Young Children's Participation Research Articles

Association between environmental factors during the COVID-19 pandemic and functioning of infants with biological risk in the first year of life: Cross-sectional exploratory study

BackgroundChild development can be influenced by family and environmental factors, which changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, it is important to explore how these factors are associated with the functioning of infants with biological risk in the first year of life. ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate associations between family factors, home opportunities, caregiver perception of environmental support and barriers at home and environmental factors during the COVID-19 pandemic and gross motor skills and home participation in infants with biological risk in the first year of life. MethodsFifty-six infants aged two to 12 months (M = 5.80 months; ±2.44) and their mothers performed remote assessments of gross motor skills using the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS); participation and environment (phone call) by the Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM); family factors (income, age and maternal education), home opportunities – The Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development – Infant Scale (AHEMD-IS) and environmental factors during the COVID-19 pandemic (social distancing, emotional and financial factors and physiotherapy) (online forms). Regression models were constructed, considering gross motor skills and home participation as outcome variables, with a 5 % significance level. ResultsWe found that older maternal age (p = 0.001), more home opportunities (p = 0.043), and less rigorous social distancing (as opposed to total social distancing [p = 0.045]) were significantly associated with better gross motor skills; and higher maternal education (p = 0.050) was associated with more involvement in home activities. ConclusionFamily factors, home opportunities and social distancing were differently associated with the gross motor skills and home participation of infants with biological risk in the first year of life.

Constructing child participation in early years classrooms: An exploration from Wales

AbstractThis paper addresses the research problem that arises from evidence that, despite supportive policy contexts, enactment of pedagogies that attend to young children's participation rights in classroom settings is highly variable. We report our exploration of the ways in which the child, and child participation are constructed in early education settings in Wales, where legislation and policy around children's rights has been a key feature of the Welsh Government agenda post‐devolution. Data were gathered via a qualitative online bilingual (English and Welsh) survey offered via email to teachers of children aged 3–7 in Wales. The overarching research question of the project was: How do teachers of children 3–7 years understand and enact the notion of participation as it relates to the children they teach? Data analysis focused on research participants' apparent constructions of the children they teach and their capabilities, and unpacked the ways in which these constructions relate to the reported opportunities for participation. The discussion is informed by the notion of the threshold concept, described by Meyer & Land as akin to a portal that opens new and previously inaccessible ways of thinking. We consider the extent to which the conceptual construction of the capable child maybe a threshold concept in shaping the realisation of children's participation rights in educative contexts.

Association between Mastery Motivation, Executive Function, and Daily Participation of Young Children with and without Global Developmental Delays.

This study aimed to examine the group differences in participation level between children with and without global delays and to explore the associations between mastery motivation, executive function, and participation in young children with and without global developmental delays (GDD). Methods: we recruited 26 children with GDD aged 2 to 5 years and 26 children with sex- and mental age-matched developing typically (TD). The participants were assessed child development using the standardized developmental test, and their mothers were asked to fill in questionnaires, including the revised Dimension of Mastery Questionnaire (DMQ 18) with preschool version to assess mastery motivation, the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function with preschool version (BRIEF-P) to assess executive function, and the Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM) used to obtain participation levels. Results and conclusions: young children with GDD showed significantly lower participation levels at home, daycare, and community than TD group. We found that for young children, child mastery pleasure, health condition, and total persistence were significant predictors of child participation. Therefore, coaching parents to observe and facilitate their children's motivation and executive function, as well as child developmental abilities, is important in order to enhance children's participation in daily activities.

Young children's right to be heard on the quality of their education: Addressing potential misunderstandings in the context of early childhood education

AbstractIn early childhood education many researchers and professionals across the world have embraced the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child's requirement to include young children in decision‐making. In the context of ongoing discussion about young children's capacity to share their views and opinions about matters affecting them, there is often a focus on demonstrating ‘evidence’ that young children can participate in decision‐making as capable meaning‐makers in their own lives, defying traditional paternalistic approaches and assumptions. While acknowledging the important work that has been undertaken to support children's participatory rights, this article seeks to raise questions about whether understanding the right of young children to be heard, particularly in relation to the quality of their education, may have been subject to a form of ‘rights inflation’ that has extended the scope of the application of the right beyond the parameters of the legal framework and/or promoted an interpretation which exceeds what the text of the Convention can bear. In this article, we explore three possible misrepresentations relating to young children's participation in decision‐making related to the quality of education: (1) that all children can, should and want to have opportunities to share views on all matters affecting them; (2) that young children should always be allowed to learn and play freely; and (3) that children are the experts in their worlds. We do this to open up a conversation about the limits and partiality of young children's participation when viewed through the lens of children's human rights, highlighting, inter alia, the ongoing need to underscore the role of parents/guardians and professionals in enabling young children to enjoy all of their human rights, including the right to a quality education, fully.

Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the young children participation and environment measure for its use in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.

Concepts such as participation and environment may differ across cultures. Consequently, cultural equivalence must be assured when using a measure like the Young Children Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM) in other settings than the original English-speaking contexts. This study aimed to cross-culturally translate and adapt the YC-PEM into German as it is used in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Following international guidelines, two translations were compared, and the research and expert team made the first adaptations. Twelve caregivers of children with and without disabilities from three German-speaking countries participated in two rounds of think-aloud interviews. Data were analyzed by content analysis to look for item, semantic, operational, conceptual, and measurement equivalence to reach a cultural equivalence version in German. Adaptations were needed in all fields but prominently in item, operational, and conceptual equivalence. Operational equivalence resulted in graphical adaptations in the instructions and questions to make the German version of YC-PEM, YC-PEM (G), more user-friendly. This study presents a cross-cultural translation and adaptation process to develop a German version of the YC-PEM suitable for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. A culturally adapted YC-PEM (G) is now available for research, practice, and further validation.

Challenges in starting to design and make together: Examining family engagement in Fab Labs: A nexus-analytical inquiry

Making in a digital fabrication laboratory (Fab Lab) using Fab Lab processes is generally challenging for novice makers, particularly for families with young children. We conducted a qualitative study on family engagement in open-ended digital fabrication activities in an informal Fab Lab setting, where families engaged in 2D/3D designing, laser cutting, and 3D printing. We observed challenging transformations when families moved from brainstorming to digital designing and, subsequently, from digital designing to machine-making a physical object. Fab Lab instructors’ work, parental approaches, and oral discussions, which were all intended to facilitate children's participation in the activities, were central in and intertwined with these transformations, and led to the engagement or disengagement of children. Through this study, we shed light on the challenges families faced and provide insights into how to reduce the complexity of digital fabrication for families who have no prior experience of it as well as into how Fab Lab instructors can help enable young children's participation in the related activities.

유아의 쓰기 활동에서 나타난 쓰기 특성 분석

Purpose: This study aims to understand the characteristics of general writing found by observingand analyzing the processes and results of young children's participation in writing activities. Theeducational value of writing derived from this can be applied to everyday situations, including youngchildren's play and daily life, and is expected to be the basic data for field teachers to establisheducational plans.
 Methods: In this study, seven homeroom teachers working at public kindergartens located in S Cityand a total of 90 young children aged three, four, and five in each class participated. From December1 to December 23, 2022, teachers in each class provided one pre-selected common writing activityand one free writing activity, and then observed and recorded the writing process and results of youngchildren. The data collected in this study were young children observation records, writing results,interview data with teachers. And a circular and iterative data analysis was conducted through thetriangular verification method.
 Results: As a result of analyzing the writing activity process and results of young children, a totalof four writing characteristics were derived. The first was ‘totality’ containing characteristics otherthan the young children's writing skills, the second was ‘performance’ in which young childrendemonstrate other abilities for writing, the third was ‘contextuality’ in which they practiced writingin the background, and the fourth was ‘learning possibility’ that can be used 'well' in the processof learning and mastering educational areas.
 Conclusion: Based on the four writing characteristics derived through the analysis of writing processesand results, this study sought ways to educate and guide field teachers. In addition, by proposingthe concept of 'writing competency' based on the context consistent with the concept and characteristicsof competency, it suggests that it is necessary to look at young children’s writing from a morecomprehensive and multifaceted aspect.

Toddlers with the Doll Carriage: Children Doing Space of Participation in Early Childhood Education

AbstractThis article focuses on child participation in early childhood education (ECE). The theoretical basis for this study is a relational approach that highlights the significance of spatiality and materiality. Drawing from these theoretical perspectives, child participation is understood as a space that children actively do in various combinations of social, material and cultural relationships. The study relies on a relational understanding of the child as not only being, but also becoming by doing space within one’s environment. The methodological framework draws on narrative childhood studies that emphasize the multimodality of children’s narration. The research material consists of small stories from a Finnish ECE centre. The analysis focused on children under 3 years of age doing space of participation with material items in ECE. The study shows that space of child participation is dynamic in the everyday relationships. The findings illustrate children’s doing space of participation as a tension-filled phenomenon which requires children to balance between the active agency and adapting to the expectations of the environment. The findings uncover the three-fold nature of the space—namely, the social, material and cultural dimensions—that is meaningful for child participation. The doll carriage as a material item played a crucial role in children’s doing space of participation: it provided opportunities for children to formulate the ownership of the space, to construct peer relationships, and to shape and defend the borders of one’s space. The study contributes theoretically and methodologically to ECE research by opening new perspectives on the participation of young children.

