Fear is an adaptive emotion that typically increases across infancy to help keep infant exploration in check. Too much fear, however, can become maladaptive and lead to psychopathology later in childhood. Thus, it is important to understand how both fear reactivity and regulation develop early in life in order to identify at-risk children early on. Maternal factors, such as parenting behaviors and personality, are associated with both fear reactivity and regulation, but results have been mixed, possibly due to a trait-based approach to assessing maternal personality. The goal of my dissertation was to examine the growth trajectories of fear reactivity and regulation across infancy and toddlerhood both unconditionally and within the contexts of maternal parenting and personality functioning. Infants and mothers were assessed when infants were 10-months (n = 48), 14-months (n = 42), and 18-months (n = 34) old. At each age, infant fear reactivity was assessed using behavioral coding during the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery fear tasks and infant fear regulation was examined via respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity during the fear tasks. At 10- and 14-months, maternal parenting behaviors were coded during an interaction task and maternal personality functioning was assessed via maternal self-report. Hierarchical linear modeling demonstrated that maternal personality functioning moderated the association between maternal affect and infant fear reactivity growth and maternal personality functioning moderated the association between maternal directiveness and infant fear regulation growth. These results aid in the understanding of how maternal factors relate to infant fear development. / Doctor of Philosophy / Fear is an adaptive emotion that increases across infancy to help keep infants safe as they gain the ability to explore their environments independently. Some infants, however, exhibit heightened levels of fear that set them on a path for negative consequences, like anxiety disorders, in childhood. This typically occurs when infants have high levels of fear without appropriate regulation strategies to manage such. Maternal factors, like parenting behaviors and personality, have both been shown to affect the development of fear and the regulation of fear, but results are not consistent. Given this, the goal of my dissertation was to examine how level of fear (fear reactivity) and management of fear (fear regulation) develop across infancy and toddlerhood under the context of maternal parenting and personality. Infants and mothers were assessed when infants were 10-months (n = 48), 14-months (n = 42), and 18-months (n = 34) old. At each age, infant fear reactivity was assessed using behavioral coding during the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery fear tasks and infant fear regulation was examined via physiological means based on heart rate. At 10- and 14-months, maternal parenting behaviors were coded during an interaction task and maternal personality functioning was assessed via maternal self-report. Results demonstrated that maternal personality functioning moderated the association between maternal affect and infant fear reactivity development and maternal personality functioning moderated the association between maternal directiveness and infant fear regulation development. These results aid in the understanding of how maternal factors relate to infant fear development.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Occupational Therapy. Johannesburg, 2013 / This study determined outcomes for motor developmental delay in infants, 12-14 months, diagnosed with HIE II and III, at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital. Twenty nine infants diagnosed with HIE II and nine infants diagnosed with HIE III were assessed using the Peabody Development Motor Scale- 2, at their corrected age. Demographic, antenatal and perinatal factors similar to those in other studies were found for this sample. Infants with HIE III had significantly more developmental delay (p=0.01) than infants with HIE II. Fifty two percent of infants with HIE II had no delay while a 100% of infants with HIE III presented with disability. A greater percentage of infants had delay in fine motor skills. Infants with severe and moderate disabilities were receiving intervention whereas those mild disabilities were often missed in screening clinics. It is vital to ensure these infants are assessed and followed up to remediate difficulties as soon as they arise.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: It has recently been shown that intensive prophylactic dietary and environmental control measures during early infancy may reduce the incidence and/or postpone the onset of atopic disease. In order to institute this prophylactic regime, early identification of the infants genetically "at risk" for atopic disease is essential, since sensitisation begins at birth, or even during intra-uterine life. European and Scandinavian studies have shown that a raised concentration of cord blood serum immunoglobulin E (CBsIgE) is an excellent predictive marker for the subsequent development of atopic disease. Other potential predictive atopic markers such as cord blood eosinophils, platelets and anti-cow's milk serum IgG have also been suggested as having possible predictive relevance for newborns in terms of the development of subsequent atopic disease. PROBLEM DEFINITION: Most of the work in this field has been done on Caucasian neonates, in Westernised, First World countries. In South Africa, it has been shown that the Black adult ethnic group has serum immunoglobulin E concentrations (sIgE) which are significantly higher than that found in the South African White adult ethnic group. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the elevated sIgE in the adult Blacks may be raised independently of allergic disease. It is, therefore, important to ascertain whether this elevation of sIgE in Black South African adults is evident already at birth in the cord blood sera of Black South African newborns. If so, it is imperative to ascertain whether any such elevation is reflective of a high genetic load for atopy in these Black newborns, and furthermore whether these Black newborns are consequently "high-risk" for the development of subsequent atopic disease, as has been previously reported in the literature for White newborns. Arising from an awareness of these specific South African problems, the following hypothesis was developed. HYPOTHESIS: The hypothesis states that: "Black South African newborns without an atopic family history (aFH) have significantly higher CBslgE values than similar White and Mixed newborns. An aFH does not influence the CBsIgE values in the Black newborns, as it does in the White and Mixed newborns. The CBsIgE values in Black newborns are not, furthermore, predictive for the development of subsequent atopy in infancy, as they are in the other ethnic groups". A description of the three South African ethnic groups considered in this study is provided in Section IV, (Pg. 74). AIMS OF THE STUDY: The aims of the study were three-fold: 1. To test the hypothesis. 2. To assess the relevance of alternative cord blood markers (eosinophils, platelets and anti-cow's milk serum IgG) as predictive atopic markers in each of the three ethnic groups. 3. To provide epidemiological information with regard to genetic and environmental influences on CBslgE, cord blood total eosinophil counts (CBTEC's) cord blood platelet counts (CBPlC's) and cord blood anti-cow's milk serum IgG concentrations (CBacmlgG).

