Life Circumstances Of Children Research Articles

Child and family perceptions of satisfaction with neutropenia management in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia.

Chemotherapy for pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is very intensive and many, but not all centers, require extended hospitalization until neutrophil recovery. Child and family preferences, beliefs, and experiences around hospitalization have not been systematically assessed. We recruited children with AML and their parents from nine pediatric cancer centers across the United States for a qualitative interview about their experiences of neutropenia management. Interviews were analyzed using a conventional content analysis approach. Of 116 eligible individuals, 86 (74.1%) agreed to participate. Interviews were conducted with 32 children and 54 parents from 57 families. Of these 57 families, 39 were cared for as inpatients and 18 were managed as outpatients. A very high proportion of respondents in both groups reported satisfaction with the discharge management strategy recommended by the treating institution: 86% (57 individuals) of respondents who experienced inpatient management and 85% (17 individuals) of respondents who experienced outpatient management expressed satisfaction. Respondent perceptions associated with satisfaction related to safety (access to emergency interventions, infection risk, close monitoring) and psychosocial concerns (family separation, low morale, social support). Respondents believed it could not be assumed that all children would have the same experience due to varied life circumstances. Children with AML and their parents express a very high degree of satisfaction with the discharge strategy recommended by their treating institution. Respondents saw a nuanced tradeoff between patient safety and psychosocial concerns that was mediated by a child's life circumstances.

The impact of a prostitute mother on the child life circumstances

The impact of a prostitute mother on the child life circumstances

Was wissen Psychiater über die Kinder ihrer Patienten?

Psychiatry could be a good starting point for preventive work for children of mentally ill parents by detecting children who are potentially at risk and connecting affected families with preventive services. However, it is unclear how much attention clinical psychiatrists pay for children of their patients. Therefore, this study examines the knowledge of german psychiatrists about the children of their patients and their attitude towards the youth welfare and prevention system. Seven psychiatric hospitals of one federal state in Germany participated in a questionnaire survey. The majority of the psychiatrists know whether their patients have children or not, but they can not answer differentiate questions of the children's life circumstances or name preventive programs for children and their families. Furthermore, psychiatrists potentially could forestall preventive programs because of a lack of knowledge about the youth welfare. Psychiatrists need more information about the children of their patients and about the general possibilities of prevention as well as more knowledge of supportive offers of the youth welfare.

Children with hearing impairment – Living with cochlear implants or hearing aids

Objective The aim of this study was to enhance knowledge about the life circumstances of children with cochlear implants or hearing aids, regarding daily functioning and attitude to the impairment. Methods Data were obtained from 36 children with cochlear implants and 38 children with hearing aids via study-specific questionnaires with fixed answer alternatives. The questions covered (1) usage of aids and related factors, (2) hearing in different everyday situations, (3) thoughts about the children's own hearing and others’ attitudes to it, and (4) choice of language. The data were analyzed using SPSS, and presented via the theoretical frame of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, Child and Youth version (ICF-CY). Results Children with CI and HA functioned equally well in daily life, but there were also certain differences. Symptoms from neck and shoulders were more common among children with hearing aids than among children with cochlear implants ( p < .001). Children with hearing aids used their aids significantly less often than those with cochlear implants ( p < .001). The participation variables showed that children with hearing aids had significantly more hearing problems in team sports ( p = .033) and outdoor activities ( p = .019), in comparison to children with cochlear implants. The two groups had similar thoughts regarding their own hearing, mostly considering it not to be a problem. They also did not generally think that other people found their hearing to be a problem. Conclusions Children with cochlear implants and children with hearing aids have, in some aspects, equally good functioning in everyday life situations. However, certain differences were found in dimensions of functioning, regarding neck and shoulder pain, usage of aids and sign language, and hearing problems in some activities.

Sibling struggle for schooling: between resource dilution and collaborative learning, the Netherlands, 1850-1920’

Geschwisterkampf um Schulbildung: Zwischen Ressourcen- minderung und gemeinschaftlichem Lernen: die Niederlande 1850-1920«. During the 19th century illiteracy in the Netherlands declined to the level of almost non-existence. Much attention has already been paid how a child's life circumstances affect his or her ability to write. Most research does not go beyond the household or aggregate level. This study aims to explore differences in literacy within a household. Following the resource dilution hy- pothesis, we expected literacy to be much higher among sons (than among daughters) and among (young) children from large families (as opposed to smaller families). Indeed, more boys are literate than girls, and especially in large families the oldest children are advantaged. However, we found the gender and higher birth order discrimination to be compensated with a mechanism where older girls seem to help their younger sisters, but not their younger brothers. We therefore believe gender specific mechanisms are at work which can explain literacy variations within a household.

The health of Canada's children. Part III: Public policy and the social determinants of children's health

The health of Canada's children does not compare well with other wealthy industrialized nations. Significant inequalities in health exist among Canadian children, and many of these inequalities are due to variations in Canadian children's life circumstances - the social determinants of health. The present article describes the social determinants of children's health and explains how the quality of these social determinants is shaped, in large part, by public policy decisions. The specific public policies that shape the quality of Canadian children's health are examined, and Canadian approaches in comparison with other wealthy developed nations are described. Policy directions that would improve the quality of the social determinants of children's health are presented and barriers to their implementation are considered.