Implementing an Electronic Patient-Reported Outcome and Decision Support Tool in Early Intervention.

The aim of the study is to identify and prioritize early intervention (EI) stakeholders' perspectives of supports and barriers to implementing the Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM), an electronic patient-reported outcome (e-PRO) tool, for scaling its implementation across multiple local and state EI programs. An explanatory sequential (quan > QUAL) mixed-methods study was conducted with EI families (n = 6), service coordinators (n = 9), and program leadership (n = 7). Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were used to share select quantitative pragmatic trial results (e.g., percentages for perceived helpfulness of implementation strategies) and elicit stakeholder perspectives to contextualize these results. Three study staff deductively coded transcripts to constructs in the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Data within CFIR constructs were inductively analyzed to generate themes that were rated by national early childhood advisors for their relevance to longer term implementation. All three stakeholder groups (i.e., families, service coordinators, program leadership) identified thematic supports and barriers across multiple constructs within each of four CFIR domains: (1) Six themes for "intervention characteristics," (2) Six themes for "process," (3) three themes for "inner setting," and (4) four themes for "outer setting." For example, all stakeholder groups described the value of the YC-PEM e-PRO in forging connections and eliciting meaningful information about family priorities for efficient service plan development ("intervention characteristics"). Stakeholders prioritized reaching families with diverse linguistic preferences and user navigation needs, further tailoring its interface with automated data capture and exchange processes ("process"); and fostering a positive implementation climate ("inner setting"). Service coordinators and program leadership further articulated the value of YC-PEM e-PRO results for improving EI access ("outer setting"). Results demonstrate the YC-PEM e-PRO is an evidence-based intervention that is viable for implementation. Optimizations to its interface are needed before undertaking hybrid type-2 and 3 multisite trials to test these implementation strategies across state and local EI programs with electronic data capture capabilities and diverse levels of organizational readiness and resources for implementation.

Home- and Community-Based Interventions for Physical Activity and Early Child Development: A Systematic Review of Effective Strategies.

This systematic review examined the effects of home/family and community-based interventions on physical activity (PA) and developmental outcomes in early childhood. A search strategy was employed using four electronic databases (Academic Search Complete, CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE, and SPORTDiscus). Interventions investigating weight status (i.e., BMI), physical activity, sedentary behavior, and/or motor proficiency that took place in home, family, or community settings were assessed. Studies were eligible if they were peer-reviewed, available in English, published between 2011 and 2021, and if samples consisted of healthy young children (2–5 years old). There were 24 studies retained (8351 participants) spanning from the United States (n = 12), Australia (n = 3), Canada (n = 2), Switzerland (n = 2), Finland (n = 2), Netherlands (n = 1), and other Eastern European countries (n = 2). There were 19 studies that incorporated home/family-based approaches and 14 studies that incorporated community-based approaches. Studies ranged in intervention duration from 6 weeks to 24 months. It suggests that improving PA participation in young children was especially challenging to solicit improvement (only 25% of all studies found significant improvement in PA after intervention). Distributing educational material to parents/families, consistent, direct contact with parents, and encouraging community engagement were identified as effective strategies to promote physical activity, healthy weight status, and motor skills in young children.

Parent-therapist partnership to ELEVATE gross motor function in children with perinatal stroke: protocol for a mixed methods randomized controlled trial

