A Longitudinal Study of Childhood Behaviour Problems, Maternal Employment, and Day Care in a Rural Norwegian Community

A longitudinal study followed 120 children and their families of a rural cohort from the preschool period until 10 years of age. The prevalence of behaviour problems was similar to that found in other studies in different countries, except at the age of 10, when a modification of the cutoff point was indicated for the parental report measure. The prevalence of behaviour problems was initially influenced by gender and intelligence test scores. Day care centre experience at a later age was associated with lower levels of behaviour problems, as perceived by parents. At age 10, teachers' perceptions indicated that early maternal employment was associated with higher levels of behaviour problems.

Adolescents with and without a facial difference: The role of friendships and social acceptance in perceptions of appearance and emotional resilience

This study investigated the role of friendships and social acceptance in self-perceptions of appearance and depressive symptoms, comparing adolescents with and without a facial difference. Adolescents with a visible cleft (n=196) were compared with adolescents with a non-visible cleft (n=93), and with a comparison group (n=1832). Boys with a visible difference reported significantly more positive perceptions of friendships and less depressive symptoms than the comparison group. These results were interpreted in the context of indicators of emotional resilience. The objective measure of facial difference did not explain levels of depressive symptoms, while subjective measures did. Subjective ratings of appearance mediated the association between social acceptance and depressive symptoms in all samples. Gender did not contribute in explaining the paths between friendships, appearance, and depressive symptoms. The associations between perceptions of social acceptance, appearance, and emotional distress, support the possible utility of strengthening social experiences in preventing and treating appearance-concerns.

Associations between young children's emotion attributions and prediction of outcome in differing social situations

Associations between young children's attributions of emotion at different points in a story, and with regard to their own prediction about the story's outcome, were investigated using two hypothetical scenarios of social and emotional challenge (social entry and negative event). First grade children (N = 250) showed an understanding that emotions are tied to situational cues by varying the emotions they attributed both between and within scenarios. Furthermore, emotions attributed to the main protagonist at the beginning of the scenarios were differentially associated with children's prediction of a positive or negative outcome and with the valence of the emotion attributed at the end of the scenario. Gender differences in responses to some items were also found.

Intrauterine exposure to caffeine and inattention/overactivity in children

AIM

To determine the association between intrauterine exposure to timing and sources of caffeine and inattention/overactivity, suggesting ADHD in the child.

METHOD

This study used prospectively collected data from the large population-based study, The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Participants were 25 343 mothers and their 18-month-old children. Mothers reported on consumption of a number of caffeine sources at the 17th week and 30th week of gestation, as well as child inattention/overactivity at 18 months. Data were analysed using univariate analyses of covariance (ancova).

RESULTS

Once we controlled for confounders, there was a small effect of caffeine intake at 17th week of gestation on inattention/overactivity combined, and both 17th and 30th week of gestation on overactivity, when investigated separately from inattention. Surprisingly, the caffeine effect was only found for soft drinks, not tea or coffee.

CONCLUSION

Intrauterine exposure to soft drinks rather than coffee, the traditional focus, is associated with maternal reports of overactive behaviour in children aged 18 months.

Peer harassment and satisfaction with appearance in children with and without a facial difference

This study investigated associations between perceived peer harassment and satisfaction with appearance in the presence or absence of a facial difference. A cross-sectional sample of 661 children aged 10 or 16, with a cleft lip and/or palate, completed measures of satisfaction with appearance and peer harassment. Results indicated that the presence of a visible versus a nonvisible cleft was not associated with appearance dissatisfaction or higher levels of peer harassment for children aged 10 or for adolescent boys. Peer harassment was related to dissatisfaction with appearance in both age groups. In the adolescent group, there was an interaction between cleft visibility and gender, girls with a visible cleft being least satisfied with appearance. However, the association between cleft visibility and satisfaction with appearance was fully mediated by experiences of peer harassment. The results highlight the need to further explore the role of social interactions for subjective perceptions of appearance.

Social Experience in 10-Year-Old Children Born with a Cleft: Exploring Psychosocial Resilience

Objective:

The purposes of this study were to investigate self-reported social experience in 10-year-old children born with a cleft lip and/or palate and to gain a better understanding of variables implicated in psychosocial resilience.

Design:

Cross-sectional study of 10-year-old children from five consecutive birth cohorts, born from 1992 to 1997.

Participants:

A total of 268 children treated by the Oslo cleft team (Norway) participated in the study. The children's cleft conditions included cleft lip and palate, cleft lip alveolus, cleft palate, and submucous cleft palate.

Outcome Measures:

Psychosocial resilience was measured with the Child Experience Questionnaire (CEQ). Other variables were obtained during a clinical interview with the child. Cognitive, emotional, and psychosocial functioning was measured with the Personality Inventory for Children (PIC). Satisfaction with appearance was assessed through the use of the Satisfaction with Appearance Scales (SWA). Informants were both children and parents.

