Research on violence against children in Africa often relies on adult's qualitative accounts or on quantitative surveys that focus mainly on sexual abuse or on adverse childhood exposures. We seldom hear how young children describe their experiences and their perceptions of violence. This study aimed to describe children's personal experiences and perceptions of violence. The study was conducted from 2022 to 2023 in peri-urban and rural Mpumalanga, South Africa with 23 children aged between 6 and 12years who, together with their primary caregivers, were participants in a larger longitudinal cohort study. We used in-depth interviews alongside arts-based methods for the children. Interviews underwent reflexive thematic analysis. Children were highly exposed to physical and emotional violence both in and outside of the home. Physical violence was used as a discipline method by teachers, parents, or children's caregivers. Severe occurrences involved adults using objects to discipline children, including steel pipes, shoes, or classroom materials. Most children associated violence with fear and pain. However, they described physical abuse as a morally "right" act if they understood it to be a form of discipline for their wrong behaviours. Attitudes condoning violence also enabled peer-to-peer violence. Children were not confident in reporting cases of violence inflicted by adults due to the fear of sanctions and the belief that violence from adults was "accepted". In this sample, children had limited spaces that they marked as free from violence. Violence was normalised by the adults inflicting it, creating a state of cognitive dissonance among children, leading to victim blaming and, in turn, inflicting violence against same-age peers.

Examining Child and Caregiver Perceptions of Environmental Facilitators and Barriers to Healthy Eating and Active Living During the Summer Months in a Neighborhood With a High Hispanic/Latinx Population: A Qualitative Study.

Child perceptions of note-taking in forensic interviews.

This study aimed to evaluate spectral resolution and speech understanding in noise among primary school-aged children with bilateral mild sensorineural hearing loss (26-40 dB HL) and to investigate the effect of amplification on these auditory abilities. The study included 16 children with normal hearing (Group 3) and 32 children with bilateral mild hearing loss (7-10 years old), divided into aided (Group 1) and unaided (Group 2) subgroups. The mean age of the participants was 8.58 ± 0.99 years. The groups were matched according to grade and gender. Following the completion of the information form, assessments included acoustic immittance, otoacoustic emissions, pure-tone audiometry, speech audiometry, the spectral-temporally modulated ripple test (SMRT), and the Turkish matrix sentence test (TURMatrix) with an adaptive protocol. Statistically significant differences were observed among the three groups for hearing averages (HAs), speech recognition thresholds (SRTs), speech discrimination scores (SDSs), TURMatrix scores, and SMRT scores, with Group 3 performing better (p < .05). However, no significant differences were found between Groups 1 and 2 in any of these measures, including HA, SRT, SDS, TURMatrix, and SMRT (p > .05). Within Group 1, significant differences were observed between the aided and unaided conditions in HA, SRT, and SDS values measured both under headphones and in the free field, with better results obtained in the aided condition (p < .05). Similarly, TURMatrix scores were significantly higher when tested with hearing aids (p < .05). These findings underscore that even mild hearing loss can negatively affect key auditory processes in children and demonstrate that hearing aids provide measurable benefits, particularly in noisy listening environments. Amplification can play a critical role in supporting auditory development and communication outcomes in this population. Further longitudinal studies are needed to examine the long-term benefits of hearing aid use in this population.

Aim and objectives: The aim and the objective of the study was to compare and evaluate audio analgesia, aroma therapy, Visual distraction using LASER projector and Snoezelen environment on pain perception and anxiety in children undergoing dental treatment requiring IANB in children 6-10 years. Materials and method: A sample size of 50 was taken and the participants were divided into five groups: Group 1: Control group, GROUP 2: Audio analgesia, Group 3: Aroma therapy, Group 4: Visual distraction using LASER projector, Group 5: Snoezelen environment. After administration of local anesthesia Pain perception was evaluated by the FIS and anxiety was evaluated by the pulse rate and oxygen saturation level by using Pulse oximeter. The results of this study were tabulated and statistically analyzed. Result: The Snoezelen Environment was found to be significantly more effective as compared to audio analgesia, aroma therapy and visual distraction using laser projector. Used separately in children undergoing procedures requiring an inferior alveolar nerve block. Conclusion: The Snoezelen Environment proved most effective, for reducing anxiety and pain in children undergoing procedures requiring an IANB.

