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This study aimed to obtain consensus on physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) policy items for use in Canadian childcare settings. Purposeful sampling of Canadian experts in PA/SB (n = 19) and Early Childhood Education (ECE; n = 20) was used to form two distinct (i.e., PA/SB and ECE) panels for a 3-round Delphi study. In round 1, the PA/SB experts suggested their top 10 items for a Canadian childcare PA/SB policy. Policy items were then pooled to generate a list of 24 unique items. In round 2, experts in both panels rated the importance of the 24 policy items using a 7-point Likert scale (i.e., 1 = "Not at all important" to 7 = "Extremely important"). The ECE panel was also asked to report on the feasibility of the policy items using a 4-point Likert scale (i.e., 1 = "Not at all feasible" to 4 = "Very feasible"). Policy items that received an interquartile deviation (IQD) score of [less than or equal to] 1 (indicating consensus) and a median score of [greater than or equal to] 6 (indicating importance) in both panels were considered shared priorities. In round 3, members of both panels re-rated the importance of the policy items that did not achieve consensus among their respective panel in round 2 and were asked to order items based on importance. Descriptive statistics were used to assess feasibility of policy items, and differences in panel ratings were quantified using Mann Whitney U tests. Consensus was achieved for 23 policy items in the PA/SB panel and 17 items in the ECE panel. Overall, 15 shared priorities were identified (e.g., provide 120 min of outdoor time per day, sedentary behaviour should not be used as a punishment), and six policy items exhibited a statistical difference in ratings across panels. Members of the ECE panel indicated that the policy item, "children should be permitted to go outside whenever they want, for as long as they want" (M = 1.78; SD = 0.65) was lowest in terms of feasibility, and the policy item, "children should receive opportunities to engage in both unstructured and structured physical activity opportunities daily" (M = 3.89; SD = 0.32) was the most feasible for daily implementation. Findings from this study can inform the development of an expert-generated and feasibility-informed institutional PA/SB policy for use in Canadian childcare settings.

Adults are skilled at using language to construct/negotiate identity and to signal affiliation with others, but little is known about how these abilities develop in children. Clearly, children mirror statistical patterns in their local environment (e.g., Canadian children using "zed" instead of "zee"), but do they flexibly adapt their linguistic choices on the fly in response to the choices of different peers? To address this question, we examined the effect of group membership on 7- to 9-year-olds' labeling of objects in a trivia game, exploring whether they were more likely to use a particular label (e.g., "sofa" vs. "couch") if members of their "team" also used that label. In a preregistered study, children (N = 72) were assigned to a team (red or green) and were asked during experimental trials to answer questions--which had multiple possible answers (e.g., "blackboard" or "chalkboard")--after hearing two teammates and two opponents respond to the same question. Results showed that children were significantly more likely to produce labels less commonly used by the community (i.e., dispreferred labels) when their teammates had produced those labels. Crucially, this effect was tied to group membership, and could not be explained by children simply repeating the most recently used label. These findings demonstrate how social processes (i.e., group membership) can guide linguistic variation in children.

Significant barriers to training have been introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting in-person professional activities resulting in the development of the novel remote training. We developed and evaluated a remote training approach for master trainers of the Caregiver Skills Training Program. Master trainers support community practitioners, who in turn deliver the Caregiver Skills Training program to caregivers of children with developmental delays or disabilities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the remote training of master trainers on Caregiver Skills Training Program. Twelve out of the 19 practitioners who enrolled in the training completed the study. The training consisted of a 5-day in-person session completed prior to the pandemic, followed by supporting participants' ability to identify Caregiver Skills Training Program strategies through supported coding of seven video recordings over 7 weekly meetings and group discussions and ended with participants independently coding a set of 10 videos for Caregiver Skills Training Program strategies. We found that master trainers' scoring reliability varied over 7 weeks of supported coding. All but one participant reached moderate or good independent scoring reliability despite a lack of ability to practice the Caregiver Skills Training Program strategies with children due to the pandemic. Taken together, our findings illustrate the feasibility and value of remote training approaches in implementing interventions.

The goals of this study were to investigate (a) the dyadic relations of mothers' and children's perceptions of children's anxiety symptoms across development, (b) whether maternal perceptions of children's anxiety serve as a mediator of the association between maternal anxiety and child anxiety, and (c) whether sensitive/structured parenting moderates these processes. Participants were 180 mother-child dyads (96 female) recruited from Quebec, Canada, and assessed in preschool, middle childhood, and early adolescence. Mothers and children completed questionnaires on children's anxiety, and mothers additionally completed a questionnaire on their own anxiety. Maternal sensitivity/structuring was assessed from an observed interaction task. Results from an actor-partner interdependence model suggest (a) maternal perceptions of children's anxiety in middle childhood predict children's self-perceptions in adolescence, but not vice versa; (b) maternal perceptions in middle childhood mediate the link between maternal anxiety in early childhood and child self-perceptions of anxiety in adolescence; and (c) the indirect effect of maternal perceptions is moderated by maternal sensitivity/structuring such that mothers who perceived more anxiety in their children and who were observed to show lower levels of sensitivity/structuring in middle childhood tended to have children who perceived more anxiety in adolescence. Findings suggest that maternal awareness of children's anxiety may be one mechanism, in the presence of relationships characterized by lower levels of sensitivity, through which anxiety risk is transferred from parent to child over time.

