Measuring the participation of young children is important in informing their health and well being and designing rehabilitation services. To our knowledge, there are no participation measures that have been developed or adapted to the Singapore context. The Young Children’s Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM) was developed in North America and its content may not be relevant to the Singapore context. Three studies were conducted to culturally adapt and validate the YC-PEM with children with and without developmental needs in Singapore. These studies involved (1) adapting the YC-PEM culturally based on interviews with 10 service providers and 10 parents, (2) evaluating the psychometric properties of the adapted YC-PEM with 151 children with and without developmental needs in Singapore and, (3) examining the validity and utility of the YC-PEM to describe and compare the participation patterns between children with and without developmental needs in their childcare/preschool and community environments. The outcome of this dissertation is a culturally relevant and validated YC-PEM (Singapore) for young children with and without developmental needs, aged 0 to 7 years old. The YC-PEM (Singapore) could be used by service providers to provide participation-focused intervention and researchers to implement population-based research to improve the participation of young children in Singapore. New knowledge has been developed through the cultural adaption process of the YC-PEM. Firstly, it is important to adapt instruments culturally before they are used in a new culture, even when language translation is not required. Secondly, cognitive interviews were found to be useful in the cultural adaption process. Thirdly, participation and perceived environmental support differences were found between children with and without developmental needs in Singapore as well as children between Singapore and America. Cultural influences such as the society’s political agenda and parental beliefs were hypothesized to have potential influence on the participation of young children. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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The purpose of the present study was to examine whether an autism diagnosiscould be predicted by social interaction as measured by the Ghuman-Folstein Screen forSocial Interaction in conjunction with selected demographic variables (i.e., sex, age,ethnicity, mother's educational level, and socio-economic status). Univariate andbivariate analyses were conducted to explore each predictor variable and to explorepossible relationships between predictor variables and autism. Binary logistic regressionwas utilized to examine various models' ability to predict autism. The final model wasable to correctly identify 74% of the cases. The GF-SSI was the greatest predictor ofautism. The selected demographic variables were not significant predictors of autism.These results were discussed in relation to the literature on sex, age, ethnicity, maternaleducation and socio-economic status. Future directions for research were also discussed.

Although the effects of witnessing domestic violence on young children were long believed to be non-existent, current research indicates that young children do suffer negative consequences as a result of witnessing violence (e.g., Zeanah, et al., 1999). From research with older children it is known that exposure to violence is associated with emotional dysregulation, behaviour problems, and difficulties in school (e.g., Wolfe et al., 2003). Risk factors (e.g., maternal depression) and protective factors (e.g., secure attachment relationship) have been implicated in both emotional regulatory abilities and the effects of exposure to domestic violence. <p>The present research endeavoured to use a developmental psychopathology perspective to understand the experiences of young children exposed to domestic violence, specifically their emotion regulation abilities and behaviour problems. Study 1 explored the application and reliability of an emotion regulation coding scheme for use with young children during the Face-to-Face Still Face scenario. Study 2 examined the relationship between previous exposure to domestic violence and behaviour problems and emotion regulation, while considering possible moderating variables. The coding system from Study 1 served as the measure of emotion regulation in Study 2. Findings indicated that young children in this study who had been exposed to increased levels of domestic violence also displayed increased internalizing behaviour problems. No relationship was found between exposure to domestic violence and emotion regulation or externalizing problems or sleep problems. Child temperament, attachment security and maternal psychological symptomology were associated with behaviour problems in these children. Maternal psychological symptomology was marginally related to emotion regulation, however temperament and attachment security were not. The relationship between exposure to physical aggression and externalizing behaviour problems was moderated by child temperament and attachment security. The relationship between physical aggression and internalizing behaviour problems was moderated by attachment security. The implications of these findings for future research and clinical practice are discussed. Taken together, these two studies expanded the existing literature on the adjustment outcomes associated with exposure to domestic violence in young children.

Although the effects of witnessing domestic violence on young children were long believed to be non-existent, current research indicates that young children do suffer negative consequences as a result of witnessing violence (e.g., Zeanah, et al., 1999). From research with older children it is known that exposure to violence is associated with emotional dysregulation, behaviour problems, and difficulties in school (e.g., Wolfe et al., 2003). Risk factors (e.g., maternal depression) and protective factors (e.g., secure attachment relationship) have been implicated in both emotional regulatory abilities and the effects of exposure to domestic violence. <p>The present research endeavoured to use a developmental psychopathology perspective to understand the experiences of young children exposed to domestic violence, specifically their emotion regulation abilities and behaviour problems. Study 1 explored the application and reliability of an emotion regulation coding scheme for use with young children during the Face-to-Face Still Face scenario. Study 2 examined the relationship between previous exposure to domestic violence and behaviour problems and emotion regulation, while considering possible moderating variables. The coding system from Study 1 served as the measure of emotion regulation in Study 2. Findings indicated that young children in this study who had been exposed to increased levels of domestic violence also displayed increased internalizing behaviour problems. No relationship was found between exposure to domestic violence and emotion regulation or externalizing problems or sleep problems. Child temperament, attachment security and maternal psychological symptomology were associated with behaviour problems in these children. Maternal psychological symptomology was marginally related to emotion regulation, however temperament and attachment security were not. The relationship between exposure to physical aggression and externalizing behaviour problems was moderated by child temperament and attachment security. The relationship between physical aggression and internalizing behaviour problems was moderated by attachment security. The implications of these findings for future research and clinical practice are discussed. Taken together, these two studies expanded the existing literature on the adjustment outcomes associated with exposure to domestic violence in young children.