BackgroundThere is increasing evidence for early, active rehabilitation to enhance motor function following early brain injury. This is clear for interventions targeting the upper extremity, whereas passive treatment approaches for the lower extremity persist. The purpose of this trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of early, intensive rehabilitation targeting the lower extremity and delivered in a parent-therapist partnership model for children with perinatal stroke.MethodsWe describe a protocol for a waitlist-control, single-blind, mixed methods effectiveness randomized controlled trial, with an embedded qualitative study using interpretative description. Participants are children with perinatal stroke aged eight months to three years with signs of hemiparesis. Participants will be randomly allocated to an immediate ELEVATE (Engaging the Lower Extremity Via Active Therapy Early) intervention group, or a waitlist-control group, who will receive usual care for six months. The ELEVATE intervention involves one hour of training four days per week for 12 weeks, with a pediatric therapist and a parent or guardian each delivering two sessions per week. The intervention targets the affected lower extremity by progressively challenging the child while standing and walking. The primary outcome measure is the Gross Motor Function Measure-66. Secondary outcomes include the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™, Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure, and an instrumented measure of spasticity. A cost-effectiveness analysis and qualitative component will explore benefit to costs ratios and parents’ perspectives of early, intensive rehabilitation, and their role as a partner in the rehabilitation, respectively.DiscussionThis study has the potential to change current rehabilitation for young children with perinatal stroke if the ELEVATE intervention is effective. The parent interviews will provide further insight into benefits and challenges of a partnership model of rehabilitation. The mixed methods design will enable optimization for transfer of this collaborative approach into physical therapy practice.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03672864. Registered 17 September 2018.

Socioeconomic and demographic considerations of pediatric concussion recovery

The objective of this study was to investigate predictors of concussion recovery in children (5–12) versus adolescents (13–18) while identifying economic and demographic disparities in post-concussion care at a tertiary referral concussion clinic versus emergency department (ED).Race and insurance status were recorded for patients presenting to the concussion clinic (724) and ED (1,160) with an ICD-10 concussion diagnosis between 2018 and 2019. Secondly, a subset of patients from the concussion clinic group were included for retrospective cohort review based on documented recovery data.Overall, the concussion clinic saw more Caucasian patients (66.7%) than the ED (56.8%). Concussion clinic patients were more likely to have Private insurance than ED patients (67.2% vs. 55.3%) and less likely to have Medicaid and Self pay (p < 0.001). Children were more likely to be hospitalized after concussion diagnosis than adolescents (40.8% vs. 24.4%, p = 0.006). Attending public school was associated with a 1.8 times greater hazard ratio (HR) for shorter time to recovery compared to attending private school. Additionally, presence of a diagnosed psychiatric disorder was associated with a HR of 0.5, indicating a longer time to recovery (p < 0.001) than patients without a disorder.The present findings may support limitations on contact sports participation in young children given their higher hospitalization rate after concussion. Additionally, the study highlights potential barriers to care amongst youth concussion patients with those seen in specialized concussion clinics more likely to be White and have private insurance.

Design and Redesign of the IACTA App, an Interactive Communication Tool Intended to Facilitate Young Children's Participation in Healthcare Situations

PurposeTo develop the storyboard of IACTA further, based on the child’'s perspective, by testing and evaluating both re-designed and newly designed scenes. Design and methodA participatory design was used involving preschool children (n = 18) aged three to five who tested and evaluated evolving prototypes of the IACTA application. Think aloud and Active intervention were used to elicit verbal responses from the children. Additionally, observational protocols were used to capture, in a structured way, the children's interaction with the app. ResultsBy testing evolving prototypes, the children confirmed previous developments and challenged the newly added scenes of the app. By their interaction, important information regarding the children's ways of navigating the storyboard was obtained. Ways of becoming immersed in the storyboard and the eagerness of dealing with each scene provided information regarding likeability. ConclusionsOverall, this article presents a participatory design process in which preschool aged children were involved in testing and evaluating prototypes of the re-designed IACTA app. In the process, the children provided their perspective on the design and content and eventually, based on their feedback, IACTA was proven to be an age-appropriate tool. Practical implicationsChildren are frequent visitors to healthcare services. Lack of knowledge might trigger fear and anxiety, whereas information provides understanding. Interactive, mobile solutions enable children to receive information within paediatric healthcare contexts. The IACTA application intends to provide children a situated understanding that facilitates their participation in healthcare situations.

Participation of young children with developmental disabilities: parental needs and strategies, a qualitative thematic analysis

ObjectivesParticipation refers to a person’s involvement in activities and roles that provide interaction with others as well as engagement in family and community activities. Young children with developmental disabilities (DD)...

Young chinese children's remote peer interactions and social competence development during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way young children engage in peer communication. The aim of this study was to explore how young children engaged in peer interaction remotely by examining young children's multimodal interactions during the pandemic. Visual and audio data posted to Douyin (China's most popular live-streaming site) between January 23, 2020 and May 6, 2020 were collected and analyzed. Mediated discourse analysis was used to explore young children's remote interactions as captured on video recordings. Results support the critical role of play materials and tangible tools in mediating young children's peer interactions and participation in remote environments.

