In recent years, considerable attention has been given to a social information processing model as a means of understanding interaction patterns in children. Within the framework of that model, systematic biases have been found in the manner in which aggressive children process social information. The present study sought to extend that literature by applying the model to younger children, by examining the processing of withdrawn, as well as aggressive, children, and by employing traditional affect recognition tasks as the stimuli. Sixty preschool children were nominated by their classroom teachers as either aggressive, withdrawn, or well adjusted, according to their predominant interaction style. The children were then tested, using a set of affect recognition tasks which assessed stimulus encoding and interpretation. Stimuli consisted of facial expression photos and context stories portraying one of four emotions (Happy, Sad, Mad, or Neutral). The hypotheses of the study predicted systematic biases in stimulus encoding and interpretation, consistent with the subjects’ behavioral style. Analyses failed to support the hypotheses in that the groups failed to show identifiable systematic biases. Exploratory analyses revealed that subgroups of subjects demonstrated such biases, but those biases were related only to level of developmental maturity. The discussion of the findings explored issues which may have led to the negative results. Further research directions were also discussed which will help to clarify the questions raised by the present study. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this cross-sectional population study was to provide an assessment of weight status of a county's preschool population utilizing the new growth charts and expressed as Body Mass Index, or BMI, -for- age percentile. This study was conducted in conjunction with an annual health screen for incoming kindergartners and consisted of two phases. The first phase involved assisting in the collection of, and statistically analyzing preschoolers' data collected during the Tillamook Health Screen on May 23-25th, 2001. Height, weight, blood pressure, hemoglobin, and blood lead levels were measured. Also, the preschoolers' parents completed a 24-hour food intake record and answered questions on mealtime habits. Phase Two consisted of a mailed questionnaire that was sent to parents of preschoolers who were screened in May, 2001, to investigate dairy food consumption, where meals are eaten, and physical activity habits of their preschoolers. Four significant findings were documented in this research. Foremost, Tillamook County preschoolers had a lower prevalence of healthy weight and a higher prevalence of at risk of overweight and overweight levels than children their age nationwide. Also, both systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased with increasing BMI-for-age percentiles for males and females. Third, hours spent viewing television—sedentary behavior—was positively related to BMI-for-age percentiles. The combination of more hours of physical activity with less television viewing time was inversely related to BMI-for-age percentiles. Last, Tillamook County preschoolers who were above the healthy weight range ate more Food Guide Pyramid servings of concentrated fats/sweets than children in the healthy weight range. Data that were not strong enough to reach conclusions about weight status related to dairy product consumption, fat content of dairy products, mealtime habits, meals eaten away from home, blood hemoglobin, and blood lead. Also, no significant associations were found between dairy food intake and blood hemoglobin, blood lead, or blood pressure. Even at preschool ages, physical activity and diet are important to assess when increasing rates of overweight levels and associated increases in blood pressure are being investigated. / Graduation date: 2003

"Theory of mind" refers to the competence to understand the mental states of oneself and others, such as perception, emotion, intention, belief, etc. (Baron-Cohen, 2001). Existing literature suggests that the abilities to understand mental states are associated with pretend play behaviors in children. However, the theory theory (Perner, 1991) and the simulation theory (Harris, 2000) have provided different interpretations about their relations because the two theories have different views concerning the cognitive mechanism underlying the development of theory of mind. / Results from the three studies were not in support of either theory fully and consistently. Specifically, the result of Study 1 showed that the children understood the false belief of others before they understood the false belief of oneself's. This result was inconsistent with both theories. Results of Study 2 indicated that children' understanding of false belief was associated only with social pretend play, but not with oneself's pretend play. However, considering the concept of multiple models of representations could be used to explain the relation between pretend play and false belief understanding abilities and has no theory inclination, it could not give evidence to the comparison between the two theories through these ways and results of the relation examination in this study. The results of the intervention study demonstrated that only the training method that involved the discussion of multiple identities of oneself produced significant and positive effect on children's false belief understanding. In brief, the theory theory was considered to obtain stronger support from the present research. / The present research compared the two theories by investigating the relations between children's pretend play and their false belief understanding abilities. Three studies were conducted, that involved preschool children from 3-years-old to 5-years-old from a remote area in the eastern part of China, to address three questions on that the two theories pose different predictions. The first question was concerned with whether or not there IS a developmental sequence between understanding the mental states of oneself and understanding others' (Study 1). The second question was about whether or not the abilities to understand mental states are associated with oneself's pretend playas well as with social pretend play (Study 2). The third question was related to whether or not two types of social pretend play interventions that were designed based on the two theories respectively would significantly affect children's competence to understand false belief by comparing the two intervention groups with a control group (Study 3). The intervention method towards the theory theory involved an explicit discussion of multiple identities of oneself whereas the intervention reflecting the simulation theory did not have the discussion. / 董及美. / Adviser: Yu-Jing Ni. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-04, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-194). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Dong Jimei.

