Abilities Of School-age Children Research Articles

Improving Cognitive Abilities in School-Age Children via Computerized Cognitive Training: Examining the Effect of Extended Training Duration.

Critical neuropsychological capabilities such as working memory, cognitive flexibility, and processing speed are foundational to many daily activities. For children, such skills are essential for school success. Thus, children who demonstrate weaknesses in these abilities may experience impaired academic performance; this is especially true for students identified with learning differences who often exhibit less developed cognitive abilities. The purpose of this project was to examine the efficacy of a cognitive training program implemented during the school day to improve abilities predictive of academic achievement. Ninety-five children completed two training activities that were counterbalanced across participants. Analyses of baseline working memory, cognitive flexibility, and processing speed performance relative to those following training showed a strong treatment effect. Moreover, there is notable evidence of greater intervention efficacy with extended engagement with the training program. Implications for neuropsychological research and practice are discussed.

Penyuluhan Kesehatan melalui Program GERTAGIMU sebagai Upaya Menangani Masalah Gigi dan Mulut pada Anak

Dental and oral health is an integral part of overall health that can affect a person’s quality of life and is an important concern in developing the health of thepopulation of Indonesia and developing countries. According to PDGI in Astannudinsyah, (WHO) World Health Organization states that around the world, 60-90% of school children have cavities, while according to data from PDGI (Indonesian Dentist Association) states that at least 89% of caries sufferers are children. Based on the data above, we are interested in proposing an idea for health education for school-age children, namely how to maintain dental and oral hygiene through the GERTAGIMU (Gerakan Menjaga Kesehatan Gigi dan Mulut) program. GERTAGIMU is one of the health innovation programs as an effort to promote health in the group of school-age children in maintaining dental and oral hygiene. The GERTAGIMU activity aims to increase the knowledge and ability of school-age children in maintaining dental and oral health. The method used is using posters and animated cartoon videos as the target group of school-aged children in grades I and II at SDI Raudatul Husna Kepok Hamlet, the research sample is 64 respondents. The counseling activities carried out in the GERTAGIMU program were in the form of education about dental and oral problems in the school age group of children then the children were taught how to maintain oral and dental hygiene and how to brush their teeth properly and correctly. The result of the GERTAGIMU activity is that it can increase the knowledge of school-age children about how to maintain dental and oral health.

Hubungan Pendisiplinan Orang Tua dan Masalah Sosial Emosional Anak Usia Sekolah

Parents have an important role in the children’s social emotional skill development, one of the ways through discipline. Parents do discipline by responding, correcting children’s behavior, which is considered behavior that does not follow expectations. There are 2 types of discipline, punitive and non-punitive, each of which has a different impact on children’s development. This study aims to determine the relationship between the type of discipline applied by parents to children with problems with social-emotional abilities in school-age children. The researcher used the Dimensions of Discipline Inventory (DDI) and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Subjects in this study were 92 parents who have school-age children aged 6-11 years in Bandung. The correlation test results showed that the type of non-punitive discipline with SDQ had no relationship (rs=0,027, p=0,799). Meanwhile, there was a sufficiently positive relationship between the type of punitive discipline and SDQ, it was statistically significant (rs=0,305, p=0,003). These results indicate that there is a relatively positive correlation between the type of punitive discipline and the emergence of children's social-emotional problems. This shows that its important for parents to pay attention to the type of discipline that is applied to their children to prevent social-emotional problems from arising.

Meningkatkan Pengetahuan Mitigasi Bencana Pada Anak Usia Sekolah Melalui Media Game Edukasi “Utas-Gana” di Desa Pindahan Baru

This counselling and demonstration were conducted to analyze the improvement of disaster mitigation abilities in school-age children through the educational game media "UTAS-GANA" in the New Transfer Village, Rantau Badauh District, Batola Regency. The method used in this activity uses lecture and demonstration methods. This activity was held on Monday, March 7, 2021, in the Village of New Transfer, Rantau Badauh District, Batola Regency. The counselling and demonstrations show an increase in disaster mitigation abilities in school-age children. This activity uses media in the form of an educational game UTAS-GANA (snake and ladder-disaster alert). The learning process about disasters will be well recorded in students' long-term memory.

