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AbstractWe tested a novel implied peer knowledge paradigm in which both child witnesses and child recipients (children who previously received a disclosure from a witness) were able to infer, with varying degrees of saliency, the likelihood that an adult interviewer would hear about a negative transgression from a peer and adjust their disclosure strategy accordingly. We tracked children’s disclosures (N = 418; aged 6-12 years; Mage = 8.91 years, SD = 1.37) across two interviews and found that providing a verbal notice of implied knowledge to child disclosure recipients (not child witnesses) that a peer who had previously disclosed to them would also be talking to an adult increased their disclosure rates. This study adds to a small body of work examining patterns of disclosure transmissions from witnesses to peers to adults, which is frequently observed in situations of child sexual abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a nuclear or radiological event, an early diagnostic or prognostic tool is needed to distinguish unexposed from low- and highly exposed individuals with the latter requiring early and intensive medical care. Radiation-induced gene expression (GE) changes observed within hours and days after irradiation have shown potential to serve as biomarkers for either dose reconstruction (retrospective dosimetry) or the prediction of consecutively occurring acute or chronic health effects. The advantage of GE markers lies in their capability for early (1–3 days after irradiation), high-throughput, and point-of-care (POC) diagnosis required for the prediction of the acute radiation syndrome (ARS). As a key session of the ConRad conference in 2021, experts from different institutions were invited to provide state-of-the-art information on a range of topics including: (1) Biodosimetry: What are the current efforts to enhance the applicability of this method to perform retrospective biodosimetry? (2) Effect prediction: Can we apply radiation-induced GE changes for prediction of acute health effects as an approach, complementary to and integrating retrospective dose estimation? (3) High-throughput and point-of-care diagnostics: What are the current developments to make the GE approach applicable as a high-throughput as well as a POC diagnostic platform? (4) Low level radiation: What is the lowest dose range where GE can be used for biodosimetry purposes? (5) Methodological considerations: Different aspects of radiation-induced GE related to more detailed analysis of exons, transcripts and next-generation sequencing (NGS) were reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the feasibility of conducting a definitive randomised trial to evaluate the efficacy of custom-fitted footwear for increasing physical activity in children and adolescents with Down syndrome. Assessor-blinded, parallel-group randomised pilot study. Thirty-three children and adolescents with Down syndrome were randomly allocated to a custom-fitted footwear group (Clarks® footwear) or a wait-list control group. Six feasibility domains were evaluated at baseline, 6 and 12 weeks; demand (recruitment), implementation (co-interventions and adherence), acceptability, practicality (adverse events), limited efficacy testing (physical activity, disability associated with foot and ankle problems, and gait parameters), and adaptation (shoe-fit). Three participants were recruited per month. The use of co-interventions was common with six control group participants purchasing new footwear during the study. Mean adherence was 35 h/week in the custom-fitted footwear group, and there were few minor adverse events. There were trends for differences in physical activity favouring the custom-fitted footwear, but no trends for differences in disability associated with foot and ankle problems or gait parameters. The fit of the custom-fitted footwear was no better than participants' regular footwear. A definitive randomised trial is feasible. However, recruitment, use of co-interventions and footwear fit need further consideration. Conducting a definitive randomised trial to determine the efficacy of custom-fitted footwear in increasing physical activity in children and adolescents with Down syndrome is feasible. Custom-fitted footwear may improve physical activity in children and adolescents with Down syndrome. Commercially available footwear may not be suitable for children and adolescents with Down syndrome due to their unique foot shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peers are common recipients of disclosures about negative events, but the transmission of peer disclosures to adults is not well understood. We explored children's (N = 352; aged 6–11 years) disclosures of a negative event to peer and adult interviewers. Some children witnessed an adult transgression and were asked to keep the transgression a secret (witnesses). Some of these witnesses (peer-interviewed witnesses) were then interviewed by peer who had not witnessed the event (peer interviewers) and then by an adult. The remainder of the witnesses (control) were only interviewed by an adult. Peer interviewers who received a disclosure were likely to share the disclosure with an adult and were significantly more likely to do so than children in either witness condition. Although the probability of disclosure transmission likely depends on context, this study provides the first evidence of peer recipients' willingness to disclose to adults at a high rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined younger (18–30 years, N = 100) and older adults' (66–89 years, N = 100) responses to a jury duty questionnaire assessing perceptions of jury duty, their capability to serve, and the capability of older adults to serve. We also explored perceptions of the senior jury opt-out law (a law that allows those over a certain age (e.g. 65 years) to opt-out of jury duty). We assessed why participants believe this law is in place and experimentally examined if informing older adults about this law impacted their jury questionnaire responses. Results demonstrated that older adults were significantly more likely to want to serve compared to younger adults; however, younger adults provided lower capability ratings of older adult jurors compared to older adults. Younger adults' open-ended explanations for these ratings indicated negative aging stereotypes (i.e. in part, believing that older adult jurors are less capable because of declining health and biased beliefs). Older adults also had a significantly lower rate of agreement with the senior jury opt-out law. Although informing older adults about this law did not impact their perceptions of themselves as potential jurors, it did enforce more negative attitudes towards older adult jurors as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the taboo of love in the case of children in care. Love can often become a taboo for these children, something they unconsciously forbid themselves from experiencing due to fears of further loss and pain. Love can also become a taboo for the adults working with looked after children, including