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Studies American kindergartner's relationships with siblings, peers and friends. Assessment of kindergartners' popularity to peers; Identification of kindergartners with siblings; Friendliness to same-sex friend and same-sex sibling.

Ethnic minority and majority students in the United States were given the opportunity to receive score information about their own and about the other ethnic group, after they themselves had taken a test. Young majority white children generally chose to look at other whites' scores. A large portion of young Chicanos also -sought white score information, or sought Chicanos who had performed better and whites who had performed worse than they. This group-enhancement strategy was also prevalent among college blacks. Ethnic information seeking was discussed in terms of three strategies-seeking in-group information, seeking out-group information, and seeking group-enhancement information-and the differential use of these strategies by minority and majority students. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Cross-sectional research has demonstrated that perceived negative self efficacy and poor self-esteem are associated with dysphoria. The present study employed a longitudinal, multivariate design to examine the relative contribution of perceived parenting self-efficacy and self-esteem during pregnancy to subsequent postpartum dysphoria (BDI). Forty primiparous females were assessed during their ninth month of pregnancy and at six weeks postpartum. Scores at pregnancy on a measure of parenting self efficacy and on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory each predicted subsequent postpartum dysphoria, after initial level of pregnancy dysphoria was statistically controlled. These results suggest that perceived parenting self-efficacy and self-esteem may each serve additive, predisposing roles in postpartum dysphoria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies ethnic identity constancy in order to extend the conclusions drawn from gender constancy research about the child's understanding of invariance. Methods; Results; Conclusion that ethnic constancy requires concrete operational thought, specifically the ability to infer an internal state that is contrary to external appearances.

Children aged 6 to 9 years were asked to take the role of people from different ethnic groups. They were to do this by attributing kinship preferences to persons from their own ethnic group, from their most liked ethnic group and from their most disliked ethnic group. The first experiment conducted with White Americans demonstrated that they were able to attribute similar-ethnicity preferences to people from their own and from their liked ethnic group, but not to people from a disliked group. Two sorts of errors were made: those resulting from egocentrism and those resulting from undifferentiated perception. A second experiment was conducted with Canadian Indian children in which more extensive attitude and perception measures were taken. Multiple regression analyses suggested that kinship attribution was based more on similarity between role person and kin than it was on the child's own egocentric preferences. The Indian children also made fewer errors on the disliked role. This was discussed in terms of conflicts about group identity and preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multidimensional scaling procedure was used to explore the role of cultural background, language and geographic region in the process of ethnic identity. French and English Canadian high. school students living in Quebec made similarity judgments among all possible combinations of these three factors and the, anchor, stimulus MYSELF. The results demonstrated that language and cultural background are two important dimensions of ethnic identity, but that geographic region is not as important as might be expected. Furthermore, English Canadian Ss perceived themselves as very distant from stimulus labels that were inconsistent with respect to cultural background and language, whereas French Canadian Ss only reacted this way to stimulus labels involving French Canadians who spoke English mainly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Forty-three percent of children under five in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) experience compromised cognitive and psychosocial development. Early childhood development (ECD) interventions that promote parent-child psychosocial stimulation and nutrition activities can help remediate early disadvantages in child development and health outcomes, but are difficult to scale. Key questions are: 1) how to maximize the reach and cost-effectiveness of ECD interventions; 2) what pathways connect interventions to parental behavioral changes and child outcomes; and 3) how to sustain impacts long-term.Methods: Msingi Bora ("good foundation" in Swahili) is a multi-arm cluster randomized controlled trial across 60 villages and 1200 households in rural Western Kenya that tests different, potentially cost-effective and scalable models to deliver an ECD intervention in biweekly sessions lasting 7 months. The curriculum integrates child psychosocial stimulation with hygiene and nutrition education. The multi-arm study will test the cost-effectiveness of two models of delivery: a group-based model versus a mixed model combining group sessions with personalized home visits. Households in a third study arm will serve as a control group. Each arm will have 20 villages and 400 households with a child aged 6-24 months at baseline. Primary outcomes are child cognitive and socioemotional development and home stimulation practices. In a 2 × 2 design among the 40 treatment villages, we will also test the role of including fathers in the intervention. We will estimate intention-to-treat and local average treatment effects, and examine mediating pathways using Mediation Analysis. One treatment arm will receive quarterly booster visits for 6 months following the end of the sessions. A follow-up survey 2 years after the end of the main intervention period will examine sustainability of outcomes and any spillover impacts onto younger siblings. Study protocols have been approved by the Maseno Ethics Review Committee (MUERC) in Kenya (00539/18) and by RAND's institutional review board. This study is funded by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (R01HD090045).Discussion: Results can provide policymakers with rigorous evidence of how best to design ECD interventions in low-resource rural settings.Trial Registration: Clinical Trial NCT03548558 registered June 7, 2018 at clinicaltrials.gov; AEA-RCT registry AEARCTR-0002913. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "Iodine and Mental Development of Children 5 Years Old and Under: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis" by K. Bougma et al published in the journal "Nutrients" No. 5 2013 issue is presented.