Monaural and binaural phase sensitivity in school-age children with early-childhood otitis media

Objective Previous research has linked recurrent otitis media (OM) during early childhood to reduced binaural masking level differences (BMLDs) in school-age children. How this finding relates to monaural processing abilities and the individual otologic history has not been investigated systematically. The current study, therefore, addressed these issues. Design Sensitivity to monaural and binaural phase information was assessed using a common test paradigm. To evaluate the influence of the otologic history, overall OM duration, OM onset age, and the time since the last OM episode were considered in the analyses. Study sample Children aged 6–13 years with a history of recurrent OM (N = 42) or without any previous ear diseases (N = 20). Results Compared to the controls, the OM children showed smaller BMLDs (p < 0.05) whereas their monaural and binaural detection thresholds were comparable (p > 0.05). After controlling for age, the otologic history factors failed to predict the BMLDs of the OM children. Their monaural detection thresholds were correlated with the binaural detection thresholds (r = ∼0.5, p < 0.05) but not the BMLDs. Conclusions The current study suggests that early-childhood OM can impair binaural processing abilities in school-age children.

Numerical estimation strategies are correlated with math ability in school-aged children

Various laboratory-based numerical cognition measures are often found to be linked with standardized math scores, yet the exact nature of these links over development remains in question. In this study, we investigated how 0–100 number line estimation performance and dot numerosity discrimination explained variance in 6- to 8-year-olds’ standardized math ability scores, and we assessed links between tasks. Our primary goal was to assess the link between estimation performance and math ability from a theoretical perspective that models number line estimation as an instance of proportion estimation. As age increased, children’s proportion-based strategies for number line estimation became more sophisticated and estimation bias decreased. Children who spontaneously inferred and used a central reference point to guide their proportion estimates scored higher on the math ability measure (TEMA-3), demonstrating a relation between more advanced proportion estimation strategies and higher math abilities. Individual differences in estimation bias also made a lesser contribution to explaining variance in children’s math ability. Dot discrimination accuracy uniquely contributed to children’s math ability. Number line estimation performance and dot discrimination accuracy were not associated, consistent with prior research suggesting that number line estimation does not directly map onto mental numerical magnitude representations. Educational implications and future directions are discussed.

Exploring spelling ability in school-aged children with literacy learning difficulties using data collected in a clinical setting

Spelling analyses can be used to investigate sources of linguistic knowledge underlying children’s literacy development and may be useful in predicting later achievement. This study explored the utility of six analysis metrics in predicting the spelling achievement of school-aged children with literacy learning difficulties via post-hoc analyses of data collected in a clinic. Participants were 48 children aged 7 to 12 years. Spelling accuracy was assessed using the Dalwood Spelling Test (Dalwood Assessment Centre, 2008) at baseline and 37–70 weeks later. Spelling attempts at baseline were analysed using metrics designed to quantify evidence of phonological, orthographic, and/or morphological awareness. Scores from each metric were associated with baseline and later conventional spelling accuracy. A metric which credits evidence of phonological, orthographic and morphological awareness shared a significantly stronger association with baseline conventional spelling accuracy as compared to the remaining metrics. There were no significant differences in the strength of associations among the baseline metrics and later spelling achievement. Supplementary analyses focused exclusively on children’s spelling errors returned a similar pattern of results with a few notable exceptions. The utility of spelling analyses is discussed.

Children With ADD Benefited From Meditation Training

It is known that children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) have deficit in executive abilities. It is necessary to search for the ways to help children with ADD to overcome the deficit in executive abilities. In our previous research we have found that body-oriented therapy can effectively influence the executive abilities in children with ADD (Kiselev et all., 2018). The goal of this study was to reveal the effect of the meditation training on executive abilities in school-age children with ADD.

Visual search efficiency and functional visual cortical size in children with and without dyslexia

Dyslexia is characterised by poor reading ability. Its aetiology is probably multifactorial, with abnormal visual processing playing an important role. Among adults with normal reading ability, there is a larger representation of central visual field in the primary visual cortex (V1) in those with more efficient visuospatial attention. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that poor reading ability in school-aged children (17 children with dyslexia, 14 control children with normal reading ability) is associated with deficits in visuospatial attention using a visual search task. We corroborated the psychophysical findings with neuroimaging, by measuring the functional size of V1 in response to a central 12° visual stimulus. Consistent with other literature, visual search was impaired and less efficient in the dyslexic children, particularly with more distractor elements in the search array (p = 0.04). We also found atypical interhemispheric asymmetry in functional V1 size in the dyslexia group (p = 0.02). Reading impaired children showed poorer visual search efficiency (p = 0.01), needing more time per unit distractor (higher ms/item). Reading ability was also correlated with V1 size asymmetry (p = 0.03), such that poorer readers showed less left hemisphere bias relative to the right hemisphere. Our findings support the view that dyslexic children have abnormal visuospatial attention and interhemispheric V1 asymmetry, relative to chronological age-matched peers, and that these factors may contribute to inter-individual variation in reading performance in children.

