Visual working memory (VWM) is reliably predictive of fluid intelligence and academic achievements. The objective of the current study was to investigate individual differences in pre‐schoolers’ VWM ...processing by examining the association between behaviour, brain function and parent‐reported measures related to the child's environment. We used a portable functional near‐infrared spectroscopy system to record from the frontal and parietal cortices of 4.5‐year‐old children (N = 74) as they completed a colour change‐detection VWM task in their homes. Parents were asked to fill in questionnaires on temperament, academic aspirations, home environment and life stress. Children were median‐split into a low‐performing (LP) and a high‐performing (HP) group based on the number of items they could successfully remember during the task. LPs increasingly activated channels in the left frontal and bilateral parietal cortices with increasing load, whereas HPs showed no difference in activation. Our findings suggest that LPs recruited more neural resources than HPs when their VWM capacity was challenged. We employed mediation analyses to examine the association between the difference in activation between the highest and lowest loads and variables from the questionnaires. The difference in activation between loads in the left parietal cortex partially mediated the association between parent‐reported stressful life events and VWM performance. Critically, our findings show that the association between VWM capacity, left parietal activation and indicators of life stress is important to understand the nature of individual differences in VWM in pre‐school children.
Individual differences in pre‐schoolers’ visual working memory processing was examined using behavioural performance, brain function and parent‐reported measures related to the child’s environment. Low‐performing children showed increasing activation with increasing load across the left frontal and bilateral parietal cortices, whereas high‐performing children showed no modulation of activation with increasing load. The difference in activation between the highest and the lowest load in the left parietal cortex partially mediated the association between parental life stress and visual working memory performance.
Background: Despite the widespread recognition of the importance of executive control (EC) in externalizing psychopathology, the relation between EC and problem behavior has not been well ...characterized, particularly in typically developing preschoolers.
Method: Using the sample, battery of laboratory tasks, and latent variable modeling methods described in Wiebe, Espy, and Charak (2008), systematic latent dimensions of parent‐rated problem behavior, measured by integrating scales from developmental and clinical traditions, were determined empirically, and then were related to EC.
Results: Substantial relations between EC and problem behaviors were revealed by extracting the common variance of interest and eliminating extraneous variance, which were robust to estimated child intelligence and differed somewhat in preschool boys and girls.
Conclusion: Preschool EC measured by laboratory tasks appears to tap abilities that strongly and robustly support broad control processes enabling behavioral regulation across cognitive and emotional domains.
Background & objectives: Research studies in the 1970s reported that in pre-school children, undernutrition increased the risk of infections and infections aggravated undernutrition. Over decades, ...there has been a reduction in prevalence of undernutrition and improvement in access to healthcare for treatment of infections. A mixed longitudinal study was undertaken to assess whether over time there were any changes from the earlier reported effect of undernutrition prior to infection on the risk of morbidity and effect of morbidity on nutritional status in pre-school children.
Methods: Pre-school (0-59 months of age) children from urban low- and middle-income families whose parents were willing to allow their participation in the study were enrolled. Information on sociodemographic profile of the families was collected at enrolment. Weight of all children and length in infants were recorded every month; length/height in children 12-59 months of age was recorded once in three months. Morbidity information was collected through fortnightly visits.
Results: 3888 pre-school children were followed up in 74636 home visits. Among these children, underweight and wasting were associated with a small increase in risk of infections. The odds ratio for risk of infection for underweight children was 1.09 (95% CI: 1.02 to 1.16) and for wasting was 1.18 (95% CI: 1.08 to 1.29). The deterioration in Z scores for weight-for-age and body mass index-for-age in children during illness and convalescence was small but significant (P<0.001).
Interpretation & conclusions: The increased risk of infections in undernourished children living in overcrowded tenements in areas with poor environmental hygiene was not significant, perhaps because the risk of infection in normally nourished children was also high. The deterioration in nutritional status following infection was small because of the ready access to and utilization of health and nutrition care.
Aim
Early childhood screen exposure leads to multiple adverse health events and parents have a major influence on their children's screen time. Our aim was to determine the association between ...maternal acceptance–rejection/control behaviours and excessive screen exposure in pre‐school children.
Methods
In this cross‐sectional descriptive study, children aged 2–5 years who had daily screen time <1 h (n = 76) and >4 h (n = 62) were enrolled. A structured survey form and Parental Acceptance–Rejection/Control Questionnaire were completed by mothers.
