Women’s Preferences for the Location of Abortion Services: A Pilot Study in Two Chicago Clinics

Between July and December 2006, 209 women at a university-based primary care center and a freestanding abortion clinic completed a verbally administered questionnaire in which they were asked their preference for the location of early abortion services. Sixty women seeking primary care services at the university-based clinic and 149 women seeking first-trimester abortion services at an abortion clinic completed the questionnaire. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of women surveyed at the university-based primary care facility and 69% at the abortion clinic indicated a preference for abortion services from their regular health care provider. A statistically significant association (P = 0.002) was found between comfort speaking with a regular health care provider about pregnancy prevention and preference for the provision of abortion services from a regular health care provider. Women may feel more comfortable undergoing an early abortion procedure with a provider with whom they have an established relationship. The integration of early abortion services into primary care practice may increase continuity of care among women seeking an abortion.     

Children’s Exposure to Metals: A Community-Initiated Study

In 2007, it was shown that the shipping of lead (Pb) through Esperance Port in Western Australia resulted in contamination and increased Pb concentrations in children. A clean-up strategy was implemented; however, little attention was given to other metals. In consultation with the community, a cross-sectional exposure study was designed. Thirty-nine children aged 1 to 12 years provided samples of hair, urine, drinking water, residential soil and dust. Concentrations of nickel (Ni) and Pb were low in biological and environmental samples. Hair aluminium (Al) (lower than the detection limit [DL] to 251 μg/g) and copper (Cu) (7 to 415 μg/g), as well as urinary Al (<DL to 210 μg/L), manganese (Mn) (<DL to 550 μg/L), and Cu (<DL to 87 μg/L), were increased for a small number of participants. Concentrations of nickel (Ni) in urine, soil, and dust decreased with increasing distance from the port, as did soil Pb concentrations. The results suggest exposure to Ni and Pb was limited in children at the time of sampling in 2009. Further investigation is required to determine the source(s) and significance of other increased metals concentrations.     

Non-Branded Food Placements in Children’s Entertainment Programs: A Content Analysis

ABSTRACT

Food messages transmitted in media are considered to affect children´s eating habits. Depending on the healthiness of the food messages, these food portrayals can be supportive or non-supportive in educational food content, affecting eventually childhood obesity. This study aims to analyze how food references present in children´s animated cartoons are depicted, considering not only their prevalence and prominence but also their educational nature which is measured by the overall message that is being transmitted. A content analysis of non- branded food placements was conducted on the basis of 25 international cartoon series for children (aged 3–12) with 4,790 minutes of viewing. A total of 1,065 food placements occurred with a rate of one placement approximately every five minutes. A balance was found between the frequency of low and highly-recommended consumption foods and the same happened considering the educational nature of the global message. When the target age and the country of origin were considered, the least educational messages predominated in those series aimed at the oldest children group and produced in North America. This study intends to contribute to the problem of childhood obesity by indicating the educational nature of the food messages that children are confronted with. As prevalence and prominence of non-supportive food placements to educational food content is high, policy makers should consider these findings when designing public policies that aim to prevent childhood obesity.     

Low-Income Women’s Feeding Practices and Perceptions of Dietary Guidance: A Qualitative Study

Objectives Describe themes characterizing feeding behaviors of low-income women participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and identify the attitudes, beliefs, and sources of information that inform these practices. Methods Formative research was conducted including focus groups and semi-structured individual phone interviews with a total of 68 low-income women participating in WIC. Qualitative data were recorded, transcribed, imported into NVivo 8.0, and analyzed for common themes. Results Mothers reported feeding behaviors inconsistent with guidance from WIC and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Three main themes were identified. First, mothers reported receiving conflicting messaging/advice from medical professionals, WIC nutritionists, and family members, which was confusing. Mothers also reported dissatisfaction with the “one size fits most” approach. Lastly, mothers reported relying on their “instincts” and that “all babies are different” when deciding and rationalizing what feeding guidance to follow. Conclusions Future interventions targeting this high-risk population should consider developing personalized (individualized) messaging, tailored to the needs of each mother–child dyad. Focused efforts are needed to build partnerships between WIC providers and other health care providers to provide more consistent messages about responsive feeding to prevent early obesity.     

Homeless Adolescents’ Perceptions of Positive Development: A Comparative Study

Background

While some recent research has addressed homeless youth from a strengths-based approach, comparative studies of homeless and non-homeless youth from a strengths perspective are few; research that includes youth’s views on positive youth development are also limited.

