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The authors examine the relationships between home play and learning--measured by reading and teaching practices at home--among low-income families, including those with mental health issues. Based on a large database from the Family Map Inventory, a screening tool for home visiting programs, the authors' findings revealed that play-related concerns such as play materials, home play, and the variety of play away from home had significant impact. They conclude that care givers who provide children with more play opportunities both at home and away from home tend to read books with children more frequently and to teach them more basic academic skills. This suggests that early play interactions can contribute to early learning and implies that intervention programs such as Early Head Start and home-visiting programs focusing on play may boost a family's resilience and add value to existing services.

This study examined nutrition intervention curriculum, "Together We Inspire Smart Eating" (WISE). WISE is a research-based, nutrition promotion curriculum specifically designed for pre-school children from families with limited resources. The design was non-randomized treatment/control with standardized pre-/post-test assessments. Children (n = 268) in six Head Start centers received weekly food experiences from educators trained in WISE. Children (n = 258) in nine Head Start centers received weekly food experiences structured at the discretion of the educators untrained in WISE. Parents in both conditions (n = 268 WISE classroom, n = 258 comparison) were interviewed by educators twice over the school year using a data collection tool, The Family Map Inventory. Analyses using full information maximum likelihood controlling for pre-intervention consumption and key demographic characteristics was used to predict consumption at post-intervention assessment. Results indicated children in WISE centers consumed healthier food at home than children in non-WISE classrooms. The study suggested that WISE curriculum is an effective method to improve children's diets in at-risk environments.

Objectives Improving family retention and engagement is crucial to the success of home visiting programs. Little is known about retaining and engaging depressed parents in services. The purpose of the study is to examine how home visit content moderates the association between depression and retention and engagement. Methods The sample (N = 1322) was served by Healthy Families America (n = 618) and Parents as Teachers (n = 704) between April 1, 2012 and June 30, 2016. Parents averaged 23 years (SD = 6). Nearly half of the parents were White (48%) and the majority was single (71%). Depression was screened with the Patient Health Questionnaire-2. Home visitors reported the percent of time focused on particular content and parent engagement at every home visit. Results Multilevel regression analyses showed the amount of time that home visitors spent supporting parent-child interaction moderated the association between depression and retention at 6 (B = .08, SE = .03, p = .003) and 12 (B = .1, SE = .03, p < .001) months, such that there was a stronger positive association for depressed parents. The main effects of child development focused content and retention at 6 (B = .07, SE = .01, p < .001) and 12 (B = .08, SE = .01, p < .001) months were positive, while effects of case management focused content at 6 (B = - .06, SE = .01, p < .001) and 12 (B = - .07, SE = .01, p < .001) months were negative. Conclusions Families were more likely to be retained when home visitors focused on child development and parent-child interaction, but less likely with more case management focus. Parents with positive depression screens were more likely to remain in services with more time spent focused on supporting parent-child interactions., Author(s): Lorraine M. McKelvey [sup.1] , Shalese Fitzgerald [sup.1] , Nicola A. Conners Edge [sup.1] , Leanne Whiteside-Mansell [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) 0000 0004 4687 1637, grid.241054.6, Department of Family [...]

The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility and usefulness of a universal screening tool, the Family Map Inventory (FMI), to assess family strengths and needs in a home visiting program. The FMI has been used successfully by center-based early childcare programs to tailor services to family needs and build on existing strengths. Home visiting coordinators (N = 39) indicated that the FMI would provide useful information, and that they had the capacity to implement. In total, 70 families who enrolled in a Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program were screened by the coordinator. The results of the FMI provided meaningful information about the home and parenting environment. Overall, most caregivers provided high levels of school readiness and parental warmth and low levels of family conflict and parenting stress. On the contrary, many families did not provide adequate food quality, exhibited chaotic home environments, and practiced negative discipline. This study demonstrated that the FMI is a feasible and useful option to assess comprehensive family needs in home visiting programs. It also demonstrated that the FMI provided home visiting coordinators a system to measure family strengths and needs. This could provide an assessment of program effectiveness and changes in the family's environment.

