bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Parenting distress and parental investment of Hong Kong Chinese parents with a child having an emotional or behavioural problem: a qualitative study
Authors: Ma Joyce L. C. , Lai Kelly , Pun Shuk Han 
Published: March 2003

ABSTRACTThis qualitative study aims to understand the parenting distress and parental investment of Hong Kong Chinese parents with a child having an emotional or behavioural problem. The parents of 24 children and adolescents who sought psychiatric consultation within the study period were interviewed using open‐ended questions. The data revealed a vicious reciprocal interaction in which the symptoms affected the parents’ psychosocial well‐being, which in turn impacted unfavourably on the identified patient. With three exceptions, the parents in this study had engaged in different activities prior to the psychiatric consultation, including information search, changes in the methods of parenting, attempts to reduce family stress, reliance on superstitious beliefs, and reaching out for professional help and social services. The parental investment indicated parents’ resilience in facing the child’s problems. Implications for service development and social work intervention are discussed.
Defining quality care for looked after children: frontline workers’ perspectives on standards and all that?
Authors: Watson David 
Published: March 2003

ABSTRACTThis paper examines residential childcare workers’ perceptions of quality and how they relate to the growing performance measurement culture within social work over the last 10 years. In particular, it is concerned with examining how workers define quality services and what this means for the government's standards approach with its emphasis on tangible activities around process rather than outcomes. In addition this paper considers the prospects for developing quality in residential care and what frontline workers assess as adding to and/or subtracting from that activity. The growing performance measurement and standards culture being propagated by central government is considered in the context of workers’ perceptions and influence, particularly as it relates to the potential to maximize the quality of the service provided. In this context staff perceptions are obtained from nine children's units in two local authorities with the intention of providing research evidence to a debate very often centred on belief rather than fact.
Threats to validity in the longitudinal study of psychological effects: the case of short stature
Authors: Stratford R. , Mulligan J. , Downie B. , Voss L. 
Published: March 2003

In all studies of health‐related problems and their effects on well‐being, research design issues threaten to compromise the validity of findings. This is particularly so in a longitudinal study, essentially stemming from the tension between maintaining participant compliance and retaining investigator objectivity. Such a tension may be exacerbated where measures of dependent variables such as self‐esteem are used alongside the collection of physical data which is essential to the study, as in research into the psychological effects of short stature on children and young people.In this paper one particular project, the Wessex Growth Study, is used to illustrate the common threats to validity, both internal and external, of such research, and to consider future improvements in design. The Wessex Growth Study, set up in 1986, was designed to overcome some of the methodological problems found in earlier research with short stature children. It is following the growth and psychological development through their school years of a cohort of short children (below third centile for height when first identified) and case‐matched controls (10th−90th centiles) recruited at school entry (ages 5/6). Findings have generally found only small differences between short and average height children.Though these results so far have mainly been presented cross‐sectionally, the young people involved are followed up at 6‐monthly intervals for height and other data to be collected, and thus to some extent the study also has the advantages and problems of a longitudinal research design.Using Campbell and Stanley’s criteria this article makes clear the strain on both internal and external validity in the study, but argues that these problems are to some extent inherent in all longitudinal psychological research, and are outweighed in the present research by the collection of data on short stature which would not otherwise be available. Future data collection within the study will introduce further improvements in design.
West African children in private foster care in City and Hackney
Authors: Olusanya B , Hodes D 
Published: March 2003