Objective

Addressing these gaps and using an inductive approach, adolescents’ views on positive development and their strengths were solicited. This study investigated the qualitative differences in views on doing well, strengths and positive development from two youth samples: youth who were homeless and resident youth involved in a 4-H program.

Methods

Thirty-eight adolescents participated in focus groups, including five groups from a homeless shelter and five groups from a 4-H program. Content analysis of the narrative responses was conducted.

Results

Differences between homeless and 4-H adolescents were found in the areas of happiness, family support, identity, personal strengths, and risk avoidance. Homeless youth revealed adaptation to limiting ecologies (e.g., non-supportive parents) as they sought out other supportive relationships instead and adjusted their views of happiness. Homeless adolescents demonstrated more internal self-awareness compared to 4-H adolescents.

Conclusions

By recognizing and capitalizing on the unique perspectives and strengths of adolescents from divergent environments, positive youth development and strengths-based programs and theory can more effectively benefit youth from diverse backgrounds. Understanding youth’s views that have normative and non-normative experiences (i.e., non-homeless and homeless) helps further expand the boundaries of developmental models and address how to promote thriving in youth from various contexts.

     

The Impact of Perinatal Depression on Children’s Social-Emotional Development: A Longitudinal Study

Maternal and Child Health Journal - Objectives This longitudinal population study aimed to investigate if maternal depression at different time points during the perinatal period impacts...     

North Carolina Latino Farmworkers’ Use of Traditional Healers: A Pilot Study

Farmworkers in the United States experience high rates of injury and illness but have limited access to conventional health care. Farmworkers are often from countries that have active traditional healers, so understanding the use of traditional healers among farmworkers is important. This pilot study (1) describes the use of traditional healers among farmworkers and (2) compares the use of traditional healers by farmworkers with other Latino immigrants. Interviews were conducted in 2015 with 100 Mexican farmworkers (80 men, 20 women) and 100 Mexican immigrant non-farmworkers (50 men, 50 women) in North Carolina. Most farmworkers (78%) had H-2A visas. More farmworkers (64%) than non-farmworkers (41%) had ever used traditional healers. Among farmworkers, 21% (vs. 11% of non-farmworkers) had used curanderos, 54% (vs. 32%) sobadores, 43% (vs. 21%) hueseros, 11% (vs. 13%) yerberos, and 4% (vs. 6%) espiritualistas. More farmworkers had used a traditional healer in the past year (16% vs. 8%), but fewer had used this healer in the United States (4% vs. 8%). Among all participants, males (58.5%) more than females (41.4%) (P = .0214), and returning to Mexico annually (64.1%) more than who do not (45.1%) (P = .0086) had ever used any traditional healer. This pilot study indicates the need for further research that documents the use of traditional healers by Latino farmworkers with diverse visa statuses, from countries in addition to Mexico, and in other regions in the United States. This research should also delineate the specific illnesses and injuries for which Latino farmworkers use traditional healers.     

Correlates of Mothers’ Perception of Their Communities’ Social Capital: A Community-Based Study

Psychosocial issues have been recognized as important factors in children’s health for decades. This study documents the relation among several important psychosocial variables (e.g., mothers’ depressive symptoms) and a new instrument that assesses parents’ perception of their communities’ social capital. Mothers were recruited from their children’s primary care (PC) pediatricians’ offices within the Southwestern Ohio Ambulatory Research Network or from a children’s hospital developmental clinic (DC). Mothers completed a questionnaire that included the Social Capital Scale (SCS), Children with Special Health Care Needs Screener (CSHCNS), Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, Maternal Social Support Index and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Mothers were sorted into three subgroups based on site of recruitment (PC or DC) and results of the CSHCNS. The sample (N = 620) was also sorted into terciles based on SCS scores. Mean SCS was about 73 for each of the three subgroups. Compared to mothers in the highest SCS tercile, mothers in the lowest SCS tercile reported lower education, lower income and higher CES-D median scores. The SCS subscale “sense of belonging” had an inverse correlation with CES-D scores (r = ?.248, p < 0.001). Mothers from primary care and sub-specialty clinics had similar perceptions about their communities’ social capital. Compared to mothers in the highest one third of SCS scores, mothers in the lowest one third were more likely to report less education and income as well as more depressive symptoms. A decreased sense of belonging in their communities was also correlated with more depressive symptoms. The SCS is a new useful tool for investigators and clinicians who work with children and their families.     