psychotherapists. The author presents her work with individual looked after children and with the professional network around them. She proposes that love tends not to be a central theme in the care system, despite its relevance to children who have often not experienced adequate love in their early lives. The implication of this proposition is that such children, who may have never known love, or who may have had a distorted experience of love, may be at risk of remaining unloved within the care system, which could seriously compromise their development. The author calls for more support for professionals, so that they can be facilitated to perform their vital work in promoting a loving approach in the system around children in care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has examined young and middle-aged adults' perceptions of child witnesses; however, no research to date has examined how potential older adult jurors may perceive a child witness. The present investigation examined younger (18–30 years, N = 100) and older adults' (66–89 years, N = 100) lie-detection and credibility judgments when viewing children's truthful and dishonest reports. Participants viewed eight child interview videos where children (9–11 years of age) either provided a truthful report or a coached fabricated report to conceal a transgression. Participants provided lie-detection judgments following all eight videos and credibility assessments following the first two videos. Participants completed a General Lifespan Credibility questionnaire to assess credibility evaluations across various witness ages. Lie-detection results indicated that older adults had significantly lower discrimination scores, a stronger truth bias, and greater confidence compared to younger adults. Older adults also rated children as more competent to testify in court, credible, honest, believable, and likeable than younger adults. Participants with greater differences in their credibility evaluations for truth and lie-tellers were significantly more accurate at detecting lies. Responses to the Lifespan Credibility questionnaire revealed significant differences in younger and older adults' credibility evaluations across the lifespan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined adults' (N = 295) interpretations of child witnesses' referentially ambiguous "yes" and "no" responses to "Do You Know/Remember (DYK/R) if/whether" questions (e.g. "Do you know if it was blue?"). Participants were presented with transcripts from child sexual abuse cases modified based on question format (DYK/R vs. Direct) and child response type (Yes, No, I don't know) in a between subjects design. We assessed whether adults recognized that children's ambiguous responses were unclear, and if not, how they were interpreting children's responses compared to the control (Direct) conditions. More specifically, we assessed whether adults interpreted children's responses as answering the explicit (e.g. "No, I don't remember") or implicit (e.g. "No, it wasn't blue") question. Participants virtually never recognized ambiguous responses as unclear, and their interpretations were influenced by the attorney's question and child's response type. In sum, these results suggest that DYK/R questions often lead to misinterpretation, resulting in miscommunication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work of crafting sustainable solutions to complex policy problems requires decision makers and implementers to secure buy-in from a diverse set of stakeholders. Those stakeholders operate in policy ecosystems that span public, for-profit, nonprofit, and entrepreneurial sectors. This increasingly complex landscape requires schools of public affairs, policy, and administration to reconsider how to provide graduates with more advanced and integrated skill sets than ever before. Since 2013, several groups of public and educational leaders have met to discuss this challenge, culminating in a collective redesign effort driven to imagine a new public service education curriculum. This essay highlights core issues identified in collective discussions, and then proposes four principles to drive the curricular redesign process: (1) build sustained partnerships between public and educational sectors, (2) focus on competency-based learning, (3) instill a lifelong learning mind-set in students, and (4) integrate new modalities for learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundFoot problems may limit physical activity in children with Down syndrome. This prospective cohort study investigated the association of foot posture, deformity, and footwear fit with activity. MethodFoot posture of 50 children with Down syndrome (22 girls, 28 boys;Mage = 10.5 years) was assessed using the arch index and deformities were documented. Footwear fit compared the difference in length and width of shoes with participants’ feet. Physical activity was measured using accelerometers. ResultsMean arch index (0.29 ± 0.08) was indicative of flat feet. Footwear fit was too short for five participants, too long for 26 participants, and too narrow for 29 participants. Regression analysis for the 20 participants adherent with wearing an accelerometer found no association of foot posture or deformity with activity. Footwear fit was negatively associated with activity (p = .03). ConclusionPreliminary data suggest poor footwear fit is associated with reduced physical activity in children with Down syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Prior studies have demonstrated that social-cognitive factors such as children’s false-belief understanding and parenting style are related to children’s lie-telling behaviors. The present study aimed to investigate how earlier forms of theory-of-mind understanding contribute to children’s lie-telling as well as how parenting practices are related to children’s antisocial lie-telling behaviors (rather than prosocial lie-telling as examined in previous studies). Seventy-three three-year-olds from Hangzhou, P. R. China were asked not to peek at a toy in the experimenter’s absence. The majority of children who peeked, lied about it. Children’s lies were positively related to performance on the knowledge-ignorance theory-of-mind task. Additionally, Control parenting, characterized by high levels of monitoring and demanding, unquestioning obedience, was negatively related to three-year-olds’ lying. The relation between Control parenting and lie-telling was partially mediated by children’s theory-of-mind understanding. These findings suggest that children’s early lie-telling behaviors are influenced by social and social-cognitive factors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author offers commentary on the case of psychotherapy for an adopted girl who was abused or witnessed domestic abuse with her birth mother, and who the author suggests may be in a constant state of anxiety and who has lost trust for adults. The girl's play behavior, symbolic thinking, and attachment to her adoptive mother are discussed, as well as her relationship with her therapist, her fear, and her destructive emotions.

