Attention deficits in children with sickle cell disease

Previous research has suggested that children with sickle cell disease may exhibit cognitive deficits even in the absence of direct cerebrovascular involvement (stroke). This study was designed to assess specific attentional deficits in children with sickle cell disease. 12 children with sickle cell disease (Hb SS) with a prior history of stroke, 14 children with sickle cell disease (Hb SS) without evidence of stroke, and 13 similar aged siblings (Hb AA or Hb AS) were compared on measures of attention, intellectual functioning, achievement, and adaptive functioning. Significant differences were found between children with sickle cell disease (with or without stroke) and healthy controls on a timed test of visual scanning, the Coding subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised, and subtests of Reading, Arithmetic, and Spelling from the Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised. The differences between children with sickle cell disease and their healthy siblings appear to be the result of strokes rather than sickle cell disease itself as children with sickle cell disease without strokes did not significantly differ from controls. Implications for the effects of sickle cell disease and stroke on academic performance are discussed.     

Rule Violations in Intercollegiate Athletics: A Qualitative Investigation Utilizing an Organizational Justice Framework

Cheating and rule violations in intercollegiate athletics continue to be relevant issues in many institutions of higher education because they reflect upon the integrity of the institutions in which they are housed, causing concern among many faculty members, administrators, and trustees. Although a great deal of research has documented the numerous rule violations in NCAA intercollegiate athletics, much of it has failed to combine sound theory with practical solutions. The purpose of this study was to examine the possible extensions of the organizational justice framework to the problem of rule violations in intercollegiate athletics. In doing so, the current study examined (a) perceived areas of injustice among coaches at NCAA Division I institutions, (b) avenues by which coaches resolve these injustices, and (c) potential solutions for resolving injustices in an attempt to reduce NCAA violations. Six NCAA Division I basketball coaches from various parts of the country (four from men's teams and two from women's teams) were interviewed using a semi-structured format. Despite the NCAA's efforts to create parity, results showed that coaches perceived several areas of inequities in recruiting, including financial resources and academic standards. The interviewed coaches described several means that are currently used to resolve these inequities and offered recommendations for changes to reduce injustice in the future.     

Executive performance on the preschool executive task assessment in children with sickle cell anemia and matched controls

Executive deficits are commonly reported in children with sickle cell anemia. Earlier identification of executive deficits would give more scope for intervention, but this cognitive domain has not been routinely investigated due to a lack of age-appropriate tasks normed for preschool children. In particular, information relating to patient performance on an executive task that reflects an everyday activity in the classroom could provide important insight and practical recommendations for the classroom teacher at this key developmental juncture as they enter the academic domain. The performance of 22 children with sickle cell anemia was compared to 24 matched control children on the Preschool Executive Task Assessment. Findings reveal that children with sickle cell anemia are performing poorer than their matched peers on this multi-step assessment. In particular, children with sickle cell anemia required more structured support to shift focus after a completed step, as reflected by poorer scores in the quantitative Sequencing and Completion domains. They also required more support to stay on task, as seen by poorer ratings in the qualitative Distractibility domain.

Abbreviations:PETA: Preschool Executive Task Assessment; SCA: Sickle Cell Anemia; EF: Executive Functioning.     

Examination of psychiatric symptoms in student athletes

In the present study, the authors examined the severity of psychiatric symptoms in undergraduate recreational (noncompetitive) athletes (n = 64) and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA; competitive) athletes (n = 72). The results indicated that the 2 groups were similar in the severity of psychiatric symptoms. The recreational and NCAA athletes combined (n = 136) showed less severe global psychiatric symptoms when they were compared with an undergraduate control group (n = 435). The implications of the study are discussed in the context of those findings.     

Should Student-Athletes be Paid?

