Early detection facilitates early intervention (EI), which optimizes outcomes in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other developmental delays. However, facilitating the transition between receiving a diagnosis of ASD and other delays and accessing care has received little attention. When families first receive a diagnosis, they often experience grief, confusion, heightened stress, and difficulty accessing appropriate and affordable services, further increasing the disadvantages and disparity experienced by underrepresented populations. This feasibility study will focus on ways providers can better facilitate access to EI services for families following an initial diagnosis. Forty-nine diverse parents with children (16-32 m) diagnosed with ASD and other developmental delays were recruited from a larger screening study. During feedback, all families were provided with a provider list (treatment as usual) of therapeutic services. Half of the families were randomly assigned to receive a DVD/ Youtube Link (treatment plus video) that describes the diagnosis as well as common therapeutic options for children with developmental delays. Parents were asked questions regarding their use of materials (video vs. provider list) following feedback and their ability to access EI services. Study retention, demand and satisfaction were assessed to evaluate the use of video recommendations and the provider list. Demand, satisfaction and completion rates were assessed to evaluate the use of video recommendations as a feasible intervention following diagnosis. Additionally, differences in post measures of parental sense of competence, parental stress and access to the EI system were used to assess the potential efficacy of the intervention. Seventy- five percent of parents (across both treatment groups) used the provider list, whereas only 29% of parents who were randomized to the video condition reported that they viewed the video recommendations. Qualitative reactions from parents in the current investigation suggest a need for interdisciplinary care and coordination between mothers. Challenges to delivering a brief intervention following diagnosis are explored.

La fonction paternelle d’ouverture sur le monde (FPOM) est un concept récent dans le domaine de la recherche sur l’engagement paternel. Les liens entre les pratiques parentales et les représentations mentales qui sont associées à cette forme d’engagement paternel, les comportements et le développement des enfants sont peu connus. Cette étude transversale avait pour objet l’atteinte de deux objectifs, d’abord vérifier les liens prédictifs entre les dimensions de la FPOM, le sentiment de compétence parentale (SCP) des pères et la qualité de la relation d’attachement père-enfant. Ensuite, examiner le rôle potentiellement modérateur du SCP des pères sur les liens significatifs entre les dimensions de la FPOM et la qualité de la relation d’attachement père-enfant. Les données proviennent d’un échantillon de 200 pères québécois francophones ayant répondu à un questionnaire autorévélé. Leur enfant était âgé entre 5 et 13 ans (1ere à 6e année du primaire). Des modèles de régression linéaire hiérarchique ont été utilisés pour vérifier l’influence de l’effet modérateur. Les résultats montrent des corrélations positives significatives entre les dimensions « stimulation à la persévérance » et « discipline et enseignement des responsabilités » de la FPOM et la qualité de la relation d’attachement père-enfant. Les dimensions de la stimulation à la prise de risque et à la compétition de la FPOM ne sont pas corrélées à la qualité de la relation d’attachement père-enfant. Contrairement aux résultats attendus, le SCP des pères n’a pas d’effet modérateur sur les liens significatifs obtenus, mais plutôt un effet additif se traduisant par la présence de relations transactionnelles entre les variables. Des analyses complémentaires révèlent un effet modérateur marginalement significatif du SCP des pères sur le lien entre la stimulation à la persévérance de la FPOM et l’échelle « plaisir et sécurité » du questionnaire sur la qualité de la relation d’attachement père-enfant (QQRAPE). La propension des pères à stimuler leur enfant à persévérer émerge plus particulièrement lors d’activités ludiques et elle contribue au développement du sentiment de confiance et de sécurité personnelle de leur enfant. Ces résultats sont discutés en regard de la littérature actuelle afin de mieux comprendre les liens entre les variables. / The Paternal Openness to the World Function (POWF) is a recent concept in the father involvement field of research. Links between parental practices and mental representations associated with this form of father involvement, children behaviors and development have yet to be known. This