Thesis (M.A. in human development)--Washington State University, May 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-56).

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Adolescents with Intellectual disabilities (ID) have the same sexual and physiological developments as typically developing adolescents, including the same sexual feeling and sexual needs. However, because of cognitive limitations and lack of self-care abilities, they have a higher risk of sexual assault than others. As all other youth they need sex education to prevent sexual exploitation and to learn how to protect themselves. Since parents often are the primary caregivers of adolescents with ID, and they are also the primary educators of adolescents’ sexual education, parents play a crucial role in the development of adolescents’ sexual behavior. It is vital to understand what parents’ perceptions on sex education are. In the past, there have been few studies on the perceptions of parents on sexual education for adolescents with ID. Therefore, this paper aims to explore their perceptions through a systematic literature review. A series of electronic databases were searched, and three studies were identified for the review based on inclusion criteria. Content analysis was used to synthesize the results of the included studies. Findings show that mothers want to provide appropriate sex education for their children, including how to protect themselves and education on inappropriate sexual behavior, and family planning is not included in sex education, and believed that school could be the best choice regarding on providing sex education. The study also found that mothers have barriers to providing sexual education, such as lack resources and supports, poor knowledge about the sexuality, lack of confidence and sexuality is a very private matter. But there are also facilitators, the important role and responsibility of the mothers in providing sex education in the family, and the open and honest way in which the mother communicates with her children about sexual issues. These findings will help teachers or practitioners to consider the situation of parents when developing sex education programmes for adolescents with ID.

Syftet med studien var att beskriva föräldrars upplevelser av att ha ett barn med psykiska och/eller kognitiva svårigheter i skolan. Författarna gjorde semistrukturerade intervjuer via telefon med 10 föräldrar som har barn med svårigheter i skolan. Data analyserades enligt en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Analysen resulterade i följande kategorier föräldrars behov av att vara spindeln i nätet, frustrationen över att inte få tillräckligt med stöd, skolmiljöns påverkan på barnen, känslan av att inte veta vad som händer samt positiva upplevelser av skolan. Resultatet av studien visade att föräldrar upplever att det finns brister i skolmiljön som påverkar barnen i deras aktivitetsutförande. Föräldrarna upplever att det saknas viktig kunskap hos pedagogerna som ger dem möjlighet att stötta deras barn på rätt sätt så barnen får samma möjligheter som de övriga barnen på skolan. Författarna i studien diskuterar resultatet utifrån vad arbetsterapeuter kan bidra med för kunskap till pedagogerna samt stödja barnen till att uppnå bästa möjliga resultat i skolarbetet. Fortsatt forskning inom ämnet skulle kunna handla om fäders upplevelse samt skolans upplevelse av att ha barn med svårigheter inom skolan. / The purpose of the study was to describe parent´s experiences of having children with mental and/or cognitive difficulties in school.The authors made semi-structured interviews by telephone with 10 parents who have children with difficulties in school. Data was analyzed according to a qualitative content analysis. The analysis resulted in the following categories  parents need to be the spider in the network, the frustration of not getting enough support, the school environment's impact on the children, the feeling of not knowing what is happening and positive experiences of the school. The result of the study showed that parents find that there are deficiencies in the school environment that affect the children in their activity performance. The parents feel that there is no important knowledge among the educators, which gives them the opportunity to support their children in the right way so that the children have the same opportunities as the other children at the school. The authors of the study discuss the results based on what occupational therapists can contribute for knowledge to the pedagogues and support the children in achieving the best possible results in schoolwork. Continued research on this subject could be about the experience of fathers and the school's experience of having children with difficulties in school.

