Strength In Children Research Articles

Intellectual Disability (Mental Retardation)

1. Sarah E. Shea, MD, FRCPC* 1. *Editorial board member; Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. * Abbreviations: AAIDD: : American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities ADHD: : attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder CT: : computed tomography DSM: : Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders FAPE: : free appropriate public education FAS: : fetal alcohol syndrome ID: : intellectual disability IQ: : intelligence quotient MR: : mental retardation The approach to genetic testing in the evaluation of intellectual disability is changing with the introduction of newer techniques, such as microarray testing. After reading this article, readers should be able to: 1. Understand the terminology and definitions relevant to individuals who are intellectually disabled. 2. Be aware of the epidemiology, clinical presentations, and causes of intellectual disability (ID). 3. Know how to carry out an evaluation for the cause of a child's ID, realizing that in many cases a cause cannot be identified, and know how to assess the child's strengths and weaknesses. 4. Be aware of the latest trends in genetic testing in identifying the causes of ID. 5. Know the conditions that commonly coexist with ID and know proper medical follow-up. 6. Understand what is involved in the education of children and adolescents with ID, as well as reasonable expectations. 7. Be aware of ways to help an intellectually disabled youth transition to adulthood. Intellectual disability is a general term for what has previously been described as mental retardation. ID is a lifelong condition characterized by significant impairment of cognitive and adaptive development owing to abnormalities of brain structure or function. ID is not a single entity, but rather a general symptom of neurologic dysfunction. At this time, the terminology used with respect to intellectual disability (ID) (mental retardation [MR]) is shifting. The term mental retardation is still in use in many settings, including by some clinicians, and is found in legal and public policies that determine eligibility for support; however, the use of the term intellectual disability as a direct substitute for mental retardation is increasing. The American Association on Mental Retardation has been renamed …

The association between preschool children's social functioning and their emergent academic skills

This study examined the relationship between social functioning and emergent academic development in a sample of 467 preschool children (M = 55.9 months old, SD = 3.8). Teachers reported on children's aggression, attention problems, and prosocial skills. Preliteracy, language, and early mathematics skills were assessed with standardized tests. Better social functioning was associated with stronger academic development. Attention problems were related to poorer academic development controlling for aggression and social skills, pointing to the importance of attention in these relations. Children's social skills were related to academic development controlling for attention and aggression problems, consistent with models suggesting that children's social strengths and difficulties are independently related to their academic development. Support was not found for the hypothesis that these relationships would be stronger in boys than in girls. Some relationships were stronger in African American than Caucasian children. Children's self-reported feelings about school moderated several relationships, consistent with the idea that positive feelings about school may be a protective factor against co-occurring academic and social problems.

Dewey's Notion of Imagination in Philosophy for Children

The imagination has traditionally been associated with unreality and is commonly thought to be the antithesis of reason. This is a notion of imagination that can be found in Plato's writing and has influenced modern Western epistemology and educational ideals. As such, traditional schooling, which has focused on the cultivation of reason and the accumulation of facts, has devalued the imagination and frequently encouraged children to transcend their imaginative natures. In this paper, I draw on the work of John Dewey to explain how imagination is not opposed to thinking. Nor is the imagination a distinct form of thinking. I argue that it is actually integral to all thinking and, as such, is essential for living a meaningful life. I then argue that one of Philosophy for Children's strengths is that its pedagogy and curriculum content are ideal for facilitating this Deweyian ideal of imagination and, thus, reflective thinking and meaningful learning.

Preschool interactive peer play mediates problem behavior and learning for low-income children

The study employed a developmental, ecological, and resiliency framework to examine whether interactive peer play competencies mediated associations between teacher reported problem behavior and learning outcomes for a representative sample of urban low-income children ( N = 507 across 46 Head Start classrooms). Structural equation models provided evidence for full mediation, whereby associations between internalizing and externalizing problem behavior and learning outcomes were fully explained through their effects on interactive peer play skills. An alternate model was also tested (whether problem behavior mediated the effects of interactive peer play on spring learning outcomes); however, this alternate model was not supported in these data. A third model testing whether mediation was conditional on child sex was also not supported. Implications for developmental theory, research, and practice are discussed as they relate to opportunities to build on children's strengths and promote learning within early childhood educational programs serving children living in urban poverty.

