Children under the age of 18 are the largest age group of people who live in poverty in America. This paper focuses on early intervention programs and how they can help ameliorate the negative effects of poverty. Previous research has demonstrated the negative effects of poverty, such as lower academic performance and achievement and more behavioral problems. Various risk factors for poverty, such as single parents, low maternal education, and lack of resources, and their role in the design of early intervention programs will be explained. The Perry Preschool Project (PPP), Head Start, the Chicago Child-Parent Center (CPC) Program, and the Carolina Abecedarian Project and their effects on child outcomes will be analyzed. Cost-benefit analyses for each early intervention program, as well as future considerations for public policy, will be discussed in this paper.

A six week parent-child shared reading intervention targeting children's emergent literacy and emotion knowledge was implemented for 33 Head Start home-based families. This pilot study tested the hypothesis that the nominal addition of social emotional components to an evidenced-based shared reading intervention (dialogic reading) would result in additive effects in regards to parent and child outcomes. The study utilized a pre-post test design involving random assignment of families to one of two treatment groups. Both groups received the standard dialogic reading intervention, while parents in the DR ES (dialogic reading plus emotion skills) received an additional nominal dose of training in how to be nurturing towards their child during reading and how to use the story as a catalyst to talking about emotions. Differential effects between the two interventions were not found. Specifically, no clinically significant group effects were found for children's print concepts knowledge and emotion knowledge (emotion labeling and perspective taking) at post-test. Similarly, no effects emerged for parents' reading related behaviors, namely, application of verbal prompts, and displayed warmth. Effect sizes, as measured by eta squared, were also consistently low for all dependent measures, ranging from .00 for children's perspective taking and parents' displayed warmth to .03 for parent verbal prompts. Significant time effects emerged for all outcome variables with the exception of parent warmth, with effect sizes ranging from d = 0.31 (parent warmth) to d = 1.31 (parents' dialogic reading prompts), with an average effect size of d = 0.61. This study is the first to explore the potential impact of combining emotional content into the dialogic reading intervention. It refocuses attention on the contexts that promote children's school readiness skills. Results suggest that the potential benefits of dialogic reading extend beyond parent and children reading related skills, and may include children's emotional development. Findings warrant further investigation of interventions that support parents in maximizing the benefits of shared reading.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Linköpings universitet, 2007. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

The U.S. toxic food environment has impacted the increased rates of childhood obesity and disordered eating patterns (Battle & Brownell, 1996), and prevention efforts are beginning to take an ecological approach to addressing these weight-based problems. Researchers have begun to discuss the importance of starting prevention efforts during infancy and early childhood (Flynn et al., 2006; Olstad & McCargar, 2008). Caregivers and parents have the most impact on child eating and activity levels during early development, but there is scarce research on ways to engage parents in programming. The present study used a qualitative design to investigate parents' experiences receiving, making meaning of, and applying sociocultural messages about children's health and nutrition. Individual interviews were conducted with parents from 16 very low-income Early Head Start families. Interview transcripts, field notes, documentary evidence, and follow-up participant checks were used during grounded theory analysis of the data (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). A theoretical model of parental movement toward action was developed that included (a) the culture and context influencing parents, (b) parents' sources of social and cultural messages, (c) parental attitude and engagement, (d) parental motivation for action, (e) intervening conditions impacting motivation and application, and (f) parent action taken on the individual and social levels. The categories and subcategories of the model are illustrated by narrative data. Implications for research, parent engagement, and prevention programming for weight-related problems in young children are discussed.

Social and emotional competencies have received increased attention as important components of school readiness for young children. Universal programs incorporating social and emotional learning (SEL) instruction for all preschool students are needed given the relation between social and emotional competencies in early childhood and later developmental outcomes. The Strong Start: Pre-K program is a low-cost, developmentally tailored educational curriculum targeting important social and emotional knowledge and skills. Although this program is part of an evidence-based SEL curriculum (Strong Kids), the preschool component lacks empirical investigation. This pilot study used a single group pre-post within-subjects design to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of implementation of Strong Start: Pre-K and the impact of the curriculum on social and emotional knowledge and skills of 39 students in two preschool classrooms. Feasibility and acceptability were evaluated through descriptive data on social validity and treatment integrity. In addition, preliminary evidence of effects was established through analysis of observed child and teacher behavior. Results suggest that teachers and students find the Strong Start: Pre-K curriculum to be highly acceptable and that teachers are able to implement the curriculum with moderate to high levels of fidelity with limited training. Preliminary evidence of effects suggests that children who participated in the Strong Start: Pre-K curriculum demonstrated increases in social and emotional strengths and resiliencies as well as increases in social and emotional knowledge following exposure to the Strong Start: Pre-K curriculum. Direct observations of child behavior also demonstrated increases in pro-social behavior and decreases in disruptive behavior.

Young children who display disruptive behaviors are at risk for negative outcomes in later development such as school dropout, early pregnancy, and unemployment (Bradshaw, Schaeffer, Petras, & Ialongo, 2010). For this reason, it is imperative parents of children with disruptive behaviors seek early intervention to reduce problem behaviors and prevent negative effects (Breitenstein, Hill, & Gross, 2009). Parent behavioral training interventions are effective for reducing problem behaviors in young children. Attrition from parent training interventions, however, is a common problem that reduces positive outcomes for children with challenging behaviors (Kazdin, Holland, & Crowley, 1997; Prinz & Miller, 1994). Barriers to treatment, such as negative perceptions toward treatment, can influence parents’ attendance (Kazdin et al., 1997) and behavioral outcomes for children (Brestan, Jacobs, Rayfield, & Eyberg, 1999). This study (N = 139) examined relationships of parents’ attendance and perceptions of a behavioral parent training intervention, the empirically supported Helping Our Toddlers Developing Our Children’s Skills, or HOT DOCS (Armstrong, Lilly, & Curtiss, 2006). Regression analyses were conducted to test relationships between parent perceptions of treatment effectiveness, attendance, and child behavior ratings, and whether attendance mediated the relationship between parent perceptions of treatment and ratings of child behavior. No significant relationships were found between these variables, and no mediating relationship of attendance between parent perceptions and child behavior ratings was found. Results for this study may indicate factors other than parent perceptions are important to predict attendance or change in behavior ratings. Ethical considerations and limitations of this study are also discussed.