Effects of Hearing Loss on School-Aged Children's Ability to Benefit From F0 Differences Between Target and Masker Speech.

The objectives of the study were to (1) evaluate the impact of hearing loss on children's ability to benefit from F0 differences between target/masker speech in the context of aided speech-in-speech recognition and (2) to determine whether compromised F0 discrimination associated with hearing loss predicts F0 benefit in individual children. We hypothesized that children wearing appropriately fitted amplification would benefit from F0 differences, but they would not show the same magnitude of benefit as children with normal hearing. Reduced audibility and poor suprathreshold encoding that degrades frequency discrimination were expected to impair children's ability to segregate talkers based on F0. Listeners were 9 to 17 year olds with bilateral, symmetrical, sensorineural hearing loss ranging in degree from mild to severe. A four-alternative, forced-choice procedure was used to estimate thresholds for disyllabic word recognition in a 60-dB-SPL two-talker masker. The same male talker produced target and masker speech. Target words had either the same mean F0 as the masker or were digitally shifted higher than the masker by three, six, or nine semitones. The F0 benefit was defined as the difference in thresholds between the shifted-F0 conditions and the unshifted-F0 condition. Thresholds for discriminating F0 were also measured, using a three-alternative, three-interval forced choice procedure, to determine whether compromised sensitivity to F0 differences due to hearing loss would predict children's ability to benefit from F0. Testing was performed in the sound field, and all children wore their personal hearing aids at user settings. Children with hearing loss benefited from an F0 difference of nine semitones between target words and masker speech, with older children generally benefitting more than younger children. Some children benefitted from an F0 difference of six semitones, but this was not consistent across listeners. Thresholds for discriminating F0 improved with increasing age and predicted F0 benefit in the nine-semitone condition. An exploratory analysis indicated that F0 benefit was not significantly correlated with the four-frequency pure-tone average (0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz), aided audibility, or consistency of daily hearing aid use, although there was a trend for an association with the low-frequency pure-tone average (0.25 and 0.5 kHz). Comparisons of the present data to our previous study of children with normal hearing demonstrated that children with hearing loss benefitted less than children with normal hearing for the F0 differences tested. The results demonstrate that children with mild-to-severe hearing loss who wear hearing aids benefit from relatively large F0 differences between target and masker speech during aided speech-in-speech recognition. The size of the benefit increases with increasing age, consistent with previously reported age effects for children with normal hearing. However, hearing loss reduces children's ability to capitalize on F0 differences between talkers. Audibility alone does not appear to be responsible for this effect; aided audibility and degree of loss were not primary predictors of performance. The ability to benefit from F0 differences may be limited by immature central processing or aspects of peripheral encoding that are not characterized in standard clinical assessments.

Oral narrative abilities in school-age children: A comparison between Learning Disabili- ties and Developmental Language Disorder

Oral narrative abilities in school-age children: A comparison between Learning Disabili- ties and Developmental Language Disorder

読み書き能力の発達― 就学前から小学2 年生までの追跡研究―

To elucidate the development of reading and writing abilities among Japanese children, we investigated the scores on 13 reading/writing tasks over a 3-year period among children from preschool age (5 to 6 years old) to the second grade of elementary school (7 to 8 years old). Most of 92 subjects (42 girl, 50 boys) completed all 13 tasks. Preschool-age children were given a hiragana naming task (HNT). The five tasks in the first grade were related to reading and writing hiragana, and the seven tasks in the second grade were related to reading and writing both hiragana and kanji. The preschoolers’ median score on the HNT was 38.0 points (max 40.0), and six children had extremely low scores (5-14 points). Twenty-three children (9 girls, 14 boys) had HNT scores below 32.0 points, and these children also tended to have poor scores on the reading/writing tasks in the first and second grade. The children’s HNT scores showed significantly positive correlations with their scores on the hiragana writing task and the kanji reading/writing tasks. The HNT scores also showed significantly negative correlations with the duration of reading in four reading tasks. These results suggest that evaluations of the HNT score in preschool-age children may be useful to predict the reading/writing abilities of school-age children.