Background: Early childhood development (ECD) programmes can help address early disadvantages for the 43% of children younger than 5 years in low-income and middle-income countries who have compromised development. We aimed to test the effectiveness of two group-based delivery models for an integrated ECD responsive stimulation and nutrition education intervention using Kenya's network of community health volunteers., Methods: We implemented a multi-arm, cluster-randomised community effectiveness trial in three rural subcounties across 60 villages (clusters) in western Kenya. Eligible participants were mothers or female primary caregivers aged 15 years or older with children aged 6-24 months at enrolment. If married or in established relationships, fathers or male caregivers aged 18 years or older were also eligible. Villages were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to one of three groups: group-only delivery with 16 fortnightly sessions; mixed delivery combining 12 group sessions with four home visits; and a comparison group. Villages in the intervention groups were randomly assigned (1:1) to invite or not invite fathers and male caregivers to participate. Households were surveyed at baseline and immediately post-intervention. Assessors were masked. Primary outcomes were child cognitive and language development (score on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development third edition), socioemotional development (score on the Wolke scale), and parental stimulation (Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment inventory). Analysis was by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03548558., Findings: Between Oct 1 and Nov 12, 2018, 1152 mother-child dyads were enrolled and randomly assigned (n=376 group-only intervention, n=400 mixed-delivery intervention, n=376 comparison group). At the 11-month endline survey (Aug 5-Oct 31, 2019), 1070 households were assessed for the primary outcomes (n=346 group only, n=373 mixed delivery, n=351 comparison). Children in group-only villages had higher cognitive (effect size 0·52 SD [95% CI 0·21-0·83]), receptive language (0·42 SD [0·08-0·77]), and socioemotional scores (0·23 SD [0·03-0·44]) than children in comparison villages at endline. Children in mixed-delivery villages had higher cognitive (0·34 SD [0·05-0·62]) and socioemotional scores (0·22 SD [0·05-0·38]) than children in comparison villages; there was no difference in language scores. Parental stimulation also improved for group-only (0·80 SD [0·49-1·11]) and mixed-delivery villages (0·77 SD [0·49-1·05]) compared with the villages in the comparison group. Including fathers in the intervention had no measurable effect on any of the primary outcomes., Interpretation: Parenting interventions delivered by trained community health volunteers in mother-child groups can effectively promote child development in low-resource settings and have great potential for scalability., Funding: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health., (Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Two studies aimed to assess the provision of nutrition and psychosocial stimulation in the home and to examine associations between mental development and nutrition and stimulation using a validated measure of development milestones., Methods: The first study consisted of secondary analyses on health and nutrition data from 1081 mother-child pairs (the children aged 0-12 months) and their households in Ghana's Eastern Region. For the second study, the Ghana Milestones Measure, consisting of items assessing cognitive and language development, was used to assess child development in a subsample (N = 330) of Study 1 participants one year later (children 10-24 months of age). This measure was mother-reported and had been validated in a separate community in Ghana. Correlation and linear regression analyses were used to analyze the data., Results: Family assets and maternal education were identified as key factors of the family context. Both variables were positively associated with preventive health practices (r = 0.08 to 0.13, p < 0.0001 to 0.01), and dietary diversity (r = 0.15, p = 0.0001 to 0.0006), and negatively associated with maternal depressive symptoms (r = -0.19 to -0.12, p < 0.0001). Taller children had higher receptive (standardized beta = 0.16; p = 0.04) and expressive (0.21; 0.003) language, but not cognitive (0.15; 0.07) milestone scores, and psychosocial stimulation was positively associated with all three milestones (receptive = 0.13, p = 0.01; expressive = 0.21, p < 0.0001; and cognitive = 0.24, p < 0.0001)., Conclusion: Our study provides the first validated measure of children's language and cognitive development in Ghana, finding associations with nutrition and stimulation. The Ghana Milestones Measure can be used to assess and help promote children's mental development.

Rationale: The time it takes for a child with suspected sepsis to receive care is critical., Objective: We evaluated care-seeking practices for sick children under 5 years in rural Bangladesh, following interpersonal communication to inform households of newly introduced supports for quality care. Based on the Delays Framework, we assessed length and source of care-seeking delays, use of formal providers, and autonomous decision-making among mothers., Method: Using two cross-sectional rounds before and after the 3-year intervention (August 2012 and August 2015), we surveyed 400 mothers of recently sick children in 26 randomly sampled villages from 2 intervention and 2 control subdistricts, using structured questions about delays. Six to ten times during the 18-month intervention period, local workers communicated four key messages to most intervention households in 292 villages: serious symptoms of suspected sepsis in children, a call-in center number for referral advice, a reliable transport hub, and upgrades to the local hospital., Results: Compared to baseline, endline results demonstrated a significant difference in the total delay between the onset of child's illness and seeking external care, with intervention families having shorter delays. Over 90% of mothers informed someone in the family, mainly the husband, about the sick child before acting to seek care. Delays due to transportation and receiving provider care were short and not different. Using a benchmark of seeking external care within 24 h of onset, only 14.14% of intervention households and 13.40% of control households were "timely" in seeking care. Approximately 78% of parents, similar for the two groups, sought care from a non-formal practitioner (the village doctor)., Conclusion: The results demonstrate that the delay in deciding to seek external care is most serious, and that communication strategies at the community level are necessary to increase the uptake of improved health services., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)