Background: Most health and developmental issues affecting young people are interrelated. However, few interventions address multiple behavioral domains simultaneously or are based on theories that encompass a holistic perspective of youth development. Aim: The purpose of this scoping review was to identify and describe the range of theory-based, multibehavioral health interventions aimed at improving two or more of the following behavioral youth outcomes: (1) sexual and reproductive health; (2) education and employment; (3) violence; and (4) substance use. Methods: Interventions conducted worldwide and published in English or Spanish between January 2000 and July 2020 were identified using four databases: PubMed, PsycINFO, LILACS, and SciELO. Results: A total of 11,084 articles were identified, of which 477 were retrieved and assessed for eligibility. Twenty-three articles (evaluating 21 interventions) ultimately met the inclusion criteria. Most interventions were conducted in the United States and addressed two behavioral domains of interest, although seven interventions incorporated three domains, and one incorporated all four. Substance use was the most common domain (16 interventions) but only in the United States/Canada, followed by sexual and reproductive health (14 interventions). All produced significant improvement in at least one outcome or for at least one subgroup of youth. The most common theoretical foundations were positive youth development and social learning theory. Conclusion: Integrated interventions that are theory based and evidence informed can support positive development and empower youth to make healthy decisions. Further efforts are needed to address structural and policy issues that affect young people's developmental opportunities and health outcomes.

A strength-based approach to childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) research highlights children's positive attributes that can support their areas of difficulty. However, research on perceptions of a child's positive attributes is understudied. Specifically, there is little research that examines strength-based perceptions of children with ADHD, and only one known article addresses parent perceptions of their children with ADHD. As such, this study analyzed parent and child-reported strengths in children with ADHD. Parent and child-reported strengths were measured using the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale--Second edition, Parent Form and Child Form (BERS-2). Results indicated that parents and children perceived strengths in the interpersonal, intrapersonal, and affective domains to be similar, falling in the Average range. However, children indicated their family involvement and school functioning fell within the Average range, whereas parents rated these domains below average. Positive parental perspectives of their children may promote positive parent-child interactions and serve as an overall protective factor for children with ADHD. Domains which parents and children see as strengths should be utilized to support areas of weakness. Strength-based research for children with ADHD and positive interventions utilizing strengths may benefit families with ADHD, as well as classroom teachers and school psychologists.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong condition characterized by restrictive, repetitive patterns of behaviour, and impairments in social communication. Various forms of physical activity, including dance, have shown to improve ASD symptoms among children. The study's purpose was twofold: to examine the lived experiences of a family with a child with ASD, in order to examine family functioning and the effects of the child's participation in a dance programme. The family unit and dance instructor participated in one-on-one semi-structured interviews, which included a myriad of questions about the family, and the child's participation in a recreational dance programme. One salient main theme that emerged was Dance, Dance, Dance, with three subthemes: (1) 'Home Away from Home' (studio as a representation of home), (2) Growing as a Person (physically, emotionally, socially), and (3) Lessons Learned (bidirectional learning between student and teacher). Dance provided many benefits to the child, including improvements in social and listening skills, as well as confidence. Further, dance allowed the child to grow socially and personally. This study may act as a support for other families faced with an ASD diagnosis, as well as highlight the benefits of recreational dance programmes for children with ASD.

Emerging research shows that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may improve mental health for caregivers. Parents of autistic children, adolescents, and adults (N = 54) were randomly assigned to either complete a brief group-based ACT intervention or remain on the waitlist. Participants completed surveys immediately prior to randomization, and 3-, 7-, and 17-weeks post-randomization. The primary outcome was depression symptoms and secondary outcomes included stress, goal attainment, positive affect, ACT psychological processes, child mental health, and family functioning. Mixed effects linear models testing Group × Time interaction indicated the Treatment group (n = 27) demonstrated greater post-intervention improvements than the Waitlist group (n = 27) in parent depression (p = 0.03, d = -0.64) and family distress (p = 0.04, d = -0.57). Treatment group parents also reported greater short-term gains in positive affect (p =< 0.001, d = 0.77) and personal goal attainment (p = 0.007, d = 0.80), compared to the Waitlist group. Although there was no significant Group × Time interaction for other outcomes, stress (b = -2.58, p = 0.01), defusion (b = -3.78, p = 0.001), and experiential avoidance (b = -4.22, p = 0.01) showed improvement for the Treatment group, but not the Waitlist group, at post-intervention. All Treatment group improvements were maintained at follow-up. Results suggest that a brief ACT group intervention is efficacious for improving some aspects of mental health for parents of autistic children.

Reading confers significant benefits to children in both social and academic domains. However, the number of children who read for pleasure is decreasing and has been shown to drop significantly between the ages of 8 and 9. Despite the rising popularity of audiobooks and podcasts, research on children's listening to spoken stories remains in its infancy. Thus, the present study explores how children engage with these realtively novel media. Fifty-two parents of children aged 8-13 years completed an online survey that asked about their children's listening habits. Results showed that 74% of children listen to spoken stories, with the vast majority (92.5%) listening at least 1-2 times per week. While the survey revealed children are engaging with both podcasts and audiobooks, being read aloud to continues to be the most popular format for story listening in this age group (77.4% of listeners). Across platforms, the genre most frequently listened to was fantasy stories (84.9%; more detailed descriptions of popular themes and sub-themes are described in text). In sum, access to technology is becoming an increasingly important part of children's lives. The data described here provide a timely perspective and a basis for informed studies of listening engagement in children.

This study investigated the relationship between traumatic life stress, trust, and prosocial behavior as a positive mental health outcome in Syrian refugee children in Canada. Trust is a resilience factor shown to promote adjustment after resettlement. The specific goals of the study were to test the influence of refugee children's traumatic life stress on their prosocial behavior and the mediating role of trust in this link. Five- to 12-year-old Syrian refugee children (N = 124) and their caregivers (N = 51) who recently resettled in Canada participated in this study. Children retrospectively reported their experiences of traumatic life stressors, and caregivers reported their children's current level of trust and prosocial behavior using questionnaires. Traumatic life stress (e.g., witnessing violence and conflict, separation from family, death of family members) was negatively related to refugee children's trust in others, while trust was related to more prosocial behaviors, confirming its mediating role. These results suggest that experiencing more traumatic life stressors is associated with less prosocial behaviors as a positive mental health outcome through lower levels of trust. The current findings suggest that fostering trust may be a promising avenue for intervention to promote prosocial behavior and resilience in refugee children who are resettling in a new society.

