Preschool predictors of loneliness in school-age children

Chronic loneliness is a risk factor associated with adverse psychological, physical, and academic outcomes. Converging evidence suggests that young children experience and can reliably report on their own loneliness: thus, a clearer understanding of the risk factors for child loneliness is needed. The aims of this study were two-fold: (a) to examine if temperament (i.e., negative affect, effortful control, inhibitory control), and attachment security assessed at the age of four predict loneliness at the age of six and (b) to determine if social competence at the age of five mediates the relation between temperament and attachment security at the age of four and loneliness at the age of six. Participants included a diverse sample of 796 4-year-old children, about half of whom were male. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that lower levels of effortful control and inhibitory control at the age of four significantly predicted greater loneliness at the age of six. Also, while lower levels of negative affect (NA) and higher levels of effortful control and attachment security at the age of four significantly predicted higher levels of social competence at the age of five, social competence at the age of five did not predict loneliness at the age of six. There was no evidence that social competence at the age of five mediated the relation between the age of four temperament, attachment security, and the age of six loneliness. These findings reveal that early self-regulation is associated with later child-reported loneliness and that intervention for children who struggle with behavioral regulation may be effective in decreasing risk for later loneliness.     

Impact of age and symptom severity on parent-child relationships and self-perception among Chinese children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Little information is available on the effect of parent-child relationships on self-perception among Chinese children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Hong Kong. This study examined the impact of children’s age and symptom severity on the linkage of quality parent-child relationships to perceived competence/hope among children with ADHD. A clinical sample of 81 school-age children (ages 5–11, mean age = 8.38) who were diagnosed with ADHD were recruited in this study. Separate questionnaires were employed to collect data among children and their parents in the pre-treatment phase. Parent-child relationships were positively correlated with self-perception of children with ADHD, with physical competence to be father-child specific. Children’s age had moderated the correlation between mother-child relationship and children’s hope. Maternal role on children’s hope was significant for the mild symptom group; paternal role on children’s hope was significant for the severe symptom group. No moderation effect was found for symptom severity on the correlation between parent-child relationship and children’s self-perception. The study’s findings helped mental health professionals in a Chinese context to develop psychosocial interventions to foster quality parent-child relationships, which in turn will maintain children’s self-perception. Implications for social work practice are discussed.     

Young Adults’ Life Outcomes and Well-Being: Perceived Financial Socialization from Parents,the Romantic Partner,and Young Adults’ Own Financial Behaviors

We examined how perceived financial socialization—from parents, the romantic partner, and young adults’ own behavior—was associated with young adults’ life outcomes and well-being (i.e., physical and mental health, finances, romantic relationship). Using data (N?=?504) from young adults specific to their finances, results from hierarchical regression analyses showed that young adults’ own financial behaviors were the most patterned, followed by financial socialization from the romantic partner, and then from financial socialization from parents (only objective financial knowledge). We discuss how young adults’ financial behavior, financial socialization from the romantic partner and, to a lesser extent, parental socialization are associated with young adults’ life domains, underscoring the developmental salience of increased financial capability and relationship formation and decreased dependence on parents during the transition to adulthood.     

Multifamily Group Intervention for Chinese Parents and Their Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in a Chinese Context

Despite the empirical evidence of multifamily group (MFG) in helping children with mental health needs in Western contexts, there is a dearth of clinical studies in Chinese societies such as Hong Kong to explore such adaption to help Chinese families of children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In this article, the authors describe the MFG model adapted to the Chinese context and assess the perceived helpfulness of the intervention, using a client-driven approach in evaluation. The parents’ evaluation toward the MFG program is positive whereas the children’s feedback is less favorable. Modifications have been made including a 30-minute pregroup meeting for the parents and more challenging games and outdoor activities for the children.     

Childcare policies and services in Hong Kong after the handover: Beyond a feminist critique

This article reviews the development of childcare policies and services in Hong Kong after the handover, gauging it with two standards: promoting the equal development of children and gender equality in our society. Statistics derived from data taken from multiple sources show that the government has been sticking to a “positive non‐intervention approach” to welfare development and that the male breadwinner/female carer model prevalent in this region was shaped and strengthened by current childcare policies and services. The current provision of childcare services is insufficient to guarantee the equal use of childcare among children of different socioeconomic backgrounds, or to ease the tension between the needs of childcare and job requirements in a family, or to emancipate married women from the domestic sphere. A “generative welfare approach” that collects fiscal resources and redistributes them strategically with a systemic mind‐set has been suggested for social policy and service planning, including spending the money in the right place, launching smart and practical policies that can achieve both pragmatic effects and ideological improvement in the area of gender equality, providing financial support or subsidies to a company for the provision of parental leave, and increasing the provision of quality childcare services.     