SummaryA unique feature of some Africans who come to study and work in Britain is the practice of making private arrangements to send their children to live with foster parents who assume full parental rights. Six hundred randomly selected African families, with a child born between June 1988 and May 1991, resident in one Health Authority, were sent a questionnaire to elicit the proportion of children who had been in private foster care and to gain information on the knowledge and attitudes to fostering and day care provision. Families with children in foster care were asked additional questions about their experiences. Two hundred and six (34%) of the questionnaires were analysed. Seventy‐six per cent of the respondents were from Nigeria, 65% had already heard about private fostering and 29 (14%) had sent one of their children to private foster care. Only one family felt that foster care was a suitable option; the reminder would have preferred alternative facilities such as nursery placement. Of the 29 children in foster care, nine parents said their children were unhappy and five rated the foster parents as bad. Contrary to popular belief, most children were visited fortnightly, some more frequently and only two never visited. Private fostering in this group of children was found to be less common than in earlier studies.
Parent‐reported infant health and illness in a whole year birth cohort
Authors: Spencer N J , Coe C 
Published: March 2003

SummaryObjective To describe parent‐reported infant health and illness experience at 8 weeks.Setting Coventry.Study design Prospective whole year birth cohort.Outcome measures Period prevalences (birth to 8 weeks) and incidences, unadjusted and adjusted for differential cohort attrition, of parent‐reported infant health outcomes.Methods Of 3891 live births in 1996, 2572 (66%) were recruited into the study. Data were collected by health visitors as part of routine child health surveillance, at 8 weeks using the Warwick Child Health and Morbidity Profile (WCHMP) incorporated into the Parent Held Record. Period prevalences and incidences of parent‐reported health outcomes in the first 8 weeks of life were calculated with and without adjustment for the effects of different rates of cohort attrition by sociodemographic group.Results Data were collected on 2572 infants at recruitment. Health outcome data were available on 2072 (53% of all 1996 live births) infants at 8 weeks. There was differential attrition by social group between enrolment and 8 weeks. Nineteen (95% confidence intervals (CIs) 14,24)/1000 infants were reported as not very healthy/unhealthy, 12 (95% CIs 8,16)/1000 as having impaired health‐related quality of life and 11 (95% CIs 7,15)/1000 impaired functional health. Chronic illness had a period prevalence rate of 19 (95% CIs 14,24)/1000. Sixty‐six (95% CIs 55,77)/1000 had acute illnesses requiring medical attention and 43 (95% CIs 34,52)/1000 were admitted to hospital at least once. More minor illness than expected was reported in 87 (95% CIs 75,99)/1000. The incidence rate of accidents requiring medical attention was 16 (95%CIs 9,21)/1000. Behavioural problems had a prevalence rate of 78 (95% Cis 66,90)/1000.Conclusions Infant health status data have traditionally been based on mortality, hospital admissions and specific diagnoses. This is the first report of health and illness experience during infancy in a whole year birth cohort based on a validated measure of parent‐reported health status incorporated into the Parent Held Record and administered by the family health visitor as part of routine child health surveillance. These data give a more comprehensive picture of infant health and illness experience than traditional measures and provide the basis for infant health needs assessment.
An investigation into aspects of the Mayo early language screening test
Authors: McGinty C 
Published: March 2003

SummaryThe concurrent validity and inter‐tester agreement on the Mayo early language screening test (MELST), and the concurrent validity of parental anxiety about speech and language development as a screening measure were investigated. A sample (aged 18 months to 5 years) comprising 120 children referred to the Mayo speech and language therapy department during 1995 and 80 controls, was assessed on the MELST by their local public health nurse. Within a calendar month each child was reassessed on the MELST by the therapist, who also administered the Reynell developmental language scales (RDLS) and the Edinburgh articulation test (EAT) as criterion measures. Overall, the MELST achieved moderately high sensitivity and specificity measures. Phonological problems were identified with more accuracy than language problems and the test was equally sensitive to impairments in comprehension and expression. The test tended to over‐refer and was least accurate in screening the language skills of children at the highest age level (4–5 years). A significant association was found between parental concern and pass/failure on each of the MELST, RDLS and EAT. As a screening measure, parental anxiety achieved high sensitivity, moderate specificity and a moderate positive predictive value. However, it also tended to over‐refer, and was also least accurate in identifying speech and/or language disorders at the highest age level. Moderately high inter‐tester agreement measures were found, with greater agreement between scoring for controls than referrals. The phonology sections were scored significantly higher by the public health nurses than by the therapist. The results of this study imply that the MELST is sufficiently accurate and reliable to recommend its continued use in child surveillance programmes.
Covert fears and anxiety in asthma and congenital heart disease1
Authors: Gupta S , Mitchell I , Giuffre R Michael , Crawford S 
Published: March 2003