Exploring the complex emotional relationships that influence children's participation rights in early childhood education settings

Early childhood educators engage in complex and emotional work in their professional role educating and caring for children aged from birth to five years. The aim of this paper is to promote autoethnography as a most suitable method of understanding the role emotions play in the actualisation of young children's participation rights in early childhood education services. The author is a practising educator and draws upon a specific auto-ethnographic account of practice, the story of Sarah, as the focus of this paper to explore the emotional intensity of relationships in early childhood education. Autoethnography is discussed as a method to sit alongside ‘traditional’ ethnographic research to provide a deep understanding of the role of the educator embracing and enacting a rights approach in their work and what influences their decision making. In conclusion the author suggests autoethnography is a useful reflexive tool for educators to consider the role of emotions as a catalyst for change to ensure the actualisation of children's participation rights in daily practice in early childhood education.

Surfacing complexity in shared book reading: The role of affordance, repetition and modal appropriation in children's participation

Adult-child shared-book-reading (SBR) is an everyday practice that is fundamental to young children's early engagement with literature. Its potential for supporting young children's participation in literacy is of continuing interest to parents, practitioners, researchers and policymakers alike. However, there is limited research involving critical examination of the processes involved in SBR, particularly of interaction beyond verbal language and of the ways in which differing social contexts influence children's participation. Through close examination of two children's involvement in eight SBR episodes using a multimodal lens, this paper surfaces complexity in the ways in which different contexts and children's previous experience of the text afford differential participation and influence narrative interpretations. The findings contribute to understandings of how SBR practices, and the role of affordance, repetition and modal appropriation, shape children's early engagement with literature.

Barriers and facilitators to community participation for preschool age children born very preterm: a prospective cohort study.

We compared preschool age children born very preterm with term-born controls to: (1) understand the association between very preterm birth and community participation, (2) determine if motor impairment or social risk affect participation differently between groups, and (3) understand environmental barriers and supports to participation for parents. Forty-eight children born very preterm (<30wks' gestation; 22 males, 26 females) and 96 controls (47 males, 49 females) were assessed at 4 to 5 years' corrected age for community participation using the Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure. Motor skills were assessed using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition and the Little Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire. Children born very preterm participated less frequently than term-born children (difference in means=-0.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.54 to -0.03, p=0.029). Social risk was associated with lower frequency (interaction p<0.001) and involvement (interaction p=0.05) in community activities for children in the very preterm group only. Parents of children born very preterm perceived more barriers (odds ratio=4.32, 95% CI 1.46-12.77, p=0.008) and environmental factors to be less supportive of participation than parents of controls (difference in medians=-6.21, 95% CI -11.42 to -1.00, p=0.02). Children born very preterm may benefit from ongoing support to promote participation, especially in families of higher social risk.

Desigualdade e pandemia nas vidas das brasileirinhas e dos brasileirinhos

Este artigo destaca a participação das crianças pequenas e a relação de reciprocidade da infância com a sociedade de classes. Tem como ponto de partida pesquisa de doutorado e fundamentado na Sociologia da Infância, explora os impactos da Pandemia de Covid-19 na vida e educação das crianças pequenas. Trata das infâncias no plural por entender que, para além da diversidade presente em nosso país, há também diferentes focos de análise sobre este grupo social. Conclui que apesar de, do ponto de vista médico e da saúde, as crianças serem menos suscetíveis aos danos causados pelo vírus, a infância como categoria social é das mais afetados pela crise do capital que, embora já estivesse em andamento, teve na crise sanitária uma consequência agravante em razão do isolamento social que potencializou a queda da renda familiar, o desemprego e a precarização do trabalho. Essa situação aprofundou as desigualdades sociais e colocou as brasileirinhas e brasileirinhos em perigo.

Positive Dynamic Partial Effects of Head Start for Jointly Dependent Good and Bad Outcomes

We adopt a framework to specify a household's child development technology with a set of interdependent inputs and outputs, finding significant, productive dynamic effects due to young children's Head Start participation. Our panel data estimates show that initial counter-productive partial effects from Head Start relative to non-Head Start participation are quickly overcome as the child matures so that this program causes significant improvements in math and reading scores as well as a significant reduction of behavioral problems over time. Measures of technical efficiency and productivity change over time for children with Head Start are highly consistent with these trends.