A National Perspective on Exploring Correlates of Accreditation in Children’s Mental Health Care

This study is the first to explore national accreditation rates and the relationship between accreditation status and organizational characteristics and quality indicators in children’s mental health. Data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) National Survey of Mental Health Treatment Facilities (NSMHTF) were used from 8,247 facilities that serve children and/or adolescents. Nearly 60% (n=4,925) of the facilities were accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA), the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), or The Joint Commission (TJC). Chi-square analyses were conducted to explore relationships. Compared to non-accredited facilities, more accredited facilities reported greater number of admissions, acceptance of government funding and client funds, and implementation of several quality indicators. Policies with incentives for accreditation could influence accreditation rates, and accreditation could influence quality indicators. These results set the foundation for future research about the drivers of the accreditation phenomenon and its impact on children’s mental health outcomes.     

A Review of Family and Social Determinants of Children’s Eating Patterns and Diet Quality

With the growing problem of childhood obesity, recent research has begun to focus on family and social influences on children’s eating patterns. Research has demonstrated that children’s eating patterns are strongly influenced by characteristics of both the physical and social environment. With regard to the physical environment, children are more likely to eat foods that are available and easily accessible, and they tend to eat greater quantities when larger portions are provided. Additionally, characteristics of the social environment, including various socioeconomic and sociocultural factors such as parents’ education, time constraints, and ethnicity influence the types of foods children eat. Mealtime structure is also an important factor related to children’s eating patterns. Mealtime structure includes social and physical characteristics of mealtimes including whether families eat together, TV-viewing during meals, and the source of foods (e.g., restaurants, schools). Parents also play a direct role in children’s eating patterns through their behaviors, attitudes, and feeding styles. Interventions aimed at improving children’s nutrition need to address the variety of social and physical factors that influence children’s eating patterns.     

An Inquiry of Children’s Social Support Networks Using Eco-Maps

Background

Children receive support for their learning and development from multiple sources and within various developmental contexts. The extant literature investigating children’s social supports has uncovered multiple benefits to positive and complex social support system. However, the measurement of children’s social supports has largely been accomplished through accessing knowledge of either a parent or child. In order to understand children’s support systems, which are embedded within multiple contexts and prejudiced by multiple influences, it is imperative to access all relevant perspectives.

Objective

This exploratory project was undertaken by a preschool teacher-researcher in order to understand the types of information eco-maps provide about children’s social support networks in an effort to support young children’s learning and development.

Methods

Eco-map interviews describing children’s social networks were completed by preschool-age children, their parents and their preschool teacher. Each informant identified the major people in the child’s support network, described relationships, and identified the type and developmental area of support provided by each individual. All the information was graphically represented within an eco-map using shapes and color coding to distinguish variations.

Results

Qualitative analysis of five children’s completed maps revealed three themes: agreement on an inner circle, different perspectives on the kinds of support provided, and children’s unique way of expressing support.

Conclusion

Eco-maps with children, parents, and teachers may contribute to educational research and practice through providing detailed information about children’s social support network through the identification of resources to support the development and learning of young children.     

Hispanic Parents of Overweight and Obese Children and Their Outcome Expectations for Children’s Television Viewing: A Qualitative Study

ObjectiveExplore parental outcome expectations (OE) regarding children’s television (TV) viewing among parents of overweight or obese children.MethodsQualitative study using semi-structured interviews with 20 parents of 5- to 8-year-old overweight or obese children.ResultsParent’s positive OE for allowing TV viewing were the convenience of using TV for entertainment or as a babysitter. Hispanic parents would limit children’s TV viewing to improve their children’s health, restrict content, and promote other activities. Negative OE such as children misbehavior and the loss of positive OE for allowing TV emerged as reasons parents may not limit TV.Conclusions and ImplicationsAlthough Hispanic parents expected to improve their child’s health by limiting TV, the negative OE may prevent them from doing so. Interventions targeting children’s TV viewing, as a strategy to fight childhood obesity, may be more effective if they promote parent’s positive OE and address parent’s negative OE for children’s TV viewing.     

A Doctor’s Foreign Accent Affects Perceptions of Competence

ABSTRACT

Many doctors work or train in foreign countries and speak with a foreign accent. People sometimes assume that a person who speaks with a foreign accent possesses negative traits and personality characteristics. The purpose of this study is to test if doctors who speak with a foreign accent are perceived as less competent than doctors who speak with a standard accent. Both Caucasian Canadian and Chinese Canadian undergraduates rated the competence of a doctor speaking English with either a standard Canadian accent or a Chinese accent. The doctor was delivering either good or bad news about the patient’s cholesterol levels or cancer. Previous research has shown that when reminded of death, participants favor in-group members. We found that the Chinese-accented doctor’s competence was judged more negatively than the standard Canadian accented doctor by all participants. Both doctors were deemed less competent when delivering bad news than good news. These results suggest that foreign-accented doctors face biases about their competence from their patients.     