Diet- and physical activity-related parenting attitudes and practices play a central role in shaping young children's diet and physical activity behaviors. Accurate parental perception of children's weight is particularly important, as it may influence these parenting attitudes and practices. This study examined the prevalence of parental misperceptions of preschoolers' weight and their associations with diet- and physical activity-related parenting attitudes and practices in China. This online cross-sectional study included 17,342 parents of preschoolers in Chongqing, China. Parents reported perception of their child's weight status and diet- and physical activity-related parenting attitudes and practices. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the associations between parental weight misperceptions and parenting attitudes and practices. Overall, 26.8% of parents underestimated and 19.2% overestimated their child's weight. Overestimation occurred in 64.3% of underweight children, and underestimation occurred in 87.2% of children with overweight or obesity. In the overall sample, overestimation was associated with lower odds of being in the high-score group for total attitudes (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.85-0.99) and diet-related attitudes (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.80-0.97); underestimation was associated with lower odds of being in the high-score group for diet-related attitudes (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.85-0.99). For parenting practices, overestimation was associated with higher odds of being in the high-score group for total practices (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.11-1.31) and physical activity-related practices (OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.03-1.22); underestimation was associated with higher odds of being in the high-score group for non-responsive feeding practices (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.06-1.22). In stratified analyses, the associations varied by children's actual weight status. Parental misperceptions of preschoolers' weight were associated with specific diet- and physical activity-related parenting attitudes and practices. These findings may help inform family-based approaches to childhood weight management.

The study investigates the emotion perception abilities of Mandarin-speaking preschool children with cochlear implants (CI) compared with their normal-hearing peers. It examines their proficiency across three sensory modalities: auditory-only, visual-only, and audiovisual. The objective is to understand the role of these modalities in aiding emotional recognition for CI users. The research involved 40 preschool children aged 3 to 6 years, divided evenly into normal-hearing and CI groups. Using a controlled experimental setup, the children were evaluated on their ability to recognize basic emotions (happiness, anger, sadness, surprise) through auditory, visual, and combined cues. The findings revealed that CI children face considerable challenges in perceiving emotions through auditory cues alone, while their performance significantly improved when visual information was incorporated. This underscores the critical compensatory role that visual cues play in aiding emotional perception for CI users. The study highlights the importance of multisensory approaches in education and therapy for children with CIs. The benefits of visual and audiovisual integration suggest potential strategies to enhance emotional and social communication skills in this population. Future research should address the limitations, such as sample size and diversity, to further explore cross-modal emotion perception in cochlear-implanted children.

Many children with diagnosed and subclinical ADHD struggle with low academic motivation in early elementary. Fortunately, teachers' needs' supportive practices (NSPs) can mitigate motivational challenges and protect against disengagement and underachievement. Teachers' NSPs include autonomy support, structure, and positive student-teacher relationships that target children's motivational resources (i.e., autonomy, competency, and relatedness) needed to engage with school materials. Particularly, autonomy support practices fuel children's feelings of autonomy, structure caters to feelings of competency, and positive student-teacher relationships provide feelings of belonging. Yet, it is unknown how ADHD symptoms in early elementary are associated with teachers' NSPs. One hundred and fifty-four first-grade students and 25 teachers from three school boards participated. We assessed children's perception of their teachers' autonomy support and structure and their standardised achievement. We also assessed teachers' perceptions of students' ADHD symptoms, student-teacher relationship quality, and conduct problems. Three linear regression analyses were performed with ADHD symptoms as the predictor and NSPs as the dependent variable. Sex, conduct problems, and achievement scores were included as covariates. Sex (i.e., males), greater teacher-reported ADHD symptoms, and more teacher-reported conduct problems were associated with worse teacher-reported student-teacher relationship quality. Teacher-reported ADHD symptoms were positively related to student-reported autonomy support, while teacher-reported conduct problems were negatively associated with student-reported autonomy support. Teacher-reported ADHD symptoms and key covariates did not predict student-reported structure. Our study illustrates the need to further evaluate how best to support teachers managing disruptive behaviours in early elementary to protect the motivational needs of young children with ADHD symptoms.

Prospective Assessment of Cognitive Outcomes in Pediatric Self-Limited Epilepsy With Centrotemporal Spikes.