Childhood obesity affects children from every socioeconomic level, but there is a higher prevalence of obesity among preschool-age children from low-income families. Some obese children are experiencing symptoms (e.g., high cholesterol and diabetes) generally experienced by adults. As a result, healthcare costs have increased. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand how low-income African American parents contribute to the prevalence of obesity in preschoolers. The conceptual framework and constructs from the health belief model (HBM) guided this study. Interview data were gathered from 8 participants who met the inclusion criteria of being a low-income African American parent with an overweight/obese child living in the Atlanta Region. Creswell's simplified version of Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen's data analysis led to the following themes among the participants. The themes were time restraints for preparing a healthy meal and limited activities-playtime, family time, America's childhood obesity, inappropriate diet, and lack of knowledge. Results demonstrated that parents might not understand that a lack of adequate sleep, physical activity, and healthy meals (consumed with parents) contribute to the prevalence of childhood obesity. Positive social change can be achieved through decreased healthcare costs associated with obesity related diseases by implementing the recommended 60 minutes of structured and unstructured playtime activities at learning centers and parents introducing small dietary changes, with healthy choices, which can start preschoolers eating healthier at a young age.

The subject that was investigated was the reactions that children, in middle childhood, experienced after being involved in an armed robbery. There were three reasons for choosing this topic, the primary one being that the researcher has come across very little research around this topic. Another reason was that it fits within the social work context, as social workers are interested in early intervention and prevention methods. Lastly, the researcher, who is a social worker and works with children, wishes to be able to offer her clients the best service available, to aid them through the trauma of an armed robbery. The problem that was identified can therefore be seen as the lack of knowledge on how children react after being involved in an armed robbery. The goal of the research was to explore the reactions of children in middle childhood who have been involved in an armed robbery. The researcher used a qualitative approach to the research study, as it was most effective in gaining the meaning that the respondents gave to the armed robbery. The data was gathered through the case study strategy and semi-structured interviews were conducted. The researcher interviewed the parents of the children involved in armed robberies where possible, otherwise she interviewed the professionals who had worked with the children. With regard to the sampling method used for the research project, the researcher used non-probability sampling as there was no set list of children who had been involved in armed robberies When looking at the available literature around the topic, it is generally agreed that the level of development that the child is at, will impact how the child reacts to trauma. Middle childhood is generally accepted to be the ages of six to twelve years, where there is a general emotional, cognitive, behavioural and physiological development. There are also a number of factors that influence how a child will respond, such as age. The literature also concluded that a traumatic experience is an occurrence that is not part of a child’s normal everyday routine and it is often unanticipated and very frightening, like the experience of an armed robbery. However, after extensive searching, the researcher found very little literature available on the specific trauma of an armed robbery. The findings of this research project showed that every child had several reactions to being involved in an armed robbery. Emotional reactions were however the most common, and these included reactions such as fearfulness, clinginess and worrying. Behavioural reactions were the next most common to occur within the respondents and included reactions such as afraid of being alone and of the dark. Physical and social reactions were not as common, but were still experienced and included reactions such as headaches and nightmares, as well as the fear of people the same race as that of the robbers. When looking at the above-mentioned reactions, it also became evident that there was a general theme of fear found in all four categories It was also discovered in the research process that the reactions that children experienced during the trauma of an armed robbery were the same as that of children who had experienced other traumas. / Dissertation (MSD (Play Therapy))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Social Work and Criminology / MSD / unrestricted

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abstract: Objectives: Although childhood obesity has received growing attention, parents still fail to recognize overweight and obesity in their children. Accurate identification of overweight or obesity in their child is associated with the parent's responsiveness to interventions aimed at preventing weight-related health issues. Recent research shows that a child's age and gender are associated with parental misperception of their child's weight status, but little is known about the interaction of these factors across various age groups. This study examined the association between a wide range of parent, child, and household factors and the accuracy of parental perception of their child's body weight status compared to parent-measured body weight status. Methods: Data were collected from a random-digit-dial telephone survey of 1708 households located in five low-income New Jersey cities with large minority populations. A subset of 548 children whose parents completed the survey and returned a worksheet of parent-measured heights and weights were the focus of the analysis. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the factors significantly associated with parental perception of their child's body weight status. Results: Based on parent-measure heights and weights, 36% of the children were overweight or obese (OWOB). Only 21% of OWOB children were perceived by their parents as OWOB. Child gender, child body mass index (BMI) and parent BMI were significant independent predictors of parents' accuracy at perceiving their child's body weight status. Conclusion: Boys, OWOB children, and children of OWOB parents had significantly greater odds of parental underestimation of their body weight status. Parents had better recognition of OWOB in their daughters, especially older daughters, than in their sons, suggesting parental gender bias in identifying OWOB in children. Further research is needed regarding parental gender bias and its implications in OWOB identification in children. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Nutrition 2013