cross-sectional study addressed two objectives. First, to verify the predictive links between the dimensions of the POWF, the fathers Parental Sense Of Competence (PSOC) and the father-child attachment relationship quality. Second, to examine the potential moderator role of the fathers PSOC on the significative links between the dimensions of the POWF and the father-child attachment relationship quality. The data come from a sample of 200 french speaking fathers who filled out a self-reported questionnary. Their child was between 5 (first grade) and 13 years old (sixth grade). Hierarchical linear regression models were used to verify the influence of the moderator effect. The results show significative positive links between the dimensions of “perseverance stimulation” and “disciplinary and tasks teaching” of the POWF and the father-child attachment relationship quality. The dimensions of risk taking and competition stimulation of the POWF are not correlated to the father-child attachment relationship quality. Contrary to expected results, the fathers PSOC has no moderator effect on the significative links, but rather an additive effect which can be translated has transactional relationships between these variables. Complementary analyses reveal a marginally significative moderator effect of the fathers PSOC on the link between perseverance stimulation of the POWF and the “pleasure and security” scale of the Father-Child Attachment Relationship Quality Questionnary (FCARQQ). The fathers propension to stimulate their child to persevere emerge more particularly in playfull activities and contribute to the development of the felling of confidence and personnal security of their child. Results are discussed in light of actual literature in order the have a better understanding of the links between these variables.

La fonction paternelle d’ouverture sur le monde (FPOM) est un concept récent dans le domaine de la recherche sur l’engagement paternel. Les liens entre les pratiques parentales et les représentations mentales qui sont associées à cette forme d’engagement paternel, les comportements et le développement des enfants sont peu connus. Cette étude transversale avait pour objet l’atteinte de deux objectifs, d’abord vérifier les liens prédictifs entre les dimensions de la FPOM, le sentiment de compétence parentale (SCP) des pères et la qualité de la relation d’attachement père-enfant. Ensuite, examiner le rôle potentiellement modérateur du SCP des pères sur les liens significatifs entre les dimensions de la FPOM et la qualité de la relation d’attachement père-enfant. Les données proviennent d’un échantillon de 200 pères québécois francophones ayant répondu à un questionnaire autorévélé. Leur enfant était âgé entre 5 et 13 ans (1ere à 6e année du primaire). Des modèles de régression linéaire hiérarchique ont été utilisés pour vérifier l’influence de l’effet modérateur. Les résultats montrent des corrélations positives significatives entre les dimensions « stimulation à la persévérance » et « discipline et enseignement des responsabilités » de la FPOM et la qualité de la relation d’attachement père-enfant. Les dimensions de la stimulation à la prise de risque et à la compétition de la FPOM ne sont pas corrélées à la qualité de la relation d’attachement père-enfant. Contrairement aux résultats attendus, le SCP des pères n’a pas d’effet modérateur sur les liens significatifs obtenus, mais plutôt un effet additif se traduisant par la présence de relations transactionnelles entre les variables. Des analyses complémentaires révèlent un effet modérateur marginalement significatif du SCP des pères sur le lien entre la stimulation à la persévérance de la FPOM et l’échelle « plaisir et sécurité » du questionnaire sur la qualité de la relation d’attachement père-enfant (QQRAPE). La propension des pères à stimuler leur enfant à persévérer émerge plus particulièrement lors d’activités ludiques et elle contribue au développement du sentiment de confiance et de sécurité personnelle de leur enfant. Ces résultats sont discutés en regard de la littérature actuelle afin de mieux comprendre les liens entre les variables. / The Paternal Openness to the World Function (POWF) is a recent concept in the father involvement field of research. Links between parental practices and mental representations associated with this form of father involvement, children behaviors and development have yet to be known. This cross-sectional study addressed two objectives. First, to verify the predictive links between the dimensions of the POWF, the fathers Parental Sense Of Competence (PSOC) and the father-child attachment relationship quality. Second, to examine the potential moderator role of the fathers PSOC on the significative links between the dimensions of the POWF