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Text in Afrikaans / The focus of this qualitative study was the perceptions of parents regarding their toddlers' regressive behaviour. For the purposes of this study the term perceptions relates to both the impressions in a persons' consciousness as well as the result thereof. The researcher compiled a conceptual framework from the existing literature and then carried out the empirical study. A focus group of four parents' whose toddler or toddlers showed regressive behavior at the time of the study was compiled. A focusgroup discussion was held where the parents described their perceptions of their toddlers' regressive behaviour. The focus group discussion was recorded both by video camera as well as a digital recorder with the consent of all focus group participants, after which it was transcribed. Recurring themes were identified from the transcribed data and verified with literature. Qualitative data were obtained that answered the research question. / Social work / M.Diac.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / As crianças-problema, vistas como expressão do mal-estar contemporâneo, despontam como uma alegoria representativa do lugar destino às dificuldades infantis em nossos tempos. Neste trabalho, fruto de uma pesquisa de natureza teórica, objetivamos problematizar, a partir da análise dos conceitos psicanalíticos de sofrimento psíquico e doença, a patologização do sofrimento psíquico das crianças, com vistas a favorecer a construção de um exercício clínico marcado pela ética do cuidado em psicanálise. Partindo da suposição de que uma sobreposição destes conceitos estaria em relação dialética com as experiências de medicalizar a vida, analisamos como as psicopatologias infantis têm sido organizadas e quais os desdobramentos teórico-clínicos que delas decorrem. Para tanto, revisitamos a noção de infância e infantil na psicanálise, discutindo as operações fundamentais para a constituição psíquica, bem como as formas de produção subjetivas que marcam a infância do século XXI. Com vistas a compreender o que tem sido oportunamente chamado como o melhor das crianças, interrogamos a noção de normalidade na infância refletindo sobre a diferenciação entre ordem normativa e normalidade, saúde e doença, adequação e submissão à vida. Por fim, apresentamos a ética do cuidado em psicanálise como alternativa aos desafios da clínica infantil, defendendo que é necessário romper com esta lógica de patologização do sofrimento psíquico das crianças, frente ao reconhecimento da distinção entre sofrer e adoecer. Destacamos ainda a importância de valorizar a expressão de uma vida saudável entre as crianças, a partir de uma apropriação criativa de si e do mundo.

The main aim of this study was to explore and describe the general and emotional development of a sample of South African children between the age of five and eight years in residential care. More specifically, the study aimed to explore and describe the general level of development of a sample of children in residential care; to explore and describe the development of a sample of children in residential care in six areas of development; and to describe the emotional wellbeing of children in residential care. A non-probability, purposive sampling method was applied as the participants were comprised of children between the ages of 5 and 8 years housed at the residential care facility. The sample consisted of 11 children. The multiple case study method was used to achieve the aim of the study, using both qualitative and quantitative data. The quantitative data consisted of scores obtained from the administration of the Griffiths Mental Development Scales - Extended Revised (GMDS-ER). The qualitative data was obtained from the Human Figure Drawing (HFD), participants’ scholastic progress reports, case reports from the residential care facility and clinical observations during the assessment period. The data was analysed according to thematic analysis. The results highlighted the pervasiveness of delays in all domains of child development of children housed in residential care, specifically that of language, social and emotional development. An important finding of the study was that decrements in these domains of development underpinned delays in the other domains of development since they form the foundation of learning and relating to the world. The study served to emphasize the importance of consistent developmental assessment in order to ascertain whether these children present with developmental delays and, if so, to xv identify which areas of development are most affected. Information from the developmental assessments could assist in the early identification of developmental delays and allow for individually tailored interventions to overcome such delays.

The lives of family members of a child with a developmental disability are typically influenced by acute as well as chronic stressful events. These families are compared to families of typically developing children. In order for a family with a child with a developmental disability to function as effectively as possible, it may be necessary to renegotiate and reassign traditional family roles of parent, spouse, brother and sister.