A consistent finding in the literature is that children who demonstrate lower levels of social functioning (i.e., exhibit high levels of externalising and internalising problems and low levels of socially competent behaviour) have problems interpreting social cues and enacting appropriate behavioural responses in social situations (that is, they have poor social information processing (SIP) skills). Another consistent finding is that children who demonstrate lower levels of social functioning have problems regulating behaviour and/or emotions (that is, they have poor self-regulation skills). The research questions in this study explore two related issues: whether these associations can explain sex differences in social functioning (with girls consistently exhibiting higher levels of social competence and lower levels of externalising problems than boys) and whether an intervention targeting SIP and self-regulation skills can lead to improvements in social functioning. The study forms one component of a larger developmental prevention project (the Pathways to Prevention Project) which involves the provision of an integrated set of intervention strategies to children attending preschools in a highly disadvantaged Brisbane suburb. It also involves programs with their families, their schools and relevant ethnic communities. This study relates to a sub-sample of 308 children who participated solely in the social skills program. Children from two preschools received the program (N=174) and were compared with children from two other preschools who did not receive the program (N=134). The research questions were addressed using a repeated measures design, with data being collected from all intervention and comparison children pre- and post-intervention (that is, at the beginning and end of the school year) and at a one year follow-up at the end of Grade 1. The study is unique as it involves Australian children from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, many of whom who are non-English speaking. Few studies have involved such diverse samples and none have been implemented in an Australian context. The first two research questions seek to confirm findings from prior studies, examining whether females exhibit higher levels of social functioning than males and whether there is a significant relationship between social functioning and SIP and self-regulation skills. The third research question significantly extends prior findings by examining whether there are sex differences in SIP and self-regulation skills and whether these can account for sex differences in social functioning. This issue has been largely overlooked in the literature. The fourth research question examines whether a social skills intervention designed to improve preschool children's SIP and self-regulatory skills can lead to improvements in these skills and increase levels of social functioning. The fifth research question examines the relative effect of the intervention for boys and girls. Using pre-intervention data, the study confirmed prior research, finding significant sex differences in social functioning with girls exhibiting higher levels of social competence and lower levels of externalising problems. A significant relationship was also found between measures of SIP, self-regulation skills and social functioning. A significant sex difference was found in SIP and self-regulation skills, with girls performing better than boys on these measures. After adjusting for children's scores on the SIP measure, sex differences in social competence were no longer significant. Sex differences in externalising problems remained significant but were markedly reduced. A similar pattern of findings was observed when adjusting for self-regulation skills. These findings represent a major contribution to the understanding of sex differences in social functioning. In comparison to non-participants, participants in the social skills program demonstrated significant improvements in SIP, self-regulation skills and social competence which were sustained 12 months after the completion of the intervention. In general, program participation was not found to be associated with changes in children's levels of externalising and internalising behaviour problems, although there were strong and significant reductions in externalising behaviour problems for disruptive children who were consistently engaged with the program. Program effects were greatest where it was consistently reinforced by teachers. No significant sex differences in program effects were found. Implications for future policy are that child-focused programs designed to increase school readiness and levels of social competence should include SIP and self-regulation components. More intensive programs may be required for long term improvements in behaviour problems. In terms of future practice, it is concluded that the implementation and evaluation of programs for young disadvantaged children from a range of multi-cultural backgrounds must limit English language requirements to increase program engagement, and encourage parental involvement using strategies such as parent training groups that do not demand high levels of parental literacy. Teacher involvement also needs to be maximised either through the provision of teacher training or through intensive mentoring.

published_or_final_version / Japanese Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

