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Abstract Differences in social skills for youth with special needs were examined following participation in a residential summer camp. The data were collected between 2007 and 2013 from participants ages 3 to 22 (N = 1,392) at a summer camp in the Northeastern region of the United States. Mixed effect linear regression models were used to evaluate differences in social skills during a camper's first year as well as across multiple years of camp, and investigated age as a moderator as the camp served a wide age range. After one year of camp, participants of all ages showed significant increases in relationship building, self-control, self-help, communication, and positive attitude. Further, sustained improvement from year-to-year for those who attended multiple years was demonstrated. Finally, children who attended multiple summers had greater overall improvements than those who attended one year. The findings provide positive evidence that summer camps focused on improving social skills can be effective service programs for special needs populations and that these improvements can continue with multiple years of camp. Highlights • Youth with special needs improved in social skills after attending one year of a residential summer camp program. • Youth that attended multiple years continued to improve in social skills and sustained their improvements from year-to-year. • Youth that attended multiple years demonstrated greater overall social skills improvement than youth who attended one year. • Youth of all ages improved in social skills after attending the summer camp (i.e. age was not a moderator of the findings). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study prospectively evaluated cumulative early life perceived stress in relation to differential change in memory and perceptual speed from middle childhood to early adulthood. We aimed to identify periods of cognitive development susceptible to the effects of perceived stress among both adopted and nonadopted individuals. The sample consisted of participants in the Colorado Adoption Project (CAP, N = 690). Structured latent growth curves were fit to 4 memory outcomes as well as 1 perceptual speed outcome, which described nonlinear change between ages 9 and 30. Both adoption status and cumulative perceived stress indices served as predictors of the latent curves. The perceived stress indices were constructed from the Brooks-Gunn Life Events Scale for Adolescents, and reflected "upsettingness" ratings associated with the occurrence of particular life events during middle childhood (ages 9 to 12) and adolescence (ages 13 to 16). For memory and perceptual speed, cumulative perceived stress did not predict differential cognitive gains. However, differences in perceptual speed trajectories between nonadopted and adopted individuals were observed, with adopted individuals showing smaller gains. Although these findings provide no evidence that emergent variability in memory and perceptual speed trajectories by age 30 are explained by cumulative perceptions of stress in childhood and adolescence, further investigations regarding potential vulnerability across the life span are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactive digital game play is a popular activity of childhood. The current study examined metacognitive affordances provided by digital games for children 6- to 10-years-old. Fifteen games from five different genres were coded for features of interactivity, including level-of-control, feedback, and adaptivity. Parents reported time their child spent on each of these games, and children completed a measure of metacognitive awareness. Children's preference for different gaming environments were also examined. Results indicated that exposure to games high in interactive features was positively associated with children's metacognitive awareness. However, exposure to games with fewer interactive features was unrelated to metacognitive awareness. Game preferences did not differ by age or sex. These results support the hypothesis that different digital games provide children with differential opportunities for metacognitive experience and have implications for future research investigating interactive media and children's cognitive development during middle childhood. • A coding scheme was developed to evaluate and reliably code features of interactivity from recordings of game play. • Based on specific features within each game, games were reliably categorized as High Opportunity or Low Opportunity. • Gaming experience and game preferences in middle childhood were examined in relation to metacognition. • Children's prior experience with High and Low Opportunity games was differentially associated to their metacognition. • Children's metacognition differed based on gamer profiles created using both gaming experience and preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An automated wireless system (WS) for sleep monitoring was recently developed and validated for assessing nighttime sleep. Here, we aimed to evaluate the validity of the WS to correctly monitor daytime sleep during naps compared to polysomnography (PSG). We found that the WS underestimated wake, sleep onset latency, and wake after sleep onset. Meanwhile, it overestimated total sleep time, sleep efficiency, and duration of REM sleep. Sensitivity was moderate for wake (58.51%) and light sleep (66.92%) and strong for deep sleep (83.46%) and REM sleep (82.12%). These results demonstrated that the WS had a low ability to detect wake and systematically overscored REM sleep, implicating the WS as an inadequate substitute for PSG in diagnosing sleep disorders or for research in which sleep staging is essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This study is the first to assess the safety of Tdap vaccination among pregnant U.S. military women. • Tdap vaccine exposure was examined in the first trimester and between 27 and 36 weeks' gestation. • No increased risks for adverse maternal, fetal, or infant outcomes were detected. The tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine was approved for U.S. adults in 2005 and recommended for administration in every pregnancy in 2012, with optimal timing between 27 and 36 weeks' gestation. In the military, however, a current Tdap vaccination status is compulsory for service, and active duty women may be inadvertently exposed in early pregnancy. Safety data in this population are limited. To assess safety of inadvertent (0–13 weeks' gestation) and recommended (27–36 weeks' gestation) exposure to the Tdap vaccine in pregnancy. Pregnancies and live births from Department of Defense Birth and Infant Health Research program data were linked with military personnel immunization records to determine pregnancy Tdap vaccine exposure among active duty women, 2006–2014. Multivariable Cox and generalized linear regression models estimated associations between Tdap vaccine exposure and adverse pregnancy or infant outcomes. Of 145,883 pregnancies, 1272 were exposed to the Tdap vaccine in the first trimester and 9438 between 27 and 36 weeks' gestation. Neither inadvertent nor recommended vaccine exposure were associated with spontaneous abortion, preeclampsia, or preterm labor. Among 117,724 live born infants, 984 were exposed to the Tdap vaccine in the first trimester and 9352 between 27 and 36 weeks' gestation. First trimester exposure was not associated with birth defects, growth problems in utero, growth problems in infancy, preterm birth, or low birth weight. Tdap vaccine exposure between 27 and 36 weeks' gestation was not associated with any adverse infant outcome. Among a population of active duty women in the U.S. military who received the Tdap vaccine during pregnancy, we detected no increased risks for adverse maternal, fetal, or infant outcomes. Our findings corroborate existing literature on the safety of exposure to the Tdap vaccine in pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last 20 yrs have seen a marked increase in studies utilizing actigraphy in free-living environments. The aim of the present study is to directly compare two commercially available actigraph devices with concurrent polysomnography (PSG) during a daytime nap in healthy young adults. Thirty healthy young adults, ages 18-31 (mean 20.77 yrs, SD 3.14 yrs) simultaneously wore AW-64 and GT3X+ devices during a polysomnographically recorded nap. Mann-Whitney U (M-U) test, intraclass correlation coefficients, and Bland-Altman statistic were used to compare total sleep time (TST), sleep onset latency (SOL), wake after sleep onset (WASO), and sleep efficiency (SE) between the two actigraphs and PSG. Epoch-by-epoch (EBE) agreement was calculated to determine accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, predictive values for sleep (PVS) and wake (PVW), and kappa and prevalence- and bias-adjusted kappa (PABAK) coefficients. All frequency settings provided by the devices were examined. For both actigraphs, EBE analysis found accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, PVS, and PVW comparable to previous reports of other similar devices. Kappa and PABAK coefficients showed moderate to high agreement with PSG depending on device settings. The GT3X+ overestimated TST and SE, and underestimated SOL and WASO, whereas no significant difference was found between AW-64 and PSG. However, GT3X+ showed overall better EBE agreements to PSG than AW-64. We conclude that both actigraphs are valid and reliable devices for detecting sleep/wake diurnal patterns. The choice between devices should be based on several parameters as reliability, cost of the device, scoring algorithm, target population, experimental condition, and aims of the study (e.g., sleep and/or physical activity). (Author correspondence: smednick@ucr.edu) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]