The current study had two purposes. The first purpose was to examine the association between family rules and routines and first grade children's teacher-rated and peer-rated behavioral competencies (e.g., emotional symptoms, conduct problems, peer problems, hyperactivity, and prosocial behavior) after controlling for both family stressors (i.e., single parent home, mobility, socioeconomic status, property ownership) and child ethnicity (African American, Caucasian, Hispanic). The second purpose was to determine if child regulatory control abilities mediates the effects of family rules and routines and children's behavioral competencies. The parents of 215 ethnically diverse children (38%, Caucasian, 22% African American, 33% Hispanic, 7% Other) were interviewed in their homes with a modified and shortened version of Family Routines Inventory (FRI; Jensen, James, Boyce, & Hartnett, 1983). Teachers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997), and peers completed a modified version of the Class Play (Masten, Morison & Pelligrini, 1985). Scores from the SDQ were standardized and combined with the standardized scores obtained from the peer nominations to create composites of the behavioral competencies. Additionally, teachers completed a modified version of the California Child Q-set (CCQ) (Block & Block, 1980) as a measure of these children's regulatory control abilities. African American parents' ratings of their family's rules and routines were higher than those of Hispanic and Caucasian parents' ratings. Additionally, family stressors were positively associated with higher teacher and peer ratings of conduct problems and lower ratings of prosocial behavior. Neither ethnicity nor family rules and routines predicted child competencies. A statistically significant curvilinear relationship was found between family rules and routines and conduct problems such that children of parents reporting the highest and lowest levels of family rules and routines have more conduct problems. No associations were found between family rules and routines and child competencies or children's regulatory control abilities. Limitations of the study are discussed in terms of inadequate measurement of family rules and routines, a defensive response set, self-selection on the part of the parents to participate in the interview, and a sample that is not representative of the community of parents and children in the participating schools.

