Description and Formative Evaluation of Attendance in a Parent Program Inolving Reintegration of Conduct-Disordered Students into Regular Classes

The purposes of this article is to describe a parent involvement program and to conduct a formative evaluation regarding the impact of attendance at parent group meetings, for parents whose children were enrolled in a day-treatment facility for conduct-disordered students and the degree to which these students were successfully reintegrated into public schools. Preliminary results suggest that a mainstreaming program which offers a therapeutically-oriented parent group may be a worthwhile way of assisting successful reintegration of conduct-disordered adolescents into regular classes in public schools.     

4～5岁儿童认知发展:适龄入园的积极影响

在全国范围内采取四阶段分层随机抽样,以1391名4岁儿童为被试,采用追踪调查,先后两次(间隔一年)测查儿童的认知能力,建立两水平回归模型考察幼儿园入园年龄与4～5岁儿童认知发展的关系,并进一步探讨家庭学习环境对入园年龄效应的调节作用。结果发现:(1)入园年龄对儿童认知发展的影响是非线性的,且入园年龄效应在儿童5岁时仍然存在;(2)对于家庭学习环境差的儿童,较早入园使得儿童获得认知发展的优势;对于家庭学习环境较好的儿童,则存在一个适中的入园年龄段,能最大程度促进儿童的认知发展。     

在家庭自由游戏和智力任务游戏中儿童与母亲的交往行为特征

本研究采用家庭录像观察的方法,考察了61名3－4岁儿童在家庭环境中的两个情境－－自由和带有智力任务倾向的拼图游戏情境中所表现出来的行为特征,结果发现：1儿童在两种游戏情境中与母亲交往时所表现出来的行为特征可以从独立性、顺从、言语交流和参与四个维度进行评价。2当儿童的游戏从自由游戏转为带有智力任务倾向的游戏时,儿童与母亲的交往行为方式发生明显变化,交流行为和积极情绪明显减少,而依赖行为和不与母亲交流的行为显著增加。3在上述两种游戏情境中,儿童与母亲的交往行为表现出个别差异,在自由游戏情境中,42.6%为独立型、32.8%为顺从型和24.6%为交流型;在拼图游戏情境中,54％为独立型、23％为顺从型和23％不顺从型。     

A place within the heart: finding a home with parental objects

For adopted and Looked After children with compromised early experiences, there can be troubling phantasies and anxieties associated with parental objects. These internal object relations can seriously restrict the development of secure intimate relationships with new parental figures. Adoptive parents and foster carers bear the brunt of the associated difficulties. Clinical work with the child, parents/carers, family, or network, may help processes of containment, differentiation, working through, mourning, and integration. This paper is based on thinking derived from clinical work with children who are adopted or Looked After, and with adoptive parental couples, carers, and networks. The primary focus is on how the child needs to find a ‘psychic home’ in the minds of others for their damaged internal parental objects, and the emotional capacities required in adoptive parents to provide this. I describe some of the complexities for adoptive parents and others in providing what is needed to enable the child to experience their internal parental objects in a fuller way. This process can allow the child to introject, identify with, and re-imagine their internal parental objects, and through this develop a more realistic relationship to their adoptive parents and to their birth parents. It promotes trust, freedom, and emotional depth in the relationship with parental figures.     

Examining the home advantage in the National Hockey League: Comparisons among regulation,overtime, and the shootout

ObjectivesTo investigate the magnitude of the home advantage in the National Hockey League (NHL) as games proceeded from regulation, to overtime, to the shootout, while adjusting for team quality.DesignArchival.MethodBinary logistic regression analyses were conducted using data from the 2005–2006 through 2013–2014 NHL seasons (N = 10,534 games) to compare home teams’ odds of winning in regulation, overtime, and the shootout.ResultsCompared to games decided in regulation, higher quality home teams' odds of winning were slightly lower when games concluded in either overtime or the shootout. Further, regardless of team quality, home teams’ odds of winning were moderately lower when games concluded in the shootout rather than overtime.ConclusionsThe shootout may affect home team players' psychological and behavioural states, generally resulting in a decrease in home teams’ odds of winning in the shootout relative to overtime.     

Marital Status,Home Environments,and Family Strain: Complex Effects on Preschool Children's School Readiness Skills

The current study examined the complex associations among marital status, home environments, and family strain (i.e. income, maternal depressive symptoms, social support, and parenting stress), as they predict preschool children's pre‐academic and social skills at 36 and 54 months. Findings from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 897) showed that the home learning environment, which was significantly lower among single‐parent families, worked as a mediator to explain the relationship between single‐parent families and children's pre‐academic skills at 36 and 54 months. Additionally, parenting stress, which was significantly higher among single‐parent families, worked as a mediator to explain the relationship between single status and the home learning environment. Finally, moderation analyses showed that family income is important for improving the home social environment, and the home social environment is strongly associated with children's social skills in single‐parent families, but not in cohabiting families. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Observing home-visiting quality across time: A longitudinal reliability study of the Home Visit Rating Scales

Empirical examination of home-visiting quality over time is lacking in the research literature. To this end, this study examined the most recent edition of a widely used observational measure of home-visiting quality, the Home Visit Rating Scales (HOVRS), over four repeated assessments spanning an average of 6 months. Psychometric quality for the HOVRS Total and Home Visitor Practice Scales, including item ratings and calculated scores, across time was demonstrated. Stability indicators for the Family Engagement Scales varied, with superior reliability often indicated for individual ratings over the calculated score. The exploration of interrelationships among family demographics and change in HOVRS scores over time were largely insignificant. Interestingly, a decline in the Home Visitor Practice Scale significantly related to increased symptoms of maternal depression, possibly suggesting that home-visitors’ focus shifted from children's needs to those of parent s when mental health concerns were observed. Although this study is an examination of one program model and poses limited generalizability, it sets the stage for advancing the HOVRS and longitudinal measurement of home-visiting quality.