Étude des représentations sociales toulousaines relatives à la qualité de l’accueil extrafamilial de la toute petite enfance

The eco-systemic model of quality (Bigras & Japel, 2007; Lemay & Bigras, 2012), suggests that it is essential to take into consideration the cultural context (the macro-system) in investigating the quality of early daycare services and developmental outcomes. In order to understand specific cultural values associated with quality services in Toulouse, this study explores social representations of criteria necessary to evaluate quality in out of home daycare. Structured interviews were realized with 30 parents, 47 early education professionals, 15 daycare center directors, and 11 experts (university teachers, pediatricians and psychologists). The interviews aimed at understanding educational ideologies and values, developmental objectives and definitions of quality of educational service. Thematic content analyses indicate that the predominant educational ideology is to offer children and their families an individualized service with priority given to children's affective needs. Discussion of children's early learning needs was either absent from educators’ discourse or was considered as an objective of later school life. Developmental objectives of early daycare in France concern most often the need for socio-affective regulation and acquisition of social rules. Cognitive or language development was rarely evoked. Quality of interaction between teachers and young children was rarely mentioned (process quality). Results are discussed in terms of historical, socio-economic and political specificity of the French early education context, underlining the need to examine contextual specificity in the study of the impact of quality services for child development. This study questions the validity of investigations designed to evaluate quality education as a simple universally applicable construct.     

Early trauma and serious mental illness: what role does spirituality play?

For many who experience serious mental illness, spirituality and religion can be common vehicles that provide a sense of coherence and meaning to life. However, in the presence of early trauma, spiritual and religious beliefs may be enhanced or destroyed, or never develop. This paper explores the relationship between spirituality/religion, early trauma, and serious mental illness. Three case examples from a qualitative phenomenological study are presented to illustrate spiritual and religious struggles that can arise and how a person can work through these over time to use spirituality and religion as positive resources for recovery. Tentative implications for practice are offered.     

The unity of the Church according to Calvin and its meaning for the churches in Indonesia

Since the founding of the Council of Churches in Indonesia (DGI), which later changed its name to the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI), a recurring question has been asked about what kind of unity the DGI/PGI intends to achieve. This issue was discussed by the General Assemblies, from the first in 1950 until the 10th in 1984, with various ideas being put forward. Some underscored the unity of structural organisations, whereas others emphasised our spiritual unity in Christ. It was only at the 10th General Assembly held in 1984 at Ambon that Indonesian churches discovered the answer they had been seeking all that time. The unity they sought was a shared understanding of Christian doctrine, mutual recognition and acceptance, and co-operation in working together to carry out their task and calling in Indonesia. In this respect, I believe that the view of Indonesian church unity conforms to Calvin’s concept which does not stress organisational unity but rather spiritual oneness, oneness in Christ, and oneness in the basic principles of the faith, in recognising each other as having the true preaching of the Word and administration of the sacraments. It is this kind of unity which has been expressed in the Five Documents of Church Unity (LDKG), later called Documents on Church Unity (DKG). The churches of Indonesia can learn much from the view of church reformer John Calvin.     

Christianity in the world of Japan’s religions: reception,incorporation, separation

This article traces three key themes in the encounter of Christianity with Japanese culture: namely, reception, incorporation and separation. It argues that these three can also be traced in the much longer engagement of Buddhism with Japan, and that their complex interaction is a helpful way of understanding the tension of inner and outer in Japanese Christian experience.     

Evidence-based strategies to support children’s emergent literacy in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries

This study was designed to examine teachers’ reported use of evidence-based strategies to support children’s emergent literacy in Arab countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The study participants comprised 644 kindergarten teachers from four countries, including Saudi Arabia (n = 154), Qatar (n = 105), United Arab Emirates (UAE) (n = 190), and Oman (n = 195). The researchers designed a 29-items questionnaire that addressed five dimensions, examining evidence-based strategies that support emergent literacy: phonological awareness, knowledge and understandings of books and other texts, print awareness, knowledge of letters and words, and early writing. The results showed that teachers reported higher use of strategies concerning knowledge of letters and words, followed by those concerning print awareness. In addition, they reported lower use of strategies concerning early writing. Moreover, teachers in the UAE reported higher use of strategies in support of emergent literacy followed by teachers in Qatar and Oman, whereas teachers in Saudi Arabia reported lower use of evidence-based strategies. Finally, statistically significant differences were found regarding teachers’ use of emergent literacy strategies due to teachers’ demographic background. Implications for future research are discussed, and they include highlighting evidence-based emergent literacy strategies in early years settings in the GCC countries as well as expanding the scope of the study to include samples from different contexts.     