The purpose of this study is to find out parents' perception of the needs of their children related to the diagnosis of adhd and how they, the school and the leisure center meet the needs. Through a websurvey where 66 participants participated, we have raised questions about their perceptions linked to the purpose. The result shows that parents of adhd children perceive that their children's needs are directly linked to their impaired ability to control their executive functions. Parents meet the needs by lowering their expectations and keeping routines. Support from the environment is also an important factor in meeting the needs of children. Regarding the school and the leisure center's satisfying children's needs, the views differ from the respondents. Some believe that the school and the leisure center adjust the activities based on the needs of the children, but others say that the staff lack knowledge in their treatment, which leads to the perception that the school and the leisure center do nothing at all. Our conclusion is that knowledge about the diagnosis adhd is a must to be able to work as a teacher and leisure teacher today, because at least one person in each class has adhd. / Syftet med denna undersökning är att ta redan på föräldrars uppfattning om deras barns behov kopplade till diagnosen adhd samt hur de, skolan och fritidshemmet tillgodoser behoven. Genom en websurvey där 66 deltagare deltog har vi  ställt öppna frågor om deras uppfattningar kopplade till syftet. Resultatet visar att föräldrar till barn med adhd uppfattar att deras barns behov är direkt kopplade till deras nedsatta förmåga att  kontrollera sina exekutiva funktioner. Föräldrar tillgodoser behoven genom att sänka sin kravbild och hålla rutiner. Stöd från omgivningen är också en viktig faktor gällande tillgodoseendet av barnens behov. Gällande skolan och fritidshemmets tillgodoseende av barnens behov, går meningarna isär bland respondeneterna. Vissa anser att skolan och fritidshemmet anpassar verksamheten utifrån barnens behov men andra menar att personalen saknar kunskap i sitt bemötande , vilket leder till uppfattningen att skolan och fritidshemmet inte gör någonting alls. Vår slutsats är att kunskap om diagnosen adhd är ett måste för att kunna arbeta som lärare och fritidspedagog idag, eftersom minst en person i varje klass har adhd.

The study area for this dissertation is Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. / The general theme of this dissertation is understanding and enabling safe walking routes to school for children. We restrict our focus to safety issues related to the motorized-transportation environment, thereby defining safety as a function of factors that determine whether or not a child will be struck by a motor-vehicle on their journey to or from school. Our analysis is unique because it is at a small geographical scale but is representative of an entire urban environment. Working at a small geographic scale allows us to evaluate the variability in safe routes for children within our study area and apply our findings to develop a decision support tool that could be used to plan individualized routes for children in other similar urban environments. Our study area for this dissertation is Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The findings in this dissertation contribute ideas about how features of the local road environment may and may not influence risk of collisions between child pedestrians and motor-vehicles. It also offers methodological insight for future research on pedestrian safety at small geographic scales. This dissertation demonstrates the potential reduction in the risk of child pedestrian injuries by planning safer routes to school and also introduces methods that can be used to plan safer routes for children. Our results are a reminder of the importance of understanding the interaction between environment and behaviour in research on traffic safety and offer some caution to the notion of a universal 'safe route' to school. Whether or not a particular route to school is safe will very likely be dependent both on the environment and the child's behaviour in that environment. / Dissertation / Doctor of Social Science