The Relationship of Executive Function and Reading Comprehension Ability in School-Aged Children with and without Vocabulary Delay

The Relationship of Executive Function and Reading Comprehension Ability in School-Aged Children with and without Vocabulary Delay

Math anxiety and math achievement: The effects of emotional and math strategy training.

Math anxiety (MA) is a specific feeling of tension generated by the manipulation of numerical stimuli in daily life and academic situations (Richardson & Suinn, 1972). This condition has significant repercussions on the individual's life at personal, social, and economic level. Literature on the topic of MA alleviation, however, is still scarce. This study aims at contributing to this field by addressing MA prevention in school-age children. We have developed two different training methods administered to two groups of fourth graders: (a) MA training focusing on identifying and copying with MA-related feelings (N=76); and (b) Math strategy training focusing on supplementary exercises to enhance calculation strategies (N=76). We also carried out a Control training involving a range of activities, such as reading comic strips, describing characters in the story, and combining text and images to obtain an original narrative text (N=72). We evaluated the differential effects of these training methods on MA, general anxiety, and math achievement before and after the training. Results indicate that MA training contributes to a decrease in MA level, although it does not appear to affect math achievement; Math strategy training, on the other hand, results in far transfer on a reduction of MA level as well as near transfer on the improvement of math achievement. Data are discussed in terms of specific mechanisms underlying each type of training method, and with specific focus on the evaluation of educational and developmental opportunities linked to MA prevention and improvement of math abilities in school-age children.

Effectiveness and safety of intermittent preventive treatment for malaria using either dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine or artesunate-amodiaquine in reducing malaria related morbidities and improving cognitive ability in school-aged children in Tanzania: A study protocol for a controlled randomised trial

BackgroundIn high transmission settings, up to 70% of school-aged children harbour malaria parasites without showing any clinical symptoms. Thus, epidemiologically, school aged children act as a substantial reservoir for malaria transmission. Asymptomatic Plasmodium infections induce inflammation leading to iron deficiency anaemia. Consequently, anaemia retards child growth, predisposes children to other diseases and reduces cognitive potential that could lead to poor academic performance. School aged children become increasingly more vulnerable as compared to those aged less than five years due to delayed acquisition of protective immunity. None of the existing Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT) strategies is targeting school-aged children. Here, we describe the study protocol of a clinical trial conducted in north-eastern Tanzania to expand the IPT by assessing the effectiveness and safety of two antimalarial drugs, Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine (DP) and Artesunate-Amodiaquine (ASAQ) in preventing malaria related morbidities in school-aged children (IPTsc) living in a high endemic area. Methods/designThe trial is a phase IIIb, individual randomized, open label, controlled trial enrolling school children aged 5–15 years, who receive either DP or ASAQ or control (no drug), using a “balanced block design” with the “standard of care” arm as reference. The interventional treatments are given three times a year for the first year. A second non-interventional year will assess possible rebound effects. Sample size was estimated to 1602 school children (534 per group) from selected primary schools in an area with high malaria endemicity. Thick and thin blood smears (to measure malaria parasitaemia using microscope) were obtained prior to treatment at baseline, and will be obtained again at month 12 and 20 from all participants. Haemoglobin concentration using a haemoglobinometer (HemoCue AB, Sweden) will be measured four monthly. Finger-prick blood (dried bloodspot-DBS) prepared on Whatman 3 M filter paper, will be used for sub-microscopic malaria parasite detection usingPCR, detect markers of drug resistance (using next generation sequencing (NGS) technology), and malaria serological assays (using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, ELISA). To determine the benefit of IPTsc on cognitive and psychomotor ability test of everyday attention for children (TEA-Ch) and a ‘20 m Shuttle run’ respectively, will be conducted at baseline, month 12 and 20. The primary endpoints are change in mean haemoglobin from baseline concentration and reduction in clinical malaria incidence at month 12 and 20 of follow up. Mixed design methods are used to assess the acceptability, cost-effectiveness and feasibility of IPTsc as part of a more comprehensive school children health package. Statistical analysis will be in the form of multilevel modelling, owing to repeated measurements and clustering effect of participants. DiscussionMalaria intervention using IPTsc strategy may be integrated in the existing national school health programme. However, there is limited systematic evidence to assess the effectiveness and operational feasibility of this approach. School-aged children are easily accessible in most endemic malaria settings. The evidence from this study will guide the implementation of the strategy to provide complementary approach to reduce malaria related morbidity, anaemia and contribute to the overall burden reduction. Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov: NCT03640403, registered on Aug 21, 2018, prospectively registered.Url https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03640403?term=NCT03640403&rank=1.