Demographic data show that public schools are faced with meeting the academic demands of a population that is becoming more ethnically and linguistically diverse. Preventative steps can give schools the opportunity to address the needs of its students before systemic inefficiencies can negatively impact student academic outcomes. For this reason, it is important that school psychologists remain vigilant regarding the most efficient and cost effective means to identify problems early. Since Spanish is the most prevalent language of children in the schools other than English, there is a need for school psychologists to find screening instruments that are specifically designed to convey an accurate representation of the abilities of this population. One screening instrument that has been posited as effective in assessing both English and Spanish-speakers is the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning - Third Edition (DIAL-3). The purpose of this study is to expand the work of the DIAL-3 authors to include more detailed information regarding its reliability and validity for the Spanish speaking sample. This study was conducted using the data from the standardization samples of both the English and the Spanish versions of the DIAL-3. Given the nature of the instrument, the obtained reliability estimates, computed using Cronbach's (alpha), fell within the expected range. Reliability estimate comparisons between English and Spanish-speaking samples were not statistically significant with the exception of the reliability comparisons in two domains of the DIAL-3 in the 3 years 0 months to 3 years 5 months age range. Results from additional statistical analyses conducted for this study support the discriminant validity of the test. However, a moderate linear relationship was found between the Concepts and Language Domains (r = .61, p <.01). In addition, a series of confirmatory factor analyses were conducted in order to determine the invariance of the variance-covariance matrices between the English and Spanish standardization samples. The four fit indices examined (GFI, CFI, NFI, and RMSEA) for the constrained model were within the acceptable limits. These results indicate that the three-factor model originally proposed by the test authors is adequate for both the English and Spanish versions of the DIAL-3.

Background: In serious health conditions, like childhood cancer, parent proxy reports are used for obtaining information. Previous studies have shown controversial results on agreement between children’s and parents’ ratings. In addition, there is lack of proxy studies in research including young children. The aim of the present thesis is (a) to examine how young children as self-raters and mothers as proxy-raters report over time on cancer related health issues, and (b) to explore the factors that may affect the agreement of each mother-child pair. Method: A longitudinal quantitative research design was chosen. Eight young children with cancer aged three to six years and their mothers were followed with questionnaires every six months for four time points. One measure on children’s feelings about their health situation and one measure on perceptions of their everyday functioning were completed by children and mothers at each time point. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Results: Higher frequency of agreement was found in T4 (18 months after the diagnosis) for both measures. Between the two measures, higher frequency of agreement was found for the functioning measure. The mother’s educational level was found to be correlated with higher frequency of agreement (functioning measure). Conclusion: The time progress, the mother’s educational level, the number of siblings, the specific shared experience, like preschool, and the concrete and observable issues, like “functioning” rather than “feelings”, were found to be correlated with higher frequency of agreement between young children with cancer and their mothers. The convenient and small sample imposes the need for further research.

The processes and patterns of collaborative strategies used by children when drawing on the computer with friends and acquaintances were investigated in a case study. The participants were five-and-six-year-old children and the study took place in their home settings. The data collection methods consisted of interviews, observations, audio recordings, video recordings, drawing artifacts, and screen capture. The analysis began with the selection of collaborative episodes, followed by the application of two theoretical frameworks, those of two play theorists Garvey (1990) and Vygotsky (1978) as analytical lenses through which to interpret those episodes. The young children in this study used four levels of collaborative strategies, listed from the simplest to the most complex: 1) division of labor, 2) pretend language use, 3) coherence and elaboration of pretend frames, 4) action games. The findings revealed a striking contrast between the collaboration of friendship pairs and acquaintance pairs. The friendship pairs exhibited a total number of 32 episodes while the acquaintance pairs engaged in only three episodes. The acquaintance pairs applied only the strategy of pretend language use while the friendship pairs used three other more collaborative strategies and their use of collaborative strategies showed unique paths of progression. Furthermore, the acquaintance pairs exhibited mostly uncooperative and uncollaborative behaviors, which were manifested in three major forms: 1) unengaged behavior, 2) over-reliance on the researcher’s technical support, and 3) disagreement and critique. Informed by these findings, five major points are discussed: 1) Friendship matters; 2) Young children have the ability to collaborate; 3) Pretend play serves as a starting point for collaboration; 4) Collaborative strategies progress as the collaboration proceeds; and 5) Computers can play a supportive role in collaboration for young children. / text

Recently, young children’s educational behavior has become a popular topic for researchers seeking to help develop their skills and abilities in a pleasurable manner. Lately, we have seen the emergence of several communicational units that include powerful and advanced technologies, such as mobile devices. In fact, according to a CISCO report, ‘in 2012 the numbers of mobile-connected devices in circulation are greater than the number of people on earth. By 2016 there will be 1.4 mobile devices per capita, and there will be over 10 billion mobile-connected devices, including (M2M) modules, exceeding the world's population at that time (7.3 billion)’ [1]. In this thesis, we introduce a mobile-based edutainment system called ‘Tap and Learn’ that targets young children and aim to assist them in developing their learning abilities and social communication skills. The Tap and Learn system allows children to learn about new objects and entities in their environments by simply tapping over them with a RFID-mounted smart phone which responds by producing a set of multimedia feedback that aims to foster their learning skills in an entertaining manner. The M-learning system does not require y special tools or environments to be operated and required minimal literacy levels. In addition,, the system enable the parents to participate in their children's learning by allowing them to personalize the learning material and the media content of the games so they suit their children's cognitive level and their learning wants.