The associations between autistic and communication traits in parents and developmental outcomes in children at familial risk of autism at 6 and 24 months of age

BackgroundSeveral studies have explored relationships between parent broader autism phenotype and offspring communication, and have reported that autistic-like traits in parents are related to offspring communication difficulties and autism severity. However, past research has focused on studying such associations in childhood and we know very little about them in infancy. With accumulating evidence that interventions administered during infancy may be most effective in reducing ASD symptoms, it is imperative to examine whether relationships between parent autistic-like traits and child communication appear even earlier during this critical period of life.MethodThis longitudinal study collected data from infant siblings of autistic children (N = 32) and infants with no family history of autism (N = 45) to explore how autistic-like traits in parents related to child developmental outcomes during infancy.ResultsParental communication difficulties and autistic-like traits were found to be associated with a range of child behaviours in the first two years of life, including social-emotional difficulties at 6 and 24 months, lower communication and emerging cognition at 24 months, and increased autistic behaviours at 24 months.ConclusionsBased on the results, it appears that some of the difficulties seen in parents are relayed to children genetically. These findings contribute to ASD research concerning early communication development in children and heritability of ASD traits and may have important implications in monitoring child development. Furthermore, since the current study found a significant association between autistic traits in parents and child social-emotional behaviour as early as 6 months of age, it provides evidence of the value of assessing interventions that target infancy.     

Links between television exposure and toddler dysregulation: Does culture matter?

Television exposure in early childhood has increased, with concerns raised regarding adverse effects on social-emotional development, and emerging self-regulation in particular. The present study addressed television exposure (i.e., amount of time watching TV) and its associations with toddler behavioral/emotional dysregulation, examining potential differences across 14 cultures. The sample consisted of an average of 60 toddlers from each of the 14 countries from the Joint Effort Toddler Temperament Consortium (JETTC; Gartstein & Putnam, 2018). Analyses were conducted relying on the multi-level modeling framework (MLM), accounting for between- and within-culture variability, and examining the extent to which TV exposure contributions were universal vs. variable across sites. Effects of time watching TV were evaluated in relation to temperament reactivity and regulation, as well as measures of emotional reactivity, attention difficulties, and aggression. Results indicated that more time spent watching TV was associated with higher ratings on Negative Emotionality, emotional reactivity, aggression, and attention problems, as well as lower levels of soothability. However, links between TV exposure and both attention problems and soothability varied significantly between cultures. Taken together, results demonstrate that increased time spent watching television was generally associated with dysregulation, although effects were not consistently uniform, but rather varied as a function of culturally-dependent contextual factors.     

For the church community after COVID‐19

COVID‐19 is changing everyday life. COVID‐19 is also changing the look of the church. The church is a community of people who gather for worship, fellowship, and sharing. However, due to the coronavirus, the church is no longer able to gather and worship together. Moreover, because of the coronavirus, social distancing with as little as possible face‐to‐face contact has been recommended worldwide. If this situation is prolonged, the church community interactions will have difficulty in surviving. Therefore, this article seeks ways to maintain and strengthen the church community in and after the coronavirus era through insight into speech act theory.     

How are social-emotional and behavioral competences and problems at age 1 year associated with infant motor development? A general population study

Based on limitations in previous research evidence, we concluded that more research is needed for deeper understanding of how social-emotional and behavioral (SEB) outcomes among infant-toddler-aged children in the general population are associated with early motor development. In this study, we investigated associations between early competencies and problems, as measured by the Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA), and the timing of achievement of the main gross and fine motor milestones usually attained during the first year of life in a general population context. The study sample consisted of 515 infants (mean age 12.9 [SD 0.9] months) and their parents (514 mothers, 434 fathers), who were recruited in child health centers in Northern Finland. The infants were divided into two groups, based on their BITSEA screen status, and motor milestone achievement ages were compared across BITSEA screen status No Concern and Of-Concern infants. An Of-Concern screen status on the maternal and paternal Competence scale and Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) item cluster was associated with later infant achievement ages for gross motor milestones. By contrast, infants who were screened to be in the Of-Concern range on the maternal Problem scale achieved gross motor milestones earlier than infants with the corresponding No Concern screen status. No significant associations were found between the paternal Problem scale screen status and infant motor development. In further analyses, the strongest associations were found between an Of-Concern screen status on the paternal Competence scale and ASD item cluster and infant motor development. The findings indicate that the inclusion of infant motor developmental information may assist early identification and the clinical interpretation of parental reports of early SEB problems. Clinical implications of the current findings are discussed in the paper.     

Parental Perceived Control and Social Support: Linkages to Change in Parenting Behaviors During Early Adolescence

Prior studies have found that parents’ perceptions of control over their lives and their social support may both be important for parenting behaviors. Yet, few studies have examined their unique and interacting influence on parenting behaviors during early adolescence. This longitudinal study of rural parents in two‐parent families (N = 636) investigated (a) whether perceived control and social support when their youth were in sixth grade were independently or interactively associated with changes in parenting behaviors (discipline, standard setting) and parent–child warmth and hostility 6 months later and (b) if these linkages differed by parent gender. We also investigated the interactive links between perceived control, social support, and parenting. Specifically, we tested if parents’ perceived control moderated the linkages between social support and parenting and if these linkages differed by parent gender. Greater perceived control predicted more increases in parents’ consistent discipline and standard setting, whereas greater social support predicted increases in parent–child warmth and decreases in parent–child hostility. Parental perceived control moderated the effect of social support on parental warmth: For mothers only, social support was significantly linked to parent–child warmth only when mothers had low (but not high) perceived self‐control. The discussion focuses on reasons why perceived control and social support may have associations with different aspects of parenting and why these might differ for mothers and fathers.