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) affects the appearance of the trunk and spine. The Spinal Appearance Questionnaire (SAQ) measures the AIS patients' perception of appearance, but may be challenging for patients, because parts of the trunk changes are not visible to themselves (e.g. posterior rib hump). Perceptions may therefore differ between patients, parents and physicians. The study aim is to investigate whether perceptions of physicians and parents align with the patient's perception of their appearance, as measured with the SAQ. The SAQ (Dutch) was administered to 108 AIS patients (15.3years [SD 2.2], 77.8% girls), their parent and physician (n = 15). Parents completed it twice, based on their own perception (parent's perspective) and their conceived child's perception (parent-patient's perspective). For all four perspectives, the 10 individual items and total appearance domain scores were compared. The appearance domain scores differed not between the four perspectives (p = 0.248) and the ICCs compared with the patient's own scores were 0.63 (95%CI 0.47-0.75) for the parent's perspective, 0.60 (95%CI 0.45-0.71) for the parent-patient's perspective and 0.44 (95%CI 0.27-0.58) for the physician's perspective. The ICC per item varied from -0.01 to 0.64. For the appearance domain score, moderate agreement was found between the patient's, and their parent's and parent-patient's perspectives. Poor agreement was found between the patient's and physician's perspectives. For the 10 items, poor to moderate agreement was found between the patient and their parents or physicians. During scoliosis treatment, physicians should be aware of differences in perceptions of appearance of patients, parents and themselves.

Profiles of teachers’ racial inequity beliefs: Associations with racialized perceptions of Black and White children’s behaviors.

This study aimed to evaluate the association between malocclusion severity and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in children aged 11-14 years by simultaneously using the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ11-14), Parent/Caregiver Perceptions Questionnaire (P-CPQ), and Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI). This analytical cross-sectional, clinic-based study was conducted on 117 children aged 11-14 years and their parents/guardians referred to a specialized dental clinic in Rasht city, Iran, in 2022. Children with systemic diseases, a history of orthodontic treatment, or craniofacial abnormalities were excluded. OHRQoL was independently assessed using the CPQ11-14 and P-CPQ. Malocclusion severity was determined using the DAI, and children were categorized into normal occlusion, definite, severe, and very severe malocclusion groups. The associations of age and gender with OHRQoL were also examined. Data were analyzed statistically (α = 0.05). The mean OHRQoL score was significantly higher among children with malocclusion compared with those with normal occlusion (p < 0.001), indicating poorer quality of life. Higher malocclusion severity was significantly associated with worse OHRQoL scores (p < 0.001). These associations were significant in both sexes (p < 0.05). A significant association between malocclusion severity and poorer OHRQoL was observed in children older than 12 years (p < 0.001), whereas this association was not statistically significant in children aged 12 years or younger (p > 0.05). Multivariable analysis confirmed that malocclusion severity remained independently associated with OHRQoL after adjustment for demographic factors (p < 0.001). Greater severity of malocclusion, particularly in older children, is significantly associated with poorer OHRQoL. The relative agreement between child and parent assessments highlights the importance of considering both perspectives in clinical and research settings.

Spatial perception is an important component of mental development and a marker of a child's cognitive abilities. Insufficient development of spatial functions in older preschool and primary school-aged children leads to difficulties in mastering writing, reading, counting, and understanding logical-grammatical speech constructions and temporal relationships. The issue of developing spatial perception becomes particularly important in case of a child's development delay. The research purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness of using a neuropsychological approach to overcome the underdevelopment of spatial perception in primary school-aged children with development delay. The sample consisted of 10 students in the 2nd grade (age 8–9) of a general education school with an inclusive form of education based on Federal Adapted Basic General Education Program for Primary General Education (Variant 7.2). All children had a confirmed diagnosis of development delay (F80–F89). The experiment methods are neuropsychological methods of diagnosis and correction. The research results confirm the conceptual approach to the level structure in the organization of spatial perception: from the child's understanding of the boundaries of their own body and its schema to the acquisition of complex quasi-spatial speech constructions. The research reveals the functional immaturity, unevenness, and specificity of the development of spatial and temporal perception in each of the subjects. The results analysis allows determining both the development level and the stage at which the child's spatial representations were delayed. This enabled to identify the potential of each child and outline the directions for correction based on the principles of morphogenesis and functional genesis, systemic approach, reliance on preserved forms of activity, and individual and personal characteristics of the child.