Abstract:

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) currently prohibits student-athletes from receiving compensation from many non-school-affiliated sources, including sports agents, advertising agencies, and merchandizers. Moreover, student-athletes are prohibited from receiving compensation for media appearances, endorsing products, and autographs. Athletes and schools that violate these rules are subject to various punishments, such as fines, suspensions, and forfeiture of games. This paper challenges this NCAA policy. Accordingly, although colleges and universities often compensate student-athletes with free tuition, room, board, and other expenses, I argue that some prohibitions against athletes receiving compensation from non-school-affiliated sources are: (1) arbitrary and unfair to student-athletes; (2) such policies moreover are non-beneficial to student-athletes since we lack good reason to think the reception or pursuit of outside compensations will harm the student-athlete; (3) no foreseeable detrimental effects to higher education arise if student-athletes are allowed to pursue or receive various compensations; and (4) the integrity of college sports will not be compromised if certain forms of compensation are permitted. I take (1)–(4) as good reasons for doing away with the NCAA’s current policies. Ultimately, while I do not think colleges or universities should compensate student-athletes beyond what they already provide (e.g. free tuition, room, and board), I think student-athletes should be allowed to pursue an assortment of economic-related activities currently prohibited by the NCAA.     

Young Adults’ Pre-Existing Knowledge of Cystic Fibrosis and Sickle Cell Diseases: Implications for Newborn Screening

Parental distress following newborn screening is thought to result from inadequate preparation for screening results which can result in maladjustment to screening results after birth. Although prior awareness of relevant genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis and sickle cell diseases, and preparedness for screening is suggested to enhance information uptake and reduce parental distress, little is known about how young adults’ prior knowledge prepares them for screening or affects the assimilation and retention of screening information. Thirty-four young adults, without familial genetic disease or screening experience took part in one of seven focus groups which examined knowledge of cystic fibrosis and sickle cell diseases and ability to assimilate new disease information. Thematic analysis revealed that adults had limited understanding of how cystic fibrosis and sickle cell diseases were inherited or how symptoms manifest, leaving them inadequately prepared for screening results if they do not engage with information interventions. Further, they selectively assimilated new disease information and had difficulty understanding new information in the absence of prior disease knowledge. Young adults’ prior disease knowledge should be considered within a newborn screening context and written materials should consider the inclusion of carrier statistics to improve information relevance.     

Central nervous system complications of sickle cell disease in children: an overview.

Complications involving the central nervous system are among the most devastating manifestations of sickle cell disease. Although overt stroke occurs in 1 in 10 children with Hemoglobin SS, "silent cerebral infarcts" are even more frequent. Both are associated with significant neuropsychological deficits. The end result of these effects on the CNS often is diminished school performance. The use of transcranial Doppler ultrasonography screening allows the identification of patients at high risk for clinical stroke as well as stroke prevention by chronic transfusion. However, definitive prophylaxis and treatment for most CNS complications of sickle cell disease have yet to be determined.     

Are Men Better Leaders? An Investigation of Head Coaches’ Gender and Individual Players’ Performance in Amateur and Professional Women’s Basketball

Male-dominated industries such as sport contain stereotypical and subjective notions of leadership ability (Burton et al. 2009; Fink 2008). These gender stereotypes often manifest themselves within varying levels of leadership, but specific to the sport industry, they are the most visible within the head coach role. Men hold the majority of head coach positions within the professional and amateur levels of sport, and these hiring practices can be based on gender-role stereotypes (Acosta and Carpenter 2014). In an attempt to challenge stereotypical gender based leadership preferences, leadership ability and performance should be objectively examined. Therefore, in the present investigation we aimed to examine the presence of gender stereotypes in the sport industry by determining whether the gender of a head coach for two women’s basketball leagues, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the National Intercollegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), impacted individual player performance. Data were collected for 1522 players for 19 WNBA seasons (1997–2015) and 4000 players for three seasons of NCAA Women’s Basketball (2013–2016). Results indicated that head coach gender does not appear to impact individual player performance in the WNBA or in the NCAA thereby providing objective evidence to challenge the traditional gender stereotypes found within the sports industry.     

