María Laura Andrés

Neuroticism and Depression in Children: The Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies

ABSTRACT This studys general objective was to analyze whether different types of cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERS), namely adaptive strategies—specifically positive refocusing and positive reappraisal—and maladaptive strategies—self-blame, catastrophizing, and rumination—mediated the neuroticism-depression relationship in children 9–12 years old, and whether gender and school transition moderated the relationships proposed. A self-reporting measure was administered to 315 children to evaluate said variables. The resulting data were analyzed using structural equations. The study verified that maladaptive CERS partially mediated neuroticisms relationship with depression, while adaptive CERS, though negatively associated with depression, did not show a mediating effect on this relationship. The results provide evidence of the mediating function of maladaptive CERS on the neuroticism-depression relationship. Gender and school transition did not moderate the relationships proposed. Because, by their very nature, these strategies are modifiable, these results constitute an important finding that can be transferred to the design and content of child mental health prevention and promotion programs.

Development patterns of executive functions in children.

Executive Functions (EF) exercise control over an individuals conduct and thinking through a set of functionally independent processes, among which are cognitive flexibility (reactive and spontaneous), working memory and planning. The development patterns of these components appear to have stages of acceleration and deceleration during childhood. Studies analyzing their development in Spanish-speaking children were not found in our area. Therefore, this study will analyze the development patterns of the cited executive functions with the objective of establishing relationships and comparisons, and identifying the stages of acceleration and stagnation for each component. The studys sample consists of 274 schoolchildren between the ages of 6 and 8 (119 in first grade, 61 in second grade and 94 in third grade). Participants were evaluated using the following instruments from the Neuropsychological Assessment of Children test battery (known by the acronym ENI in Spanish): Verbal Fluency (semantic and phonemic); Cognitive Flexibility; Mexican Pyramid; and Backward Digit Span. Three different development patterns were detected, as well as different interactions between the executive components. Additionally, three empirical types were established based on the patterns and relationships between components.

Disponibilidad de recursos materiales en el hogar y adquisición de habilidades pre-lectoras

Learning to read involves a number of factors. Among these, we focus on the family context related to literacy. We understand this context as a set of resources, including experiences in which the child is in contact with the events surrounding the literacy and the availability of printed materials, as well as skills and knowledge of pre- reading, identified as precursors of formal reading. In this study we aim to explore and describe the relationships between family background and performance in pre-reading skills. We take, as sample, 88 children 5 years old, both sexes, and their parents. We interviewed the family to evaluate the family context and used the the Spanish version of “Get Ready to Read! Screening Tool” by Whitehurst & Lonigan. The results indicate a statistically significant association between rates of resource availability of reading materials at home - particularly access to technological means - and performance in pre-reading skills. This reveals the importance of the characteristics of environment in which the child grows to the development of literacy.

Availability of resources and the acquisiton of pre-reading skills in the family context

Learning to read involves a number of factors. Among these, we focus on the family context related to literacy. We understand this context as a set of resources, including experiences in which the child is in contact with the events surrounding the literacy and the availability of printed materials, as well as skills and knowledge of pre- reading, identified as precursors of formal reading. In this study we aim to explore and describe the relationships between family background and performance in pre-reading skills. We take, as sample, 88 children 5 years old, both sexes, and their parents. We interviewed the family to evaluate the family context and used the the Spanish version of “Get Ready to Read! Screening Tool” by Whitehurst & Lonigan. The results indicate a statistically significant association between rates of resource availability of reading materials at home - particularly access to technological means - and performance in pre-reading skills. This reveals the importance of the characteristics of environment in which the child grows to the development of literacy.

Disponibilidade de recursos materiais e aquisição de habilidades pré-leitoras em contexto familiar

Learning to read involves a number of factors. Among these, we focus on the family context related to literacy. We understand this context as a set of resources, including experiences in which the child is in contact with the events surrounding the literacy and the availability of printed materials, as well as skills and knowledge of pre- reading, identified as precursors of formal reading. In this study we aim to explore and describe the relationships between family background and performance in pre-reading skills. We take, as sample, 88 children 5 years old, both sexes, and their parents. We interviewed the family to evaluate the family context and used the the Spanish version of “Get Ready to Read! Screening Tool” by Whitehurst & Lonigan. The results indicate a statistically significant association between rates of resource availability of reading materials at home - particularly access to technological means - and performance in pre-reading skills. This reveals the importance of the characteristics of environment in which the child grows to the development of literacy.

Asociaciones entre rendimiento en comprensión de textos y estrategias pedagógicas utilizadas por docentes

O objetivo deste trabalho foi explorar as associacoes entre o rendimento em compreensao de leitura e diferentes estrategias docentes utilizadas em alunos da segunda e terceira serie do ensino fundamental da cidade de Mar del Plata (Argentina). O pressuposto deste estudo afirma que existe uma associacao entre o rendimento em compreensao de leitura e as estrategias pedagogicas docentes. Foi aplicado uma adaptacao do PROLEC para avaliar o rendimento em leitura e um questionario elaborado para explorar as estrategias docentes. Os instrumentos foram aplicados em uma amostra aleatoria de alunos da 2a e 3a serie de 10 escolas municipais (n=258) e nos seus respectivos docentes (n=64). Os resultados permitiram contribuir com evidencia empirica a respeito da ausencia de associacoes estadisticamente significativas entre ambas as variaveis, o que permite supor que a leitura-escrita e um fenomeno complexo que depende de varios fatores, como ser as diferencas cognitivas individuais, o contexto de alfabetizacao, etc.