No description available.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of the Witwatersrand, for the degree of Master of Science, Johannesburg, 2012 / HIV continues to affect thousands of children in South Africa. HIV not only has a negative impact on growth, morbidity and mortality but also adversely affects neurodevelopment. The virus is able to enter the central nervous system and cause damage which results in encephalopathy. A high percentage of infants infected with HIV are delayed. The roll out of HAART in South Africa was started in 2004 and in 2010 new guidelines to improve access were implemented. Although HAART is effective in improving growth, decreasing morbidity and mortality its effects on neurodevelopment are generally unknown. Very little high quality research has been done on the effects of HAART on neurodevelopment especially in developing countries and on infants.

Dissertation submitted to the University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of an MSc in Child Health. Johannesburg 1997 / AC2017

This investigation of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas focuses on the question why the author of this infancy gospel narrated the mighty deeds – either received as blessings or as curses – as though the child Jesus were an adult. A possibility is that the author could have been inspired by tales from antiquity in which the heroic deeds of gods, emperors and philosophers were projected to their infancy. The study purports that the answer to this question is rather to be found in the combination of myth interpretation and societal expectations with regard to children in a Hellenistic-Semitic context. The purpose of this study is to investigate the history of the Greek manuscripts and the translation history of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas as a second century infancy gospel, secondly to identify as the most authentic text the eleventh century version thereof in Codex Sinaiticus (Gr 453) and to translate it into Afrikaans. The study demonstrates that the most likely context within which this Greek manuscript of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas was communicated most significantly was Ebionite early Christianity. By identifying and examining quotations from and allusions to the Infancy Gospel of Thomas in works by the church fathers and by comparing the Greek expressions and phrases in the Greek manuscript in Codex Sinaiticus (Gr 453) with those of versions in other Greek manuscripts and early translations, a Gnostic tradition in the message can by ruled out, while Ebionite traditions can be confirmed. The child Jesus is depicted as interacting positively with his biological family which signifies salvation for other Israelites. Such salvation manifests in the identification and recognition of the child’s divinity by the Israelite teachers. The study argues that the Greek version of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas in Codex Sinaiticus (Gr 453) represents the genre of a discursive-biographical gospel type and as a result, the narrative and argumentative structure of this infancy gospel is of great importance. So too is the phenomenon that the narrative argument of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas is cast in the form of the ancient god-child myth. In this myth the child acts as if he were an adult. This adult-like behaviour of the child Jesus is not interpreted in an allegorically way. Rather, as myth, the message is interpreted in a tautegoric manner and explained in a social scientific way. / Thesis (DLitt (Greek))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Ancient Languages / unrestricted