and the father-child attachment relationship quality. The data come from a sample of 200 french speaking fathers who filled out a self-reported questionnary. Their child was between 5 (first grade) and 13 years old (sixth grade). Hierarchical linear regression models were used to verify the influence of the moderator effect. The results show significative positive links between the dimensions of “perseverance stimulation” and “disciplinary and tasks teaching” of the POWF and the father-child attachment relationship quality. The dimensions of risk taking and competition stimulation of the POWF are not correlated to the father-child attachment relationship quality. Contrary to expected results, the fathers PSOC has no moderator effect on the significative links, but rather an additive effect which can be translated has transactional relationships between these variables. Complementary analyses reveal a marginally significative moderator effect of the fathers PSOC on the link between perseverance stimulation of the POWF and the “pleasure and security” scale of the Father-Child Attachment Relationship Quality Questionnary (FCARQQ). The fathers propension to stimulate their child to persevere emerge more particularly in playfull activities and contribute to the development of the felling of confidence and personnal security of their child. Results are discussed in light of actual literature in order the have a better understanding of the links between these variables.

La conduite automobile est une activité marquée par de nombreuses différences de sexe, notamment en termes de comportements et d’accidentologie. Ce travail cherche à comprendre le rôle des stéréotypes de sexe spécifiques à la conduite automobile (SSACA) dans l’explication de ces différences. L’objectif des recherches est ainsi d’analyser l’effet des SSACA sur les comportements autorapportés et effectifs reliés à la tâche de conduite, en prenant en compte les facteurs psychosociaux susceptibles d’influencer cet effet, et en étudiant l’effet du contexte sur ces relations grâce à l’effet de menace du stéréotype. Cette thèse montre ainsi que l’adhésion aux SSACA influence les comportements de conduite déclarés puisque, par exemple, quel que soit le sexe de l’individu, l’adhésion aux SSACA liés à un groupe de sexe est liée à une déclaration plus importante des comportements de conduite typiques de ce groupe. De plus, elle met en évidence que le facteur protecteur des comportements de violations est, chez les hommes, l’adoption des valeurs féminines et, chez les femmes, le sentiment de compétence en conduite. Enfin, cette thèse montre que ces SSACA entrent également en jeu dans les comportements effectifs lorsqu’il s’agit de réaliser une tâche en relation avec la conduite, mais que leurs effets sont différents en fonction de la consigne (menaçante ou non) et de la tâche à réaliser. Ce travail montre donc que les différents comportements de conduite ne sont pas seulement dus à des différences de capacités naturelles entre les sexes, mais qu’ils peuvent aussi s’expliquer par les croyances culturelles socialement construites relatives aux différences de sexe dans la conduite. / The activity of driving is marked by numerous sex differences, especially with regard to behaviour and road accidents. The present doctoral research aims at understanding the role of sex stereotypes specific to driving in explaining these differences. Therefore, the objective of the research work is to analyse the impact of sex stereotypes associated with driving (SSAD) on self-reported or actual behaviour on a task relating to driving. The analysis will take into account the psycho-social factors likely to influence this impact, and will also study the impact of the context on those relationships due to the deterrent effect of the stereotype. This doctoral work thus shows that adherence to SSAD has an impact on self-reported driving behaviour; for example, whatever the sex, adherence to SSAD associated to sex is linked to more frequent reporting of typical driving behaviour for this sex. Moreover, the research highlights the fact that the protective factor of violation behaviour is, among men, the adoption of feminine values, and, among women, a sense of competence as a driver. Finally, this research work shows that those stereotypes come into play in actual behaviour when it comes down to carrynig out a task relating to driving, but that the effects are different depending on the instructions (whether threatening or not) and the tasks to be carried out. As a conclusion, this doctoral research indicates that the different driving behaviours are not only due to differences in sex natural abilities, but they can also be explained by socially constructed cultural beliefs relating to driving sex differences.