Associations between grip strength of parents and their 4‐year‐old children: findings from the Southampton Women's Survey

Relationships between birthweight and grip strength throughout the life course suggest that early influences on the growth and development of muscle are important for long-term muscle function. However, little is known about parental influences on children's grip strength. We have explored this in the Southampton Women's Survey, a prospective general population cohort study from before conception through childhood. Grip strength was measured using a Jamar handgrip dynamometer in the mother at 19 weeks' gestation and her partner, and in the child at age 4 years. Pre-pregnancy heights and weights were measured in the mothers; reported weights and measured heights were available for the fathers. Complete data on parents and children were available for 444 trios. In univariable analyses, both parents' grip strengths were significantly associated with that of the child (r = 0.17, P < 0.001 for mothers; r = 0.15, P = 0.002 for fathers). These correlations were similar to that between the grip strength of the mothers and the fathers (r = 0.17, P < 0.001). In the multivariable model, after adjustment for child's height and physical activity, the correlations with the child's grip strength were attenuated, being 0.10 (P = 0.02) and 0.11 (P = 0.01) for mothers' and fathers' grip strength respectively. The findings show that grip strength of each parent is associated with that of the child, indicating that heritable influences and the shared family environment influence the development of muscle strength. This contributes to our understanding of the role of heritable and environmental factors on early muscle growth and development, which are important for muscle function across the life course.

National profiles of school readiness skills for Head Start children: An investigation of stability and change

Abstract Among a nationally representative sample of 2336 Head Start children, patterns of school readiness were compared at the beginning and end of children's first preschool year, and predictors of stability and change across readiness profiles were examined. The present study documented that although the majority of children remain in a qualitatively similar school readiness profile across their first year in Head Start, 20% of children move to a qualitatively different profile over the school year, reflecting both improvements and declines in functioning. Child and family attributes (e.g., child age, ELL status, maternal education, and family structure), as well as contextual factors (e.g., teacher education and experience, parenting style, and parent involvement) were significant predictors of both profile stability and change. Given that we have little understanding about what factors practice or policy can manipulate to improve school readiness, these findings shed light on what we might do to promote school readiness and prevent declines in functioning over time. Thus, findings from this study provide a population- and pattern-based perspective of Head Start children's strengths and needs, relevant for informing both individual and systems level change in Head Start programs across the nation.

Assessment of executive function and attention in children with neurofibromatosis type 1: Relationships between cognitive measures and real-world behavior

The aim of this study was to examine functional attention and executive deficits present in everyday living in a large sample of children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Data are presented from 199 children with NF1 and 55 unaffected sibling controls who were administered the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and Conners' ADHD DSM-IV Scales (CADS). Convergent validity was examined by correlating scale scores from these functional measures with scores from traditional cognitive measures of attention and executive function. Results indicated global functional attention and executive deficits in children with NF1. Relationships between functional impairments and scores on cognitive measures were inconsistent; at best, the magnitude of these relationships was in the moderate range, yet there was also a lack of association between many cognitive tasks and the functional skills they purport to assess. Findings suggest that cognitive and functional measures may tap different constructs and that neuropsychological evaluations should be supplemented with functional assessment tools to provide a more accurate and sensitive encapsulation of a child's strengths and weaknesses to guide remediation programs.

WPA guidance on the protection and promotion of mental health in children of persons with severe mental disorders.

