Child Development Issues Research Articles

New issues in child development

New issues in child development

Denver Developmental Activities

A study was undertaken to develop activity sheets that can be given to parents at the time of child health maintenance visits. A series of 200 activities for parents to undertake with their children were arranged into 11 age groups and four areas: self-care and socialization, speech, small muscle skills, and large muscle skills. A national field test involved 53 private and public practices already using a parent-answered developmental questionnaire. The practices gave the Denver Developmental Activities and survey questionnaires to parents, and completed professional survey questionnaires. Fifty-one professional questionnaires and 79 parent questionnaires were returned. The professionals liked the Activities and did not feel that they slowed their practices. Parents found the Activities enjoyable and easy to understand. Less educated parents reported that the Activities increased their knowledge and prompted them to discuss child development issues with their child's health provider. This survey is considered preliminary, since it was limited to health practices already manifesting interest in child development, and it is not known what percent of parent questionnaires were returned. The latter point precludes one from making generalizations to a larger population.

Review of Research Issues in Child Development.

Review of Research Issues in Child Development.

Long-Acting Contraceptive Delivery Systems

In May 1983 some 115 participants representing 16 countries attended the International Workshop on Long-Acting Contraceptive Delivery Systems sponsored by the Program for Applied Research on Fertility Regulation. Long-acting contraceptive delivery systems are relatively new in clinical research although some long-acting injectables have been used for nearly a decade. The worldwide use of long-acting injectable preparations (primarily Depo-provera and norethindrone enanthate) is estimated to be about 4 million. In the US and Europe between 150000 and 200000 couples control their fertility with a progesterone-releasing IUD. These are small numbers compared to other methods. Although the injectables have a number of advantages--for example prolonged effectiveness use unrelated to coitus a high degree of acceptability in most cultures and reversibility--there are significant disadvantages. The 2 important ones are menstrual cycle disruption including secondary amenorrhea and unanswered questions about long-term safety. There is no best single method for all couples. Many scientists believe that an improved injectable or implantable method could enter wide-scale human use in many countries within 5 years. Chapters are arranged under 10 broad headings: 1)acceptability of long-acting contraception; 2)polymeric delivery systems for contraception; 3)injectable/implantable long-acting contraceptive systems; 4)long-actingvaginal contraceptive delivery systems; 5)endometrial response to steroids; 6)fetal and child development issues; 7)long-acting contraceptive delivery systems; clinical studies; 8)long-acting contraceptive delivery systems: Norplant; 9)other long-acting contraceptive systems; and 10)long-actingcontraceptive delivery systems: additional clinical studies. Also included are addresses of contributing authors and workshop participants.

On Curiosity: A Developmental Approach

Curiosity is a powerful motivating force in human behavior. It has a developmental line, from a state of alert wakefulness in the infant to active investigation of the environment, which includes body products and anatomical differences, and then includes a wide range of interests in the outer world as well as in the inner psychological world. The curiosity of the child psychiatrist is traced from motivation for the profession to its use in practicing the profession. Curiosity in adjunctive fields, such as history, archeology, cultural anthropology, and animal psychology, can throw light on issues of child development which need to be researched.

The Emergence of Developmental Psychopathology

Special issues of Child Development are somewhat rare occurrences, and, as such, they mark significant and noteworthy points in the development and maturation of a scientific discipline. In recent months, we have seen special issues on early adolescent development (December 1982), developmental behavioral genetics (April 1983), and high-risk infants (October 1983). In each of these instances, the special issues of Child Development marked a kind of coming of age of these disciplines-a time of consolidation, a time when impressive but scattered interdisciplinary results could be collected, combined, and transformed into a unified discipline having its own history, integrity, and program for the future.

Clinical Findings in Southeast Asian Refugees

Since 1979, we have provided comprehensive medical care to a group of 142 Southeast Asian refugees who relocated in Connecticut. In this group, we identified clinically important issues in child development. As plotted on standard growth curves, 47% of refugee children were below the fifth percentile in height for age and 22% were below the fifth percentile in weight for height. Although these children are potentially at increased risk for nutrition-related health problems, our clinical assessment did not confirm malnutrition. We also confirm a high prevalence of intestinal parasitism (59%), positive tuberculin test results (40%), and hepatitis B antigenemia (16%), as observed previously by health authorities. We conclude that anthropometry should not replace a clinical nutritional assessment of refugee children. (<i>JAMA</i>1983;249:3200-3203)

Clinical findings in Southeast Asian refugees

Since 1979, we have provided comprehensive medical care to a group of 142 Southeast Asian refugees who relocated in Connecticut. In this group, we identified clinically important issues in child development. As plotted on standard growth curves, 47% of refugee children were below the fifth percentile in height for age and 22% were below the fifth percentile in weight for height. Although these children are potentially at increased risk for nutrition-related health problems, our clinical assessment did not confirm malnutrition. We also confirm a high prevalence of intestinal parasitism (59%), positive tuberculin test results (40%), and hepatitis B antigenemia (16%), as observed previously by health authorities. We conclude that anthropometry should not replace a clinical nutritional assessment of refugee children.

Research-Policy Issues for Childhood Programs in the Third World

This article provides a review of a symposium at the 1982 AAAS meetings, the focus of which was the research-policy interface between child development issues and international development programs. T

Book Review: Controversial Issues in Child Development

Book Review: Controversial Issues in Child Development

A Favorable View of Controversial Issues in Child Development

A Favorable View of Controversial Issues in Child Development

A Child's World, Infancy Through Adolescence

This work covers the theories and issues of child development, and hereditary and environmental influences on development, prenatal development, and the birth process. It also examines physical health, cognitive, personality and social development from infancy through adolescence.