Curiosity and creativity are crucial for children's learning and engagement within their worlds. However, research on creative teaching that also addresses children's curiosity is quite limited. In this case study, we adopted visual methods in combination with video-stimulated recall dialogue (VSRD) to explore children's experiences in a Forest School (FS) program in Southern Ontario. As researchers, we were particularly interested in the nexus of children's curiosity and creativity in the process of learning. Participating children, aged 6-12 years, wore GoPro cameras to document their lived experiences in the FS. Informed by constructivism, we examined data vignettes, querying the role of curiosity and creativity within children's entanglements in the natural environment. The results indicate that open-ended materials within nature invited and sustained curiosity and creativity. Children tended to gravitate to the complexity and ambiguity offered within the natural environment. The research findings have implications for educators, namely the importance of the choice of materials and approaches to support and prioritize children's curiosity and creativity in learning processes. Implications for inviting educators to capitalize upon inquiry moments and the unknown were also evident.

Children who show elevated levels of indirect aggression (IA) from childhood to adolescence are at increased risks of experiencing detrimental outcomes. Some studies suggest that psychopathic traits could act as a predisposing vulnerability in the development of IA, but the contributions of all three dimensions of psychopathic traits in explaining developmental trajectories of IA from childhood to adolescence remain unclear. This study aimed to determine if the three dimensions of psychopathic traits during childhood (i.e., callous-unemotional, narcissism-grandiosity, and impulsivity-irresponsibility at 6-9 years old) increase the risk of following a high IA trajectory across preadolescence, and whether sex moderated these associations. Participants were 744 children (47% girls; 93% born in Quebec, Canada, and over 50% from low socioeconomic backgrounds) assessed annually over 5 years. Approximately half of them (n = 370; 40.3% girls) were referred to school-based services for conduct problems (CP) at study intake. Latent class growth analyses revealed four developmental trajectories of IA, which were regressed on psychopathic traits dimensions using a three-step approach. After adjusting for demographic confounders, CP, and other dimensions of psychopathic traits, only narcissism-grandiosity traits significantly predicted memberships to a high and stable trajectory of IA use. The associations between the other dimensions of psychopathic traits and IA trajectories were not significant when considering confounders. No moderating effects by child sex were observed. These results suggest that narcissism-grandiosity traits could be of use for clinicians aiming to detect children most at risk of showing high and persistent levels of IA.

Psychiatric disorders are common in youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This is a vulnerable group of children whose behavioural problems often have more complicated care needs than other children, which can place a great deal of stress on their families. However, the association of family mental health issues, level of intellectual ability, and diagnostic co-morbidity in children is relatively under-studied. In the present study, we investigated the relationship among child diagnoses, family mental health problems, risk for self-injury, and disruption in care among children with (N = 517) and without (N = 517) intellectual and developmental disabilities. A negative binomial regression showed that mental health problems in multiple family members, self-injurious behaviour, and self-reported abuse/trauma was related to greater likelihood of provisional diagnoses of co-occurring psychiatric disorders in both a clinically referred sample and a sample with IDD. Implications for care-planning are discussed.

The purpose of our study was to systematically compile fatality data in Canada involving minors in school and youth groups engaged in outdoor learning, and then compare these incidents to other available data related to risk of fatalities, fatality rates, patterns, and contributory causes. This mixed methods study involved collecting fatality data using a passive environmental scan of publicly available data from multiple sources such as Google, library databases, online databases, and relevant organizations. Data analysis involved using descriptive statistics and principles of case-based analysis to uncover patterns across and within cases. There were 37 fatal incidents involving 78 youth and 6 adult fatalities related to school and youth groups engaged in outdoor learning activities in Canada. All incidents occurred between 1926 and 2019. The fatalities were categorized as water-based, land-based, and snow-based incidents involving alpine skiing (9), flat water canoeing (7), swimming/swim testing (7), walking/hiking (4), mountain climbing (2), white water rafting (2), group camping (1), solo camping (1), sailing (1), skating (1), ski touring (1), and zip-lining (1). It was not possible to determine a fatality rate from our data, however there was adequate comparative data suggesting that the probability of fatal incidents related to outdoor learning by minors in school and youth groups is relatively low in Canada, however there was inadequate data available to make direct comparisons to other contexts. Several patterns emerged from within cases, across cases, and many were similar patterns to those from a series of case-based studies in Australia.

The experiences of coping in parents of autistic children have been extensively studied in the literature. While this research has identified both effective and ineffective coping strategies used by caregivers, no studies to date have examined how coping strategies used by parents might be linked to family quality of life outcomes. Furthermore, few studies exist examining both coping strategies and family quality of life in culturally and linguistically diverse populations. Thus, this study aimed to address both limitations. A total of 12 Korean immigrant parents of autistic children, 6 representing the high family quality of life group and 6 representing the low family quality of life group, shared their experiences related to coping and managing stress. Responses fell under three broad categories (problem-focused, emotion-focused, and adjustment-focused) with differences observed when comparing the high versus low family quality of life groups. A better understanding of the link between coping strategies and family quality of life outcomes may help identify effective and culturally sensitive supports for caregivers and families to improve their quality of life and well-being.