This guidance details the needs of children, and the qualities of parenting that meet those needs. Parental mental disorders can damage the foetus during pregnancy through the action of drugs, prescribed or abused. Pregnancy and the puerperium can exacerbate or initiate mental illness in susceptible women. After their birth, the children may suffer from the social disadvantage associated with severe mental illness. The parents (depending on the disorder, its severity and its persistence) may have intermittent or prolonged difficulties with parenting, which may sometimes result in childhood psychological disturbance or child maltreatment. This guidance considers ways of preventing, minimizing and remedying these effects. Our recommendations include: education of psychiatrists and related professions about the effect of parental mental illness on children; revision of psychiatric training to increase awareness of patients as caregivers, and to incorporate relevant assessment and intervention into their treatment and rehabilitation; the optimum use of pharmacological treatment during pregnancy; pre-birth planning when women with severe mental illness become pregnant; development of specialist services for pregnant and puerperal women, with assessment of their efficacy; community support for parenting by mothers and fathers with severe mental disorders; standards of good practice for the management of child maltreatment when parents suffer from mental illness; the importance of multi-disciplinary teamwork when helping these families, supporting their children and ensuring child protection; the development of child and adolescent mental health services worldwide.

Measuring Functional Strength In Children With And Without Pathology

Measuring Functional Strength In Children With And Without Pathology

Peg Restrained Intrinsic Muscle Evaluator (PRIME): Development, Reliability, and Normative Values of a Device to Quantify Intrinsic Hand Muscle Strength in Children

There is a need for objective measures of pediatric intrinsic hand muscle strength as the current standard, the manual muscle test, lacks sensitivity to clinically important changes in muscle strength. We report the development, reliability, and normative values of the Peg Restrained Intrinsic Muscle Evaluator (PRIME), a device that quantifies intrinsic hand muscle strength. Typically developing children, ages 4 to 16 years (n = 119), established normative values of intrinsic strength for thumb palmar abduction, thumb opposition, and index and small finger abduction. A subset of 30 children (15 boys, 15 girls), ages 7 to 16 years, determined inter-rater and intra-rater reliability. We calculated mean, standard deviation, intraclass correlation coefficients, and smallest detectable differences. Normative results indicate that gender and age were significant predictors of strength. Although the dominant hand generated higher strength measurements on average, differences were not statistically significant. Mean index and small finger abduction strength was significantly lower than thumb abduction and opposition in both genders. Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.85 to 0.94 for inter-rater reliability and 0.88 to 0.98 for intra-rater reliability. Bland-Altman plots showed an even distribution across the zero line. The PRIME device is a reliable tool for the quantification of intrinsic hand muscle strength in children. Age-specific and gender-specific normative values in typically developing children can serve as a future resource for clinicians treating pediatric hand or neuromuscular conditions.

What Samuel A. Kirk Really Said About Mental Retardation and Learning Disabilities: A Response to Danforth, Slocum, and Dunkle

What Samuel A. Kirk Really Said About Mental Retardation and Learning Disabilities: A Response to Danforth, Slocum, and Dunkle

Growth Diagrams for Individual Finger Strength in Children Measured with the RIHM

BackgroundAlthough grip and pinch strength provide a more global measure of a large number of digits and muscles, measuring strength of individual fingers or the thumb can provide additional and more detailed information regarding hand strength.Questions/purposesWe developed growth diagrams for individual finger strength in children.Patients and MethodsWe measured thumb palmar abduction, thumb opposition, and thumb flexion in the metacarpophalangeal joint, and abduction of the index and little fingers in 101 children (4–12 years old) using a myometer. We recorded hand dominance, gender, height, and weight. All measurements were performed in a randomized order by the same researcher. We developed statistical models for drawing growth diagrams using estimated percentiles for each strength measurement. Separate models for dominant and nondominant hands of boys and girls were developed, in addition to a combined model.ResultsBecause there was no difference in strength between boys and girls and between dominant and nondominant hands, both hands and genders were combined in one growth diagram for each measurement. The normative data were presented in a table format and in growth diagrams for each myometer measurement.ConclusionsThese diagrams can be used for pediatric patients such as patients with congenital malformations or neuromuscular disorders who receive interventions or therapy aimed at function of the hand, fingers, or thumb. The growth diagrams facilitate distinguishing between the effects of growth and intervention on strength development.