Introduction: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have lifetime consequences for health and development. This study examined whether there is evidence to support a screening approach that assesses children's current exposures to risks that act as proxies for ACEs, measured in a way that falls below a threshold of explicit abuse, neglect, or illegal behavior. Method: We used data collected during routine home visitations of at-risk children aged 0-5. Home visitors used the Family Map Inventories (FMI; Whiteside-Mansell et al., 2007) to screen ACEs and measure health outcomes, and the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (3rd ed.; ASQ-3; Squires, Twombly, Bricker, & Potter, 2009) to screen child development. Parents (N = 2,004) were 28 years of age on average and most were White (60%). Children were 32 months of age on average and equally divided on gender (51 % male). Results: Children were exposed at rates of 27%, 17%, 11%, and 11 % to 1, 2, 3, and 4 or more FMI-ACEs, respectively. Logistic regressions revealed significant associations between FMI-ACE scores and health environments and outcomes for children, including health risks in the home (e.g., safety and secondhand smoke exposure), underuse of preventive health care, and overuse of emergency medical treatment. In terms of development, having four or more FMI-ACEs was associated with the child having a chronic health condition and screening at risk for delay in at least one area of development. Discussion: Findings liighlight the potential use of questionnaires and in-home observations to measure and intervene in potentially developing ACEs. Further, our screening was associated with children whose health was at risk very early in development. Keywords: adverse childhood experiences, child health, social determinants of health, The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Study documented long-term negative effects of childhood trauma on behavioral and physical health outcomes in adulthood (Anda et al., 2006; Felitti et al., 1998). ACEs [...]

The comprehensive assessment of middle school student bonding is important for basic research and to evaluate interventions. In this study, the psychometric properties of three assessment tools found in the literature were examined individually and then combined to create a shorter survey. With minor modifications, the tools were found to be psychometrically sound; however, they were burdensome in length and contained redundancy. This motivated the development of a shorter tool that was included in a cyclical process of multiple samples of students (n = 53, 1,911, 2,050) in three phases. The cyclical process involved combining the three surveys, eliminating redundancy, and then examining the psychometric properties of the reduced survey. A final forth phase of the study resulted in a brief but comprehensive survey, Brief Survey of School Bonding. It was found to be psychometrically sound and appropriate for use with children 10 to 15 years of age.

The authors examine the relationships between home play and learning--measured by reading and teaching practices at home--among low-income families, including those with mental health issues. Based on a large database from the Family Map Inventory, a screening tool for home visiting programs, the authors' findings revealed that play-related concerns such as play materials, home play, and the variety of play away from home had significant impact. They conclude that care givers who provide children with more play opportunities both at home and away from home tend to read books with children more frequently and to teach them more basic academic skills. This suggests that early play interactions can contribute to early learning and implies that intervention programs such as Early Head Start and homevisiting programs focusing on play may boost a family's resilience and add value to existing services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and suffocation are leading causes of infant mortality. Supine sleep position and use of appropriate sleep surfaces reduce SIDS risk but are not universally practiced. Mothers' decisions about sleep position and environment may be influenced by guidance provided by infants' grandmothers and other caregivers. Methods A survey was conducted of a convenience sample of grandmothers aged 30-70 years who provide care at least weekly for an infant grandchild, Author(s): Mary E. Aitken[sup.1] [sup.2] , Alison Rose[sup.3] , S. Hope Mullins[sup.1] [sup.2] , Beverly K. Miller[sup.1] [sup.2] , Todd Nick[sup.1] [sup.4] , Mallikarjuna Rettiganti[sup.1] [sup.4] , Rosemary Nabaweesi[sup.1] [sup.2] [...]

Objectives Examine the association between mothers' low- and high-level depressive symptoms in early childhood and children's behavior problems in middle childhood. Methods We used data from 1844 families in a multi-site, longitudinal study beginning when children were 14 months and continuing to age 11 years. Children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems at age 11 were assessed using the child behavior checklist for ages 6-18. Mothers' scores on the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale when children were 14 months were used to classify them into three groups: 'no depressive symptoms', 'low-level depressive symptoms (below the clinical cut-off)' and 'clinically significant depressive symptoms (above the clinical cut-off).' Results Mothers were racially/ethnically diverse, including Caucasian (38.9 %), African-American (34.4 %), Hispanic (21.6 %), or other (5.1 %). More than one-third (39.2 %) were teenaged mothers, and 46.0 % did not complete high school. Of the 1844 families, 1172 had age 11 child outcome data. Logistic regression analyses controlling for family demographics revealed a significant association between early maternal depressive symptoms and later child behavioral outcomes. Both low level and clinically significant symptoms were associated with internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. For example, children whose mothers had low-level depressive symptoms were twice as likely to have clinically elevated internalizing problems compared with children whose mothers never had symptoms of depression. Conclusions Children whose mothers experience low-level depressive symptoms early in their development have increased risk for later behavioral problems, suggesting a possible need for new screening and intervention strategies for mothers with lower than clinically elevated symptoms., Author(s): Nicola A. Conners-Burrow[sup.1] , Lorraine McKelvey[sup.1] , Deborah Perry[sup.2] , Leanne Whiteside-Mansell[sup.1] , Shashank Kraleti[sup.1] , Glenn Mesman[sup.1] , Khiela Holmes[sup.1] , Angela Kyzer[sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) Department of [...]

