Karla K. Fehr

Aggression in Pretend Play and Aggressive Behavior in the Classroom.

Research Findings: Pretend play is an essential part of child development and adjustment. However, parents, teachers, and researchers debate the function of aggression in pretend play. Different models of aggression predict that the expression of aggression in play could either increase or decrease actual aggressive behavior. The current study examined pretend play and classroom behavior in preschoolers. Children (N = 59) were administered a measure of pretend play, and teacher ratings of classroom behavior were obtained. Pretend play skills were positively associated with prosocial behavior in the classroom and negatively associated with physical aggression in the classroom. In particular, expression of oral aggression in play related to less physical aggression and more prosocial behavior in the classroom. Practice or Policy: These findings suggest that pretend play should be encouraged, as these skills relate to positive behaviors in the classroom. In addition, it was found that aggression in pretend play was not an indicator of actual aggressive behavior, as it related to positive behaviors in the classroom. Implications for parents and teachers are discussed.

Assessment of Pretend Play in Preschool-Aged Children: Validation and Factor Analysis of the Affect in Play Scale–Preschool Version

The Affect in Play Scale–Preschool (APS–P) and Affect in Play Scale–Preschool–Brief Rating (APS–P–BR) versions assess cognitive and affective play processes during a 5-min standardized play task. In this study, construct validity, external validity, and factor analyses for each scale were examined in 107 preschoolers. Reliability and validity were supported. Unlike results found with school-aged samples, positive affect loaded with the cognitive variables on factor analyses of the APS–P and APS–P–BR, suggesting that negative and undefined affect might represent a separate factor in preschool-aged children. Developmental significance and implications for use of the 2 scoring versions are discussed.

JPP Student Journal Club Commentary: Sleep in Youth With Chronic Health Conditions: Expanding Models to Understand Complexity in Youth With Comorbid Conditions

Reynolds and colleagues (2018) highlight the role that comorbid medical conditions play in exacerbating negative quality of life outcomes for pediatric populations. They demonstrated that in minority youth with persistent asthma, those with more comorbid conditions also experienced, on average, poorer sleep and academic outcomes. More specifically, higher cumulative risk index (CRI) scores (i.e., more comorbidities) were significantly related to decreased sleep duration and increased school absences. CRI scores were also assessed as a moderator between asthma-related lung function and sleep and academic functioning. They found that better lung function was associated with better sleep efficiency for individuals with one comorbid condition; CRI scores did not moderate the relationships among the remaining models. Multiple comorbidities may create a more complex picture for understanding the relationship between lung function and sleep quality. Additionally, higher sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) risk was associated with more school absences in the full sample and in the Latino group, but not for the African-American group. However, African-American children had higher rates of SDB risk than Latino children. This work contributes to the literature on sleep problems in youth and underscores the compounding impact of chronic medical conditions on functional outcomes. However, certain familyand cultural-level components were not fully explored, and further research is needed to better understand the complex relationships between comorbidities of chronic health conditions and sleep quality. Factors that potentially impact children’s sleep are critical to investigate, particularly in pediatric populations, given that sleep problems contribute to negative cognitive, academic, and socioemotional outcomes and approximately 50–70% of children with chronic medical and/or neurodevelopmental conditions experience sleep problems (Evans, Djilas, Seidman, Zeltzer, & Tsao, 2017; Köse, Yilmaz, Ocako glu, & € Ozbaran, 2017). While the current study demonstrated a strong relationship between comorbid conditions and sleep quality, other unexplored areas may provide additional explanation for these findings, including socioeconomic status (SES), cultural differences in sleep practices and beliefs, and parent knowledge of healthy child sleep. This commentary will discuss the possible contribution of these three variables to the results found by Reynolds and colleagues and provide suggestions for future directions. Obtaining a more comprehensive view of the factors that impact sleep and other quality of life outcomes is especially important for youth with chronic medical conditions. Ethnicity and SES appear to impact the amount and quality of children’s sleep. While the current study investigated group differences in sleep by ethnicity, the authors did not thoroughly explore the potential impact of SES. Consistent with prior research demonstrating that SES plays a role in sleep quality (Buckhalt, 2011; Buckhalt, El-Sheikh, & Keller, 2007; El-Sheikh, Kelly, Buckhalt, & Benjamin Hinnant, 2010), Reynolds and colleagues (2018) found that the relationship between poverty status and sleep duration in the overall sample approached significance.

Ethical decision making for psychology trainees in the clinical pediatric setting: Case examples and practical solutions for trainees and supervisors.

The opportunity for psychology trainees to provide services on multidisciplinary teams in the pediatric medical setting offers unique opportunities and ethical challenges (e.g., deciding which information to disclose to medical team). The developmental process of integrating ethical principles learned from general ethics training in the classroom with ethical decision making for issues that present in the pediatric medical setting can be challenging for trainees. In this article the authors will highlight ethical issues related to working in a pediatric medical setting. In particular, ethical issues unique to the pediatric setting are highlighted, including (a) working with children with medical conditions and potentially life-threatening illnesses and (b) working on multidisciplinary teams. Case examples illustrate potential ethical concerns, and suggestions for both trainees and supervisors are discussed.

Helping Children Develop Pretend Play Skills

How can experiences with pretend play facilitate development in gifted and talented children? That broad question is the focus of this chapter. Increasingly, gifted and talented children are being viewed from a developmental perspective (Dweck, 2009). The definition of giftedness and talented has evolved in the field and is no longer focused on IQ alone.