Summary Aim To compare anxiety, fears and behavioural problems in children with asthma and children with congenital heart disease, and with the normative population. To also review the influence of maternal anxiety, time since diagnosis and severity of disease.Design Children administered Fear Survey Scale (FSSC‐R) and Child Manifest Anxiety Scale (R‐CMAS). Mothers given Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) and State Trait Anxiety Scale (STAI‐S and STAI‐T). Normative means and SDs compared with means and SDs for both medical groups. The mother's scores on the STAI‐S and STAI‐T scales were correlated with the child's scores on the FSSC‐R and the R‐CMAS.Setting Outpatient Asthma and Cardiology multidisciplinary Clinics at a tertiary care paediatric facility, Alberta Children's Hospital.Subjects: Forty children with asthma (aged 6–17 years) were compared with 39 children with congenital heart disease. Intake questionnaires and interviews determined these children to be without obvious psycho‐social problems.ResultsChildren with asthma and children with congenital heart disease had more medical fears, and more physiological anxiety than normative samples. Increased maternal anxiety was correlated in both groups with increased child anxiety, medical fears and behavioural problems in the child. Similarly, increased severity of asthma or cardiac problems was associated with more physiological anxiety and more fears. Less time since diagnosis of the disease adversely affected social interactions in both groups of children.Conclusion Physiological anxiety, medical fears and maternal anxiety are important issues requiring attention in asthma and cardiac disease, even in the absence of obvious psychosocial problems. There may be specific problems with a recent diagnosis of a chronic illness.
School peer relationships of ‘minority’ children in Scotland
Authors: Closs A , Stead J , Arshad R , Norris C 
Published: March 2003

SummaryThis paper examines selected issues arising from two studies in mainstream education of two minority groupings of children in Scotland–those with serious medical conditions and refugee children–completed in 1997 and 1999, respectively. It draws on first‐person accounts of children, parents and teachers and focuses on school‐based peer relationships, including friendships. Many of the described peer experiences were unhappy or mixed, only a minority were positive. The paper relates the research and its findings to current social and educational policy contexts and to theories on peer relationships, friendship and rejection. It challenges the problematizing of groups or individuals with minority experiences and school staff's acceptance of inevitable difficulty in these children's peer relationships. It hypothesizes that ways of developing all children's peer relationships need to be addressed in schools if the well‐being of children who may be socially vulnerable is to be improved.
Using the Internet to pilot a questionnaire on childhood disability in Rett syndrome
Authors: Fyfe S , Leonard H , Gelmi R , Tassell A , Strack R 
Published: March 2003

AbstractThere is increasing use of the Internet for the transfer and sharing of medical information. Opportunities to pilot surveys online are now also available. An online HTML questionnaire allowed us to pilot a questionnaire about functional ability and the use of health services in Rett syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. Subscribers to a list server completed the online questionnaire and returned data by CGI script‐formatted e‐mail.Text boxes were provided for open‐ended questions. Eighty‐six questionnaires were returned from 224 subscribers with 76% returned within the first week. Almost all respondents were Caucasian, well educated and English speaking. The issue of selection bias and the need for mechanisms to validate the diagnosis are important considerations in any research facilitated through the Internet. However, we were able to contact an otherwise inaccessible group in a fast and cost‐efficient manner and effectively pilot our survey without tapping into our own study population.
Behaviour problems in extremely low birthweight children at 5 and 8 years of age
Authors: Miller M , Bowen J R , Gibson F L , Hand P J , Ungerer J A 
Published: March 2003

