Taren Swindle

The Social and Emotional Lives of Overweight, Obese, and Severely Obese Children

This study examines inter- and intrapersonal problems associated with being overweight among one thousand one hundred sixty-four 6- to 7-year-olds (49% boys) in 29 rural schools. Socioemotional data include child self-reports, peer sociometrics, and teacher reports. Results support the hypothesis that children with weight problems struggle socially and emotionally, and extend current understanding of child obesity by demonstrating that problems appear early, are evident in a community sample, can be identified using standard sociometric methods, and are worse among children with severe obesity. Sociometric status difference between levels of obesity were also found. Although obese children were neglected by peers, severely obese children were rejected.

Assessing adverse experiences from infancy through early childhood in home visiting programs

The general aim of early intervention and home visiting programs is to support families to minimize Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). However, assessing childrens exposure to these risks is complicated because parents serve as the conduit for both measurement and intervention. The primary aims of the study were to develop an assessment of childrens exposure to ACEs and to examine concurrently measured parental child abuse and neglect potential and child social-emotional functioning. Home visiting programs in a southern state implemented the Family Map Inventories (FMI) as comprehensive family assessment and child screenings (N=1,282) within one month of enrollment. Children (M=33 months of age, SD=20) were exposed at rates of 27% to one, 18% to two, 11% to three, and 12% to four or more FMI-ACEs. FMI-ACEs were associated with increased parental beliefs and behaviors associated with child abuse and neglect. FMI-ACEs also significantly predicted the likelihood of the child having at-risk social-emotional development; children with 4 or more FMI-ACEs were over 6 times more likely than those with none to have at-risk scores. The findings add to our understanding of the negative impact of trauma on children and families. Assessing these risks as they occur in a family-friendly manner provides a platform for early intervention programs to work with families to increase family strengths and reduce the impacts of adverse experiences for their children.

Many Replications Do Not Causal Inferences Make The Need for Critical Replications to Test Competing Explanations of Nonrandomized Studies

Although direct replications are ideal for randomized studies, areas of psychological science that lack randomized studies should incorporate Rosenbaum’s (2001) distinction between trivial and nontrivial replications, relabeled herein as exact and critical replications. If exact replications merely repeat systematic biases, they cannot enhance cumulative progress in psychological science. In contrast, critical replications distinguish between competing explanations by using crucial tests to clarify the underlying causal influences. We illustrate this potential with examples from research on corrective actions by professionals (e.g., psychotherapy, Ritalin) and parents (e.g., spanking, homework assistance), where critical replications are needed to overcome the inherent selection bias due to corrective actions being triggered by children’s symptoms. Purported causal effects must first prove to be replicable after plausible confounds such as selection bias are eliminated. Subsequent critical replications can then compare plausible alternative explanations of the average unbiased causal effect and of individual differences in those effects. We conclude that this type of systematic sequencing of critical replications has more potential for making the kinds of discriminations typical of cumulative progress in science than do exact replications alone, especially in areas where randomized studies are unavailable.

A Little Bit of the Blues: Low-Level Symptoms of Maternal Depression and Classroom Behavior Problems in Preschool Children

Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between low-level depressive symptoms in mothers and teacher-reported child behavioral outcomes. Participants included 442 low-income mothers of preschool-age children who were screened for maternal depression by their childs preschool teacher. Teacher reports of child behavior problems were collected on a random sample of the children (n = 264). Of mothers screened for depression, 16.7% reported low-level depressive symptoms (below the cutoff on the screener indicating clinically elevated symptoms). Analyses revealed that children of mothers with low-level depressive symptoms had significantly greater problems with externalizing behavior compared to children of mothers with no depressive symptoms. Practice or Policy: Results suggest that children whose mothers experience even low-level depressive symptoms are at risk for problems with behavior, pointing to the need for screening and interventions to address maternal depression at all levels of severity. Early childhood education providers are in an excellent position to support families impacted by symptoms of maternal depression through screening and education, supportive daily interactions, and referrals for services if needed. Teachers can also provide direct support for high-risk childrens social and emotional skill development through the provision of sensitive, nurturing care.

Violence exposure as a predictor of internalizing and externalizing problems among children of substance abusers.