Family factors and children’s disruptive behaviour: an investigation of links between demographic characteristics, negative life events and symptoms of ODD and ADHD

Oppositional defiant disorder behaviours (ODD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms (ADHD) are common disruptive childhood problems and co-occur to a large extent. In this study, prime questions were the specificity of relations between demographic factors and negative life events, respectively, and ADHD and ODD symptoms, and the role of negative life events in the relations between demographic factors and ODD and ADHD symptoms. Concurrent relations between maternal education, family structure, ethnicity/immigrant background and symptoms of ADHD and ODD were investigated in a Swedish population sample of 1,200 10-year-old children (52% boys). Parents completed questionnaires containing information about demographic characteristics and negative life events and rated the child's ADHD and ODD symptoms using DSM-IV criteria. Low maternal education, single/step-parenthood and non-European descent were associated with higher numbers of ODD and ADHD symptoms. Regression analyses identified ethnicity as specifically associated with ODD symptoms and single/step-parenthood as specific to ADHD symptoms, while there was no specificity with regard to negative life events. Experiences of multiple negative life events were more common in families in non-optimal circumstances. Negative life events had mainly additive effects on the level of ODD and ADHD symptoms above effects of the demographic stressors and especially conflicts between adults around the child were related to high symptom levels. The few gender effects pointed to boys as being more vulnerable than girls to non-optimal family factors expressed in relations to ODD and ADHD symptoms. Even in an affluent and egalitarian society, children's life circumstances are related to their mental health. Further, there seems to be some specificity in the demographic risk factors associated with ODD and with ADHD symptoms, while negative life events act as general stressors.

The costs children incur during treatment for cancer: a neglected area in theory and research

This article argues that the costs children incur during treatment for cancer should be rendered visible. As economic agents, children expend time, engage in productive work and participate in activities. Each of these aspects of daily life can be affected by cancer and/or its therapy and can be considered costs of illness. This article challenges researchers to consider eliciting children's views and assessments of these costs to illustrate more fully the impact of cancer on children and their childhoods. The resulting findings will provide a more accurate account of the social and economic costs incurred by families over the course of children's treatment trajectories. Ultimately, such information could be used to lobby for changes which would improve the life circumstances of children and their families.

Critical Notice.

"Goodness of Fit": Clinical Applications from Infancy through Adult Life. By Stella Chess & Alexander Thomas. Brunner/Mazel, Philadelphia, PA, 1999. pp. 229. pound24.95 (hb). Chess and Thomas's pioneering longitudinal studies of temperamental individuality started over 40 years ago (Thomas et al., 1963). Their publications soon became and remain classics. Their concept of "goodness of fit" emerges out of this monumental work but has had a long gestation period. In their new book, the authors distinguish between behaviour disorders that are reactive to the child's life circumstances, including life events, and which are self-correcting or responsive to the relevant changes in their environment, and more serious disorders.

Resilience in child maltreatment victims: A conceptual exploration

While many child maltreatment victims suffer serious negative emotional sequelae, others do surprisingly well. Resilience in children is a relative concept which can change over time and is affected by environment and genetics. Resilience is fostered by protective factors which ameliorate or alter a child's response to the hazards of maltreatment that usually predispose to maladaptive outcome. Personal characteristics or skills that may foster resilience include (1) rapid responsivity to danger; (2) precocious maturity; (3) dissociation of affect; (4) information seeking; (5) formation and utilization of relationships for survival; (6) positive projective anticipation; (7) decisive risk taking; (8) the conviction of being loved: (9) idealization of an aggressor's competence; (10) cognitive restructuring of painful experiences; (11) altruism; and (12) optimism and hope. There are also generic life circumstances, such as having access to good health, educational, and social welfare services, that foster resilience in children regardless of the specific nature of the Stressor. Additionally, there may be abuse-specific protective factors in the environment. Examples might include the quick and full acknowledgment of an offender regarding abuse, or timeliness and permanence of legal actions affecting a child's custody. The life stories of three well-known survivors of various forms of child maltreatment illustrate how protective factors contribute to resilience. A caution is noted regarding how personal characteristics developed for survival may become maladaptive if overused and/or not given up when the Stressor no longer exists. Characterological problems are most likely to develop when a child's life circumstances fail to change and the environment never becomes secure.

Undesired pregnancy and children's life circumstances

The prevention of undesired pregnancies depends on the success of family planning which inturn involves availability and use of contraceptives information and attitudes. Significant variables influencing undesired pregnancy are occupation education place of residence marital status number of children birth intervals age at marriage and various social values and norms. This study carried out from 1966-74 deals with 2 aspects of undesired pregnancy: 1) as manifestations of socioeconomic problems and the impact of those problems on child development and 2) an undesired childs physical mental and social development compared with a control child. 12068 pregnant women from northern Finland filled out questionnaires dealing with family history and pregnancy desirability. The 12% that felt their pregnancy was undesired were used as a study group and a control group was chosen. After the undesired children had completed their 1st school year the study took place among 300 of them who were matched with control children. Findings included the following: 1) social decline was visible in 22% of families with undesired children and 13% of the control families 2) 10% of the study group and 4% of the control group emigrated to Sweden 3) study group families standard of living was lower than the control group 4) 40% of the study group lived in crowded quarters as opposed to 28% of the controls 5) between 1967-74 111 children were born to the study families 178 to the control families 6) 111 families in the study group and 96 of the controls had siblings move away from home 7) study families had a lower income than the control group and 8) undesired children forgot school things more frequently than control children. Results concerning physical development of the children were not explicit. Educational status did not differ between the 2 groups although the undesired children had more learning difficulties received more special teaching in reading and writing and had a slightly more negative attitude to the teacher. It is also stated that ideological factors are significant in family planning attitudes and that many times religious families will rationalize the birth of a child even after ideal family size has been reached. It is concluded that the health of the undesired children was not worse than that of the controls and that the number of children itself influences child development. A childs undesirability is thus dependent on culture and reflects the norms of the society.