The current study was designed to investigate how the quality of stimulation and support available to children in the home interacts with participation in Early Head Start to determine children's development. Data were obtained as part of the national evaluation of Early Head Start (EHSRE), a randomized trial involving 3,001 children and families from 17 program sites. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to examine the interaction of EHS with (a) early maternal emotional warmth and (b) provision of a stimulating home environment on children's development at ages 3 and 5. Findings showed EHS sometimes differentially benefited children who came from households where the levels of warmth and stimulation were lowest. However, there was evidence of other forms of moderation as well.

This study examined the moderating effects of family conflict and gender on the relationship between community violence and psychosocial development at age 18. The study sample consisted of 728 children and families who were part of the Infant Health and Development Program study of low-birth-weight, pre-term infants. In this sample, adolescent psychosocial outcomes were predicted by community violence differently for male and female children and based on their experiences of conflict at home. For male children, being in a "high" conflict family as a child exacerbated the negative effects of community violence such that internalizing problems (depression and anxiety) and risk-taking behaviors increased as community violence increased, while being in a "low" conflict family protected the child against the negative impacts of the community. For female adolescents, there were no moderating effects of family conflict on the relationship between community violence and externalizing problems. Moderating effects for internalizing problems demonstrated that being in "low" conflict families did not serve as protection against community violence for girls as was demonstrated for boys. These findings demonstrate the long-term effects of community violence on child development, highlighting the importance of gender and family context in the development of internalizing and externalizing problems.

Much is known about how to provide safe environments for preschool children (3-5 years-of-age); however, many preschool children still experience preventable injuries--particularly children living in poverty. This study examined the use of an assessment tool used to identify children at risk for unintended injury in two large, federally funded Head Start programs during home visits. Families of preschool children in two multi-center Head Start programs (N = 499 and N = 228) were screened by teachers for risks related to safety in their home and parenting environment during mandatory Head Start home visits in the fall and spring. The safety screening tool was part of an established, broader interview assessment called the Family Map, which was designed to help Head Start programs meet mandatory performance standards related to the identification of risk and strengths in the family. Study results indicated that a large number of preschool children from low-income backgrounds were at risk for a variety of risks related to unintentional injury. Further, in some areas Head Start families increased their safety related parenting behaviors by the second assessment with different areas noted in the two programs. This study demonstrated that, beyond the use of the tool to identify families in need of intervention services, it can be used by childcare providers to effectively monitor family need and for program self-assessment.

This article reviews the findings from our assessments of children and their families in two Head Start programs using the Family Map. Specifically, we used the Family Map assessment tool to identify risks to children associated with alcohol and drug use in families with young children. Practical suggestions are offered to administrators about the importance of identifying such risks to children. Understanding specific risks and knowing how to address them are keys to providing the best outcomes for the children in such families. (Contains 1 figure.)

This study examines the usefulness of a screening process implemented in the context of a Head Start home visit and compares families who screened positive for substance abuse with those who did not on an array of child and family indicators important for healthy child development. The sample included 1,105 low-income families with preschool-age children enrolled in Head Start programs. Families were interviewed using the Family Map, an interview tool used to screen on a wide range of areas important for healthy child development. Children identified as having a positive screen for family problems with alcohol and other drugs (9.1%) were more likely to be at risk on 10 of 11 additional areas assessed. (Contains 3 tables.)

This study examines the degree to which support from parents and teachers buffers the level of depression for four groups of children involved in bullying (victim, bully, bully-victims, or not involved children). Nine hundred and seventy-seven 5th-, 9th-, and 11th-grade students in the rural South completed questionnaires on bullying, social support, and depression. Children who were not involved in bullying reported less depression and more social support than children involved in bullying, and bully-victims were the most at-risk group. Furthermore, results indicate that in all four bully status groups, children reported fewer symptoms of depression when support from parents was high compared to when it was low. For all groups except victims, when parental support was low, support from teachers was associated with fewer symptoms of depression. When parental support was high, the impact of support from the teacher was not significant. (Contains 2 figures and 4 tables.)

