Children Of Different Groups Research Articles

Gait synergetic neuromuscular control in children with cerebral palsy at different gross motor function classification system levels.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a neural developmental disease featured with gait abnormalities. CP gait assessment is usually performed with the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) in clinics, which does not involve a thorough assessment of neuromuscular control. To understand how the neuromuscular control disorders lead to gait abnormalities, we explored the relationship between GMFCS levels and the gait synergetic control characteristics in this study. In total, 18 children with CP at different GMFCS levels (mean age: 4.41±1.30 yr) and 8 age-matched typically developing (TD) children (mean age: 4.43±1.36 yr) were recruited to perform a straight walking task, and the surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals from eight lower limb muscles on each side and accelerometer data were collected. A nonnegative matrix factorization method was applied to obtain the muscle synergies from the sEMG signals. Next, synergy structures were projected onto the basic gait synergies to test the completeness of those structures. Subsequently, synergy activation parameters, including total activation duration and coactivation index, were compared across the participants. This study showed that children with CP at GMFCS levels I and II and the TD children had similar synergy structures, but the synergy activations of these children with CP were different from those of TD children. In addition, similar to previous research, we also found that children with CP at GMFCS level III could not access all four basic synergies on both sides. Based on the synergy analysis results, a gait assessment paradigm was proposed to facilitate the clinical CP gait evaluation. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Understanding the mechanism of gait abnormality has important clinical significance for the diagnosis, prognosis, and possible treatment of motor dysfunction in children with cerebral palsy (CP). In this study, the comparisons of the lower limb muscle synergies among different groups of children with CP at different Gross Motor Function Classification System levels might provide some new insight into the mechanism underlying the gait disorder. In particular, the discrepancies of gait synergy structure and activation patterns across the study groups may indicate different neurophysiological and pathological attributes in different groups of patients.

Life Satisfaction among Different Groups of Children: Self-Reports, Differential Scale Usage and Anchoring Vignettes

The valid measurement of children’s life satisfaction is key for subsequent analysis and policy recommendations. It has been demonstrated that individuals use different scales in (self-)reports which leads to misleading results. In this study we focus on the analysis of life satisfaction self-reports among children with differences in the following characteristics: family, school, and free-time activities. Using the anchoring vignette method, we analyze differences in response scale usage among the groups and the impact of these differences on the comparison of life satisfaction among the groups. Our sample (N = 3737) is a representative sample of 5th graders (11 year-olds) in the Czech Republic. After adjustment for differential scale usage, children’s life satisfaction is significantly positively related to being female, having a father at home, having good school grades, spending time with friends and the level of education they expect to attain. It is significantly negatively linked to preparing for hard admission exams and time spent playing computer games. The adjustment for response scale differences substantially changes the comparison of different groups. The most significant change is for gender – after correction girls’ life satisfaction is significantly higher while before correction it is the opposite. Before adjustment the differences between some groups are underestimated – children with excellent grades, living with their father and spending at least some time with friends have a higher level of life satisfaction after adjustment in comparison to other children. We recommend examining the differences in scale usage among different cultures, countries and groups in children’s life satisfaction research.

Проблеми реалізації права на освіту дітей, що потерпають від збройних конфліктів.

The article is devoted to the analysis of urgent problems of realization of the right to education of children suffering from armed conflicts. Cases related to the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict in eastern Ukraine and the actual Russian occupation of parts of Lugansk and Donetsk regions were the main material for the stated provisions and conclusions of the article. It was noted that different groups of children should be parcel out among those affected by conflict and occupation. Including those who live in the occupied zone, those who live in the “gray” zone and those who have left far from the conflict zone and reside in other areas of Ukraine. It is determined that the main problems related to the realization of the right to education of children in the conflict zone are related to the integration of IDP children into the new educational space in which they were left out of their own free will; in the case of residence in the occupied territory, training in secondary and higher education institutions only according to the educational programs defined by the occupation administration; a number of problems related to enrollment in Ukrainian universities; objectively insufficient opportunities for agitation for continuing education after high school in Particular Areas of Donetsk and Lugansk Regions in the universities of Ukraine; determining the future life path of IDPs after graduating from higher education in Ukraine. The article states that among the mentioned problems, the state authorities and civil organizations are most concerned with the integration of IDP children into the new educational space and providing opportunities for entry of entrants to Ukrainian higher education institutions. Both objective and subjective obstacles to the achievement of the goals postulated in relation to the right to education of children suffering from the Russian-Ukrainian conflict are outlined.