The assessment of aided phoneme perception is essential in validating whether hearing aids and cochlear implants adequately meet the amplification and rehabilitation needs of children. Phonemes are commonly used in such assessments to minimize the influence of semantic context and vocabulary knowledge. Traditionally, they have been presented by clinicians using their own voices. This study directly compared the performance of phoneme detection, discrimination, and identification among children with normal hearing, children using hearing aids, children with cochlear implants, and adults with normal hearing. Laboratory procedures and recorded sound files were used throughout. In addition, phoneme discrimination performance was assessed in challenging acoustic environments-specifically those with noise and/or reverberation-mirroring the types of settings children frequently encounter. A total of 60 children and 42 adults participated in the study. The children had an average age of 10 ± 2 yrs, and the adults an average age of 27 ± 5 yrs. The children were divided into 3 groups of 20: those with normal hearing, those using bilateral hearing aids, and those with bilateral cochlear implants. Children with hearing devices were recruited through the Copenhagen Hearing and Balance Center (Rigshospitalet, Denmark) and were tested using their own devices, all fitted according to present best practices. Aided phoneme detection and identification were assessed using the Ling 6(HL) CD sound files, while phoneme discrimination was evaluated using a subset of the DANOK speech corpus. Testing was conducted in a spatial hearing laboratory to examine the impact of noise and reverberation on performance. The results of this study indicate that, aside from minor differences in low-frequency speech phonemes, there were no significant differences between children with hearing aids and those with cochlear implants in phoneme detection, identification, or discrimination across a range of acoustic conditions. All children demonstrated Ling sound detection thresholds in quiet within normal limits, with average thresholds across all Ling sounds below 20 dB HL for all groups (rising to a maximum average of 22 dB HL when analyzed per Ling sound and participant group). Phoneme discrimination was significantly affected by reverberation and noise in all children-more so than in adults-with the most pronounced effects observed in children using hearing aids or cochlear implants. The procedures for aided phoneme detection, discrimination, and identification presented in this study are valuable tools for objectively assessing outcomes and validating benefit in children using hearing aids and cochlear implants. This is particularly important for children with cochlear implants, as electroacoustic verification through real-ear measures is not possible for these devices. The results suggest that phoneme perception in children with hearing aids and those with cochlear implants-despite the fundamentally different nature of these technologies (acoustic versus electric stimulation)-does not differ significantly. The reduced performance in noisy and reverberant conditions among children, especially those with hearing devices, underscores the importance of optimizing signal to noise ratios and acoustic environments in children's everyday settings to support speech perception, auditory development, and overall wellbeing.

To evaluate the effects of bruxism on oral health and quality of life between children aged 8 and 14years. This case-control study included children aged 8-14years with bruxism (n = 30) and a control group (n = 30). A questionnaire containing questions about the child's bruxism and systemic health was administered to the parents. The Helkimo Index and a form developed according to Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD) Axis I were used to assess temporomandibular disorders (TMD), while the child perceptions questionnaire (CPQ) was employed to evaluate the impact of bruxism on oral health and quality of life and a clinical examination form was utilized to document the intraoral findings. The data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U tests and chi-square test. A p value of < 0.05 was statistically significant. The bruxism group exhibited greater overjet and overbite values, while maximum mouth opening was found to be lower. Regarding tooth wear, a significant difference was observed between the groups in permanent molar attrition. Clinical examination of the temporomandibular joint and masticatory muscles revealed statistically significant differences between the groups in terms of morning masticatory muscle pain upon waking, mandibular deviation, pain during mouth opening, and presence of linea alba. Patients with bruxism had a lower oral health-related quality of life compared to those without bruxism. Bruxism was associated with several oral health findings in children aged 8-14years. It also negatively affected oral health and oral health-related quality of life.

The family plays a special role in human life, not only in the formation and satisfaction of spiritual needs, but also in the primary socialization of individuals. The purpose of the work is to identify the main features of family values in the context of family discourse. The article highlights the significance of instilling family values in young children through family discourse. The peculiarities of young children in the realization of family values are presented, and the role of the family in the formation of young children is defined. The research was based on scientific views, principles and theoretical concepts related to family discourse. In the article, the methods of content analysis, generalization, and description were used. The development of theoretical additions to the work on family values and discourse is the scientific significance of the study. The practical significance lies in the fact that the results of the study can be used in the development of special courses, in the preparation of pedagogical and methodological complexes. The main reason for describing the concept of family discourse and defining its content is that the problem of the family is characterised by a discursive effect on the activities of society. Based on national proverbs and sayings, the process of forming a family structure is consistently substantiated, the most important functional parameters of the family are emphasised, and family values are formulated and listed. Customs and traditions, proverbs, sayings do not have an educational effect on their own; they only have an educational effect under conditions where parents follow them as personal example in the family. The age characteristics of young children's perception of family values and the effects of family discourse on children's behaviour were investigated.

ABSTRACT This study compared executive functions, visual perception, and cognitive skills in high-average and average-ability children with dyslexia. Seventy-six children aged 8–12 were assessed using the Executive Functions and Occupational Routines Scale (EFORTS), the Test of Visual-Perceptual Skills – Third Edition (TVPS-3), and the Dynamic Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment for Children (DOTCA-CH). High-average ability children scored higher on DOTCA-CH domains such as visual-motor construction and thinking operations, while average-ability peers performed better on all TVPS-3 subtests. EFORTS differed only in play-leisure routines. Findings suggest that dyslexia presents with diverse cognitive patterns, emphasizing the need for approaches that address individual differences.