A Novel Device to Quantify Intrinsic Hand Strength in Children: Reliability and Normative Values

Physical examination of the hand is fundamental in the treatment of conditions that affect hand function. This is especially important in the pediatric population throughout all stages of development. There is a need for reliable and reproducible objective measures of pediatric intrinsic hand muscle strength. The manual muscle test (MMT) is traditionally used, but is highly subjective. With the relative size and strength discrepancy between an adult examiner and pediatric patient, subtle but clinically important changes are difficult to discern. While pinch and grip strength can be measured objectively with hand-held dynamometers, these measures combine the stronger extrinsic muscle forces with the smaller intrinsic muscles. To fill this clinical need, we developed PRIME (Peg Restrained Intrinsic Muscle Evaluator), a novel device designed specifically to quantify intrinsic hand muscle strength. The purpose of this study is to determine the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of PRIME, as well as to establish normative values for intrinsic muscle strength in children.

Exploring children's learning stories as an assessment method for research and practice

The purpose of this study was to apply and explore, in the context of an Icelandic preschool, the methods developed by the New Zealand Te Whaariki curriculum to assess children's well‐being and learning dispositions. This article describes the process of piloting learning stories as a research method, where researchers and preschool teachers cooperate in generating data. Data were generated by means of interviews, observations and documentation, following a research process in which learning stories were documented, reflected upon and analysed by the researchers and teachers, where possible in cooperation with the four‐ to five‐year‐old children. The learning stories were constructed and analysed using the five domains of learning dispositions identified in the Te Whaariki curriculum. The study asks how a collaborative approach to assessing children's well‐being and learning dispositions could be used in preschools both for professional learning and for research purposes. The findings show children as skilful communicators who are capable of finding solutions and reacting to various situations arising from the social context of the preschool. The study demonstrates that documenting children's learning stories enables researchers to focus on children's strengths and capabilities, and adds to preschool teachers' knowledge of individual children and groups.

Long Head of the Triceps Muscle Transfer for Active Elbow Flexion in Arthrogryposis

Arthrogryposis is a condition characterized by symmetric, nonprogressive joint contractures and weak or absent musculature that is present at birth. The amyoplasia form is the most common, and in this group, the elbow is frequently involved, typically in an extension contracture bilaterally. Active elbow flexion is weak or absent, but active extension is spared. This elbow dysfunction poses a significant disability for affected children. Sensation and cognitive development is normal in children with arthrogryposis, and as a group they demonstrate a remarkable degree of adaptability to their deformities. The goal of any treatment is to facilitate the child's functional independence. This article describes the surgical technique of transfer of the long head of the triceps into the proximal ulna to provide active elbow flexion in children with arthrogryposis. The goal of the procedure is to reliably achieve antigravity active flexion while preserving active extension. It has the advantages of technical simplicity and minimal donor site morbidity. By adding this procedure to the existing options for treating this challenging condition, a surgeon is better able to tailor intervention to an individual child's strength and available donor muscles.

Quality of Life among Children with Velocardiofacial Syndrome

To explore the health-related quality of life (QoL) among children with velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS) and to compare QoL by gender and with samples of chronically ill and healthy children. Cross-sectional design, comparing data obtained from a survey of parents of children with VCFS to previously published data from comparison groups of children who are healthy or who have other chronic conditions. Parents of 45 children aged 2 to 18 years with VCFS participated in this study. Results were compared with published data on the same measures from samples of parents of healthy children (n = 10,343) and children with a variety of chronic conditions (n = 683). Quality of life, including fatigue, was measured using the PedsQL(TM) Measurement Model. Strengths were assessed by parent report from a list of character traits developed from the Values in Action Classification System. Quality of life was lower across all domains compared with healthy children. Boys with VCFS scored significantly lower than girls on school functioning (p < .05) and cognitive fatigue (p < .01). Compared with children with chronic conditions, children with VCFS scored lower on emotional (p < .01), social (p < .01), and school functioning (p < .001) but not on physical health. Parents described their children's strengths as humor, caring, kindness, persistence, and enthusiasm. Quality of life among children with VCFS is characterized by significant challenges in the cognitive, social, and emotional domains. These children have strengths that may be useful in coping with the daily challenges of this condition.

