Early Developmental Screening for Children in Foster Care

Limited data exist about the ideal timing of developmental screening for young children entering foster care, and current best practice recommends screening by 1 month into care to prioritize resources for evaluation. Therefore, we aimed to: (1) compare detection rates for potential developmental delay (DD) at foster care entry before and after implementation of a developmental screen and (2) examine accuracy of developmental screening when performed at entry and 1 month into care. Charts of 124 children <6 years evaluated for an initial foster care health assessment (IFCHA) were reviewed to determine baseline detection rates for potential DD. The Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) screening tool was then prospectively administered to 167 children <6 years during their IFCHA to determine detection rates. One month following the IFCHA, caregivers were re-contacted, and the screen was re-administered. Accuracy of the initial PEDS screen was compared to the 1 month PEDS screen by calculation of sensitivity and specificity. At baseline, potential DD was detected in 34 % of children at the IFCHA compared to 46 % after implementation of the PEDS (P = 0.041). Compared to the 1 month screen, the early screen had a sensitivity of 75 % and specificity of 88 %. Use of a developmental screening tool at foster care entry increased detection of potential DD, and the results remained consistent with screening 1 month later. These results support use of a developmental screen for children in foster care and suggest that screening be performed as early as possible to expedite necessary evaluations and referrals.     

Using Force: Australian Newspaper Depictions of Contacts Between the Police and Persons Experiencing Mental Illness

The media creates and sustains knowledge about socially relevant issues such as crime, mental illness, and policing. Past research suggests that while the media portrayal of the police is undoubtedly complex, their portrayal of people experiencing mental illness remains mainly negative. The depiction of their encounters in the mass media is of considerable interest because of the influential role the media has on public opinion and debate; however, there is a lack of current research in this area. This study aimed to examine media items in the major newspapers across Australia between January 2006 and December 2007 (n = 77) to investigate their portrayal of this interface. The dominant themes encountered in the initial analysis depicted people experiencing mental illness as dangerous and a threat to the public, where the mental health system has failed to manage them adequately. Further analyses found that people experiencing mental illness were stigmatised in a third of the media items reviewed and were represented significantly more negatively in these encounters than the police. Implications of these findings and some suggestions regarding possible strategies that could improve socially responsible media reporting and public discourse on mental illness are proposed.     

Minding the gap: spatial perseveration error in dogs

We investigated a combination of perseveration and detour behaviour in 50 domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). They were required to make a detour through a gap at one end of a straight barrier in order to reach a target. After one, two, three or four repeats, the gap was moved to the opposite end of the barrier, and the detour behaviour of the dogs was recorded. Although the dogs could solve simple detour tasks (80% correct in the first trial), they committed a perseveration error of following the previously learned route despite the clearly visible change in the location of the gap. This ‘misbehaviour’ occurred in 29 of 30 dogs after only two learning trials. They never reached a 100% correct performance level again even after four runs through the second gap location. The results suggest that dogs are reluctant to unlearn acquired spatial motor responses and reinforced navigation, which has important implications for experimental design, everyday dog training and our understanding of their mental capacities.     

Do Elite Athletes Renowned for Their Aggressive Play Transfer Aggression to Nonsport Settings? A Qualitative Exploratory Study

This exploratory qualitative study concerned elite-level male Australian footballers' attitudes to and experience of off-the-field aggression and violence. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with athletes selected for their highly aggressive play on the field. Data was analyzed, according to established principles for qualitative data. Reversal theory was used to interpret findings related to: (a) athletes' perception and experience of violent incidents in off-the-field social settings; (b) the possible role of alcohol; (c) athletes' responses and means of coping; and (d) athletes' perception of the different physical risks in on- and off-the-field violence. The results indicated, for example, that athletes sometimes found themselves the target of violence, but generally did not report instigating it. Provocation caused angry verbal and physical aggressive responses from some athletes, but others had developed coping and avoidance strategies. Athletes perceived the physical risk involved in on- and off-the-field aggression differently and distinguished the boundary that exists between the two.     

Articulating a Freshman Orientation Program with a Social Science Course

The method and outcomes of an experimental linkage of the freshman orientation program to a required freshman liberal arts course is described. The counselor and faculty member teamed in a coordinated effort to enhance total student development. Outcomes included application of academic concepts to student's everyday life, especially career concerns, greater student participation in the orientation sessions, increased counselor awareness of individual student problems ranging from study skills difficulties to personal crises, and greater understanding of the counselor role by the faculty member.     

A Triage Tool to Assess Unmet Health Needs for Children Entering Foster Care

Children in foster care have high levels of health care needs, many of which are unmet at foster care entry. Health care coordination (HCC) is essential to ensure unmet needs are addressed rapidly. Data is lacking about how best to triage children at foster care entry so limited HCC resources can be allocated most effectively. Therefore, we aimed to: (1) utilize a Triage Tool (TT) at foster care entry to stratify children based on unmet health care needs and (2) determine if the TT is an accurate predictor of health care utilization as indicated by cost during a child’s first few weeks in care. A TT was developed and utilized during the initial foster care health exam (IFCHE) to stratify children based on unmet needs. Medicaid records were reviewed to determine health care utilization and cost during the first 60 days post-IFCHE. Most children (61.6%) had the lowest level of unmet needs (Level 3), 29.5% had a moderate level of unmet needs (Level 2), and 9.9% had the highest level of unmet needs (Level 1). Medicaid claims review revealed that triage level did not correlate to health care utilization or costs during the first 60 days post-IFCHE. Youth placed in a group home incurred significantly higher costs than those placed in foster homes. These results suggest that the TT is useful clinically but does not predict health care utilization and costs during the first weeks in care. Group home placement incurs more cost than foster home placement, independent of triage level assigned.     

Cooperative education,career exploration,and occupational concepts for community college students

Super's self-concept theory of career development and Jordaan's construct of vocational exploratory behavior were used to investigate the outcomes of a college cooperative education program. The effects of an internship were compared with those of a classroom experience with regard to change in similarity between self- and occupational pictures (incorporation scores). A measure of incorporation was administered to 85 students who worked during one quarter, and 99 students who were enrolled in classes during the same period. Both groups increased in incorporation for prospective occupation (t = .01, p > .10). For the internship group no difference was found between increase in incorporation for first- and second-choice occupation (t = .24, p > .10), while for the classroom group the increase in incorporation for prospective occupation was significantly greater than for second-choice (t = 2.80, p < .01). This result was discussed in light of the implication that the internship stimulated vocational exploratory behavior. Roe's system of occupational classification revealed an unexpected lack of relationship between first- and second-choice occupations. These findings were discussed in relation to the career development of the working-class community college sample.     

Do children with autism recognise surprise? A research note

Abstract

We take a fresh look at emotion recognition in autistic children, by testing their recognition of three different emotions (happy, sad, and surprise). The interest in selecting these is that whereas the first two are typical “simple” emotions (caused by situations), the third is typically a “cognitive” emotion (caused by beliefs). Because subjects with autism have clear difficulties in understanding beliefs, we predicted they would show more difficulty in recognising surprise. In contrast, as they have no difficulty in understanding situations as causes of emotion, we predicted they would not show deficits in recognising happy and sad. These predictions were borne out, in a comparison with a group of normal children and in a group of subjects with mental handicap. This result shows the importance of fine-grain analysis in emotion-recognition tasks, and is discussed in relation to affective and theory of mind models of autism.