Fathers of children with autism spectrum disorder: Their perceptions of paternal role a predictor of caregiving satisfaction,self-efficacy and burden

BackgroundThe positive effect of a father’s involvement in children’s upbringing is now recognised. However, research on fathers raising children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are still few. This study examines the relationship between the perception, fathers of children with ASD have of the importance of their role in the development of their children and the feelings (self-efficacy, caregiving burden, satisfaction) they express about their parenting experience.MethodSixty-three Swiss Italian fathers of children with ASD completed The Role of the Father Questionnaire (ROFQ), three sub-scales of the Caregiver Survey, a subtest of the Child Adjustment and Parent Efficacy Scale and a home-made questionnaire measuring Perceived Social Support.ResultsThe results from hierarchical multiple regression analyses show that the importance that fathers attach to the paternal role predicts positively their caregiving satisfaction and their feeling of self-efficacy. The children’s challenging behaviours predict positively the caregiving burden whereas the assessment of social support predicts it negatively.ConclusionsThe perception of the importance of the paternal role needs to be considered in the support offered to families with a child with ASD. A better understanding of the fathers’ feelings could be of value for the programmes.     

Children’s participative citizenship within the context of integral care and daily life

The concept of participation was reviewed as a component of children's citizenship in order to promote a programme for Integral Development. A narrative revision of the literature was carried out as well as a group discussion was organized along with the staff of an Integral Care Programme, in order to identify notions of democracy and child citizenship related to care and rearing. Some elements that favoured the child participation and some parenting skills were identified. Among the elements that must be encouraged in children are: the development of emotional, cognitive and communicative skills and promotion of decision-making; among the parent skills development included are: sensitivity and responsivity; establishing routines and participation experiences. It is important to stand out that the identified elements to promote child participation and parental competences should be adapted to every specific cultural context.     

Citizen minds,citizen bodies: the citizenship experience and the government of mentally ill persons

The concept of citizenship is becoming more and more prominent in specific fields, such as psychiatry/mental health, where it is constituted as a solution to the issues of exclusion, discrimination, and poverty often endured by the mentally ill. We argue that such discourse of citizenship represents a break in the history of psychiatry and constitutes a powerful strategy to counter the effects of equally powerful psychiatric labelling. However, we call into question the emancipatory promise of a citizenship agenda. Foucault's concept of governmentality is helpful in understanding the production of the citizen subject, its location within the ‘art of government’, as well as the ethical and political implications of citizenship in the context of mental health.     

Behavioural effects of selective μ-, κ-, and δ-opioid agonists in neonatal rats

The behavioural effects of selective -, - and -opioid agonists in 5-, 10- and 20-day-old rats were investigated by observational analysis. The predominant response to -agonists was behavioural depression. High doses (10 mg/kg IP) of morphine and DAGO (d-Ala², NMe-Phe⁴, Glyol⁵-enkephalin) produced overt sedation in all the age groups and also induced catalepsy which was particularly apparent in the 5- and 10-day-old animals. These compounds did not produce any signs of behavioural activation in the neonatal rats. In contrast, rat pups treated with the -agonists U50,488H and PD 117,302 (1,10 mg/kg IP) exhibited marked hyperactivity with increases in wall-climbing and locomotion. Sedative effects of the highest dose of the -agonists began to emerge, however, as the animals grew older, resulting in significant decreases in behaviours such as gnawing and grooming at 20 days of age. The -agonist (+)-tifluadom (0.1–10 mg/kg), but not its corresponding (-)-isomer, produced an increase in activity in 5-day-old rats, thus extending the observations made with U50,488H and PD 117,302 and establishing the stereoselective nature of the response. The involvement of -receptors in opioid-induced hyperactivity was further substantiated by using a variety of opioid antagonists. In this context, the increase in activity induced by U50,488H (10 mg/kg) in 5-day-old neonates was attenuated by naltrexone (1 mg/kg IP) but not by larger doses (10 mg/kg) of either M8008 (which has low affinity for -receptors) or the selective -receptor antagonist ICI 174,864. Finally, DPDPE (d-Pen², d-Pen⁵-enkephalin) which acts selectively at -opioid receptors, did not exert any behavioural effects in either the 5-, 10- or 20-day-old rat pups at doses of up to 10 mg/kg. These results demonstrate behavioural effects of - and -but not -agonists in neonatal rats. There is a clear differentiation between - and -receptor effects and both - and -mediated behaviours show dissimilarities from the adult profile.     

