Children and Youth Services Review最新文献

Strands of evidence from high-income countries has consistently indicated that early learning attainments predict later learning achievements. However, less are known about these issues from low-and-middle-income countries, particularly from the sub-Saharan region. This longitudinal study examined the extent to which children’s school-entry (N = 597; mean age = 6.34 years) early reading and early math skills predicted their later learning achievement in a low-income country, Tanzania. Further, given the existing disparities of quality of educational services, families’ income, and early learning achievements, the sample included children and families from both rural and urban contexts. Data were collected using Measure of Early Learning Environments (MELE) for controlling of school quality, Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and Early Grade Math Assessment (EGMA) for children’s tests, and parents’ questionnaire for home-related variables. Controlling for family socioeconomic status, intervention status, urbanicity settings, and parental education, findings indicated that school-entry math skills were significantly predictive of children’s end of Grade 2 reading and math achievement. However, while school-entry early reading skills predicted end of Grade 2 reading achievement, it did not predict later math achievements. This article extends research on links between elements of transition to school and later achievement across countries, thus, its implications are discussed.

Social workers play a vital role in both the child welfare systems and the dissemination of evidence-based parenting programs aimed at reducing child maltreatment rates at scale. However, notable knowledge gap remains on factors influencing social workers’ program delivery. Using the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program as an example, the present study aims to investigate the facilitators (what aided the implementation), barriers (what hindered the implementation), and enablers (what changes would help implementation) of social workers’ implementation of an evidence-based parenting program. An international sample of 301 social workers trained in Triple P between 2012 and 2020 from six countries were included (i.e., U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Denmark). A mixed-method approach was used which combined item-level regression analyses with quantitative and thematic analysis with qualitative data. Organizational/team/peer support and program resources were identified as strong themes in both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Engaging disadvantaged parents and online delivery were identified as a significant challenge for social workers in qualitative analysis. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the factors influencing social workers’ implementation of parenting programs. Implications of the present findings were discussed.

The rates published by organizations such as UNICEF, WHO, UNESCO, and PISA on bullying in educational institutions worldwide are quite frightening. In fact, this is the reason for conducting this research. Because there is no concrete and urgent intervention plan on how to combat bullying in primary schools. This situation also constitutes a gap in the related field. Therefore, this research aims to prepare a concrete, urgent intervention plan on how educational stakeholders will fight against bullying in primary schools. The study was conducted with a nested single-case design, one of the qualitative research designs. In the study, “students, teachers, educational administrators, parents, and guidance counselors” were included in the study by using the “criterion sampling” technique, one of the purposeful sampling methods. Focus group interview was selected as the data collection tool in the study. The data obtained from focus group interviews were subjected to theme, descriptive, and content analysis. Throughout the research, eight themes, sixteen categories, and thirty-six codes were reached for the emergency intervention plan for combating bullying in primary schools. As a result, an eight-stage concrete emergency intervention plan was prepared on how educational stakeholders will act against bullying in primary schools.

This research delves into the validation of the Indonesian version of the Career Adaptabilities Scale (CAAS), with a particular focus on young Indonesians aged 10 to 24 years. The original CAAS, already translated into various languages, required thorough validation for effective use among Indonesian youth. By employing Rasch analysis and involving 1953 adolescents (Mean Age = 17.2, Standard Deviation = 2.61) from 20 provinces in Indonesia, the study tested the scale’s relevance to this demographic. The findings confirmed the suitability of all original CAAS items for Indonesian young people, leading to the validation of the ID-CAAS. This adaptation represents a significant advancement in assessing and fostering career adaptability in Indonesian youth, with the adaptation tailored to their unique cultural and career aspirations.

The current study examines the relationships between teachers’ job demands and resources, perceived stress, job burnout, and depressive symptoms through an online survey administered to early childhood education (ECE: n = 143) and early childhood special education (ECSE: n = 121) teachers in a western state of the United States. Results showed no difference between ECE and ECSE teachers in their levels of job demands, resources, perceived stress, job burnout, and depressive symptoms. Both ECE and ECSE teachers’ job-related stressors were positively related to their perceived stress, and their job commitment was negatively associated with job burnout. However, there were some differences in the correlates of job burnout between ECE and ECSE teachers. For ECE teachers, the number of children with disabilities and their teaching efficacy predicted their job burnout, whereas with ECSE teachers, job-related stressors and the supportiveness of school climate (or the lack thereof) were indirectly related to their job burnout through their perceived stress. The current study suggests that providing professional development for these teachers and enhancing a school’s supportive climate will promote the well-being of both ECE and ECSE teachers.

Child marriage is practised in Ghana with a prevalence rate of 27.2 %. This high prevalence is due to how marriage is conceptualized and constructed in communities that practice child marriage. Though reasons for the practice of child marriage are well documented, empirical studies of the married adolescent girls’ reasons for marrying early in the Ghanaian context are scant. This study, therefore, sought to present experiential factors that influenced the early marriage of adolescent girls. Twenty-one married girls aged between 13 and 17 years were recruited from selected communities in the Northern region of Ghana using purposeful, convenient and snowball sampling techniques. Individual face-to-face in-depth interviews with a semi-structured interview guide were adopted for the collection of data. A generic inductive qualitative analysis method was used to analyse the accounts of their experiences. Three core themes emerged as reasons influencing participants’ decision to marry. Personal motivating factors focused on adolescent girls’ personal need for children, idleness, peer group comparison and love. Economically motivated reasons include poverty, the quest for a better life and enticement by men. Sociocultural reasons include teenage pregnancy, family pressure and societal views on marriage among others. Information on the motivations for marriage among adolescent girls may be relevant to policymakers and interventionists in developing measures and interventions that are tailored to the needs of individuals affected by the practice of child marriage.

