A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Research Psychology), 2017 / ADHD is one of the most prevalent disorders in child psychiatry today. Whilst the phenomenon of ADHD is well researched in Europe and North America, there are limited studies available in South Africa that explore the link between ADHD and different forms of schooling. Furthermore, few studies focus on the children who have been socially positioned in this way. This study focused on the prevalence of ADHD with a particular aim to explore how gender, race and class play out in an unequal schooling system. The secondary aim was to contribute to the knowledge about adolescents’ own understandings and experiences of ADHD. The research was conducted in two distinct phases, Phase 1 included the administration of a demographic questionnaire to determine the prevalence of the disorder within four different Gauteng schools. Phase 2 of the project included semi-structured interviews to explore the understandings, perceptions and experiences of children living with this diagnosis. This study explored the prevalence of ADHD across four different schools in Gauteng. Results of the study propose that the diagnosis and prevalence of this phenomena is strongly influenced by gender, race and class, as the majority of children diagnosed are boys (65%), more than half are from upper class families (61%) and most of the children are white (71%). The adolescents who were interviewed indicated that teachers were mostly the initiators of their diagnosis due to deviations from classroom behaviour and academic performance. While the children claimed that the diagnosis and the medication had certain benefits, they also identified distinct disadvantages with the most notable adverse effects on mood and interactions with their peers. The predominant biomedical view of the disorder seemed to be internalised by the children which positioned them in a subordinate relationship with health care professionals. A strong theme of disempowerment emerged, with medical experts and mothers, identified as gatekeepers to their sense of agency. / XL2018

A research report submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology In the faculty of Humanities at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg February 2016 / Literature on adoption and abandonment in South Africa is somewhat limited. As abandonment is a pressing issue in South Africa, it is important to grow the body of literature so that these children and their adoptive families can be given effective help and support. This study focused on the relationship between adoptive parents and their previously abandoned, adopted children. Emphasis was placed on exploring this relationship and capturing the narrative of these adoptive parents as they provided an account of their experiences in adopting an abandoned child. To help guide this exploration, this study looked at how the experience of being abandoned affects the relationship between the adoptive parent and their adopted child. The study then focused on how good enough parenting ameliorated these early adverse experiences and finally explored the type of help sought by adoptive parents to help their children. The research design employed for this study was qualitative in nature and semi-structured interviews were conducted with five adoptive mothers in Johannesburg. Thematic content analysis was used to obtain themes and interpret the data. The findings of this study revealed that the adopting of abandoned children was a challenging journey yet, given that these adoptive mothers have been good enough caregivers to their children, providing them with consistency and stability in care, they have inspired the birth of relationships that feel more secure. In addition, the findings pointed out that the tracking of the relationship between adoptive parents and the adopted child from pre-pubescent years into pubescent years is likely to reveal more about the relationship. / MT2017

Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology)) --University of Limpopo (Turfloop Campus), 2005 / The aim of this study was to establish whether children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity show deficits in cognitive impulsiveness and motor functions, caused by a hypofunctioning dopamine system. A group of 84 primary school children, 42 classified as ADHD and 42 controls, matched for age, gender and SES, with children without ADHD symptomatology, were compared on their performance on neuropsychological tests which test the functions of the cortical areas supplied by two dopamine branches, the meso-cortical and nigrostriatal branches. The battery consisted of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the Grooved Pegboard, and the Maze Coordination Task. The results of the tests were analysed as a function of gender and ADHD-subtypes. In the majority of tests the clinical groups performed worse than the control groups. This was the case for both genders. The Hyperactive/Impulsive and Combined subtypes consistently performed poorer than the other groups. The results indicate that children with ADHD are more impulsive (deficient executive functions) and have poorer motor control than their control counterparts, which may be an indication of dopamine dysfunction.

D. Tech. Clinical Technology. / Examines anatomical fat patterning in SouthAfrican children (black and white) by utilising principal components analysis and to provide normative data on fat patterning for South African children. This statistical method has rarely been used to determine fat patterning in South African children.