Social workers’ perspectives on the recovery-oriented mental health practice in Tshwane,South Africa

The challenge facing the mental health field today is the lack of knowledge related to interventions and services that will help people recover from severe mental health problems. In addition, the reluctance of social workers to embrace the recovery-oriented mental health practice is attributed to their lack of knowledge. Hence, they regard recovery in mental health as misleading and unrealistic.The article provides the findings on the social workers’ lack of knowledge and understanding of the recovery-oriented mental health practice. The social workers are based in non-governmental organizations in Tshwane, South Africa. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather data from social workers. Findings confirmed the lack of knowledge regarding the recovery-oriented approach, which has not yet been implemented in South Africa. Mental health services continue to be informed by the traditional medical model.     

USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNIQUES TO ENHANCE THE CAPABILITIES OF MODEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Decision Support Systems (DSSs) originally were proposed as interactive problem-solving vehicles through which models and analytical techniques could be made available to decision makers. Model management represents a line of research within the DSS field that focuses on the design and implementation of software environments to support the use of DSSs for this purpose. This paper describes the tasks that must be supported within these environments and illustrates how existing prototype Model Management Systems (MMSs) implementations provide this support. The use of artificial intelligence techniques in such implementations are reveiwed, and three scenarios are presented to show how future MMSs could be constructed using these techniques.     

Evidence-based practice in family group decision-making for Anglo, African American and Hispanic families

This study addresses the need and gap in the literature on evidence-based practice in family group decision-making services by reporting on the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services' Family Group Decision-Making study, conducted between December 2003 and July 2005 with Anglo, African American and Hispanic families throughout Texas. These services are compared to standard practice by assessing satisfaction, child well-being and exits from care. Findings indicate that both parents and relatives are more satisfied with family group decision-making conferences than standard practice on a number of dimensions, with relatives reporting feeling more empowered than parents. Children are reported to be less anxious if their families participate in a conference, and they may be more adjusted when they are placed with relatives following a conference. Finally, exits from care are faster if families participate in family group decision-making conferences, and exits to reunification are increased; this may be especially true of African American and Hispanic children.     

The construction of ergonomic demands: application on artisan fishing using jangada fishing rafts in the beach of Ponta Negra

The present article seeks the process of construction of ergonomics demand referring to the artisan fishing activityfound in Ponta Negra beach located in the city of Natal, Brazil. The instruction/construction of demands correspond to the first stage of Work Ergonomic Analysis and allows the understanding of real issues existent in a work situation, rank them and route the providences. The demand presented on this study, features itself as a induced demand, process which some potential demands or hypothetical demands are taken to an organization, after a preview analysis of the work aimed by the study, resulting from a theoretical research (state of the art) and/or from analysis of a reference situation (state of practice), where demands hypothesis are taken in consideration about the pretended work. The demands construction process using interactional methods and techniques, observation methods and techniques and bibliographic research, researches in state of reference or document. This article demonstrates the efficiency of the methodological choice to construct real ergonomic demands and highlights the importance of social construction on that process, which main goal is to refer the ergonomic actions that allow the improvement of work and life conditions for the fishers and sustainability to Jangadeira activity.     

“Ghosts of Sociologies Past:” Settlement Sociology in the Progressive Era at the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy

This embedded case study of the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy (CSCP) illustrates the development of disciplinary boundaries during a transitional period of professionalization in the social sciences, particularly for the fields of sociology and social work. Drawing on archival data (e.g., reports, scholarly and autobiographical writings, and correspondence) we first document sociological contributions of the community-based school, one of many progressive projects among social settlements and social gospelers of the day. Then using the lens of an intergenerational struggle reflective of the historical social movements of the period, we analyze the circumstances surrounding the 1920 merger of the CSCP with the University of Chicago. Succeeding their early social settlement mentors, Graham Taylor of the Chicago Commons and Jane Addams and Julia Lathrop of Hull House, a second generation of social reformer protégés became a formidable force in this disciplinary differentiation. This case can be read as a micro-level illustration of a much larger macro-level political contest as professional social scientists vied for control of the definition of social science and its applied mission. The "ghosts of sociologies past" still haunt the discipline today offering important lessons for sustaining a science that joins theory with action to solve social problems.