There has been a worldwide increase in the number of tracheostomies performed on the paediatric population, particularly during the first year of life, which has also been evident at Red Cross Children’s Hospital in South Africa. Infants and toddlers with tracheostomies present with multiple risk factors for having or developing dysphagia and/or communication difficulties, due to the effects of the tracheostomy on the development of feeding, speech and communication, as well as the underlying medical conditions that necessitated the tracheostomy, and associated medical, social and environmental factors. There is, however, a dearth of literature in the area of paediatric tracheostomies in the South African context, particularly with regard to feeding and communication. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence and describe the nature of dysphagia and communication difficulties in infants and toddlers with tracheostomies in the South African context, and detail the need for speech-language therapy intervention. It also attempted to determine whether there was an association between the underlying medical condition and the incidence of dysphagia and/or communication difficulties. A retrospective, descriptive survey of the folders of infants and toddlers with tracheostomies within the age range of 0 – 3 years from 2002 – 2004 at Red Cross Children’s Hospital was conducted. A checklist for dysphagia and communication difficulties in infants and toddlers with tracheostomies was developed and used to collect data from participants’ medical records. Results indicated that 80% of the study population presented with dysphagia. Oral phase difficulties were documented in 81.25%, pharyngeal phase difficulties in 60.9% and oesophageal phase difficulties in 79.7% of the dysphagic sample. Communication difficulties were recorded in 94% of the sample population. Speech production difficulties were documented in 78%, receptive language delays in 87% and expressive language delays in 96% of the sample population with communication difficulties. No statistically significant association was established between the underlying medical condition and the incidence of either dysphagia or communication difficulties. The results in the present study support the limited available literature, and the need for early speech-language therapy intervention for infants and toddlers with tracheostomies. / Dissertation (M (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / M (Communication Pathology) / unrestricted

The current study examined the impact of an early summer literacy program and the mediating effects of the home literacy environment on the language and literacy outcomes of a group of children at-risk for long-term developmental and academic delays. Participating children (n=54) were exposed to an intensive book-reading intervention each summer (June through mid August) over a 3-year period. The current study implemented an ex post facto, quasi-experimental design. This nonequivalent group design involved a pretest and posttest over three time points for a non-randomized treatment group and a matched non-treatment comparison group. Results indicated that literacy scores did improve for the children over the 3-year period; however, language scores did not experience the same rate of change over time. Receptive language was significantly impacted by attendance, and race/ethnicity. Expressive language was impacted significantly by gestational age and attendance. Results also indicated that language outcomes for young children who are exposed to a literacy program were higher than those who did not participate; however, only receptive language yielded significance at the p This study concluded that at-risk young children do benefit from center-based literacy intervention. This literacy experience, however, is also driven by the children’s home environment, their attendance to the program, whether they were premature or not and the type of caregiver.

This dissertation studies different social aspects of terrorists and terrorist organizations in an effort to better deal with terrorism, especially in the long run. The researcher, who also worked as a Police Captain at Turkish National Police Anti-Terrorism Department, seeks solutions to today's global problem by studying both literature and a Delphi examination of a survey of 1070 imprisoned terrorists. The research questions include questions such as "What are the reasons behind terrorism?", "Why does terrorism occur?", "What ideologies provide the framework for terrorist violence?, "Why do some individuals become terrorists and others do not?" and "Under what conditions will terrorists end their violence?" The results of the study presents the complexity of the terrorism problem as a social experience and impossibility of a single solution or remedy for the global problem of terrorism. The researcher through his examination of the findings of the data, presented that terrorism is a social phenomenon with criminal consequences that needs to be dealt by means of two dimensional approaches. The first is the social dimension of terrorism and the second is the criminal dimension of terrorism. Based on this, the researcher constructed a conceptual model which addresses both of these dimensions under the titles of long-term solutions and short-term solutions. The long-term solutions deal with the social aspects of terrorism under the title of Proactive Approach to Terrorism and the short-term solutions deal with the criminal aspects of terrorism under the title of The Immediate Fight against Terrorism. The researcher constructed this model because there seems to be a tendency of not asking the question of "Why does terrorism occur?" Instead, the focus is usually on dealing with the consequences of terrorism and future terrorist threats. While it is essential that the governments need to provide the finest security measures for their societies, at the same time they need to address the reasons behind terrorism. This research, from stated perspective, offered a conceptual model to address both aspects of terrorism for a more complete fight against today's most painful problem.

The effects of two positive reinforcement procedures were evaluated to increase contact with, proximity to, and acceptance of new foods in a young child with autism. During baseline, two groups of six food items were presented. One group was intervened on. The first condition involved a changing criterion contingency and social attention as a consequence. The second involved a shaping contingency and access to videos as a consequence. The types of contact emitted, the amount of time spent contacting the food, and two affect topographies were measured. The second procedure resulted in increased duration and variety of contact, and increases of both affect topographies. Results are discussed in the context of food selectivity in autism, programming goals, and balancing intervention efficacy and restrictiveness.