The objectives of this study were to explore adolescents’ perceptions and experiences of poverty and its associated stigma when at school and within their communities. The study attempted to do this by uncovering the effects of poverty on adolescents’ lives; exploring their understanding of the meaning of being poor; exploring how the poverty-related stigma impacted their self-esteem, identity and experiences of the world; and investigated the elements of stigma that maintain the social distance between adolescents from poverty-stricken households and their peers. The study employed a qualitative research design. It used a focus group approach in conjunction with participatory research techniques such as ranking exercises. The issues that the participants raised revolved around a lack of access to money and how this in turn resulted in a lack of access to many other things, which led to a low quality of life for poor children and youths. The definitions they gave of the concept of poverty made reference to a lack of access to things such as houses, food and money. Other indicators of poverty that were mentioned related to the physical and psychological manifestations of the problem. The causes of poverty identified by the participants could broadly be grouped into two groups, namely financial aspects, and personal and family aspects. The issues the participants raised relating to poverty indicated that many of the problems faced by communities, families and children affected by the AIDS pandemic are linked to poverty. Conclusions from the study demonstrated that poverty is multidimensional in nature and therefore affects children and their families in a multitude of ways. The results also showed that the issues mentioned by the participants were not just products of poverty but problems in their own right. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

This study explored the experience of disability as recounted by school aged, visually impaired adolescents. The primary aim was to explore the manner in which these adolescents thought about, understood and coped with their disability. A second aim explored the extent to which participants’ experiences mirrored those reported in the literature. The design of the study was qualitative with an orientation toward social constructionism. Nine partially sighted and seven blind adolescents comprised the two cohorts of participants who participated in the study. One of the most notable findings supported the argument that disability is a socially constructed phenomenon. Some insights, drawn from psychoanalysis, were also found to be useful. Other findings, a critique of the study, and suggestions for future research are also provided. One of the most important of these involves evaluating the negative and positive consequences of inclusive education.

Child abuse continues to be a major challenge in South Africa. Much of the research has focused on helping children who have been abused and more recently focus has been placed on the perpetrator. Understanding the needs of the mother of the abused child has largely been neglected. This study explored how mothers of abused children are also affected by the child's trauma and how her survival contributes to the healing of the family. Using a qualitative research approach, data was gathered from case files, groupwork notes and in-depth interviews with eight women whose children had been abused. A feminist approach guided the study. This research described the experiences of women and provided insight into their struggles and triumphs as they assisted their children in the healing process. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