School plays a crucial role in adolescent development and in the prevention of antisocial behaviors. This study focuses on five common antisocial behaviors within the school environment. Analysis was conducted with various groups of adolescents aged 11–16, including a normative sample of Spanish adolescents, and two samples of adolescents from high psychosocial risk areas: Polígono Sur (Seville, Spain), and IV Municipalità (Naples, Italy). The normative sample consisted of a representative group of Spanish adolescents who responded to the 2014 HBSC questionnaire, whereas data from Polígono Sur and IV Municipalità were collected specifically from these populations. The prevalence of each antisocial behavior was analyzed according to reference group, age, sex, and two key school adjustment variables: feelings about school and perceived school pressure. Additional analysis explored how these variables and their interactions contribute to variations in antisocial behavior. The findings offer valuable insight for designing prevention and intervention programs aimed at addressing antisocial behaviors within the school context.

Background

Adoption is typically considered an appropriate means of providing stability for children who have experienced developmental trauma and cannot live with their birth families. Unfortunately, in a small number of cases, adoptive parents are unable to continue to parent their child, and the family therefore experience adoption disruption. The present study explores the lived experiences of adoptive parents who have experienced adoption disruption in order to better understand the meaning they attach to these experiences.

Method

Six participants from England and Wales took part in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were conducted either remotely or in person on premises associated with an independent psychology practice. Interviews were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

Findings

Participants reported similar experiences of the adoption process and the associated challenges of parenting children who have experienced developmental trauma. Participants’ narratives were summarised using three overarching themes: (1) the relational identity of adoptive families; (2) adoptive parenting as a losing battle; and (3) adoption disruption as a journey of acceptance; comprising seven subthemes in total. Similarities and differences between participants’ meaning-making are described.

Conclusions

Participants’ meaning-making of adoption disruption is discussed in relation to previous literature, as well as theoretical concepts about idiocentrism, ecological systems theory and individual appraisals. The present study contributes to the growing body of literature that describes the determination of adoptive parents in light of significant challenges, and calls for better support for such families in order to help break transgenerational cycles of trauma.

Introduction

The association of adverse childhood experience (ACE) with physical and mental well-being is predominantly examined using a cumulative ACE score. However, less is known how different dimensions of adversity (e.g., threat and deprivation) may uniquely predict children’s mental health and development. We examined (i) whether two aspects of ACE – threat and deprivation – are differently associated with children’s anxiety, depression, and flourishing and (ii) whether family resilience and connection index (FRCI) moderates these associations.

Methods

We analyzed data from the National Survey of Children’s Health (2017–20). The analytic sample consisted of 81,626 children (6–17 years). Logistic regression with survey weights was used to obtain odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) adjusting for sociodemographic factors.

Results

The experience of threat-only ACE and deprivation-only ACE showed differential associations with anxiety, depression, and child flourishing. For example, children who experienced threat-only ACE had a 4.2-fold higher odds of depression (OR=4.2; 95 % CI: 3.37–5.24), and those who experienced deprivation-only ACE had a 2.4-fold (OR=2.4; 95 % CI: 1.98–2.92) higher odds of depression compared to those exposed to neither threat nor deprivation experience. Experiencing both a threat and deprivation showed larger than an additive association with all outcomes. Further, interaction models suggest that the associations of threat and deprivation-type ACE with all outcomes significantly differed by the levels of FRCI.

Conclusions

Threat and deprivation dimensions of adversity were differentially associated with mental health and flourishing outcomes in childhood. Family resilience appears to be protective against the negative effect of threat and deprivation dimensions of ACE on children’s mental health and developmental outcomes.

Background

Domestic (DV) is a significant social issue. Women and children who are displaced by violence in their homes often access shelters for critical support and housing. Support for the mother–child relationship can mitigate the impacts of trauma and enhance recovery. DV Shelters can play a role in provision of therapeutic approaches that strengthen the mother–child relationship however there is little evidence of these approaches being applied within the refuge environment.

Aims

This review explored the application of therapeutic interventions that support the mother–child relationship in DV shelters. A systematic scoping review was conducted to determine the therapeutic approaches that have been applied in DV shelters, their effectiveness and to describe the activities that strengthen the mother–child relationship following an incident of DV with a particular focus on play and art-based approaches.

Methods

A systematic search was conducted in six electronic databases (Medline, Embase, PsychInfo, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), SocINDEX and Web of Science). Twelve articles were included in the review. Findings were thematically synthesized using deductive coding against the research aims and inductively for findings in each paper.

Findings

The results of this study demonstrated that there is little recent evidence of the use of therapeutic interventions that support trauma recovery and strengthen the mother–child relationship in DV shelters. However, the small number of included studies demonstrated that there is some use of these therapeutic interventions and that these interventions with mothers and their children can provide essential safety and stabilization support, which lays the foundation for recovery from trauma.