The ecology of early childhood risk: a canonical correlation analysis of children's adjustment, family, and community context in a high-risk sample

Adaptation and validation for use in Brazil of the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS)

BACKGROUND

The Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS in English Version) was originally developed in the USA by Matheny et al (Bringing order out of chaos: psychometric characteristics of the confusion, hubbub, and order scale. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 16(3):429-444, 1995) to measure chaos in the family environment, characterized by confusion, lack of routine, and organization.

OBJECTIVE

To present evidence of content validity, internal structure validity, and validity based on relationships with external measures of an adapted version of the CHAOS into Brasilian Portuguese with adolescents sample in São Paulo - Brasil.

METHOD

Study 1 involved the translation/back-translation and adaptation of the scale into Brazilian Portuguese [here named "Escala de Confusão, Alvoroço e Ordem no Sistema familiar" (CAOS)], assessed by 5 judges. In Study 2, we conducted an exploratory factor analyses (EFA) to determine the scale's factor structure (N = 180 adults). In Study 3, we carried out confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) to confirm the internal validity of the scale, along with complete structural equation modeling to explore convergent validity in another sample (N = 239 adolescents).

RESULTS

The CAOS scale displayed content validity, and the EFA and CFA showed a unifactorial structure (with some scale adjustments) with an acceptable fit. The family chaos latent factor was associated with externalizing symptoms and perceived stress in adolescents.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the Brazilian version of the scale presented evidence of construct, internal, and concurrent validity that indicate its usefulness in Brazil.

Revealing underlying factors of absenteeism: A machine learning approach

INTRODUCTION

The basis of support is understanding. In machine learning, understanding happens through assimilated knowledge and is centered on six pillars: big data, data volume, value, variety, velocity, and veracity. This study analyzes school attendance problems (SAP), which encompasses its legal statutes, school codes, students' attendance behaviors, and interventions in a school environment. The support pillars include attention to the physical classroom, school climate, and personal underlying factors impeding engagement, from which socio-emotional factors are often the primary drivers.

METHODS

This study asked the following research question: What can we learn about specific underlying factors of absenteeism using machine learning approaches? Data were retrieved from one school system available through the proprietary Building Dreams (BD) platform, owned by the Fight for Life Foundation (FFLF), whose mission is to support youth in underserved communities. The BD platform, licensed to K-12 schools, collects student-level data reported by educators on core values associated with in-class participation (a reported-negative or positive-behavior relative to the core values) based on Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) principles. We used a multi-phased approach leveraging several machine learning techniques (clustering, qualitative analysis, classification, and refinement of supervised and unsupervised learning). Unsupervised technique was employed to explore strong boundaries separating students using unlabeled data.

RESULTS

From over 20,000 recorded behaviors, we were able to train a classifier with 90.2% accuracy and uncovered a major underlying factor directly affecting absenteeism: the importance of peer relationships. This is an important finding and provides data-driven support for the fundamental idea that peer relationships are a critical factor affecting absenteeism.

DISCUSSION

The reported results provide a clear evidence that implementing socio-emotional learning components within a curriculum can improve absenteeism by targeting a root cause. Such knowledge can drive impactful policy and programming changes necessary for supporting the youth in communities overwhelmed with adversities.

The relationship between household chaos and child, parent, and family outcomes: a systematic scoping review

BACKGROUND

Household chaos, represented by the level of disorganisation or environmental confusion in the home, has been associated with a range of adverse child and family outcomes. This review aims to (1) identify how household chaos is measured, (2) chart study details of household chaos literature, and (3) map the existing literature with respect to the relationship between household chaos and child, parent, and family outcomes. We expect that this review will highlight the need to consider the importance of household chaos in child well-being research, particularly in those families where children may be more vulnerable to the adverse effects of household chaos.

METHODS

We searched five electronic databases (last updated September 1st 2018) in addition to Google Scholar, and identified publications via a 3-stage screening process, which was conducted by two researchers. Published studies were included if they investigated the association between household chaos and child, parent, or family outcomes. Research that investigated household chaos as a mediator or moderator, or that investigated how the relationship between household chaos and the outcome of interest was mediated or moderated, were also included.