Results
Total rejection scores were found to be lower in those with screen time <1 h than cases with >4 h (82.7 ± 13.2, 89.3 ± 17.2; P = 0.015). In addition, higher hostility, neglect and reverse‐affection scores were detected in excessive screen‐exposed group (P = 0.033, P = 0.003, P = 0.047, respectively). Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that mothers' low acceptance of their children and high neglect score were associated with excessive screen exposure after adjusting possible confounding factors. The undifferentiated rejection and control behaviours of the mothers had no association with excessive screen exposure.
Conclusion
Children with excessive screen time may have a problematic relationship with their mothers. The relationship between parent and child should be examined and corrective actions should be taken.
To demonstrate the capability of computer vision analysis to detect atypical orienting and attention behaviors in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder. One hundered and four toddlers of 16–31 ...months old (mean = 22) participated in this study. Twenty-two of the toddlers had autism spectrum disorder and 82 had typical development or developmental delay. Toddlers watched video stimuli on a tablet while the built-in camera recorded their head movement. Computer vision analysis measured participants’ attention and orienting in response to name calls. Reliability of the computer vision analysis algorithm was tested against a human rater. Differences in behavior were analyzed between the autism spectrum disorder group and the comparison group. Reliability between computer vision analysis and human coding for orienting to name was excellent (intra-class coefficient 0.84, 95% confidence interval 0.67–0.91). Only 8% of toddlers with autism spectrum disorder oriented to name calling on >1 trial, compared to 63% of toddlers in the comparison group (p = 0.002). Mean latency to orient was significantly longer for toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (2.02 vs 1.06 s, p = 0.04). Sensitivity for autism spectrum disorder of atypical orienting was 96% and specificity was 38%. Older toddlers with autism spectrum disorder showed less attention to the videos overall (p = 0.03). Automated coding offers a reliable, quantitative method for detecting atypical social orienting and reduced sustained attention in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder.
Children are not consuming sufficient amounts of fruits and vegetables in their habitual diet. Methods derived from associative learning theories could be effective at promoting vegetable intake in ...pre-school children. The objective of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of different learning strategies in promoting the intake of a novel vegetable. Children aged between 9 and 38 months were recruited from UK nurseries. The children (n 72) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (repeated exposure, flavour-flavour learning or flavour-nutrient learning). Each child was offered ten exposures to their respective version of a novel vegetable (artichoke). Pre- and post-intervention measures of artichoke purée and carrot purée (control vegetable) intake were taken. At pre-intervention, carrot intake was significantly higher than artichoke intake (P<0·05). Intake of both vegetables increased over time (P<0·001); however, when changes in intake were investigated, artichoke intake increased significantly more than carrot intake (P<0·001). Artichoke intake increased to the same extent in all three conditions, and this effect was persistent up to 5 weeks post-intervention. Five exposures were sufficient to increase intake compared to the first exposure (P<0·001). Repeated exposure to three variants of a novel vegetable was sufficient to increase intake of this vegetable, regardless of the addition of a familiar taste or energy. Repetition is therefore a critical factor for promoting novel vegetable intake in pre-school children.
This study measured concentrations of seven phthalates in gas-phase, particle-phase and dust/soil in kindergarten indoors and outdoors in Beijing, China, during May to July 2012. We analysed ...phthalate pollution characteristics, examined phthalate co-occurrence and estimated intake of phthalates via dust ingestion, inhalation, and dermal absorption through direct air-through-skin using Monte Carlo simulation. Phthalate pollution level indoors were higher than outdoors. Di (2-Ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), Diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP) and Di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) was the most abundant phthalate in dust, gas-phase and particle-phase indoors, respectively, with an average contribution of 48.4%, 41.0% and 41.1%. DEHP was the most predominant phthalate in outdoor sampled medias, and the average contribution was in the range of 45.5%–48.6%. Indoor phthalate concentration in dust is not related to the sampled surface and grade, and is related to the sampled kindergartens. The co-occurrence of phthalates is related to the type of phthalates and sampling medias. The pollution level of DiBP and DnBP in dust and airborne is more serious in kindergarten in China, which should be paid more attention. Total intake of DiBP is the most in kindergarten. Outdoor phthalate exposure is much lower than indoor, only contributing from 2.68% to 7.07% to total intake. Dermal absorption is the main exposure pathway for indoor exposure of DiBP and DnBP, contributing 57.8% and 60.3%, while dust ingestion is the main exposure pathway for indoor exposure of DEHP, contributing 74.4%. We should take some control approaches to decrease the phthalate exposure for pre-children.