The authors investigate the personality traits of parents and children and their significant influence on the behavior of the other. Using the HEXACO model of personality, the authors examine the behavior of one hundred parent-child dyads on a playground to understand broader parent-child relationships. Their analyses reveal two opposed types of parental behavior (engaged parents versus unengaged parents) and child behavior (introverted cautious play versus autonomous energetic play) on the playground. The authors assert their study demonstrates that the personality traits of both parents and children as measured by the HEXACO model play a significant role in parental and child behaviors during play and in broader interactions.

In this article, I provide a critical reading of the now-removed statue of Sir John A. Macdonald in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. I bring together my own experience visiting the statue with understandings from Indigenous scholarship and public pedagogy theorizing to think about commemorations as public pedagogies that are foremost relational. I consider how the Macdonald statue works narratively, discursively, and as a site of embodied encounter to create a harmful relationality. Thinking relationally, and pedagogically, about colonial statues suggests possibilities not only for understanding how these commemorative practices produce bad relations but also for envisioning and enacting good relations.

Studies show that executive functions and motor development are associated with each other and with learning ability. A more technological lifestyle combined with digital culture should be considered a viable alternative to stimulate children's development. Therefore, this study aimed to present a systematic mapping of the literature involving executive functions, motor development, and the use of digital games in intervention programs for elementary school children from 6 to 11 years old. Four databases were researched: PubMed, Scielo, Science Direct, and SCOPUS, including publications between 2012 and March 2021. The initial results indicated 4881 records. After the selection process, 15 manuscripts that presented the central theme of the study were selected. The main results indicated that intervention strategies are rather heterogeneous. Most of the studies demonstrated efficient results after intervention protocols, many of them were conducted in Europe, and 46% occurred in a school environment. No research was identified involving technological solutions using executive functions, motor development, and digital games in an integrated manner. Hence, this constitutes a field of future scientific research.

For children to know how to fully participate in and most effectively lead the world they will inherit, they must learn how to critically engage with it and be knowledgeable about foundational rights and instruments that support such engagement. Together, critical literacy, which encourages the examination and interrogation of the underlying assumptions of dominant narratives and 'legitimate' knowledge, and children's rights education, which involves children in learning how to express their ideas and fully participate in society (as appropriate to their age and ability), offer a powerful approach--theoretical and pedagogical--to engage children in active engagement of the world, especially with respect to the promotion of social justice. However, the layers of complexity and risks associated with deep consideration of challenging topics require expert guidance and compassionate role modelling from teachers of young children. Our paper considers the intersections between critical literacy and global child rights with reference to a study conducted with young school children in Canada and Uganda to discuss how teachers can support meaningful learning experiences in the classroom that can promote children's agency and social justice commitments.

In the current research we examined non-Black children's associations with targets who differed by both race and gender, with a focus on the role of categorization in informing children's biases. Children aged 5 to 12 years (N = 206; 109 boys, 97 girls; 55% White; 68% of household incomes > $75,000/year), recruited from a science museum in a large multicultural Canadian city, completed a child-friendly Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald et al., 2003) that included own-gender Black and other-gender White targets. Children were randomly assigned to complete this IAT under one of three categorization conditions. When asked to categorize targets by gender as opposed to race, both girls and boys showed relatively more positive associations with own-gender Black targets over other-gender White targets. Children in a third, Ambiguous-Categorization (AC-IAT; Lipman et al., 2021) condition, which allowed for categorization by gender and/or race, were more likely to spontaneously categorize additional final trials primarily by gender (70%), suggesting that gender was the more salient social category. However, girls' and boys' biases in this condition differed, with girls showing relatively more positive associations with own-gender Black targets (Black girls > White boys) and boys showing relatively more positive associations with other-gender White targets (White girls > Black boys). In addition, the more boys and girls categorized by gender (over race) at the end of the task, the more they showed positive associations with own-gender Black targets over other-gender White targets. These findings provide insight into children's social categorization processes and biases toward targets who differ by race and gender.

We examined Canadian host-society children's prosociality (i.e., emotions and behaviors that reflect care for the welfare of others) toward refugee newcomer peers and the role of parental socialization (i.e., frequency of parent-child conversations about refugee newcomers) in children's refugee-specific prosociality. The sample included 168 children (ages 6, 9, and 12 years; 51% girls; 58% European ethnicity) and their primary caregivers. We interviewed children to assess their ethical guilt-related emotions (based on emotions and reasoning) in response to a hypothetical vignette depicting prosocial omission involving a refugee newcomer peer or a non-refugee peer (between-subjects manipulation). A donation task was used to assess prosocial behavior wherein children were given the opportunity to donate chocolate coins to a refugee newcomer peer. Parents reported on how often they typically engage in conversations with their children about refugees and about inclusion. Children experienced similar intensities of ethical guilt-related emotions in the refugee compared with the nonrefugee condition, and donations to refugees increased across age groups. Furthermore, children whose parents engaged them in more frequent conversations about refugees expressed stronger ethical guilt-related emotions toward refugee peers (but not toward host-society peers), and donated more to a refugee peer. No significant associations between conversations about inclusion more broadly and refugee-specific prosociality were found. Encouraging parents to have conversations with their children that focus on the experiences of refugees may be important for fostering kindness between refugees and host-society children. Ultimately, these findings may contribute to initiatives that focus on promoting the inclusion of refugee newcomers in their postmigratory societies.

Families of autistic children from underserved populations participate in support services at lower rates than other families. To better understand possible reasons for this inequity, we reviewed qualitative studies examining parent-reported barriers and facilitators to accessing and participating in support services. A systematic search identified 18 articles that met inclusion criteria. Resulting thematic analysis located three themes: (a) support service accessibility, (b) diversity of support services, and (c) community. Parents reported that financial pressures, geographic location, and service flexibility influenced their ability to obtain support services. Implications for service delivery and areas for future research are discussed.