Relationships between reading profiles and narrative writing abilities in school-age children with autism spectrum disorder

Reading and writing are distinct skill areas that influence each other across development. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are noted to exhibit challenges in both skill areas, though relatively few studies have examined relationships between reading and writing skills. This study adopted a reading-to-writing framework to examine if school-age children differ in their narrative writing performance based on their categorically heterogeneous, empirically derived latent reading profiles. Sixty-four school-age (10–18 years old) children with ASD without co-occurring intellectual or severe communication difficulties completed a battery of reading and writing assessments, and reading profiles were examined using latent profile analysis with narrative writing skills, ASD symptom severity, and age included as auxiliary outcome variables. Average readers demonstrated significantly higher narrative writing performance compared to Below Average/Intact Receptive Vocabulary, Comprehension Disturbance, and Global Disturbance readers. Subgroups of readers with reading difficulties did not significantly differ on writing outcomes. While findings support that stronger readers appeared to be also stronger writers, questions remain about differences in the writing skills of individuals with ASD with specific or broad reading difficulties. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed regarding the need for continued examination into the reading and writing abilities of children with ASD.

Visual Search Abilities in School-Age Children

Visual Search Abilities in School-Age Children

Examining the Association Between Imagery Responsiveness and Increased Scores on the Minnesota Handwriting Assessment: A Correlational Pilot Study

ABSTRACTHandwriting dysfunction can negatively impact a child’s occupational performance. Data supporting handwriting interventions are limited, and a need exists for evidence-based handwriting interventions to enhance a child’s functional performance and participation in meaningful occupations. This pilot study examined the relationship between the imagery ability of school-age children and residual final scores on the Minnesota Handwriting Assessment (MHA). Totally, 20 students were assessed across four time points: time point 1(MHA and the Kids Imaging Ability Questionnaire [KIAQ]), time point 2 (MHA post-repetitive task practice [RTP]), time point 3 (MHA after mental practice coupled with RTP), and time point 4 (follow-up MHA). The one-time KIAQ scores and the residual final rate and size scores (time point 4) were significantly positively correlated (p < .05), providing the preliminary evidence in favor of the potential usefulness of mental practice in rehabilitating handwriting.

Working Memory and Auditory Processing in School-Age Children.

Our goal is to present the relationships between working memory (WM) and auditory processing abilities in school-age children. We begin with an overview of auditory processing, the conceptualization of auditory processing disorder, and the assessment of auditory processing abilities in children. Next, we describe a model of WM and a model of auditory processing followed by their comparison. Evidence for the relationships between WM and auditory processing abilities in school-age children follows. Specifically, we present evidence for the association (or lack thereof) between WM/attention and auditory processing test performance. In conclusion, we describe a new framework for understanding auditory processing abilities in children based on integrated evidence from cognitive science, hearing science, and language science. We also discuss clinical implications in children that could inform future research.

Hemispheric asymmetry and homotopy of resting state functional connectivity correlate with visuospatial abilities in school-age children

Hemispheric specialization of cognitive functions is a developmental process that shapes the brain from the gestational stage to adulthood. Functional connectivity of the resting brain has been largely used to infer the hemispheric organization of the spontaneous brain activity. In particular, two main properties have been largely explored throughout development: hemispheric asymmetry of functional connectivity and homotopic functional connectivity. However, their relation with specific cognitive processes typically associated with hemispheric specialization, such as visuospatial abilities, remains largely unexplored. Such relationships could be particularly relevant for the quest of developmental cognitive biomarkers in childhood, a significant maturation period of visuospatial abilities. Moreover, the relation between asymmetry and homotopy of brain functional connectivity is not well understood. We have examined these two properties in a sample of 60 typically developing children between 6 and 10 years of age, and explored their relation with visuospatial abilities. First, we identified a strong negative relation between homotopy and asymmetry across the brain. In addition, these properties showed areas in the posterior portion of the brain, with significant correlation with performance in visual memory and visual attention tasks. These results highlight the relevance of the hemispheric organization of spontaneous brain activity for developmental cognition, particularly for visuospatial abilities.