Физическое развитие новорожденных, родившихся от матерей с различными нарушениями углеводного обмена

Introduction: Every year, 50-150 thousand babies are born to mothers with diabetes. Currently, there is no doubt that the condition of newborns born in mothers with diabetes requires special attention because of the increased risk of developing diseases of the respiratory tract, cardiovascular system, brain, kidneys etc. Purpose: Evaluation of various types of diabetes during pregnancy in mothers influence at the physical development of newborn children. Materials and methods: 350 full-term babies from mothers with diabetes mellitus, which was born at the N. E. Bauman Hospital which is specialized in the management of such pregnant women. Assessment of the physical development of children was carried out according to WHO standards (2006) using the WHO Anthro program. Comparative analysis of indicators of children in different groups using Student t-criterion. We used the program Statistica 10. Results: The body mass of 350 examined newborns varied within 1590-4710 g, on average, amounted to 3421.1 ± 543.99 g. There were 67 (19.1%) children who had a body weight less than 3000g and 46 (13.1%) more than 4000 g. Growth values of 350 newborns ranged from 40-57 cm, on average, amounted to 51.21 ± 2.54 cm. We analyzed the indicators of physical development of children in all groups depending on gender. We carried out a comparative analysis of the parameters of body mass (m), body length (H), BMI and the ratio of body mass to body length in the experimental and control groups. Conclusion: children born to mothers with various types of diabetes have a higher height, weight to body length ratio, WAZ and HAZ indicators than newborns from mothers with normal glycemia. The weight and height of newborns in the groups of GDM and DM-2 did not differ significantly among themselves. The shortest and most lightweight children are born to mothers with type 1 diabetes,

Role of Dental Discomfort Questionnaire-Based Approach in Recognition of Symptomatic Expressions Due to Dental Pain in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Aim:The aim of this study is to investigate whether the Dental Discomfort Questionnaire (DDQ) could help to identify toothaches in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Materials and Methods:This study involved sixty children between the age groups of 6–16 years, attending the day-care schools diagnosed with ASD. Five different groups of children were identified based on the presence of a toothache and/or carious teeth. The DDQ-8 was completed by parents and evaluated by a single examiner. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (SPSS version 17), and a correlation was observed between the total DDQ score and the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (dmft–DMFT) score.Results:Analysis of the data showed that DDQ-8 had a significant correlation with that of DMFT score in a group “with carious teeth but no toothache” (r = 0.497, P = 0.019) and group “with carious teeth and a toothache” (r = 0.682 P = 0.043). A group “without carious teeth where the parents were not sure whether or not the child had a toothache” had higher mean compared to other groups with DDQ-8 scores.Conclusion:There was a significant difference in the total mean DDQ scores when they were compared with that of the control group. Children with high DDQ-8 often had a high DMFT/dmft score. A significant correlation was found when the total DDQ-8 scores were compared with that of the DMFT score.

Experience in the Organization of the Neuropsychological Support of Children with Mental Retardation in Comprehensive Secondary Schools

Over the years, the neuropsychological approach has proven its validity and effectiveness as a differential-diagnostic, prognostic, preventive and corrective tool for working with different groups of children. But it has not yet entered the wide practice of teachers and psychologists of secondary schools. The purpose of our work is the organization of neuropsychological support of children with mental retardation in a secondary school. As a result of neuropsychological diagnostics for each first grader the individual neuropsychological profile is made. The main directions of correction work are defined and realized. The main attention is paid to the development of spatial notions, which are key in teaching reading, writing and counting. As a result, the positive dynamics in the development of all levels of spatial notions – from the notions of the body to quasi-dimensional notions - is shown. This helped children overcome their training maladjustment. As a result of our work, it hasalso become possible to achieve the introduction of neuropsychological support in the daily educational process, to provide school teachers with basic algorithms of neuropsychological support of learning processes.
 Keywords: neuropsychological support, mental retardation, spatial notions