We examined the psychometric properties of two scales of the parenting stress index-short form (PSI-SF) in a low-income sample of fathers of toddlers. The factor structure, reliability, and validity of the parental distress and parent-child dysfunctional interaction subscales were assessed for 696 fathers in a multi-site study of Early Head Start. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) compared the fit of the developer recommended two-factor scales with five-factor scales theoretically derived and supported with mothers. Our results suggested that two subscales from the PSI-SF were reliable and valid for this sample of racially diverse, low-income fathers of toddlers. However, these subscales capture multiple dimensions of parenting stress and results also supported the use of more narrowly defined aspects of parenting stress that included general distress, distress specifically related to parenting demands, problematic interactions of the father-toddler dyad, perceptions of the child, and parental perceptions of self as a parent. These unidimensional scales may prove useful in research and clinical activities by allowing researchers to elucidate the mechanisms through which stress impacts parenting and permitting clinicians information to develop more targeted interventions for young children and their families.

We examined the impact of parenting behaviors on preschool children's social development in low-income families from three cultural groups: European American (n = 286), African American (n = 399), and Hispanic American (n = 164) using Spanish as the primary language in the home. Observed parenting behaviors of stimulation, responsivity, and acceptance of the child in European American and African American families showed positive impacts on children's social development with notable exceptions discussed. Corporal punishment had a negative impact on children's social development. With the exception of corporal punishment, none of the parenting behaviors predicted social development outcomes for Hispanic children.

Research Findings: Family conflict is known to be associated with poor development for young children, but many children appear resilient. This study examined the extent to which high-quality center care during early childhood protects children from these negative consequences. Children participating in center-based sites of the Early Head Start (EHS) Research and Evaluation study were grouped based on their treatment status: 305 children receiving EHS services, and 305 children not receiving EHS services. Family conflict was positively associated with aggressive behavior as reported by parents for children at 3 and 5 years of age for comparison children but not for children in EHS center-based programs. However, moderation impacts were not observed for objective ratings of child negativity to parent in semistructured interactions. Practice or Policy: These findings may suggest that attending lesser quality child care and living in a family characterized by conflict is associated with heightened aggressive behavior for children aged 3 and 5, whereas attending high-quality child care such as that provided by EHS may buffer the negative impacts of family conflict on children's psychosocial outcomes. (Contains 2 tables.)

This study used confirmatory factor analysis to examine the structure and factor loadings of an authoritarian parenting scale. The study used data from 315 married couples who had toddlers participating in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project located in 14 communities across the United States. The sample was diverse and consisted largely of white, African American, and Hispanic low-income parents. The results indicate that the authoritarian parenting scale was a consistent and accurate measure of authoritarian parenting attitudes with both mothers and fathers. Social work practitioners may find this instrument a valuable assessment tool in cases in which there is a focus on parenting skills and attitudes.

The Family Map is a semistructured interview developed to assess important aspects of the family and home environment associated with well-being in 3- to 5-year old children. The measure is designed so that it can be used during home visits with Head Start families. Accordingly, it was developed in collaboration with Head Start providers and families. The Family Map systematically identifies areas of concern and strength so that providers can design interventions to reduce risk factors (e.g., food insecurity, physical safety issues, family conflict, harsh parenting practices, parental depression) or enhance factors associated with healthy development (e.g., availability of learning materials in the home, good monitoring and supervision, or home safety). The areas assessed by the Family Map are targeted by Head Start performance standards. The Family Map has been successfully implemented in Head Start agencies and is also being adopted in non-Head Start early childcare settings. (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.)

Objective: The field of child protection needs reliable and valid methods of assessing the potential for child abuse and neglect. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory--2 (AAPI-2), Form B, using a sample of 309 low-income, rural families in a southern state. Method: The AAPI-2 is a 40-item survey designed to assess the parenting and child rearing attitudes of adult and adolescent parent and pre-parent populations. Each of the five AAPI-2 scales was (a) examined using factor analysis in order to determine the unidimensionality of the scale, (b) evaluated based on estimates of the scales reliability in order to determine the consistency with which the construct was measured, and (c) when possible, examined to determine if it is related to other constructs in meaningful and expected ways. Results: While the factor structure reported by the developer was not fully confirmed in this sample, there is some evidence that the instrument is measuring at least two of the constructs it purports to measure and that the total score may be useful. Correlations with other instruments measuring parenting behavior and child behavior were significant, and in the expected direction, offering some support for the validity of the AAPI-2. Conclusions: While the AAPI-2 appears to measure attitudes related to harsh or neglectful parenting, caution should be used in the interpretation of the individual AAPI-2 scales.

Examined the cross-age comparability of the widely used Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) in 414 adolescents and 900 adults in families receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Found similarities of means in the RSES across groups. (SLD)