Carmen Dionne

Developmental screening in a Canadian First Nation (Mohawk): psychometric properties and adaptations of ages & stages questionnaires (2nd edition)

BackgroundThe need for early intervention tools adapted to the First Nation culture is well documented. However, standards derived from First Nation communities are absent from the literature. This study examines the psychometric properties of an adaptation of a caregiver-completed screening tool, the Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ), for the Mohawk population.MethodsParticipants who completed the questionnaires include 17 teachers, along with the parents of 282 children (130 girls and 152 boys) between the ages of 9 and 66 months who attend the Child and Family Center Mohawk Territory, Quebec.ResultsFor the internal consistency of the four questionnaires (36-, 42-, 48- and 54-month intervals), Cronbach’s alphas varied between .61 and .84. Five results were below 0.60: “gross motor” (Q36 and Q42), “problem solving” (Q36) and “personal-social” (Q36 and Q42). A comparison of the results shows that parents and teachers agreed in 85% of the cases concerning the referral of the child for further evaluation. Moreover, the group discussion with the parents revealed that the use of the questionnaire was appreciated and was deemed appropriate for use within the community.ConclusionThe results show that the ASQ is a screening test that may be appropriate for use with children from communities that are seemingly very different in terms of geographic, climatic and cultural backgrounds. This preliminary study with the Child and Family Center appears to support further study and the use of the ASQ with the Mohawk population.

Quality of life of French Canadian parents raising a child with autism spectrum disorder and effects of psychosocial factors

PurposeThis study aimed to investigate the quality of life of parents of a child with autism spectrum disorder in Quebec.MethodsSeventy-seven participants completed a questionnaire with socio-biographic information and five self-assessed scales, to measure perceived stress, social support and control, coping strategies, and quality of life.ResultsPerception of their child’s autonomy level, of the severity of the disorder, of the family’s income, as well as changes in their professional or familial organization influenced parents’ quality of life. Perceiving their situation as a threat predicted poor quality of life, whereas satisfaction of social support predicted good quality of life. In addition, parents who used problem solving and support-seeking coping strategies had a better relationship with their child, whereas those who used more emotion-centered coping strategies struggled. Lastly, parents who felt they had the power to contribute to their child’s development were more satisfied and less disturbed.ConclusionsBeyond the parents’ actual situation, our results underscore the importance of paying attention to their own perception of the situation in order to provide them with appropriate support.

Perceptions des parents sur l’inclusion sociale des enfants ayant des difficultés développementales au Québec

Le nombre d’enfants presentant des difficultes developpementales (DD) dans les services de garde du Quebec a considerablement augmente au fil des annees. Cependant, la realite de leur participation sociale reste a documenter. Le but de cette etude est de decrire la participation des jeunes enfants ayant des DD et de discuter de la satisfaction des parents quant aux opportunites offertes a leur enfant de participer a des activites. Les resultats revelent que 70 % des enfants beneficient d’un service de garde frequente par tous les enfants. Cependant, en dehors de la structure educative, la participation a des activites avec des pairs chute : 56,5 % pour des activites non structurees, 31,1 % pour les cours de natation, de musique, ou d’art et 17,4 % pour les activites sportives d’equipe. Force est de constater qu’une education inclusive totale n’est pas encore une realite pour tous les jeunes enfants.