Risk of Developmental Disorders in Children of Immigrant Mothers: A Population-Based Data Linkage Evaluation

To evaluate the prevalence and risks of developmental disability (autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and cerebral palsy) in Western Australian children of different groups of foreign-born women. Western Australian population-based linked data of 764 749 singleton live births from 1980 to 2010 were used to compare disability outcomes among children of foreign-born, Australian-born non-Indigenous, and Indigenous women. The risk of disability was assessed using multinomial logistic regression. Overall, the prevalence of any disability was lowest for the children of foreign-born mothers. From 1980 to 1996 but not from 1997 to 2010, children born to mothers from foreign-born low-income countries had an increased relative risk of autism spectrum disorder with intellectual disability, and children born to foreign-born mothers from upper-middle-income countries had an increased risk of cerebral palsy with intellectual disability. After adjusting for smoking, the relative risks of intellectual disability and cerebral palsy with intellectual disability were markedly decreased in children of Australian-born Indigenous mothers. Although we did not find among children born to foreign-born women an increased prevalence across all the measured developmental outcomes, we did observe an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder with intellectual disability and cerebral palsy with intellectual disability for mothers of some foreign-born groups. Our findings related to smoking in the Indigenous population underscore its possible role on the causal pathway to intellectual disability. Maternal migration is considered a factor on the causal pathway to intellectual disability. Maternal migration may be either a risk or a protective factor on the causal pathway to developmental disabilities and the direct role of migration is inconclusive in our study.

Developmental Patterns of Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills of Russian First-Graders

This study explores patterns of development in cognitive, as well as social and emotional skills for children in the first year of school in Russia. The data analyzed are drawn from the International Performance Indicators in Primary Schools project. This is a large-scale assessment project involving 2741 children from two Russian regions. A k-means cluster analysis identifies four groups of children according to their cognitive and non-cognitive profiles, assessed at the beginning of the school year. Additional analyses explored how levels of children’s skill in each cluster differed by gender, phonological awareness and receptive vocabulary, maternal education, number of books in the home, parent involvement in home learning activities, and attendance at kindergarten in the year prior to school. The clusters proved to be stable across the end of the school year when a follow-up assessment was completed. The distinctive developmental characteristics of children from different clusters might be used to inform teachers in the first year of school about how they can adapt their teaching approaches to address the distinctive learning needs of different groups of children to reduce educational inequalities through primary school.

Le développement d'une langue seconde chez des enfants qui ont un trouble déficitaire d'attention avec hyperactivité (TDAH)

Dans des contextes conversationnels, la pragmatique, qui est l’usage social de la langue, permet de gérer la façon dont les autres aspects du langage sont utilisés (Prutting & Kirchner, 1987; Searle, 1969). Cependant, certains enfants qui ont un trouble déficitaire d’attention avec hyperactivité (TDAH) ou qui ont un trouble du développement du langage (TDL) éprouvent des difficultés avec celle-ci, faisant en sorte qu’ils ont des difficultés à bien communiquer dans des contextes sociaux. Le TDAH est un des troubles psychiatriques les plus communs chez les enfants (Cantwell, 1996). Puisque le TDAH réduit l’habileté à un enfant à porter attention, il y a souvent une interférence avec le processus d’apprentissage. Souvent, il y a plus de difficultés scolaires retrouvées chez les enfants qui ont un TDAH et un TDL (Özerk, Handorff & Özerk, 2011, Zylowska, Ackerman, Yang, Futrell, Horton, Hale, & al., 2007).
 Le TDL est un trouble caractérisé par des problèmes au niveau de la compréhension et/ou de l’expression du langage sans être causé par un autre trouble ou syndrome. Les orthophonistes sont souvent appelés à évaluer et documenter la coexistence du TDL chez des enfants qui ont un TDAH (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 1997). Cependant, évaluer le langage des enfants avec un TDAH ne s’avère pas une tâche facile et comme plusieurs enfants qui ont un TDAH démontrent des difficultés avec l’attention ainsi que l’apprentissage de leur première langue (L1), certains chercheurs stipulent que les problèmes liés au TDAH pourraient également affecter l’apprentissage de la L2.
 Toutefois, puisque peu d’étude, sinon aucune, ont explorés ce sujet, cette étude aurait comme objectif d’explorer l’impact du TDAH sur l’apprentissage d’une L2. Cette étude exploratoire examinera les habiletés langagières de trois groupes d’enfants, soit 5 enfants sans TDAH, 5 enfants qui ont un TDAH et 5 enfants qui ont un TDAH en plus d’avoir un TDL.