RESULTS

One hundred twelve studies in 111 publications were included. The majority were conducted in the United States (n = 71), and used either cross-sectional (n = 60) or longitudinal (n = 49) study designs. Outcomes of interest were categorised into seven categories: (1) cognitive and academic (n = 16), (2) socio-emotional and behavioural (n = 60), (3) communication (n = 6), (4) parenting, family, and household functioning (n = 21), (5) parent outcomes (n = 6), (6) hormone (n = 8), and (7) physical health and health behaviours (n = 19). There was consistent evidence for significant correlations between household chaos and adverse outcomes across all seven categories in diverse populations with respect to age, disease status, and socio-economic status (SES).

CONCLUSION

There is consistent evidence for associations between household chaos and a number of adverse child, parent, and family-level outcomes. Household chaos may also help describe variations in outcomes between low SES and child development.

Socioeconomic Disadvantage Moderates the Association between Peripheral Biomarkers and Childhood Psychopathology

BACKGROUND

Socioeconomic disadvantage (SED) has been consistently associated with early life mental health problems. SED has been shown to impact multiple biological systems, including the regulation of neurotrophic proteins, immune-inflammatory and oxidative stress markers, which, conversely, have been reported to be relevant to physiological and pathological neurodevelopment This study investigated the relationship between SED, different domains of psychopathology, serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL6), thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARS) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). We hypothesized that a composite of socioeconomic risk would be associated with psychopathology and altered levels of peripheral biomarkers. In addition, we hypothesized that SED would moderate the associations between mental health problems, IL6, TBARS and BDNF.

METHODS AND FINDINGS

Using a cross-sectional design, we measured the serum levels of IL6, TBARS and BDNF in 495 children aged 6 to 12. We also investigated socio-demographic characteristics and mental health problems using the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) DSM-oriented scales. SED was evaluated using a cumulative risk model. Generalized linear models were used to assess associations between SED, biomarkers levels and psychopathology. SED was significantly associated with serum levels of IL6 (RR = 1.026, 95% CI 1.004; 1.049, p = 0.020) and TBARS (RR = 1.077, 95% CI 1.028; 1.127, p = 0.002). The association between SED and BDNF was not statistically significant (RR = 1.031, 95% CI 0.997; 1.066, p = 0.077). SED was also significantly associated with all CBCL DSM-oriented scales (all p < 0.05), whereas serum biomarkers (i.e. IL6, TBARS, BDNF) were associated with specific subscales. Moreover, the associations between serum biomarkers and domains of psychopathology were moderated by SED, with stronger correlations between mental health problems, IL6, TBARS, and BDNF being observed in children with high SED.

CONCLUSIONS

In children, SED is highly associated with mental health problems. Our findings suggest that this association may be moderated via effects on multiple interacting neurobiological systems.

[Somatic complaints, emotional awareness and maladjustment in schoolchildren]

INTRODUCTION

Somatic complaints are common in childhood. Research has shown their relationship with emotional awareness and maladjustment. The study had three objectives: 1) to analyze the prevalence of somatic complaints; 2) To explore the relationships between the variables evaluated: somatic complaints, differentiating emotions, verbal sharing of emotions, not hiding emotions, body awareness, attending to others' emotions, analysis of emotions, and personal, social, family, and school maladjustments; and 3) To identify predictors of somatic complaints.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The study included a total of 1,134 randomly selected schoolchildren of both sexes between 10-12 years old (M=10.99; SD=0.88). The Somatic Complaint List, Emotional Awareness Questionnaire, and Self-reported Multifactor Test of Childhood Adaptation were used to gather information.

RESULTS

The results showed that the prevalence of somatic complaints was 90.2%, with fatigue, headache and stomachache being the most frequently. Dizziness and headache were more common in girls, and the frequency of complaints decreases with age. Somatic complaints are negatively related to emotional awareness, and positively related to maladjustment. The variables that contribute the most to the prediction of somatic complaints are personal maladjustment (25.1%) and differentiating emotions (2.5%).

CONCLUSIONS

The study shows that personal maladjustment is the best predictor of somatic complaints; the more emotional awareness and better adapted the child, the fewer somatic complaints they lodge. Childhood is a stage with significant physical discomfort.