Indigenous young people in Canada are disproportionately overrepresented in suicide rates and alarmingly, young children are accounted for in these disparities. Since children spend much of their day at school, schools are a vital context for suicide prevention, identification, and intervention. However, research indicates that educators often report that they feel unprepared to address mental health challenges within the classroom. Indigenous communities are developing community driven responses to suicide that are culturally relevant and strengths based. It is critical that these models are considered when developing such suicide prevention within schools as they diverge from medicalized focused approaches and attend to broader social dimensions. It is imperative that educators and the education system are properly equipped with the training and resources to provide suicide prevention within schools and communities servicing Indigenous children. School psychologists can play an important role in providing this prevention leadership. Through interviews with educators, we learned about the types of supports that are needed within schools to address Indigenous child suicide, and in what ways school psychologists could enhance prevention efforts. Using a reflexive approach to thematic analysis, we identified four main themes related to support needed. Findings are discussed in conversation with the current state of child specific suicide and suicide prevention literature. Applied implications for suicide prevention within schools for Indigenous children, as well as future research and community-based recommendations are considered.

Parents of children with Down syndrome (DS) were interviewed about if their experiences raising their children matched their initial assumptions about parenting a child with DS. A dominant narrative was identified, wherein most parents described initially having negative assumptions, which did not come to fruition; parenting their child was not very different from parenting a typical child. There was also a sub-group of participants who disputed the dominant narrative; parenting their child was challenging and the dominant narrative marginalizes that experience. The findings indicate that although for many parents, having a child with DS is like "taking the scenic route" (i.e., it involves a few more hurdles, but often more rewards), this framing is not always applicable. Therefore, health care providers and support organizations should promote a narrative that encompasses the diversity of parenting a child with DS.

In this article we explore how digital play as conducted through various social media and online meeting platforms facilitated resiliency and confidence building in children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using day-in-the-life methodology and narrative inquiry, we disseminate and examine observations collected on children aged 2-10 during lockdown in a Newfoundland neighbourhood. Children utilized platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and Zoom to embrace their agentic digital play in ways that repurposed the platforms to fulfil life milestones and social needs otherwise impacted and disrupted by pandemic restrictions. Through a series of vignettes and interviews, our research not only examines how such digital play benefits children and their healthy development, but how parents reacted to and assisted with their children's agentic digital platform manipulation and how this provided positive benefits and enriching experiences to the entire family. We additionally explore the conflicts and tensions both children and parents encountered in securely implementing free play via digital platforms, including fears of excess screen-time, digital dependency, and online threats, all of which risk limiting children's ability to independently explore their creativity and identities through digital play if not handled sensitively. Despite the hurdles to implementing digital play, this study exposes why it is essential for families to navigate this online terrain; this study ultimately poses that digital play and online platforms not only were beneficial to maintaining and building family resilience during the pandemic but will be vital assets in sustaining resiliency and positive mindsets moving forward with pandemic recovery.

Over the past 50 years, a consensus emerged from the scientific literature regarding the positive effects of school, family and community partnerships on school achievement. However, researchers noted that the implementation of these partnerships still gives rise to tensions on the ground. This research tackled with how parents and teachers get involved in the school-family-community cooperation process to support pupils at the elementary school (age 6 to 12). The goal of this paper is to compare on the one hand, the parents' views in their narratives on parents and teachers practices, and on the other hand, the teachers' views in their narratives on parents and teachers practices as well, to gain insight on the tensions characterizing these partnerships and on the possible solutions set forth by these actors. To this end, the empirical analyses are based on a approach with qualitative interviews among 14 teachers and 45 parents of pupils at six elementary schools in the Greater Quebec City area. To this end, interviews were conducted with 14 teachers and 45 parents of pupils at six elementary schools in the Greater Quebec City area. The results suggest that practices such as school-family communication or homework are privileged among parents and teachers. The analyses also suggest that parents and teachers diverge over the tools teachers use to support parents involvement.

Research regarding autistic children's sibling relationship quality is mixed, although some literature suggests poorer quality compared to children with other disabilities or who are neurotypical. Little is known about how the clinical characteristics of autistic children relate to parent perceptions of sibling relationship quality. We drew data from a subsample of 119 children on the autism spectrum, ages 10-11 years, from an ongoing longitudinal study. Hierarchical multiple regressions tested the extent to which children's autism symptoms, behavioral difficulties, and communication abilities related to four domains of parent-rated sibling relationship quality. We also examined communication ability as a moderator of the effect of behavioral difficulties on parent-rated sibling relationship quality. More severe autism symptoms were associated with lower levels of conflict and rivalry, whereas higher communication ability was related to more relative status/power, but also conflict. Communication ability moderated the effect of behavioral difficulties such that behavioral difficulties were more closely associated with less warmth/closeness when children had weaker communication skills; behavioral difficulties were not significantly associated with other domains of sibling relationship quality. Findings underscore the importance of considering clinical characteristics and multiple domains of relationship quality to better understand how parents view the relationships between autistic children and their siblings.

Many adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience challenges in social competence. Evidence suggests that specialized summer camps with social skills training may have positive outcomes on social competence development in adolescents with ADHD. This article reports on a pilot study of a therapeutic summer camp program for children and adolescents with ADHD. The study examines the degree to which program objectives were achieved through a pre-camp, post-camp design using a series of standardized instruments, camp evaluations, and surveys with parents. The results indicated that the campers initially reported significantly lower social competence when compared to a normative sample of adolescents before the camp but improved their social competence by the end of camp. This research has implications for researchers, caregivers, and outdoor education advocates to take an assertive lead in promoting evidence-based psychosocial programs for youth with and without ADHD into more generalizable community settings.