A sport for all programme in school: girls’ experiences

This article examines a Swedish Sport for All Programme (SAP) in school. We use a case study to discuss girls’ debut in alternative sports programme organized in collaboration between school and the sports movement. The empirical data are derived from repeated focus group interviews with one group of seven 10-year-old girls participating in one SAP. The analyses focus on their subjective experiences and how broader gender structures influence these experiences. Drawing on the results of this study, we argue that certain sports can be interpreted as oppressive activities that produce asymmetric power relationships between different groups of children. Simultaneously, the girls see the idea of sports as joyful activities, without male abuse and oppression or hierarchical gender relationships. Based on the girls’ accounts, we claim that both the leaders and the children actively reproduce gender stereotypes in the SAP.

Harnessing administrative data in legal epidemiology: new frontiers in the study of family law

BackgroundIn all decisions concerning the upbringing of a child, the child’s best interests are a primary consideration (art 3(1) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989). The extent to which the English family justice system (FJS) promotes children’s well-being, however, is not clear due to a lack of research in this area. In particular, very little is known about educational trajectories and outcomes of looked after children and children in need.
 MethodsThis poster will describe administrative data resources generated by the FJS and education sectors and will describe an on-going project examining educational outcomes in vulnerable children. We will use the national children looked after (SSDA903) and child in need returns, linked to the National Pupil Database to examine factors predicting the nature and quality of secondary schools that children in care and in need attend and whether these differ from the general population. Further, we will examine, given the schools that children attend, how secondary school outcomes (absences, exclusions and exam results) vary among different groups of children.
 ConclusionThis project will demonstrate how we can use linked administrative data to evaluate the operation of law and, importantly, substantive outcomes for the children whom it affects. Such studies enable us to monitor changes in policy and practice and thereby evaluate the effectiveness of law.

Is the Care System to Blame for the Poor Educational Outcomes of Children Looked After? Evidence from a Systematic Review and National Database Analysis

It is recognised internationally that children in out-of-home care (‘children in care’ or ‘children looked after’) generally have lower educational attainments than other pupils. This article provides two forms of evidence that challenge the view that care status in itself can explain this ‘attainment gap’. A systematic review of 28 studies was conducted to assess the evidence on whether being in care is detrimental to young people's educational outcomes. This is complemented by an analysis of administrative data from England, which compares the educational outcomes of children in care at age 16 to those of children in the general population and to other children supported by social services. Taken together, the findings suggest that while research demonstrates an important attainment gap between children in care and children in the general population, this difference is reduced and in many cases disappears when other important factors are taken into consideration to reduce selection bias. We find little evidence that being in care is detrimental to the educational outcomes of children looked after, but suggest that given the heterogeneity of the population, special attention should be paid to different groups of children and their particular needs while in care.

Relationship between Early Treatment Response and Prognosis in Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