(1) Problem: Research on internalizing problems in young children is scarce despite evidence that children can have problematic internalizing symptoms as early as preschool years 1-3. In preschoolers, it is difficult to observe internalizing problems directly. While they are not overtly socially disruptive behaviors4, they have negative consequences in their daily lives, can continue in adolescence, and potentially develop into disorders in later years 5-7. Studying internalizing problems in preschoolers is of particular importance in Low- and Middle- Income Countries (LIMC) since there may be a higher prevalence of common risk factors (such as parental psychopathology, violence, and neglect) than in High-Income Countries. According to the World Health Organization, in 2015, Brazil (a LMIC) ranked first in the past-year prevalence of anxiety (9.3%) and fifth in the prevalence of depression (5.8%) 8,9 in people aged 15 years or older. Preschoolers in São Paulo, Brazil, have an estimated six-month prevalence of internalizing problems of 25.4%. There are few estimates in other regions of Brazil, partly due to the lack of validated scales to measure them. In addition, it is unknown if the disparate rates by sex (females have at least twice the rates of males) seen in adolescence and adulthood could be detected at an early age. This dissertation's primary goal is to advance our understanding of internalizing problems in preschoolers in Brazil, a LMIC that is highly affected by psychopathology and associated disability. (2) Methods: First, a systematic literature review on the topic in LMIC was conducted. Second, data from the Preschool Mental Health Survey (the PreK Survey), with a representative sample (n=1,292) of preschoolers aged 4 to 5 years old and their caregivers in the city of Embu das Artes, São Paulo, was used to: (a) do Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) of the internalizing section of a worldwide known assessment tool for problem behaviors in preschoolers (the Child Behavioral Checklist CBCL 1.5-5); and (b) conduct multigroup CFA to examine differences by sex in the structure of internalizing problems. Finally, Generalized Linear Models for complex data were used to assess the risk of internalizing syndromes by parental depression, severe physical or verbal violence, and low-quality time with parents differentially by sex of the preschoolers. (3) Conclusions: From the literature review, a scarcity of research on internalizing problems of preschoolers was found in LMIC. Hence, (a) only a few risk factors, mainly parental psychopathology, have been explored in most LMIC; and (b) the large majority of studies in LMIC in the Americas use the CBCL 1.5-5 or other scales not validated for their study population. From the multigroup CFA, it was concluded that (a) the construct of internalizing problems in the CBCL 1.5-5 is valid in preschool boys and girls in São Paulo, Brazil, and in similar contexts, supporting previous and future studies on the topic; and (b) the main syndromes of internalization are "Anxiety/Depression" and "Emotionally Reactive." From the assessment of risk, it was concluded that (a) the main risk factor for internalizing problems in preschoolers in Brazil is parental depression; (b) externalizing problems are highly correlated with internalizing problems and are the main source of confounding; (c) there were no significant differences by sex in the prevalence of risky exposures, but they were all significantly associated with internalizing problems; (d) there were significant differences by sex in the mean scores of internalizing syndromes, and in the associations of risky exposures and internalizing problems, highlighting the need of a differential approach to primary prevention and treatment in preschool boys and girls.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

In this thesis, the design considerations of a healthy and stimulating bedroom environment for preschool period children are analyzed. In order to build up a multipurpose environment, the development of the preschool children, necessary items of furniture and the related design concepts are discussed. General design criteria are determined to constitute a guide for a children bedroom environment of preschool period. Under the light of these data, a research is conducted to analyze today&rsquo / s children furniture market in Turkey.

The submitted thesis is focused on lexical - semantic level of language in children in pre- school age. The focuses of thesis is on expressive and receptive vocabulary. The first part of thesis outlines the theoretical basis with using literature. It discusses the development of speech in terms of language levels, diagnose and develop of vocabulary and personality of preschool child. The practical part describes own research of vocabulary, which was carried out using the Test of expressive and receptive vocabulary, that was created on the basis of CREVT-2 foreign test and evaluates the level of vocabulary. The testing was realized in four kindergartens. The intact population of children in age 4, 5, 6 to 7 years was testing. Various age groups are compared with each other and they are investigated differences between them. The research part evaluates the level of expressive and receptive vocabulary of preschool children and should point out on importance of developing the vocabulary at this age.