Limited research has been conducted on the literacy skills of Arabic-speaking refugee children. This study investigated the concurrent and longitudinal roles of morphological awareness in Arabic word reading and reading comprehension. A total of 75 Syrian refugee children aged 6-13 years resettled in Canada were administered measures of nonverbal reasoning, vocabulary, phonological awareness, morphological awareness, word reading accuracy, and reading comprehension at two points in time separated by 1 year. Hierarchical regression analyses, controlling for age, nonverbal and verbal cognitive abilities, and phonological awareness indicated that morphological awareness was related to word reading and reading comprehension concurrently and longitudinally. Results are interpreted in the context of the targeted refugee population and the linguistic and orthographic features of Arabic. Implications for future research, assessment, and instruction are discussed.

Introduction: Social skills are acquired primarily through imitation using the visual system. As a result, people with visual impairments may experience difficulties in this area at any age, which can have a major effect on their social participation and on their quality of life. The objective of this study was to systematically review the effects of targeted interventions on social skills in children and adolescents with visual impairments. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed using databases Web of Science, OvidSP, EBSCOhost, Sage Journals. The scientific quality of the studies was assessed using two scales dedicated to single case studies and group studies, respectively. Results: Out of 1866 hits, 32 studies were included in the review. A total of 397 children and adolescents with visual impairments (aged 3-20 years) received different types of social skills interventions. "Peer relation" interventions were most often studied (n = 21) and effects were mainly analyzed using observational tools. The scientific quality rating scales indicated moderate (for group studies) to high general quality (for single case studies). Overall, most studies reported improvements in targeted social skills. Discussion: Given the heterogeneity of the studies considered, both in content and in the measures used to document effects, these results should be interpreted with caution. Consequently, it is not clear which interventions should be recommended for use in practice such as in special education. Implications for Practitioners: Given the high rate of social skills difficulties reported in this population and the effect of these difficulties on all stages of development, it seems particularly relevant for practitioners to integrate social skills assessment and explicit teaching into intervention programs. In the future, researchers, stakeholders, and practitioners should work together to develop, implement, and evaluate evidence-based interventions for children and adolescents with visual impairments.

Introduction: Compared to their neurotypical peers, children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs) experience worse mental health outcomes, including greater service use and functional impairment. Few studies, however, have examined the neurodevelopmental contributions to mental health complexity among those seeking community-based mental health services. Methods: Archival data from a publicly-funded mental health center was used to test the generalizability of a path model predicting service use among those with (n = 66) and without (n = 97) NDs. Results: Those with NDs were found to experience more symptoms and had greater service use than those without NDs, and there were notable differences in the predictive pathways across groups. Specifically, the paths from internalizing challenges, early life adversity, and biological sex were only significant among the ND group. Conclusions: These findings indicate that neurodevelopmental status is an important moderator of mental health outcomes that warrants consideration when treating complex cases.

Trajectories of cognitive and neural development suggest that, despite early emergence, the ability to extract environmental patterns changes across childhood. Here, 5- to 9-year-olds and adults (N = 211, 110 females, in a large Canadian city) completed a memory test assessing what they remembered after watching a stream of shape triplets: the particular sequence in which the shapes occurred and/or their group-level structure. After accounting for developmental improvements in overall memory, all ages remembered specific transitions, while memory for group membership was only observed in older children and adults (age by test-type interaction [eta-squared] = 0.05). Thus, while young children form memories for specifics of structured experience, memory for derived associations is refined later--underscoring that adults and young children form different memories despite identical experience.

This article details the learning experiences emerging from a research collaboration between a university-based research team and an informal education provider (the STEM Academy). The aim was to enhance the community responsiveness of a series of science clubs for children living in low-income communities in a metropolitan area of Canada. The study examined a new afterschool science club that ran for seven months, serving 20 children aged 8-11. Data sources included focus groups and individual interviews with children attending the club, semi-structured interviews with club staffers and school-based educators associated with the children, and detailed field notes made by a researcher-volunteer after every club session. Data was analyzed using a constant comparative approach which revealed four key lessons that the STEM Academy gained from this experimental club space: (i) Community responsiveness requires power sharing in multiple dimensions; (ii) Enjoying informal science learning can support formal science learning; (iii) The informal club context attends to children's needs and interests beyond science; and (iv) Territorial lines are blurred in community-responsive ventures. The experimental club allowed us to identify and recommend certain approaches for other informal education providers seeking to become more locally relevant (even those operating at multiple sites).

This paper discusses the role of mediation as it arose in developing and teaching two online American Sign Language (ASL) courses for parents of deaf children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Deaf children and their families who are still acquiring ASL have ongoing learning needs that are most often not met in mainstream educational systems, and these inequities have deepened during the pandemic. Combining reception, production, and interaction, mediation is a mode of language activity in the "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages" (CEFR) that involves "languaging" to develop ideas and facilitate understanding and communication. In this nine-month study, intensive parent ASL courses were adapted and developed for rapid implementation of online instruction in order to meet the second or additional language ASL learning needs of parents of deaf children. Online questionnaire, interview, observational, and assessment data were gathered regarding participating parents' learning processes and experiences. As study findings reveal, a main theme that arose was the role of mediation in terms of alleviating various barriers for participants and facilitating the linguistic and cultural dimensions of parents' online ASL learning and understanding through cognitive and relational means.

Mental health literacy (MHL) encompasses understanding mental health and learning how to obtain and maintain good mental health. Increasing MHL may increase help-seeking behaviors and positive mental health. This study aimed to identify school-based MHL interventions for children/youth using a scoping review methodology following the Johanna Briggs Model. The interventions were assessed for quality of evidence using the National Institutes of Health Study Quality Assessment Tools. Six databases were searched: Scopus, APA PsycInfo, Cochrane Library, ERIC, PubMed, and ProQuest Psychology. Search terms included "mental health literacy," "intervention," and "children." The search yielded 27 studies after applying inclusion criteria. Eight of these studies were assessed as "poor" quality, twelve as "fair" quality, and seven as "good" quality. The results highlight the need for more research to implement and evaluate interventions to sustainably and feasibly incorporate school-based MHL interventions for children and youth into practice.