•Indoor and outdoor exposure to phthalates for pre-school children was first studied in kindergarten in China.•DEHP, DiBP and DnBP was the most abundant phthalate in dust, gas-phase and particle-phase indoors, respectively, with an average contribution of 48.4%, 41.0% and 41.1%. DEHP was the most predominant phthalate in outdoor sampled medias, and the average contribution was in the range of 45.5%-48.6%.•The pollution level of DiBP and DnBP in dust and airborne is more serious in kindergarten in China.•Phthalate pollution level indoors were higher than outdoors; moreover, outdoor phthalate exposure is much lower than indoor, only contributing from 2.68% to 7.07% to total intake.•Total intake of DiBP is the highest. Dermal absorption is the main exposure pathway for DiBP and DnBP, contributing 57.8% and 60.3%; while dust ingestion is the main exposure pathway for DEHP, contributing 74.4%.
Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy is a parent-mediated, video-aided, communication-focussed intervention for young children with autism spectrum disorder. It has been shown in a UK randomised ...controlled trial to lead to improvements in parent–child communication and family quality of life, together with a sustained reduction in child autism symptom severity. This qualitative study examined parental perceptions of their participation in Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy within the context of the randomised controlled trial. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 18 parents within 12 months of completion of the therapy. The thematic analysis provides insights into parents’ hopes, expectations, and learning processes when working with Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy therapists and carrying out daily practice in the home. Parents reported positive changes in their interaction and relationship with their child and improvements to their child’s communication and interaction. Some also highlighted poignant realisations and emotional challenges associated with taking part in this post-diagnostic therapy. Practical difficulties were also emphasised. Implications for the clinical practice of parent-mediated interventions with young children with autism spectrum disorder are discussed.
Lay abstract
Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy is an intervention for young children with autism spectrum disorder that focuses on parent–child communication. In Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy, the therapist and parent watch videos of the parent and child playing together. The therapist coaches the parent to carefully observe the child’s communication and to interact with their child in a more sensitive and responsive way. Parents are encouraged to use the strategies with their child at home. Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy has been shown to lead to long-term improvements in parent–child communication and family quality of life. This study aimed to explore parents’ perceptions of their participation in Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy. Interviews were carried out by an independent researcher with 18 parents. Parents discussed the learning processes they went through when working with Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy therapists and carrying out home practice. Some parents described initial doubts about the approach and hesitations about being videoed and analysing video material. In time, most parents came to really value the therapy and their relationship with the therapist. They reported positive changes in their interaction and relationship with their child and improvements to their child’s communication and interaction. Some also highlighted poignant realisations and emotional challenges associated with taking part in this post-diagnosis therapy. Practical difficulties were also emphasised, including the time commitment, accessibility of therapy venues and difficulties in occupying the child during therapist–parent discussion. Implications for the clinical practice of parent-mediated interventions are discussed.
Consumption of sugar sweetened beverages exhibits strong associations with weight gain, obesity, and dental caries, especially in young children. The aim of this article is to estimate price ...elasticities for parents' sugar‐sweetened beverages consumption choices with respect to their pre‐school children and to estimate elasticities with respect to nutritional attribute labels across sugar‐sweetened beverages. Our results show that 1% increase in the price of fizzy drink, juice and cordial would reduce pre‐school children's consumption of each drink by 0.80%, 0.51%, and 0.34% respectively. Such price effects on children's consumption do not substantially differ between high and low‐income respondents but the effect on the children's Fizzy Drink consumption is significantly larger for respondents from large households than those from small households and are significantly lower than the price effects on the consumption of the rest of the family for Juice and Cordial. The marginal effects of demand with respect to nutritional attribute labels of sugar‐sweetened beverages matter for Juice and Cordial, and are strongest for low‐income families; however, these effects do not substantially differ between large and small‐household respondents.
The objective of this study was to synthesize available information on prevalence and time trends of overweight and obesity in pre-school children in the European Union. Retrieval and analysis or ...re-analysis of existing data were carried out. Data sources include WHO databases, Medline and Google, contact with authors of published and unpublished documents. Data were analysed using the International Obesity Task Force reference and cut-offs, and the WHO standard. Data were available from 18/27 countries. Comparisons were problematic because of different definitions and methods of data collection and analysis. The reported prevalence of overweight plus obesity at 4 years ranges from 11.8% in Romania (2004) to 32.3% in Spain (1998-2000). Countries in the Mediterranean region and the British islands report higher rates than those in middle, northern and eastern Europe. Rates are generally higher in girls than in boys. With the possible exception of England, there was no obvious trend towards increasing prevalence in the past 20-30 years in the five countries with data. The use of the WHO standard with cut-offs at 1, 2 and 3 standard deviations yields lower rates and removes gender differences. Data on overweight and obesity in pre-school children are scarce; their interpretation is difficult. Standard methods of surveillance, and research and policies on prevention and treatment, are urgently needed.
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