigated children's responsiveness to general education reading instruction as an indicator of need for more intensive interventions. Adequacy of instruction was quantified by children's level and rate of progress, compared to classmates, as measured by curriculum-based measures of oral reading fluency. We found that the response-to-instruction model tested was valid in that (1) children who differ from their peers on level and slope of performance (dual discrepancy) have more severe academic and behavioral problems than children who have IQ-achievement discrepancies or low achievement; (2) children who demonstrate persistent nonresponsiveness over three years differ from other at-risk children on reading, reading-related, and behavioral measures; and (3) at-risk children who participated in specially designed general education interventions had better outcomes than at-risk children who did not participate. We conducted additional analyses to assess low achievement definitional variations and found that they lack sensitivity and coverage compared to a dual discrepancy definition. [source]

Considerations in the identification, assessment, and intervention process for deaf and hard of hearing students with reading difficulties

PSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 2 2008
Donna Gilbertson
Problematic assessment and intervention issues present substantial challenges when making educational decisions for deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) students who are experiencing reading difficulties. These students present a diverse set of language acquisition skills, hearing ability, and orientation to early school learning activities that are different from the hearing student population. Given the importance of selecting assessment approaches that lead to effective interventions for D/HH students, three assessment procedures for identification of at-risk children and learning disabilities within the D/HH population are examined. Assessments reviewed are teacher referral, norm-referenced testing, and student response to intervention. Challenges to each process and the need for additional assessment and empirically validated treatment options are discussed. Finally, a case example is presented to illustrate a framework that may help school psychologists promote early identification of learning problems and outline interventions that meets a D/HH child's unique needs by focusing on reading outcomes in the curriculum. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

Developmental monitoring using caregiver reports in a resource-limited setting: the case of Kilifi, Kenya

ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 2 2010
A Abubakar
Abstract Aim:, The main aim of the current study was to evaluate the reliability, validity and acceptability of developmental monitoring using caregiver reports among mothers in a rural African setting. Methods:, A structured interview for parents of children aged 24 months and less was developed through both participant consultation and a review of literature. The reliability and validity of the schedule was evaluated through a 10-month monitoring programme of 95 children, aged 2,10 months. The acceptability of the process was evaluated by studying retention rates and by organizing focus group discussions with participating mothers. Results:, The structured interview ,Developmental Milestones Checklist' consisted of 66 items covering three broad domains of child functioning: motor, language and personal,social development. The interview yielded scores of developmental achievements that showed high internal consistency and excellent test,retest reliability. The results were sensitive to maturational changes and nutritional deficiencies. In addition, acceptable retention rates of approximately 80% were found. Participating mothers reported that they found the procedures both acceptable and beneficial. Conclusion:, Developmental monitoring using caregiver report is a viable method to identify and monitor at-risk children in Sub-Saharan Africa. [source]