Moral pride is a key component of virtue development. This study provides developmental insight into children's moral pride across cultures, and the potential for moral pride to underlie prosocial behavior. Participants included children and adolescents ages 6, 9, and 12 years from Canada (n = 186; 50% girls; ethnically diverse sample), Japan (n = 180; 48% girls), and a subsample from Italy (n = 86; 54% girls), as well as their primary caregivers or teachers. Moral pride was measured using a vignette procedure wherein children reported their emotions, emotion intensities, and reasoning following moral actions (harm omission and prosocial contexts). Global prosocial behavior was assessed via caregiver reports. Results revealed that moral pride increased from 6 to 9 years of age in Japanese and Canadian children (some similar trends were found in the Italian subsample) and that Canadian children reported stronger feelings of moral pride than Japanese children (Italian children's moral pride intensities were akin to those of Canadian children). Moral pride was positively associated with global prosocial behavior in Japanese children (and marginally in Italian children) but not in the Canadian children. These novel findings showcase the role of culture in shaping children's moral pride, and the potential for this moral emotion to reinforce children's commitment to prosocial action in childhood and early adolescence.

This bibliometric study analyzed characteristics of publications related to art therapy for children from 1990 to 2020, based on the datasets taken from Web of Science (WoS) core collections. The results indicate that the USA, Israel, Germany, UK, Australia, and Canada were six leading countries in this field of research interest. The Top 5 most influential journals were identified by the number of publications, TLCS, TGCS and by their impact factor. Five leading journals in the art therapy studies include "Arts in Psychotherapy," "American Journal of Art Therapy," "Child & Family Social Work," "Frontiers in Psychology," and "Monatsschrift Kinderheilkunde." Core themes from the 87 articles focus on surrounding socialization and attachment relationship, art therapy for the well-being of children with learning disabilities, alternative intervention for art therapy, and parent-child art therapy. This bibliometric study portrayed the development of art therapy for children by means of visualization techniques. The potential issues emerging from the data will contribute to future studies in this field. Multiple methods of art therapy are applied for all children's well-being; as such, children's art therapy in schools can be seen as the potential trend for researchers and teachers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed unprecedented service interruptions in many sectors including services for children and youth with neuro-developmental disabilities (NDD). We examined the experiences of service providers as they supported this population during the pandemic. Five focus groups were convened with 24 service providers offering support to children/youth with NDD and their families. Results highlight substantial service changes and challenges, as observed by service providers. Service closures and program delivery modification resulted in the rapid adoption of virtual services and reduced program delivery. Service providers have faced heightened workloads, personal weariness and 'burn out', and new levels of conflict at work, yet with little opportunity and support for self-care. Beyond challenges, new learning and growth have emerged, with heightened collaboration amongst organizations. Strains in service delivery during the pandemic have exposed programming and systems gaps, for which proactive capacity building is warranted and recommended.

The typical process for assessing inter-rater reliability is facilitated by training raters within a research team. Lacking is an understanding if inter-rater reliability scores "between" research teams demonstrate adequate reliability. This study examined inter-rater reliability between 16 researchers who assessed fundamental motor skills using the Test of Gross Motor Development-3rd edition. Total score agreement (ICC = 0.363) and locomotor subscale agreement (ICC = 0.383) were "very poor," while ball skills subscale agreement (ICC = 0.478) was "poor." Consistencies of total (ICC = 0.757), locomotor (ICC = 0.730), and ball skills (ICC = 0.746) scores were "fair." Component percentage agreement ranged from 40.5% to 96.2%. These data suggest that there are significant differences in how different research groups evaluate fundamental motor skills based on the subjective nature of scoring. Consistency and agreement among users need to be addressed in motor development research to allow for direct comparisons across studies that use process-oriented measures.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health measures have interrupted the daily routines of parents and children. The purpose of this study was to explore parents' attitudes regarding their children's play/sport during COVID-19. A secondary objective was to explore the influence of parent demographics and parent-reported physical activity levels and risk tolerance on these attitudes. Ontario parents of children aged 12 and younger completed an online survey (August-December 2020) that assessed their attitudes (grouped by support, safety and socialization-related attitudes; n = 14 items) regarding their child(ren)'s play/sport, their physical activity levels (n = 2 items), and demographic details (n = 16 items). Two open-ended items were used to gather a deeper understanding of attitudes. Parents' tolerance for risk was measured via the validated Tolerance of Risk in Play Scale. Descriptive statistics were calculated to describe attitudes and risk tolerance. Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator regressions were conducted to examine factors influencing parents' attitudes. Multiple linear models were computed using the identified predictors for each attitude category. Deductive content analysis was undertaken on open-ended responses. Participants (n = 819) reported the highest scores for safety-related attitude items (M = 3.54, SD = 0.63) followed by socialization and support, which all influenced attitudes regarding children's play/sport (p < 0.05). Demographics and parents' physical activity levels were identified as important predictors of parents' attitudes. Qualitative data revealed that parents had mixed levels of comfort with respect to their children's return to play/sport. Findings from this study reveal that increased support is needed to guide future play/sport decision-making.

Schools are accountable for providing all students a safe and caring learning environment. When a child feels unsafe at school, personal relationships, mental health, and academics are negatively affected. The entire school community -- staff, parents, and students -- must work together to develop an effective safe school program. A carefully planned safe school program that is followed consistently by all members will ensure the greatest success for all students.

