Sandra Graham McClowry

Dietary intake and health outcomes among young children attending 2 urban day-care centers

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) on diet and 3 health outcomes--weight-for-height status, dental caries (tooth decay) score, and number of days of illness--among preschool children attending 2 urban day care centers. DESIGN Dietary intake and health outcome measures were assessed and compared for children attending 2 day-care centers in an urban community. Data were obtained for 14 days of dietary intake, which were analyzed for energy and 15 nutrients and 6 food groups; anthropometric measures, including weight-for-height; dental caries; and days of illness. SUBJECTS/SETTING Forty 3- to 5-year-old black children from 2 day-care centers participated. One center participates in the CACFP. At the other center, children bring all meals and snacks from home. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED Data from the 2 groups of children were compared using parameteric and nonparametric t tests. RESULTS Children receiving CACFP meals at day care had significantly higher mean daily intakes of vitamin A (804 +/- 191 vs 595 +/- 268 retinol equivalents), riboflavin (1.45 +/- 0.32 vs 1.21 +/- 0.22 mg), and calcium (714 +/- 180 vs 503 +/- 143 mg) than the children who brought all of their meals and snacks from home. Children who received CACFP meals also consumed significantly more servings of milk (2.9 +/- 0.9 servings vs 1.5 +/- 0.7) and vegetables (1.8 +/- 0.5 vs 1.2 +/- 0.5 servings) and significantly fewer servings of fats/sweets (4.6 +/- 1.3 vs 5.4 +/- 1.1 servings) than children who brought their meals. Weight-for-height status and dental caries scores did not differ between the 2 groups. Children from the center participating in the CACFP have significantly fewer days of illness (median 6.5 vs 10.5 days) than children from the nonparticipating center. APPLICATIONS Nutritious meals provided by the CACFP can improve diets and may promote health among young, urban children. Registered dietitians can contribute to food assistance programs by intervening to enhance the quality of meals served and by examining the impact of participation on measures of diet quality and diet-related health outcomes.

Challenges to the Study of African American Parenting: Conceptualization, Sampling, Research Approaches, Measurement, and Design

SYNOPSIS Objective. The primary purpose of this review is to highlight methodological challenges to the study of African American parenting. Over the past two decades, research on African American parenting has burgeoned, and attempts have been made to address the shortcomings of prior work in this area. Recent studies have shed new light on the heterogeneity of African American parenting and help to identify promising directions for future research. Design. In this paper, we overview research on African American parenting, with emphasis on studies conducted over the past two decades. We discuss challenges, strengths, and gaps in the areas of conceptualization, sampling, research approaches, measurement, and design. Results and Conclusions. Great strides have been made in the methodological rigor of studies on African American parenting which have yielded a more complex understanding of parenting practices and outcomes in this population. Future research should attend to variation in the nature and influences of parenting across different subgroups of the African American population. Additionally, researchers should increasingly rely on multiple methodologies (e.g., surveys, observations, qualitative interviews); ground the measurement of parenting in the experiences of African American populations; and examine patterns within a developmental context. These research directions promise to yield new findings on processes that are unique to African American families, as well as highlight those that are common to parents across racial and ethnic groups.

A Re-Examination of the Validity and Reliability of the School-Age Temperament Inventory

BackgroundAs a construct, temperament provides a framework for understanding differences among individuals in reaction to their life experiences. The measurement of the construct concerns both researchers and clinicians. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine whether the School-Age Temperament Inventory continued to demonstrate reliability and validity when retested with three existent samples of parent respondents. MethodSample 1 was a sociodemographically and racially heterogeneous group of 200 children from New England in the United States. Data for Sample 2 was provided by 589 mothers and fathers from the state of Georgia in the United States. In Sample 3, data was provided by parents (principally, mothers) of 1,391 adolescents from Australia. Orthogonal Procrustes rotations were conducted to examine the underlying structure of the inventory when it was contrasted with the results obtained in the original standardization of the tool. ResultsThe total coefficients of congruence for the samples were .88 to .97, while those of the four factors ranged from .84 to .98. Across the samples, Cronbach alphas for the dimensions ranged from .80 to .92. Independent t-tests identified that boys were significantly more active and less task persistent than girls. However, regression analyses revealed that sex accounted for only 5% of the variance in task persistence and activity. DiscussionThe results provide substantial additional support for the reliability and validity of the School-Age Temperament Inventory. Recommendations for future research are offered which include exploring the role of temperament in contributing to developmental outcomes in children and examining cross-cultural samples.

Temperament-Based Intervention: Re-examining Goodness of Fit

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how recent advances in the temperament field have contributed to the scientific foundation of temperament-based intervention. A presentation of the historical origins of temperament-based intervention is followed by examples of recent studies that add to its empirical support. Guidelines for developing and adapting temperament-based interventions are offered. The goodness of fit model, frequently used as a basis for temperament-based intervention, is re-examined through the lens of self-regulation.

Testing the Efficacy of INSIGHTS on Student Disruptive Behavior, Classroom Management, and Student Competence in Inner City Primary Grades

A prevention trial tested the efficacy of INSIGHTS into Children’s Temperament as compared to a Read Aloud attention control condition in reducing student disruptive behavior and enhancing student competence and teacher classroom management. Participants included 116 first and second grade students, their parents, and their 42 teachers in six inner city schools. Teachers completed the Sutter-Eyberg Student Behavior Inventory (SESBI) and the Teacher’s Rating Scale of Child’s Actual Competence and Social Acceptance (TRS) at baseline and again upon completion of the intervention. Boys participating in INSIGHTS, compared with those in the Read Aloud program, showed a significant decline in attentional difficulties and overt aggression toward others. Teachers in INSIGHTS, compared to those in the attention control condition, reported significantly fewer problems managing the emotional-oppositional behavior, attentional difficulties, and covert disruptive behavior of their male students. They also perceived the boys as significantly more cognitively and physically competent.

The relationship of temperament to pre-and posthospitalization behavioral responses of school-age children

The relationship of temperament to pre- and posthospital behavioral responses of school-age children was examined in this study. Seventy-five children, aged 8 to 12, who experienced unplanned hospitalizations were studied. Data were collected from the childrens mothers who served as the primary informants. The mothers completed questionnaires describing their childrens temperament and behavior pre- and posthospitalization. Temperament accounted for more than 50% of the variance in the childrens behavior prior to hospitalization and at 1 week and at 1 month following discharge. The subjects usual prehospitalized temperament was significantly more withdrawn than the established norms of the temperament instrument. However, the subjects did not differ from the norms at either 1 week or 1 month following discharge.

The influence of temperament on development during middle childhood

Temperament continues to influence the development of children during their school-age years. No longer influenced primarily by their parents, school-age children interact with teachers and peers in situations that contribute toward goodness or poorness of fit.