To analyze the relationship between the early treatment response and the pregnosis in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia(ALL). Two hundred and Seventy-eight ALL children diagnosed and treated in Hainan general hospital from March 2013 to March 2017 were collected. All ALL children received therapy with CCLg-ALL-2008 regimen. The 3 year event-free survival (EFS) rate of ALL children in different groups was analyzed in terms of 4 indexes including sensitivity response to prednison at day 8 (D8-SRP), bone marrow remission at day 15 (D15-BMR) and at day 33 (D33-BMR), and minimal residual disease at day 33 (D33-BMR), and minimal residual disease at day 33(D33-MRD). These 4 indexes and other indexes possibly affecting the prognosis of ALL children were enrolled in Cox regression model for analysis of independent factors affecting the prognosis of ALL children. The D8-SRP test showed that among 269 ALL children, 240(89.22%) cases displayed prednisone poor response (PPR); the 3-year EFS rate in predrisone good response(PGR) group was significantly higher than that in PPR group(P<0.05). The D15-BMR detection showed that among 262 ALL children, the bone marrow remission(BMR) as M1 was observed in 230 cases (87.79%), M2 in 20 cases (7.63%) and M3 in 9 cases (4.58%); the 3-year EFS rate showed as follows:M1 group >M2 group >M3 group(P<0.05). The D33-BMR detection showed that among 257 ALL children, the BMR as M1 was observed in 227 cases (88.33%), M2 in 21 cses(8.17%) and M3 in 9 caes (3.51%); the 3-year EFS rate in 3 groups showed as follows: M1 group >M2 group >M3 group(P<0.05). The D33-MRD detection showed that among 185 ALL children, MRD<10-10 was found in 128 cases (69.19%), MRD≥10-4-10-2 in 43 cases (23.24%), MRD ≥10-2 in 14 cases (7.57%); the 3-year EFS rate in 3 groups showed as follows: MRD <10-4 group > MRD≥ 10-4-10-2 group>MRD≥10-2 group. The Cox regression analysis showed that PPR in D8-SRP test, M2 and M3 in D15 and D33 BMR detection, and MRD≥10-2 in D33 MRD detection as well as T-ALL typing were independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of ALL children. The early treatment response can predict the prognosis of ALL children, which is an independent prognostic factor for ALL children.

Information Communication Technology Use among Students in Inclusive Classrooms

As inclusion has brought diversity into 21st-century classrooms, it has also brought challenges for teachers who must adapt their teaching to different groups of children with varying learning abilities, needs, and interests. It is believed that information and communication technology (ICT) can be used as a powerful tool to support inclusion and that information on students’ use of ICT can facilitate its integration. Our research compared the leisure and school-related computer use of students in inclusive classrooms. Frequency of computer use, types of ICT-supported activities, and attitudes toward computer use were explored. Consistent with previous studies, our results show that students with special needs (SN) and their peers use computers more frequently for leisure activities than school activities. Compared to their peers, students with SN use computers less frequently and for fewer leisure and school activities. They are also more resistant to computer use. No correlation was found between the presence of SN and a student’s desire to use a computer or opinion regarding whether computer use improves learning success. A comparison of male and female students revealed that males use computers more frequently than females, that they use computers more frequently for leisure activities than females, and that they have a stronger belief that computer use improves learning success. The presented work offers important information that may contribute to the integration of ICT in inclusive classrooms.

Not a zero-sum game: Migration and child well-being in contemporary China

Background: The complex impact of migration on children's development has received extensive attention in both developed and developing countries. In China, more than 100 million children are directly affected by the massive internal migration. Objective: This study investigates the impact of different migration processes (parental migration, child migration, and hukou conversion) on Chinese children's developmental outcomes, measured by their cognitive abilities, school engagement, school attachment, physical and mental health, educational aspirations, and confidence about the future. Methods: We analyze the data from a nationally representative, school-based survey covering approximately 20,000 children aged 12 to 16 in both rural and urban areas. We employ the propensity score matching method to ensure different groups of children are intrinsically comparable to each other. Results: Migration both brings benefits and imposes costs on children. Bringing rural children to cities significantly improves their school performance and physical health but also reduces their educational aspirations and increases their anxiety toward the future. Leaving children behind in the countryside, while sparing them from potential social exclusion in cities, results in a negative impact on their physical and mental health. Gaining local urban hukou status improves rural-origin children’s academic achievements but has no effect on the other well-being indicators. Conclusions: These results reveal that the current migration processes and China's hukou system have generated both opportunities and challenges for the children involved. Contribution: The conceptual framework set out in this paper enables researchers to obtain a more comprehensive picture of migration's impact on children’s well-being rather than looking at small fragments of the larger story.

Influence of family demographic factors on social communication questionnaire scores.

Screeners are used to help identify children who are more likely to have ASD than their peers. Ideally screeners should be accurate for different groups of children and families. This study examined how well the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) predicts ASD. We found that male sex, lower household income, lower maternal education and Black race were associated with higher SCQ scores. In this study an SCQ cut-point of 11 worked best across the different sociodemographic groups in our sample.

