A Community-based Responsive Caregiving Program Improves Neurodevelopment in Two-year Old Children in a Middle-Income Country, Grenada, West Indies

A systematic review of the concept of self-regulation in infants between 0 and 36 months in Latin America

This paper aims to identify how cognitive and emotional self-regulation (SR) processes in infants from 0 to 36 months are defined within the Latin American academic context. A systematic review based on the PRISMA methodology was implemented to review the conceptual and operational definition of SR, the type of study, the country of origin of the authors, and the reference to the adequacy of the research to the specific cultural context of Latin America. Twenty-two papers that met the selection criteria were selected. The study identified four types of conceptual definitions for SR, each associated with different constructs or sets of constructs: executive functions, temperament, the integration of executive functions and temperament, and physiological homeostasis. These definitions were based on mainstream approaches to SR rather than being specific to the Latin American region. The study also found compatibility between the sample and some observed trends. On one hand, there was an underrepresentation of the Latin American population in high-impact publications on the subject. However, from 2010 to the present, there is evidence of growth in publications on SR in the analyzed sample. On the other hand, the sample also indicates a disparate representation of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in existing publications. Finally, concerning the adaptation to the cultural context of the research, a small number of studies addressed this variable in a specific and significant way. However, even in these cases, the approach is based on models and hypotheses that are limited to understanding the Latin American region's cultural, socioeconomic, and demographic diversity.

Spare the rod, spoil the child: measurement and learning from an intervention to shift corporal punishment attitudes and behaviors in Grenada, West Indies

Childrearing practices in the Caribbean and other postcolonial states have long been associated with corporal punishment and are influenced by expectations of children for respectfulness and obedience. Evidence across settings shows that physical punishment of young children is both ineffective and detrimental. Saving Brains Grenada (SBG) implemented a pilot study of an intervention based on the Conscious Discipline curriculum that aimed to build adult caregivers' skills around non-violent child discipline. We hypothesized that attitudes towards corporal punishment would shift to be negative as adults learned more positive discipline methods, and that child neurodevelopment would correspondingly improve. This report reviews the impact of monitoring and evaluation on the design and implementation of the intervention. Study 1 presents findings from the pilot study. Despite positive gains in neurodevelopmental outcomes among children in the intervention compared to controls, attitudes towards corporal punishment and reported use of it did not change. Additionally, several internal conflicts in the measures used to assess corporal punishment behaviors and attitudes were identified. Study 2 is a response to learning from Study 1 and highlights the importance for monitoring and evaluation to be data-informed, adaptive, and culturally appropriate. In Study 2, the SBG research team conducted cognitive interviews and group discussions with stakeholders to assess the content and comprehensibility of the Attitudes Towards Corporal Punishment Scale (ACP). This yielded insights into the measurement of attitudes towards corporal punishment and related parenting behavior, and prompted several revisions to the ACP. To accurately evaluate the intervention's theory of change and its goal to reduce violence against children, reliable and appropriate measures of attitudes towards corporal punishment and punishment behaviors are needed. Together, these two studies emphasize the value of continuous monitoring, evaluation, and learning in the implementation, adaptation, evaluation, and scaling of SBG and similar early childhood development interventions.

Expectant mothers and fathers' knowledge of nurturing care in a developing country

BACKGROUND

The Nurturing Care Framework (NCF), which has been emphasized by the World Health Organization (WHO) in recent years and is among the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), expresses the conditions created to promote early childhood development (ECD). These conditions aim to provide opportunities for children in the Good Health, Adequate Nutrition, Responsive Caregiving, Security and Safety, and Opportunities for Early Learning (5 Components) by caregivers, primarily from low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The aim of this study is to examine the knowledge and awareness of expectant mothers and fathers in Turkey, about the NCF.

METHODS

In this study, a cross-sectional, analytical research design was used. Nurturing Care (NC) knowledge and awareness levels of expectant mothers and fathers in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy were determined via the online form of "The Knowledge of Nurturing Care Inventory (KNCI)" prepared by the researchers. This form consists of 60 questions describing the 5 components mentioned above. The sample contains a total of 103 people, 91 (88.3%) women, and 12 (11.7%) men.

RESULTS

Among the findings, the highest mean of knowledge level (13.76 ± 1.22) was found in Responsive Caregiving, and the lowest mean of knowledge level (4.35 ± 1.83) was found in Opportunities for Early Learning. The general level of knowledge on NC was found to vary statistically significantly depending on gender in favor of the women [t(101) = 3.27, p < .05], depending on educational status in favor of those with university and graduate education [F(2, 100) = 3.481, p < .05], depending on participation in pregnancy school training in favor of those who attended [t(101) = 2.349, p < .05], and depending on knowledge on how to support development in favor of those who know how to support [t(101) = 2.370, p < .05].

CONCLUSIONS

As a result, expectant parents need information and support about the period when children can acquire the basic developmental milestones and about the developmental risk indicators. More research is needed to implement the NCF starting from the preconception period, especially in LMICs, so that the opportunities in early childhood (which is the time period when the brain architecture is shaped, and development is the fastest) are not missed.