SummaryThis study explored the prevalence and stability of behaviour problems and their prediction from neonatal, medical and family context factors in a group of extremely low birthweight (ELBW) infants assessed at 5 and 8 years of age. Behaviour problems were identified on the basis of several measures: the Total Behaviour Problem Scale and the Adaptive Function Scale of the Child Behaviour Checklist, and the Hyperactivity Index and Hyperactivity Scale from the Conners’ Rating Scale. In this group of ELBW infants, the prevalence of behaviour difficulties was somewhat lower than that reported in other studies, and varied according to the measure and informant (parent vs. teacher) used. Also, there was little continuity between those children identified by their parents at 5 years of age as having behaviour problems and those children identified by parent and/or teacher report at 8 years of age. Most of the children identified with behaviour difficulties at 8 years were also reported to have academic difficulties. None of the neonatal or medical factors predicted behaviour difficulties at 8 years of age. In contrast, two family context factors, maternal level of education and family stress, were related to behaviour difficulties at 8 years. These findings indicate that ELBW and the often associated medical complications may not necessarily predispose infants to develop subsequent behaviour difficulties later on in childhood.
Biological vulnerability in infants with failure to thrive: the association with birthweight
Authors: Steward D K 
Published: March 2003

SummaryThe development of failure to thrive (FTT) is hypothesized to be caused by the interaction between biological and environmental factors. Birthweight is one biological variable thought to play a role in the infant’s growth failure. In studies that enrolled infants with FTT who were full‐term at birth, the reported birthweights of these infants were significantly less than healthy control infants (M=2959 g vs.M=3364 g), t(14)= −4.597,P<0.000. There is growing evidence that there is a subgroup of full‐term newborn infants who actually may have experienced some degree of intrauterine growth retardation but their birthweights remain above the traditional cut‐off of 2500 g so that they go unrecognized. The question to consider is whether these infants are as behaviourally vulnerable as full‐term infants with classic intrauterine growth retardation. It may be that this unrecognized group is at a higher risk of developing FTT. The purpose of this manuscript is to discuss birthweight as a possible precursor to the development of FTT.
Parental participation in the habilitation process — evaluation from a user perspective
Authors: Granat T. , Lagander B. , Börjesson M.‐C. 
Published: March 2003