Central Nervous System Complications of Sickle Cell Disease in Children: An Overview

Complications involving the central nervous system are among the most devastating manifestations of sickle cell disease. Although overt stroke occurs in 1 in 10 children with Hemoglobin SS, “silent cerebral infarcts” are even more frequent. Both are associated with significant neuropsychological deficits. The end result of these effects on the CNS often is diminished school performance. The use of transcranial Doppler ultrasonography screening allows the identification of patients at high risk for clinical stroke as well as stroke prevention by chronic transfusion. However, definitive prophylaxis and treatment for most CNS complications of sickle cell disease have yet to be determined.     

Parafoveal and foveal processing of abbreviations during eye fixations in reading: making a case for case

The processing of abbreviations in reading was examined with an eye movement experiment. Abbreviations were of 2 distinct types: acronyms (abbreviations that can be read with the normal grapheme-phoneme correspondence [GPC] rules, such as NASA) and initialisms (abbreviations in which the GPCs are letter names, such as NCAA). Parafoveal and foveal processing of these abbreviations was assessed with the use of the boundary change paradigm (K. Rayner, 1975). Using this paradigm, previews of the abbreviations were either identical to the abbreviation (NASA or NCAA), orthographically legal (NUSO or NOBA), or illegal (NRSB or NRBA). The abbreviations were presented as capital letter strings within normal, predominantly lowercase sentences and also sentences in all capital letters such that the abbreviations would not be visually distinct. The results indicate that acronyms and initialisms undergo different processing during reading and that readers can modulate their processing based on low-level visual cues (distinct capitalization) in parafoveal vision. In particular, readers may be biased to process capitalized letter strings as initialisms in parafoveal vision when the rest of the sentence is normal, lowercase letters.     

Resilience in siblings of children with sickle cell disease

This pilot study was conducted to identify factors responsible for promoting resilience in siblings of children with sickle cell disease. Twenty siblings (10–17 years of age) of children (5–13 years) with sickle cell disease were selected from the Pediatric Clinic of Howard University Center for Sickle Cell Disease. The siblings responded to questionnaires, and the data obtained was analyzed by chi-square for association. The results indicated that age, birth order, and gender had no effect on resilience in the siblings. However, family size, number of parents in the home, sibling's knowledge of the illness, degree of morbidity of the illness, socioeconomic status of the family, and parents' attitudes and childrearing practices were all found to affect resilience. These findings provide additional insight into the psychosocial aspects of, and genetic counseling for sickle cell disease, as well as for other chronic genetic disorders.     

Inhibitory control in children with frontal infarcts related to sickle cell disease.

Evidence from past studies indicates that children with traumatic brain injury experience difficulties with inhibitory control. Less is known about inhibitory control in children with frontal brain injury related to cerebral infarction. We compared the inhibitory performance of children with frontal infarcts related to sickle cell disease with that of a control group of children with sickle cell disease but no history of cerebral infarction. On a stimulus-response reversal task, children with frontal infarcts made significantly more accuracy errors in the inhibitory condition than controls. Findings from this study and from previous research suggest that impairments in inhibitory control are common following frontal injury in a range of pediatric populations.     

Inhibitory Control in Children with Frontal Infarcts Related to Sickle Cell Disease

Evidence from past studies indicates that children with traumatic brain injury experience difficulties with inhibitory control. Less is known about inhibitory control in children with frontal brain injury related to cerebral infarction. We compared the inhibitory performance of children with frontal infarcts related to sickle cell disease with that of a control group of children with sickle cell disease but no history of cerebral infarction. On a stimulus-response reversal task, children with frontal infarcts made significantly more accuracy errors in the inhibitory condition than controls. Findings from this study and from previous research suggest that impairments in inhibitory control are common following frontal injury in a range of pediatric populations.     