The Effect of Autism Spectrum Disorders, Down Syndrome, Specific Learning Disorders and Hyperactivity and Attention Deficits on the Student-Teacher Relationship

Introduction. Despite the clear relevance of the Student-teacher relationship, studies have rarely encompassed subjects with special education needs. Our study focused on the differences perceived by teachers in their relationships with these students.Method. We described the results obtained with different groups of children with special education needs: ASDs (N = 14), Down Syndrome (N = 18), Learning Disorders (N = 38) and children with hyperactive behaviors and attention deficits (N = 56). Results from each group were then compared with those obtained by children with typical development (N = 254). The teachers were asked to fill out the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS).Results. Our study found that the social bonds formed by children with special needs differ for at least one relational aspect from those formed by children taken from the Control Group, the sole exception being children with Down’s Syndrome.Discussion and Conclusion. The Closeness dimension was hampered in the case of children who suffered from ASDs, attention deficits or hyperactive behaviors. Furthermore, the relationships with the latter group of children were characterized by a higher level of conflict and dependency. Children with Learning Disorders also suffered an increase in the dependency dimension.

Impact of Visual Literacy Skill Program on Visual Literacy of Deprived Children and Non-Deprived Children

In the present study an effort has been made to evaluate the effect of early visual literacy skill program on visual literacy of deprived and non deprived children. There were three levels of visual literacy skill program and their impact on different groups of children was made to measure up the levels of visual literacy skill program on performance of both deprived and non deprived children. It was hypothesis that visual literacy skill program will level off the performance of both deprived and non deprived children. As the duration of visual literacy skill program increase it will result in better performance of pictorial perception and visual literacy. The findings of the study have revealed that by enriching the exposure of deprived children with visual literacy skill program one can enhance their performance to the level of non deprived children. An effort has also been made to address the issues related to the development of simulation program on visual literacy.

Impact of self-efficacy and parenting practice on physical activity among school children.

ABSTRACTAs insufficient engagement in physical activity (PA) is becoming a major health concern in Thailand, we aimed to investigate the impact of parenting practices and children’s self-efficacy on a child’s PA level and further in the subgroups, stratified by the child’s sex and weight status. A total of 609 primary school children recruited by cluster sampling in two schools were asked to complete questionnaires, and general familial factors and parenting practice related to activities were completed by parents. Multivariate linear regressions were conducted to calculate the standardized beta-coefficients (β). Children’s PA level was positively related to greater support seeking self-efficacy (β=0.281) for engaging in PA, and parenting practices, including less limit setting (β=–0.124) and more discipline (β=0.147) in the total sample. In the analyses of subgroups by a child’s sex and weight status, parenting practice, such as less limit setting and discipline played a more important role in children’s PA in normal weight children and girls as taking account of around 10% of variance of the child’s PA, while only seeking support self-efficacy showed great impact in overweight children and boys. In conclusion, impacts of children’s self-efficacy and parenting practices on children’s PA were different by child’s sex and weight status. This can suggest that future interventions to increase children’s PA might need to consider different strategies to increase children’s self-efficacy as well as parenting strategies when targeting different groups of children.

Urban-Rural Extension: Urban-Rural Reproduction Among Different Groups of Children

The authors analyze survey data from four groups of children (urban children, migrant children, rural left-behind children, and ordinary rural children) to explore their social resource access with respect to educational resources, health resources, and family support. The study finds that urban children are advantaged in all three areas compared with the other children groups. Regarding access to educational and health resources, urban children and migrant children living in urban areas are advantaged compared with children living in rural areas. Regarding family support, urban children and ordinary rural children are advantaged over migrant children and left-behind children, as labor force migrations lead to families that are split apart. The authors find the urban-rural-based binary structure differentially impacts the four children groups with respect to access to social resources. The study analyzes the accessibility of education resource, health resource, and family support of urban children, migrant children, rural children and left-behind children and finds out that the urban children take more advantages of each dimension than others. Both urban children and migrant children living in urban place gain more access to education resource and health resource; urban children and rural children are more accessible to family support compared with migrant children and left-behind children due to the “split family” produced by the migrant labor market. The authors conclude that the different accessibility to social resources among different groups of children has already produced differentiation among children.