This paper draws on my doctoral research study based on consulting work with three primary school Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCos) that took place in 2008. The study examined the interactions that arose in the consultations with the SENCos and their staff. The findings that emerged from the application of Grounded Theory research methodology showed that the consultant, the SENCos and the children for whom they were responsible all felt on the edge of school life. SENCos and their staff were subject on a daily basis to powerful projections from children who were unable to tolerate difficult feelings and they were at risk of becoming identified with these feelings. The consultant in turn was the recipient of powerful projections from the SENCos. These complex dynamics of projective identification are examined in the study. The question of how SENCos and staff can better support children on the edge of exclusion with these unregulated feeling states is discussed. It is proposed that senior management teams and policy makers are essential in putting the SENCo role more at the centre of schools, both physically and in terms of how it is perceived. The need for access to a consultant who can help SENCos to understand and process extreme feelings is recommended as a way forward. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Addressing inequalities in health has featured strongly in UK health care policy over recent years, and efforts to consider inequalities at 'ground level' are increasingly evident. This includes enhancing primary care and other community-based services and emphasising consultation at community levels. The Healthy Living Approach to community development in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, was initiated and evaluated as part of the Welsh Assembly Government's Sustainable Health Action Research Programme (SHARP). As part of that programme an action research project was organised to respond to a context of funding and service delivery coloured by rural isolation, social exclusion and poor health. The project was adopted in three marginal communities and was evaluated using multiple methods to understand the effects of the initiative and how well it was seen to have worked. This paper reports on one aspect of that evaluation: focus groups with Project Steering Group members that examined the impact of the intervention from the perspective of those involved in the study's implementation. The paper highlights the perceived impact on community members and study organisers, the process of liaison between community and statutory body advisers and the appropriateness of the methodology. There was overwhelming support for the project and agreement that action research was the only feasible working methodology. The results offer insider views on the potential for 'healthy living' community interventions to enable communities to engage with locally defined health issues, but sets a note of caution about being able to achieve real and sustainable change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research examined how contextual/coaching information and interview format influenced adults’ ability to detect children’s lies. Participants viewed a series of child interview videos where children provided either a truthful report or a deceptive report to conceal a co-transgression; participants reported if they thought each child was lying or telling the truth. In Study 1 (N = 400), participants were assigned to one of the following conditions that varied in the type of interview shown and if context about the event in question was provided: full interview + context, recall questions + context, recognition questions + context, or full interview only (no context). Providing context (information about the potential co-transgression and coaching) significantly enhanced overall and lie accuracy, but this served the greatest benefit when provided with the recall interview, and participants held a lie bias. In Study 2 (N = 100), participants watched the full interview with simplified coaching information. Detection accuracy was reduced slightly but remained well above chance and the lie bias was eliminated. Thus, detection performance is improved when participants are given a child’s free-recall interview along with background information on the event and potential coaching, though providing specific coaching details introduces a lie bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study assessed how accurate adults are at detecting fraudulent e-mail activity. A total of 100 younger (18–26 years) and 96 older adults (60–90 years) categorized a series of e-mails as legitimate or fraudulent phishing schemes and self-reported their fraud experiences. Younger and older adults did not differ in accuracy rates when categorizing the e-mails (72%), but older adults used a “high-suspicion” strategy where they were more likely to mislabel a legitimate e-mail as fraudulent compared to younger adults. Younger adults were less likely to be targeted by fraud than older adults, but the groups were victimized at similar rates. Being a prior fraud victim negatively related to e-mail detection performance, but this differed across age groups and the extent of fraud experience. Together, these results provide insight into the relation between fraud experience and the ability to detect e-mail scams and can inform fraud prevention and education initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]