Reliability and validity of a self-efficacy instrument specific to sickle cell disease

The psychometric properties of a new, 9-item scale measuring disease-specific perceptions of self-efficacy were investigated in a community-based sample of adults (N = 83) with sickle cell disease (SCD). The Sickle Cell Self-Efficacy Scale (SCSES) was comprised of nine questions relating to participants' perceptions of their ability to function on a day-to-day basis and to manage SCD symptomatology (e.g. episodes of pain). The SCSES demonstrated good internal consistency, discriminant validity, and convergent and predictive validity, both with previously validated measures of related constructs as well as with reported SCD symptomatology. Overall, the instrument appears to be reliable and valid for assessing clients' self-efficacy for engaging successfully in day-to-day activities despite having SCD. Future investigators may wish to examine temporal and causal links between alterations in self-efficacy and changes in adjustment to sickle cell disease; the SCSES provides a psychometrically sound tool with which to investigate these phenomena.     

Etiology of strokes in children with sickle cell anemia

The most devastating complication of sickle cell anemia is cerebral infarction, affecting approximately 30% of all individuals with sickle cell anemia. Despite being one of the most common causes of stroke in infants and children, the mechanism of cerebral infarction in this population has not been extensively studied and is poorly understood. Multiple, synergistic factors are important in the pathogenesis of stroke including the hemodynamic effects of cerebral arterial occlusive disease, viscosity, chronic and acute anemia and acute medical events. This review focuses on the relationship between these factors in order to provide a foundation for further study of the etiology of strokes in this high-risk population.     

Caregiver Knowledge and Adherence in Children With Sickle Cell Disease: Knowing is Not Doing

Though the impact of disease knowledge on adherence to medical recommendations has long been the focus of research, little of this research has focussed on sickle cell compliance in the child and adolescent population. The present study examined the relationship of caregiver knowledge of sickle cell disease (SCD) and children's adherence to prescribed behaviors. Though caregivers with high levels of knowledge of SCD were more likely to report higher levels of adherence, knowledge test score did not predict adherence for the majority of participants (72%). The effect of caregiver knowledge on reported adherence was greater among preadolescents (age ≤ 11) than adolescents (age ≥12). The relationship between knowledge and adherence may not be as strong or direct as is assumed in many theories of health behavior change.     

A cross-cultural study of psychosocial aspects of sickle cell disease in the UK and Nigeria

Pain experience, health service utilization and psychological coping in adult patients with sickle cell disease were compared cross-culturally between the UK and Nigeria. Patients in the UK experienced a significantly greater number of pain episodes and of longer duration, with more frequent visits to accident and emergency departments compared with those in Nigeria. The Nigerian patients, on the other hand, applied more psychologically active coping strategies such as distraction to deal with their sickle cell pain in the community. These significant differences are explained in relation to external health locus of control factors including beliefs, and the cost of healthcare in relation to the use of health services. Clinical implications of these findings are also considered.     

Applying the Transactional Stress and Coping Model to Sickle Cell Disorder and Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus: Identifying Psychosocial Variables Related to Adjustment and Intervention

This review paper examines the literature on psychosocial factors associated with adjustment to sickle cell disease and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in children through the framework of the transactional stress and coping (TSC) model. The transactional stress and coping model views adaptation to a childhood chronic illness as mediated by several psychosocial factors. This review examines the utility of the model in explaining adjustment in two different childhood diseases, identifies needed research and intervention targets, as well as highlights potential changes to the model. The major conclusions of this review suggest that, in addition to child-specific factors, family functioning is an area that interventions should address in sickle cell disease and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.     

Event-Based Prospective Memory in Children with Sickle Cell Disease: Effect of Cue Distinctiveness

Event-based prospective memory (EB-PM) is the formation of an intention and remembering to perform it in response to a specific event. Currently, EB-PM performance in children with sickle cell disease (SCD) is unknown. In this study, we designed a computer-based task of EB-PM; No-Stroke, Silent-Infarct, and Overt-Stroke groups performed significantly below the demographically similar control group without SCD. Cue distinctiveness was varied to determine if EB-PM could be improved. All groups, with the exception of the Overt-Stroke group, performed significantly better with a perceptually distinctive cue. Overall, these results suggest that EB-PM can be improved significantly in many children with SCD.