This study investigates vocal emotion perception in Hindi-speaking children with cochlear implants (CIs) and children with normal hearing (NH) using auditory emotion recognition tasks. Whereas previous research has largely focused on accuracy, this study evaluates both accuracy and reaction time (RT), offering a behavioral measure of processing efficiency in recognizing five vocal emotions: happy, sad, angry, fear, and surprise. Twenty children aged 4-12 years participated in the study: 10 with CIs and 10 with NH, matched for hearing age and gender. Fifty emotionally intoned Hindi sentences were validated and presented auditorily, followed by two emotion-specific animated images. Participants selected the image matching the heard emotion, and their accuracy and RTs were recorded using DMDX software. Statistical analyses included two-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) for normally distributed emotions (sad, angry, and surprise) and Kruskal-Wallis tests for nonnormally distributed emotions (happy, fear), with Bonferroni-corrected post hoc comparisons. Children with CIs showed significantly lower accuracy and longer RTs compared to children with NH. A two-way ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of group on accuracy, F(1, 54) = 6.20, p = .013, η2 = .06; post hoc analysis indicated significantly lower accuracy for the angry emotion in CI users (p = .006). RT analysis also revealed a robust main effect of group, F(1, 54) = 22.71, p < .001, η2 = .30, indicating slower responses in the CI group (mean RT = 5.57 s ± 0.18) than in the NH group (mean RT = 3.62 s ± 0.18). For normally distributed emotions, between-group differences were significant for sad, angry, and surprise (p < .001). For nonnormally distributed emotions, between-group differences were also significant for happy (p = .006) and fear (p < .001). Thus, all five emotions showed significantly longer RTs in the CI group. Hindi-speaking children with CIs demonstrated reduced speed and accuracy in identifying vocal emotions, indicating challenges in processing emotional prosody. These findings highlight the need for integrating explicit training in emotional prosody within auditory rehabilitation programs for pediatric CI users to improve social communication outcomes.

Natural disasters constitute profoundly disruptive phenomena that exert severe psychological and social consequences, with children representing one of the most vulnerable groups to such traumatic experiences. The principal aim of this study is to investigate how children conceptualize earthquakes and examine the affective and cognitive dimensions of their responses through metaphoric expressions. We conducted this research with a sample of seventy-two children, aged between forty-eight and seventy-two months, enrolled in preschools in Ankara during the 2023–2024 academic year. We collected the data through the "Earthquake Metaphor Analysis Form," a research instrument designed and validated by the investigators for this study. We presented semi-structured prompts embedded within the form to children and documented their responses verbatim. We subsequently subjected the resulting corpus of data to descriptive and content analyses, with particular attention to categories such as colors, musics, animals, plants, seasons, emotions, and temporal constructs. We observed that children most frequently associated earthquakes with earth tones and colors that conveyed death and fear, particularly red and black. When we analyzed their responses concerning music, we found that children often expressed the idea that earthquakes represent "different music" or that "earthquake is not music." In the category of animals, we observed that children most commonly compared earthquakes to "wild animals." When considering plants, we identified that children frequently described earthquakes as "grass." Regarding seasons, we noted that children most often likened earthquakes to "winter." Regarding emotions, we observed that children primarily associated earthquakes with negative feelings such as fear, anger, and sadness, though some children also connected the experience to "happiness." Finally, in the temporal domain, we found that children most often described earthquakes in relation to "daytime." Our findings demonstrate that children construct metaphoric associations between earthquakes and negative emotions, framing the event as a frightening experience.

The goal of this study was to explore the effects of infant and early childhood mental health consultation (IECMHC) on Louisiana early childhood teachers’ perceptions of individual children's and classroom behavioral challenges, children's resilience, and the risk of exclusionary practices (e.g., expulsion). It also examines how stress related to supporting a particular child (i.e., teaching stress) may influence IECMHC outcomes. A total of 194 early learning centers participated. Consultation services were provided in English at the program‐ and classroom‐level. Teachers reported expected positive shifts, including increased perceptions of child protective factors (e.g., self‐regulation) and reduced concerns related to individual and classroom behavior. Notably, reductions in classroom and child‐level behavioral concerns and teacher hopelessness and fear of accountability, as well as improvements in children's protective factors and self‐regulation, were most pronounced among teachers experiencing high levels of teaching stress. While findings are correlational, the role of teaching stress in shaping IECMHC outcomes offers insight into how these supports interact with expulsion risk. This information can guide the development of more effective, equity‐focused IECMHC programs that reduce exclusionary discipline practices and better support teacher well‐being and enhance the care of young children.