In this study we sought to determine whether infants, like adults, utilize previous experience to guide figure/ground processing. After familiarization to a shape, 5-month-olds preferentially attended to the side of an ambiguous figure/ground test stimulus corresponding to that shape, suggesting that they were viewing that portion as the figure. Infants’ failure to exhibit this preference in a control condition in which both sides of the test stimulus were displayed as figures indicated that the results in the experimental condition were not due to a preference between two figure shapes. These findings demonstrate for the first time that figure/ground processing in infancy is sensitive to top-down influence. Thus, a critical aspect of figure/ground processing is functional early in life.

This study aimed to assess and compare the visual perceptual, visual motor integration and motor abilities of infants weighing less than 1250 grams at birth and a matched group of normal full birth weight controls at the age of five to six years. The group of infants with birth weights below 1250 grams were born during the period July 1988 to June 1989 at Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH), Cape Town or in midwife obstetric units in the Peninsula Maternal and Neonatal Service (PMNS) and referred to the neonatal intensive care unit at GSH. The very low birth weight (VLBW) infants were assessed at 1 and 2 years of age in 1989 & 1990. The present study was part of a broader study that included the examination of developmental outcome of these infants, using the Griffith's Mental Development Scale (Griffith's). The study recognised the complex interaction of biological and environmental factors and their influence on development and attempted to describe the confounds that may have influenced outcomes. The VLBW children were shorter in stature than their full birth weight counterparts. They were also significantly lighter and had smaller head circumferences. Psychometric evaluation with the Griffith's showed the VLBW children to fall predominantly in the normal range, though their performances were significantly inferior to that of the full-term children. The greatest differences between the groups were in scores for the subscales performance and practical reasoning of the Griffith's. Visual perception, visual motor integration, fine motor skill and gross motor function were all significantly poorer in the VLBW children. There was no correlation within the VLBW group between the test results and birth weight, gestational age, growth status, neonatal hospital stay or social status.

The aim of this thesis is to describe the distribution of feeding habits and dietary habits of Swedish children of different ages, to search for determinants of the observed distributions and to analyse some possible implications of those habits regarding health and growth. The present results emanate from a longitudinal study of feeding, growth and development of 312 infants and from a cross-sectional study on the dietary habits of 738 children aged 4,8 and 13 years. The dietary assessement techniques used in these epidemiological studies are evaluated (e.g. 24-hour recall, 7-day recording of food intake and dietary history technique). The infant feeding habits in three communities are described and the variation of those habits in different strata is discussed. Breastfeeding habits are analysed using multivariate techniques. The energy and nutrient intake of weaned infants aged 6 and 12 months was characterized by a good supply of most nutrients in comparison with recommended dietary allowances. The mean energy intake of the studied, normally-growing infants at 6 months was 80 per cent of the recommended intake. The growth velocity during the first three months of life for entirely breastfed infants was found to be higher than for mixed-fed or formula-fed infants. The need for a revision of present growth standards for use in breastfed populations during the first 6 months of life is discussed. An attempt was made to formulate a causal model for dental caries, including dietary factors and caries-preventive activities, and to make som quantitative interpretations from this model and the present set of data. Dietary habits associated with different short- or long-term health risks were analysed in the ages 4, 8 and 13 years. The dietary intake of iron was satisfactory and no cases of iron deficiency anaemia were found. On average 10 per cent of the daily energy intake derived from sucrose. The fat intake was characterized by a high intake of saturated fat and a low P/S ratio. Most children had a daily sodium intake above recommended levels. The prevalence of obesity differed between different social strata, especially in the oldest age group. Overweight children did not have a higher energy intake than normal-weight children. The need for a population approach to prevention in childhood of some diet-related health problems in adult life is discussed. The present dietary patterns and health of children in northern Sweden are compared with the situation 15 and 50 years ago, when nutrition surveys were performed in the same areas. / <p>[2] s., s. 1-30: sammanfattning, s. 31-103: 7 uppsatser</p> / digitalisering@umu