Unexpected potentiation by discriminant benzamide derivatives of stereotyped behaviours elicited by dopamine agonists in mice

Summary Among four stereotyped manifestations that can be simultaneously quantified in mice treated with apomorphine (APO), two of them (climbing and sniffing) emerge at low APO dosages (below 1 mg/kg) whereas licking and sniffing require APO dosages above 6 mg/kg. However, in mice pretreated (either i.p. or i.c.v.) with sulpiride (especially the levo isomer) or (±)amisulpride in moderate dosage stereotyped licking and sniffing are elicited by APO in much lower dosage (0.75 mg/kg). As a consequence, in mice pretreated with these benzamide derivatives and receiving 0.75 mg/kg APO, a biphasic effect was observed: licking and gnawing progressively appear at low dosages, whereas they are progressively abolished at higher dosages.This potentiation of the effects of APO by (±)amisulpride is even more obvious (maximal scores increased) with larger test-doses of the dopamine agonist (up to 5 mg/kg). Amisulpride also allows the emergence of the two stereotyped behaviours in mice receiving other dopamine agonists in subthreshold dosages (Dipropyl 5,6-ADTN, dexamphetamine or cocaine). The potentation of APO is still observed after dopamine depletion by reserpine and -methylparatyrosine, whereas that of dexamphetamine is abolished. In contrast with the benzamide derivatives, haloperidol does not potentiate at any dosage the effect of APO but, at 0.15 mg/kg, suppresses licking and gnawing elicited by 0.75 mg/kg APO in mice pretreated with 6.25 mg/kg amisulpride or veralipride.Among a series of dopamine antagonists belonging to various chemical classes, only a number of discriminant benzamide derivatives (DBD), previously shown to differentially antagonise several APO-induced behavioural manifestations in rats (sulpiride, amisulpride, tiapride, sultopride, DO 701, LUR 2366 but not metoclopramide) potentiate APO (0.75 mg/kg) regarding licking and gnawing. In contrast, potentiation is not observed, even for a higher test dose of APO, with haloperidol, thioproperazine, pimozide, mezilamine, thioridazine or metoclopramide at any dosage tested.For the various DBD, the two stereotyped behaviours emerge at dosages at which climbing starts to be inhibited, suggesting that selective blockade of some inhibitory response to APO is responsible for the potentiation. Among other hypothesis the possibility that the peculiar behavioural properties of DBD is related to their differential recognition of two classes of dopaminergic binding sites is discussed.     

Stakeholder experiences of using online spatial data visualisation tools for local public health decision support: A qualitative study

The distribution of food outlets within towns and cities and the provision of active travel infrastructure have been associated with health behaviours that can contribute to obesity risk. Decision-makers describe a lack of local data and research evidence as a barrier to policy adoption to improve the public's health. Online spatial data visualisation tools created by researchers can help to bridge this gap. We explored stakeholder experiences of using such tools for decision-support, with a focus on facilitators and barriers to use. We conducted 16 qualitative interviews with Public Health, Planning and Transport Planning professionals, who had used two recently-developed tools. Participants described the importance of tools being open access; their use in “story-telling”, particularly to non-experts; and more broadly their use even when imperfect. They expressed that ‘robustness’ of underpinning data was important, however this was not easily defined. Participants employed personal heuristics, principally based on endorsement and developer credibility, to determine suitability for use. We present key learning points for future developers to maximise engagement and impact.     

The relevance of ethnographic understanding to Aboriginal anti-grog initiatives

Aboriginal initiatives to “beat the grog” may or may not draw on ethnographies of Aboriginal drinking behaviour. The deeper reason for this uncertainty has to do with fundamental ideas of citizenship and (self) governance. What is the relevance of “culture” to individual responsibility? This paper reviews this question at three levels; the political debate about “rights” and “responsibility”, ethnographic depictions of Aborigines as both group-dominated and individualistic, and through one Aboriginal organization's embracing of the perspectives of Alcoholic's Anonymous.