[Truncated abstract] Early psychosocial stress is conjectured to place individuals on a developmental trajectory leading to earlier pubertal maturation, earlier initiation of sexual activity and earlier reproduction than those with less early psychosocial stress. This may have an adaptive function to minimise the chances of lineage extinction, which is more likely in environments of high risk and uncertainty. Previous studies have examined the relationship between early psychosocial stress and life history stages (e.g., age at puberty, age at first sex and age at first birth). However, these studies are limited in that they either examined only a few early psychosocial stressors, examined psychosocial stress relatively late in individuals' lives and/or were restricted to women. Thus, the first aim of the present thesis was to examine these findings in both genders using a measure of early psychosocial stress comprised of 24 categories of retrospectively assessed stressors (e.g., sexual abuse, physical abuse, parental divorce, rated quality of family life) during the first 7 years of life. It was hypothesised that individuals with high, as opposed to low, levels of early psychosocial stress would pass through life history stages earlier. The second aim was to examine how early psychosocial stress affects characteristics associated with life history traits, such as individuals? length, number and type of heterosexual relationships, number of sex partners, adult attachment styles, number of pregnancy terminations, and attitudes and behaviours towards contraceptive use. High levels of early psychosocial stress were predicted to be associated with characteristics reflecting a quantitative, as opposed to a qualitative, reproductive approach (e.g., more sex partners, more short-term relationships, insecure attachment styles). The third aim was to examine how early psychosocial stress is related to mate choice because numerous studies have identified what traits individuals' desire in a mate but not whether early psychosocial stress affects these choices. ... Early psychosocial stress generally had no effects on age at first sex, age at first birth, the number of pregnancy terminations, and mate choices. On the other hand, individuals with high, as opposed to low, levels of early psychosocial stress were more likely to be insecurely attached, had more short-term sexual relationships (men only), had more extra-pair copulations, were more likely to be divorced/separated, had a greater lifetime number of sex partners (men only), and had lower self-rated frequencies of contraception use. Overall, some of these findings are consistent with life history theory, which suggests that individuals with high levels of early psychosocial stress (i.e., those living in environments of high risk and uncertainty) should reach biological maturation earlier, engage in behaviours that facilitate earlier and more frequent reproduction to minimise the chances of lineage extinction. Implications for public health, limitations of the present study and future directions are also discussed.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-01T18:08:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 rafaela_mota_paixao_franca.pdf: 1901983 bytes, checksum: 8a29a1ced5c5795c9d05d9e89c3c4a95 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-04-11 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The 'troubled-kids', who are seen as an expression of the contemporary malaise, appear as a representation of the allegory intended to place children's difficulties in our times. In this work, the result of theoretical research, we aim to problematize, from the analysis of the psychoanalytic concepts of psychological distress and disease, the pathology in the psyche suffering of children, in order to promote the building of clinical work marked by the ethics of care in psychoanalysis. Starting from the assumption that an overlap of these concepts would be in dialectical relation to the experiences of medicalization of life, we analyze how the infant psychopathology have been organized and what theoretical and clinical consequences result from it. To this end, we revisit the notion of childhood and child psychoanalysis, discussing the fundamental operations of the psychic constitution, as well as forms of subjective production that mark the childhood of the 21st century. In order to understand what has fittingly been called the best children, questioning the notion of normality in childhood, reflecting on the distinction between normative order and normality, health and disease, adequacy and submission to life. Finally, we present the ethics of care in psychoanalysis as an alternative to the challenges of the clinical child, arguing that it is necessary to break this logic of pathologizing of the psyche suffering of children, against the distinction between suffering and sick. We also highlight the importance of valuing the expression of a healthy lifestyle among children, from a creative appropriation of themselves and the world. / As crianças-problema , vistas como expressão do mal-estar contemporâneo, despontam como uma alegoria representativa do lugar destino às dificuldades infantis em nossos tempos. Neste trabalho, fruto de uma pesquisa de natureza teórica, objetivamos problematizar, a partir da análise dos conceitos psicanalíticos de sofrimento psíquico e doença, a patologização do sofrimento psíquico das crianças, com vistas a favorecer a construção de um exercício clínico marcado pela ética do cuidado em psicanálise. Partindo da suposição de que uma sobreposição destes conceitos estaria em relação dialética com as experiências de medicalizar a vida, analisamos como as psicopatologias infantis têm sido organizadas e quais os desdobramentos teórico-clínicos que delas decorrem. Para tanto, revisitamos a noção de infância e infantil na psicanálise, discutindo as operações fundamentais para a constituição psíquica, bem como as formas de produção subjetivas que marcam a infância do século XXI. Com vistas a compreender o que tem sido oportunamente chamado como o melhor das crianças, interrogamos a noção de normalidade na infância refletindo sobre a diferenciação entre ordem normativa e normalidade, saúde e doença, adequação e submissão à vida. Por fim, apresentamos a ética do cuidado em psicanálise como alternativa aos desafios da clínica infantil, defendendo que é necessário romper com esta lógica de patologização do sofrimento psíquico das crianças, frente ao reconhecimento da distinção entre sofrer e adoecer. Destacamos ainda a importância de valorizar a expressão de uma vida saudável entre as crianças, a partir de uma apropriação criativa de si e do mundo.

The aim of this study was to explore and describe the psychosocial problems perceived (their phenomenological field) by children in middle childhood, living in shelters in the Cape Metropolitan Area. The psychosocial problems included poor self regulation as a result of disturbances in the contact cycle, restrictions in shelters negatively impacting the holistic sense of self, barriers hindering relationships with significant others and the continuation of violence into the participants‟ broader field. The experience of multiple losses and persistence of violent behavior within and without the shelter context was a thread that ran through this study. Current literature provided an overview of the theoretical underpinnings of this study which included the key tenets of Gestalt therapy theory, core Gestalt principles, the child living in a shelter and development in middle childhood. A qualitative research approach with a case study of ten children from three shelters was implemented. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

The aim of this study was to explore and describe the psychosocial problems perceived (their phenomenological field) by children in middle childhood, living in shelters in the Cape Metropolitan Area. The psychosocial problems included poor self regulation as a result of disturbances in the contact cycle, restrictions in shelters negatively impacting the holistic sense of self, barriers hindering relationships with significant others and the continuation of violence into the participants‟ broader field. The experience of multiple losses and persistence of violent behavior within and without the shelter context was a thread that ran through this study. Current literature provided an overview of the theoretical underpinnings of this study which included the key tenets of Gestalt therapy theory, core Gestalt principles, the child living in a shelter and development in middle childhood. A qualitative research approach with a case study of ten children from three shelters was implemented. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)