Interaction of children's acetaminophen with antigen and antibody from bovine and swine albumin sources (43.8)

Abstract We have conducted optical, structural, and charge transport studies of the interaction of children's strength tylenol with both antigen and antibody sources from bovine and swine albumin over the physiological temperature range. Our results show that acetaminophen is chemically and structurally stable over this temperature range and up to 108F, however, is adversely affected by low-to-moderate concentration of NaCl(aq)forming black crystallites of unestablished structure. Our charge-transport and real-time visual and optical microsocopy data indicate a strong interaction between acetaminophen and antibodies from both sources, especially swine albumin. Recovered product from these experiments show formation of various species, including sliver-shaped yellow crystals, and a multi criss-crossed channel structured species appearing near interface/boundry locations of the sample. The pronounced absence of antibody serum in the regions of acetaminophen diffusion support Czech Republic work reporting in the British Medical Journal, Lancet, October 16th 2009, that acetaminophen caused a weakening of a multi-purpose vaccine produced by GlaxoSmithKline. Our work shows that acetaminonphen interacts with bovine antigen in a non-Euclidean geometry, similar to a 3-cusp hypocycloid (deltoid). Because interaction with antigen shows an unusual time-dependent geometry, the interaction with antibodies shows long-term kinetic dependence.

Lakota Construct Focuses on Child's Strengths

Lakota Construct Focuses on Child's Strengths

Effects of Electrical Stimulation, Exercise Training and Motor Skills Training on Strength of Children with Meningomyelocele: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT.This systematic review provides a critical synthesis of research regarding the effects of electrical stimulation, exercise training, and motor skills training on muscle strength in children with meningomyelocele. Nine databases were searched using terms related to meningomyelocele and physical therapy interventions. Of 298 potentially relevant citations, six met the inclusion criteria. Each was rated using the systematic review guidelines of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine. Two studies examined changes in quadriceps muscle torque following electrical stimulation, three investigated upper extremity exercise training, and one evaluated quadriceps strength after motor skills training. Although the limited evidence suggests improvements in strength when using these interventions, much of the evidence is of low methodological quality and all studies were published more than 10 years ago. Further research is needed regarding various strength-training interventions for children with meningomyelocele and the relationship between increased strength and improved activity and participation.

Psychological vulnerability in children next‐born after stillbirth: a case–control follow‐up study

Case studies and anecdotal accounts suggest that perinatal loss may impact upon other children in the family, including those born subsequent to loss. However, there is a dearth of systematically collected quantitative data on this potentially vulnerable group. Case-controlled follow-up of 52 mothers with history of stillbirth with their next-born children aged 6-8 years, and 51 control mother-child dyads. Previously reported baseline data included maternal antenatal and postnatal psychological assessment, and infant security of attachment at 12 months. Follow-up assessments included maternal psychiatric and socio-demographic data, mother and teacher-rated scales of the child's strengths and difficulties, child IQ, observer-rated mother-child interaction and maternal reports of child health. There were no significant between-group differences in child cognitive or health assessments, or in teacher-rated child difficulties. However, mothers with history of stillbirth (the index group) reported increased child difficulties, in particular peer problems, and more adverse interaction was observed in respect of higher levels of maternal criticism of the child's actions, more overall controlling behaviour by the mother, a less harmonious emotional atmosphere and a lower level of maternal engagement with the child. Some of these effects appeared to be mediated by maternal perinatal psychological symptoms and family breakdown. This study provides no evidence to suggest that siblings born after stillbirth are clinically at risk but does lend empirical support to clinical reports that such children are seen by their mothers as having problems and that they are exposed to less optimal interaction with their mothers. Possible interpretations of these findings are discussed in the context of theoretical accounts of 'replacement child' and 'vulnerable child' syndromes.