Influence of Friends on Children’s Physical Activity: A Review

We examined evidence for friendship influences on children''s physical activity (PA) through systematic searches of online databases in May 2012. We identified 106 studies (25 qualitative) published in English since 2000 that analyzed indicators of friendship influences (e.g., communication about PA, friends’ PA, and PA with friends) among persons younger than 19 years.Children''s PA was positively associated with encouragement from friends (43 of 55 studies indicating a positive relationship), friends'' own PA (30/35), and engagement with friends in PA (9/10). These findings are consistent with friends influencing PA, but most studies did not isolate influence from other factors that could explain similarity.Understanding friendship influences in childhood can facilitate the promotion of lifelong healthy habits. PA with friends should be considered in health promotion programs.Extensive research has linked physical activity to health and inactivity to poor health, especially to obesity and other cardiometabolic problems such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.1–3 Increases in overweight, obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome among children and adolescents over the past few decades4–7 have stimulated a surge of research into possible contributing factors, including insufficient physical activity.8–10In spite of its health benefits, physical activity is declining around the world.11 In the United States, levels of physical activity in children and adolescents are not sufficient to promote optimal health.12 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that children and adolescents be active for at least 60 minutes per day, but in 2009, only 18.4% of adolescents reported this much physical activity and 23.1% of adolescents reported not participating in 60 minutes of physical activity on any day.13,14A factor that may affect health behaviors that has received increasing attention in recent years is social influence. Research has suggested that family, friends, and peers can guide behaviors such as smoking, sexual initiation, and eating behaviors.15–19 Influences from these close contacts can occur through social pressure, social modeling and imitation, social comparison, and behavior approximation.20 However, not all social relations are equally important: the closer and stronger the connection, the broader and stronger the possibilities for influence.21,22 Information transmitted from friends is generally more clearly understood and more likely to be internalized than is information from others, meaning that friends may be more influential than other social contacts,23–26 such as cliques and peer groups.24,27,28Although social influences on physical activity can occur throughout life, they are particularly important to study in children and adolescents, for several reasons. First, childhood and adolescence are a formative period when friends are a primary point of reference29,30 in deciding which behaviors, values, and attitudes are desirable and which activities warrant effort.31–34 Friends have been shown to affect timing of first sexual intercourse, drug use, delinquency, and educational attainment among adolescents.31,32,35–42 Second, physical activity tracks across life: activity levels during adolescence predict adult levels, and active children and adolescents are more likely to become active adults.43 Third, physical activity often decreases during adolescence, so children and adolescents may be the most important age groups to target for interventions to establish lifelong activity levels.44 Finally, the development of successful interventions to increase physical activity in children and adolescents requires an understanding of the unique determinants of physical activity at these ages.Quantifying the extent to which friends can promote or discourage physical activity is critical for understanding why physical activity levels are decreasing and for developing strategies to promote active lifestyles. We reviewed the literature to determine the role of friends in shaping physical activity among children and adolescents.     

Fathers’ Perceptions of Their Role in Family Mealtimes: A Grounded Theory Study

ObjectiveThis study examines how fathers negotiate the role of feeding with other family members, and how this both impacts and is shaped by the structure of mealtimes.DesignSix separate focus groups.SettingSouth East Queensland, Australia.ParticipantsFathers (N = 27) of children aged ≤12 years employed in blue-collar occupations or service industries.Phenomenon of InterestFathers’ perceptions of their role in family feeding.AnalysisGrounded theory.ResultsTwo major themes were identified: (1) mealtime structure, reflecting various arrangements and management procedures that give ultimate shape to mealtimes; and (2) division of labor, reflecting the work required to bring about such arrangements and how this work is allocated. These themes were interrelated and harmonized to create family mealtimes. Fathers felt that labor was assigned pragmatically; designated roles around feeding within the family facilitated structured mealtimes.Conclusions and ImplicationsFathers’ roles in balancing the labor and structured mealtimes to feed the family require further research attention, particularly across different family structures, to enhance their engagement in and contribution to the family meal environment. Offering cooking programs and meal planning education to fathers may support them in their different roles and enhance efficiency.