The ocular complications of vitamin A deficiency have been known for many years, however, recent studies have suggested that marginal vitamin A status enlarges the risk of common childhood infections and increases mortality. It is therefore important to assess the vitamin A status, and some of its consequences, in children who are most likely to be at risk for vitamin A deficiency as this has important implications for promoting the health of children and for formulating appropriate primary health care policies. In South Africa very little data is available on vitamin A nutrition of communities; therefore one of the objectives of this research programme was to document the vitamin A status of African children who, because of historical inequities, are most likely to be at risk for deficiency. Sound, epidemiologically based surveys of vitamin A intake and body levels were conducted in a typical established township (using dietary intake as the measuring tool) and in a typical peri-urban informal settlement (using serum retinol and conjunctival impression cytology as the measuring tools). These studies revealed that the majority (97%) of children living in the established township surveyed had an adequate intake of vitamin A, whereas 44% of the children in the informal settlement had low serum retinol levels (20 ug/dL), and 18% had insufficient vitamin A, as assessed by 2 abnormal disc specimens, using the conjunctival impression cytology test. In order to investigate the interrelationsnips between vitamin A, other micronutrients and some risk factors, an analysis was undertaken of anthropometry, parasite infestation and blood concentrations of vitamin E, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, albumin, haemaglobin, serum iron and ferritin and percent transferrin saturation. Significant positive correlations were found between serum retinol and all the biochemical indicators of iron metabolism studied except for serum ferritin. Ninety one percent of the children sampled were infested with parasites. These results highlight the fact that in this population close interconnections exist among nutrients and suggest that attempts at correcting vitamin A deficiency in such communities should be based on comprehensive intervention programmes rather than on single nutrient replacement. The impact of infections on blood levels of vitamin A was investigated in African children with severe measles. In addition, substances related to vitamin A metabolism such as other micronutrients (zinc, vitamin E) and proteins (retinol binding protein, prealbumin, albumin) were measured in serum. In addition the changes induced in these substances by vitamin A supplementation (offered in a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial) were studied. Serum retinol as well as the other nutrients measured were significantly reduced early in the exanthem in measles patients as compared to healthy controls. Vitamin A and prealbumin levels on day 8 (of the intervention trial) were significantly increased in the supplemented group compared to the placebo group. vitamin A levels in serum correlated with those of retinol binding protein (RBP), prealbumin and zinc. These findings strengthen the hypothesis that hyporetinaemia during measles is the consequence of impaired mobilisation of retinol stores from the liver. The effect of reversing the temporary lowering of serum retinol concentrations during acute measles infections by supplementation with vitamin A was investigated in a hospital based, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial. The two groups were comparable in known covariates of measles severity : weight/age centiles; overcrowding; rash; total 90% of the patients had blood lymphocytes; serum levels pre-albumin, RBP, vitamins A and E. of zinc, albumin, hyporetinaemia. Integrated Morbidity Scores ( IMS) derived from diarrhoea, herpes and respiratory tract infection (radiologically confirmed) were assigned on day 8, at 6 weeks and 6 months - these were reduced by 82%, 61% and 85% respectively in the supplemented group. This was mainly due to reduced respiratory tract infection. There was one death in the placebo group. At 6 weeks there was significant weight gain in the supplemented group. Despite the selected sample, attention to multiple covariates enhances the validity of the data obtained and supports the current WHO recommendations for vitamin A supplementation during measles. There are several mechanisms by which vitamin A is thought to have its effect of reducing morbidity, one of which is by improving immune responsiveness. This particular mechanism has not been adequately studied in children; most of the studies having been conducted in animals. The effect of vitamin A supplementation on selected factors of immunity in African children with complicated measles was therefore investigated during the randomized double-blind, placebo controlled, intervention trial described above. Placebo and treated groups had similar baseline characteristics. In the treated group there was a significant increase in total number of lymphocytes (day 42, P = .05) and measles IgG antibody concentrations (day 8, p = .02), both of which have consistently been shown to correlate more closely with outcome in measles than other immunological, clinical and radiological factors. Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and plasma complement (C3 ) values were unaffected by vitamin A supplement.at.Lon , These findings reinforce results from animal studies which show that the pathways of vitamin A activity in decreasing morbidity and mortality are partly founded on selective immunopotentiation. In conclusion epidemiological and biochemical methods which were used to assess the vitamin A status of African children in South Africa revealed that overt vitamin A deficiency is not a Public health issue to the extent it is in the poor rice eating nations of the world. Marginal vitamin A deficiency is however prevalent in informal settlements. Interventions to reverse this marginal vitamin A deficiency should be incorporated in comprehensive programmes to ensure food security. Infections such as measles which increase utilisation and inhibit mobilisation from body stores are damaging to vitamin A homeostasis in the individual. The morbidity associated with measles can be reversed by high dose vitamin A supplementation during the acute phase of the infection. Improving immune responsiveness is one of the likely paths of vitamin A activity in decreasing morbidity from measles. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1993.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Kwazulu-Natal, 2005.

In recent years, following the demise of Apartheid education policy, there has been a move away from exclusively mother tongue instruction in ex-Natal Education Department schools. Consequently, in many English speaking pre-primary schools, Zulu-speakers are being submerged into the English language environment. At the same time, there is growing interest amongst educators in an alternative process which allows for affirmation of the first language whilst providing multiple opportunities for second language acquisition by non-English speakers. This report seeks to identify aspects of second language acquisition through lexical tests and analysis of "news" items by the Zulu-speakers at the pre-primary school in the study. Further, through observation of the social interaction of these eight children, it seeks to identify socialisation patterns and to comment on the role which language plays both in the choice of friends and on the child's emotional well-being in the second language environment. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, 1997.