Results:

Cleft types differed significantly with respect to subtype and frequency of additional difficulties. Psychosocial resilience was associated with adequate emotional functioning, high satisfaction with appearance, and a lower frequency of reported teasing. Child characteristics such as visibility of cleft, gender, and additional diagnosis did not contribute to explain psychosocial resilience.

Conclusions:

Results reported here emphasise the importance of assessing the child's subjective report of satisfaction with appearance and psychosocial experience.

The Timing of Middle-Childhood Peer Rejection and Friendship: Linking Early Behavior to Early-Adolescent Adjustment

This study used a sample of 551 children surveyed yearly from ages 6 to 13 to examine the longitudinal associations among early behavior, middle-childhood peer rejection and friendedness, and early-adolescent depressive symptoms, loneliness, and delinquency. The study tested a sequential mediation hypothesis in which (a) behavior problems in the early school years are associated with middle-childhood peer rejection and (b) rejection, in turn, leads to lower friendedness and subsequently higher adolescent internalizing--but not externalizing--problems. Results supported this sequential mediation model for internalizing outcomes and revealed an additional path from early disruptiveness to loneliness via peer rejection alone. No evidence of sequential mediation was observed for delinquency.

Association between nonmaternal care in the first year of life and children's receptive language skills prior to school entry: the moderating role of socioeconomic status

BACKGROUND

Studies have suggested that nonmaternal care (NMC) may either carry risks or be beneficial for children's language development. However, few tested the possibility that NMC may be more or less protective for children with different family backgrounds. This study investigates the role of the family environment, as reflected in the socioeconomic status (SES), in the association between NMC in the first year of life and children's receptive language skills prior to school entry.

METHOD

A representative sample of 2,297 Canadian children aged between 0 and 11 months at their first assessment was followed over 4 years. Receptive language skills were assessed with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Revised (PPVT-R) when the child was 4 to 5 years old.

RESULTS

After controlling for selection factors, SES was found to moderate the association between NMC and receptive language skills: Full-time NMC in the first year of life was associated with higher PPVT-R scores among children from low SES families (d = .58), but not among children from adequate SES families.

CONCLUSION

Full-time NMC in infancy may contribute to reducing the cognitive inequalities between children of low and adequate SES.

Youth-parent consistencies on ratings of difficulties and prosocial behavior: Exploration of an at-risk sample

Low informant agreement is of particular concern in clinical settings, since diagnoses and interventions are largely based on reports from parents and/or youths. This study explores youth-parent consistencies in an at-risk sample of youths (n = 42), several from immigrant and refugee families, all with stressful background experiences. Data from a community sample (n = 165) was used to contrast the clinical results. Results showed that correlations between clinical youths and parents were within the same range as those in the community sample. Consistencies concerning absolute level of behavior were higher in the clinical sample. However, interesting differences in informant consistencies were found on difficulties and resources between the two samples. This study adds to the picture that there is no simple relationship between severity of behavior deviance and informant agreement. Asking about behavioral resources as well as difficulties may provide valuable additional information regarding differences in the perspectives of at-risk youths and parents.

Early childcare and physical aggression: differentiating social selection and social causation

BACKGROUND

Some research findings have suggested that group day-care may be associated with an increased risk for physical aggression.

METHODS

Cross-sectional maternal questionnaire data from a representative sample of 3431 Canadian 2- to 3-year-olds were used to compare rates of physical aggression shown by children looked after by their own mothers and those attending group day-care. A family risk index (using occupational level, maternal education, size of sibship, and family functioning) was created to test whether any difference in physical aggression might reflect social selection rather than social causation.

RESULTS

Aggression was significantly more common in children looked after by their own mothers than in those attending group day-care. Strong social selection associated with family risk was found, not only in the sample as a whole, but even within the high-risk subsample. However, after taking social selection into account, physical aggression was significantly more common in children from high-risk families looked after by their own parents. No such difference was evident in the majority (84%) of children from low-risk families.

CONCLUSION

Insofar as there are any risks for physical aggression associated with homecare they apply only to high-risk families.

[Recurrent pain in children and parents--no factual evidence of familial pain clustering]

Recurrent pain in children is a universal phenomenon, which occurs in about 50 percent of all children. The most prevalent pain areas are the stomach, head, back and neck/shoulders. A somatic cause of the symptoms is seldom found, but the pain is often related to other discomforts, problems or lack of family functioning. There has been a common belief that "pain runs in families". In our investigation of 358 mother-father-child trios, where the members reported on their own symptoms, we found little support for this hypothesis. There is a need for further research on these problems, where the study design and measure instruments should be carefully validated.