Introduction Numerous preventive programmes have emerged, and need to be investigated to determine their effects on the normal population. Earlier studies have shown a decrease in depressive symptoms, positive effects on children’s disruptive behaviour problems, and an improvement in parental competence. About a fifth of the parents in previous studies had problem-oriented (targeted) reasons for enrolment, whereas the rest of the parents had general (universal) reasons. The results of those studies suggest that the programmes are cost effective in terms of Quality-Adjusted Life Years. Aim Four sub-studies were performed, and their aims were to investigate the effect of parental training programmes (PTPs) in a naturalistic setting on parents’ mental health in the general population, to investigate how PTPs affect parents’ sense of parental competence, to investigate how PTPs affect parental stress and analyse the parents open questions about the PTPs, and to investigate the feasibility and to measure the effect on depression, anxiety, and social problems of two preventive school programmes for pupils in grade 7. Method In a longitudinal quantitative study in a real-world setting, 279 parents from the general population in northern Sweden participated in five PTPs. A comparison group of 702 parents without intervention was included. Simultaneously, a community sample of 59 pupils in grade 7 participated in two preventive school programmes. Both studies were conducted from 2010 to 2013. Parents were assigned to professionally supported interventions that included 5-10 two-hour sessions. Respondents filled in a web-based questionnaire with the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Parents Sense of Competence (PSOC) for parents who had children aged 0-17 years, and the Swedish Parenthood Stress Questionnaire (SPSQ) for parents who had children aged 0-10 years. The intervention groups’ results were compared to comparison group of 702 parents from northern Sweden that had not participated in any parental training programme. In the school study, one of the preventive programmes was an ongoing programme called “Life-Skills”, and the other was an implemented Canadian programme called “Choosing Healthy Actions and Thoughts” (CHAT). The pupils completed a test battery including the Sense of Coherence (SOC), the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI), and the Youth Self-Report (YSR) instruments. Follow up of the parental programme study was done six months after the post-intervention measure, and follow up of the school study was at one year. Results The improvements in GHQ were statistically significant for the mean of the 279 parents in the intervention group compared to the mean of a comparison group of the 702 parents who did not receive any intervention. This suggests that evidence-based PTPs enhance parental well-being even for parents without problems. The intervention group showed a statistically significant improvement in parental competence compared to the comparison group over time. The intervention itself had a significant effect on parental satisfaction, but the efficacy effect was not sustained when taking into account potential confounders. In the SPSQ, the intervention group was smaller due to the fact that the instrument was not validated for children over the age of 10 and one of the parental training groups was only for parents of teenagers. A reduction of stress in the sub-scale of health problems was detected, but no other subscale showed the intervention to have a significant effect when controlling for confounding variables. In the school study, both programmes had good feasibility according to the stake- holders and had several positive mental health outcomes over time. Compared to Life-Skills, CHAT had more significant positive effects on reducing anxious/depressive symptoms and girls experienced significant positive effects on reduced anxious/depressive behaviour, while boys reduced their aggressive behaviours. Conclusions Earlier studies indicate that PTPs enhance perceived parental competence among referred parents. The present study shows that PTPs applied in the general population might also enhance perceived parental benefits such as improved health and satisfaction, suggesting that PTPs can be an important preventive strategy to enhance parenthood. The results suggest that parents who feel a need to increase their parenting competence might participate in PTPs based on lower scores than the comparison control group both before and after the intervention. The school-based programme shows that schools may be a suitable arena for preventive programmes because there was a significant short-term improvement in depression symptoms. Further studies need to explore how parents’ participation in PTPs affects children’s mental health in the general population in quantitative longitudinal studies in real-word settings. There is also a need for bigger studies and RCTs on school preventions and on how children’s health develops naturally in the population.