Abstract Aim  To develop a national instrument for evaluation of parental participation: (1) to obtain a functional measure of quality from a user perspective; (2) as part of quality development in child habilitation services departments; (3) to create common grounds for the evaluation of important aspects of the habilitation process based on the opinions of users and care professionals; (4) to enable evaluation of individual service departments from a more general viewpoint and to highlight areas for improvement; and (5) to enable comparisons of individual service departments in the future against those of others via benchmarking. Method The Measurement of Processes of Care (MPOC) was deemed to be the method that corresponded most closely with these formulated aims. A shortened version, MPOC 20, had already been produced and was awaiting publication. This shortened version measures the same important aspects of habilitation as the original MPOC. It also has a new scale, with verbal clarification for each step. This makes it more user friendly, as the results are easier to interpret. MPOC 20 was modified to become MPOC 28. This questionnaire was sent out in 11 of 26 counties in Sweden. The target group for the questionnaires was families with children up to 18 years of age who had been in contact with a habilitation services department for at least 1 year. The sample group comprised 4013 randomly selected families. A total of 3391 (84.5%) returned the questionnaire, and 2458 (61%) had responded to the questions. Results Twelve particular questions that can be regarded as fundamental to the habilitation processes emerged from the questionnaire in the regression analysis. These are measures of good quality in the habilitation process as perceived by the parents and are important in their overall satisfaction with habilitation services. Apart from the specific information category, these questions represented all the factors, i.e. enabling/partnership, general information, co‐ordinated/comprehensive care and respectful/supportive care. Conclusion MPOC 28 can be useful as an analytical tool for comparisons over time and for measuring changes in the way in which parents rank the various question areas linked to their overall level of satisfaction with the habilitation services in general.
Validation of the measure of processes of care for use when there is no Child Development Centre
Authors: McConachie H. , Logan S. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractIntroduction   Clinical governance requires measurement of the outcomes of health care. The Measure of Processes of Care (MPOCKing, Rosenbaum & King 1995) is a postal questionnaire developed in Canada to reflect parents’ perceptions of the quality of services received.Aim   To examine the usefulness of the MPOC for the evaluation of services for children with disabilities and their families.Methods  The MPOC was revised minimally for British idiom, taking out explicit references to a ‘Centre’. Surveys of parents using child disability services were carried out in three rural and two urban communities, where there are no Child Development Centres, with a total of 495 analysable questionnaires returned. In addition, 32 parents using a home nursing service for children with multiple disabilities completed questionnaires.Results   The rate of return ranged from 49% to 67%. Factor analysis confirmed a five‐factor solution but only one factor mapped clearly onto the Canadian structure. Using the revised structure, the surveys provide evidence of the discriminating potential of the MPOC, comparing the perceptions of parents who do or do not have a care coordinator, and comparing recipients of a home nursing service with matched users of general services.Conclusions   The MPOC can be used as a measure of outcome for child disability services of differing organizational structures.
Cetirizine and hydrocortisone differentially regulate ICAM‐1 expression and chemokine release in cultured human keratinocytes
Authors: Albanesi  , Pastore  , Fanales‐Belasio  , Girolomoni  
Published: March 2003

BackgroundCetirizine is a H1 histamine antagonist which possesses anti‐inflammatory properties through inhibition of leucocyte recruitment and activation, and reduction of ICAM‐1 expression on mucosal epithelial cells. No studies have addressed the potential anti‐inflammatory activities of cetirizine on skin keratinocytes.ObjectivesCetirizine and hydrocortisone were compared in their capacity to counteract human keratinocytes activation by IFNγ. In particular, expression of immuno‐modulatory membrane molecules and chemokine release have been examined.MethodsKeratinocyte cultures established from normal skin of healthy donors were activated by IFNγ (100–500 U/mL) in the absence or presence of cetirizine (10−3–103 μM) or hydrocortisone (10−3–102 μM), and tested for expression of ICAM‐1, HLA‐DR, MHC class I and CD40 as well as for release of RANTES, IL‐8, macrophage chemotactic protein‐1 (MCP‐1) and granulocyte macrophage‐colony stimulating factor (GM‐CSF).ResultsCetirizine at high concentrations (102–103 μM) markedly inhibited IFNγ‐induced expression of membrane ICAM‐1, HLA‐DR and up‐regulation of MHC class I, but had no effect on CD40 expression. In contrast, hydrocortisone (102 μM) enhanced IFNγ‐induced membrane ICAM‐1, reduced expression of HLA‐DR and did not alter expression of MHC class I and CD40. Consistently, high doses of cetirizine decreased, whereas hydrocortisone increased, soluble ICAM‐1 levels in the supernatants of IFNγ‐treated keratinocytes. The inhibiting and stimulating effects of cetirizine and hydrocortisone, respectively, on ICAM‐1 expression were confirmed at the mRNA level by Northern blot analysis. Finally, cetirizine, but not hydrocortisone, inhibited the release of MCP‐1 and RANTES from IFNγ‐stimulated keratinocytes. In contrast, hydrocortisone, but not cetirizine, reduced GM‐CSF and IL‐8 release.ConclusionsThe results indicate that cetirizine has the capacity to block the IFNγ‐induced activation of keratinocytes, and thus can exert important regulatory effects on TH1 cell‐mediated immune responses in the skin. The high doses required for evidencing these activities suggest the potential benefits of a topical use of cetirizine.