This study measured physical activity (PA) and explored its correlates among children with multimorbidity (co-occurring chronic physical and mental illness; MM) versus those with chronic physical illness only (PI). This study used baseline data from the Multimorbidity in Children and Youth Across the Life Course (MY LIFE) study, an on-going cohort study following 263 children with a PI 2 to 16 years of age (mean age: 9.8 years, SD = 4.0; 47.7% female). PA was measured using accelerometry, and demographic and psychosocial variables were collected using questionnaires. Of the 55 children with MM and the 85 with PI with valid accelerometer data, 38.1% and 41.2%, respectively, met average daily PA guidelines. Correlates of moderate-to-physical PA (MVPA) among children with MM were age, [rho](53) = -0.45, p = 0.001, body mass index (BMI), [rho](48) = -0.28, p = 0.04, self-perceived behavioral conduct, [rho](24) = -0.45, p = 0.02, physical health-related quality of life, [rho](51) = 0.56, p < 0.001, and peer support, [rho](52) = 0.27, p = 0.04. Correlates of MVPA among children with PI were age, [rho](83) = -0.40, p < 0.001, sex, [rho](83) = -0.26, p = 0.01, self-perceived social competence, [rho](31) = 0.42, p = 0.02, self-perceived athletic competence, [rho](31) = 0.48, p = 0.005, physical health-related quality of life, [rho](83) = 0.34, p = 0.001, participation in community sport, [rho](31) = 0.41, p = 0.02, and family functioning, [rho](83) = 0.26, p = 0.02. These results demonstrate that children with PI and MM are insufficiently active and their PA is correlated with demographic and psychosocial factors.

Mental health problems are prevalent in autistic youth, but the underpinning mechanisms are not well explored. In neurotypical youth, stressful life events are an established risk factor for mental health problems. This study tested longitudinal bidirectional associations between family-level stressful life events and mental health problems and whether these were moderated by cognitive flexibility, in a cohort of autistic children (N = 247). Family-stressful life events, assessed using the parent-reported Family Inventory of Life Events and Changes, and mental health problems, assessed using the teacher-reported Child Behavior Checklist Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms subscales, were measured at multiple points between 7 and 11 years. Analyses showed no significant pathways from internalizing or externalizing symptoms to family-stressful life events or from family-stressful life events to internalizing or externalizing symptoms. There was some evidence of moderation by cognitive flexibility; the family-stressful life events to internalizing symptoms pathway was non-significant in the group with typical shifting ability but significant in the group with clinically significant shifting problems. Information about family-level stressful life event exposure and cognitive flexibility may be helpful in identifying autistic youth who may be at higher risk of developing mental health problems. Established risk factors for mental health problems in neurotypical populations are relevant for understanding mental health in autistic youth. [This article was written with the Pathways in ASD Study Team.]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe evidenced-based assessment practices for school-age children with any severity of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that could inform the practice of speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Method: A scoping review of the literature was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. Included studies were assigned thematic labels related to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework. Results: A total of 30 articles met inclusion criteria for this study. Most studies included adolescent or teenage participants with mild TBIs in the acute stages of recovery. Twenty-two different assessments were reported on for children with TBI addressing body structure/function (n = 19 assessments), activities and participation (n = 1 assessment), and contextual factors (n = 3 assessments). Conclusions: Current assessments have a clear focus on body structure/ function for adolescents after childhood TBI, with little research evidence to address activities and participation or contextual factors. The limited amount of functional assessments directly related to the SLP scope of practice stresses the need for additional research on ecologically valid and comprehensive assessment approaches for school-age children with TBI. The results of this review could be utilized as a resource in providing theoretical, evidence-based, and person-centered evaluation methods for children with TBI.

A review of clinical records was conducted for children with developmental, emotional, and behavioral difficulties who were assessed with both the Wechsler preschool and primary scale of intelligence-third edition (WPPSI-III[superscript CDN]; Wechsler, 2004) and the Leiter international performance scale--revised (Leiter-R; Roid & Miller, 1997) within the same psychological evaluation. Forty children, ages 3-7, were included in this study. Pearson correlations showed that the IQ scores of the two instruments are strongly related (r > 0.70; p < 0.001). However, paired t-tests showed that overall Leiter-R scores (M = 99.03) were significantly higher than WPPSI-III[superscript CDN] scores (PIQ; M = 82.28, FSIQ; M = 75.24) (p < 0.001). The discrepancies between the instrument's scores were clinically important as the use of only one of the two instruments could result in misclassification of child intellectual ability. These results should prompt professionals working with this clinical population to be cautious when using results from a single instrument in a child's intellectual evaluation.

The researchers in the study explored the lived experiences of Syrian refugee students in the Canadian classroom. The participant sample included four students who entered their first year in a South-western Ontario public school as of the 2015-2016 calendar year. Data were collected through one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Analysis of results indicated the District's growing need for understanding refugee students using a holistic approach, utilizing and building peer relationships for language acquisition, and recognizing the effects of the structure of the learning environment on student experiences.

The use of the Internet among children and adolescents is now a norm in many parts of the world. As the Internet offers a wide range of benefits to these ones, so does it expose them to possible various risks and harm. Researchers in different countries across the world have engaged in the production of relevant research-based knowledge in order to make the virtual world a safe place for the younger ones. However, while studies have been carried out on the subject of Internet risk among children and adolescents, there is a dearth of information on the assessment of research activities across different parts of the world. The present study employed Bibliometric techniques to determine research productivity patterns across the different regions and countries of the world. All relevant publications indexed in Google Scholar were collected between November and December, 2018. The findings of the study reveal that while countries in the American and European regions of the world have been very productive in researching on the subject, the same is not the case with their African counterparts.