We explore the associations between exposure to conflict and crime in the home and community, and child anxiety and self-control problems among 60 children whose mothers were in treatment for substance abuse problems. Experiences with violence and crime were widespread, with many children exposed to multiple incidents. Approximately one-third (35.5%) of children exhibited clinically elevated anxiety. Controlling for other potential predictors, both childrens exposure to violence and the number of years the mother had been using substances predicted higher anxiety in children, while only exposure to violence predicted problems in self-control. Results highlight the importance of screening for violence exposure.

Swedish trends in criminal assaults against minors since banning spanking, 1981-2010

This study uses Swedish trends in alleged criminal assaults against minors to investigate whether societal violence has decreased since their spanking ban in 1979.The rates of all assaults increased dramatically. Compared to 1981, criminal statistics in 2010 included about 22 times as many cases of physical child abuse, 24 times as many assaults by minors against minors, and 73 times as many rapes of minors under the age of 15. Although the first cohort born after the spanking ban showed a smaller percentage increase in perpetrating assaults against minors than other age cohorts, those born since the spanking ban had almost a 12-fold increase in perpetrations altogether, compared to a 7-fold increase for older age cohorts. Although some increases might reflect changes in reporting practices, their magnitude and consistency suggest that part of these increases are real. Recent increases may be due to expanding proscriptions against nonphysical disciplinary consequences. Future research needs to identify effective alternative disciplinary consequences to replace spanking. Otherwise, proscriptions against an expanding range of disciplinary consequences may undermine the kind of appropriate parental authority that can facilitate the development of impulse control in oppositional children and appropriate respect for others, especially the physically vulnerable.

Facebook: The Use of Social Media to Engage Parents in a Preschool Obesity Prevention Curriculum

Objective: This study investigated the use of Facebook to deliver health‐related education materials to augment a preschool classroom‐based obesity prevention curriculum. Design: Cross‐sectional, mixed methods (descriptive and interviews). Setting: Head Start classrooms administered by 2 large agencies (1 rural and 1 urban). Participants: Convenience sample of parents in 13 classrooms (cohort 1, 3 classrooms; cohort 2, 10 classrooms). Intervention: Delivery of nutrition education curriculum content using social media (Facebook). Variables Measured: Qualitative interviews assessed barriers and facilitators to Facebook use. Parent views, likes, and comments were measured to reflect parent engagement with Facebook. Analysis: Content analyses (qualitative data) and descriptive statistics (quantitative data). Results: Family access (views) and interaction (comments and likes) with the posts varied based on type and content of posts. Rural families were more active. Barriers to parental Facebook engagement included a desire to see more posts from classroom teachers, lack of time, and misunderstanding about privacy protections. Facilitators of parental Facebook engagement included perceived utility of the content and social support. Conclusions and Implications: Facebook was found to be a feasible platform to provide nutrition education and facilitated varying levels of parental engagement. Lessons learned and implications for prevention and intervention programming are offered.

A Cross-Sectional Study of Early Childhood Educators’ Childhood and Current Food Insecurity and Dietary Intake

ABSTRACT In this cross-sectional study, early childhood educators (ECEs; N = 307) completed an 18-item survey regarding their role (lead vs. assistant), education level, program type, and current and childhood food insecurity (FI) and dietary intake. ECEs in this study reported poor dietary quality and a high rate of FI. Approximately one quarter of ECEs ate fruits and vegetables more than once per day. Of participating ECEs, 34.5% indicated current FI and 28.7% reported experiencing FI in childhood. Differences in prevalence of current FI were found for ECE role, program type, and education (all p ≤ 0.03). Regression models with childhood dietary intake, childhood FI, education, and program type as predictors accounted for a significant portion of variance in current dietary outcomes. In both models, childhood dietary intake was uniquely predictive (p < 0.001) although program type was not. Future training and education efforts for ECEs should consider including specific resources to assess and reduce ECE FI and provide practical support for healthy eating on a budget. Additional research is needed to determine the impact of ECE FI on a variety of educator and child outcomes.

Defensive egotism and self-esteem: A cross-cultural examination of the dynamics of bullying in middle school

Abstract The revised compensation model of aggression posits that bullying is driven by defensive personality, not low self-esteem. Supporting research has failed to distinguish bullies vs. bully-victims (i.e., bullies who are also victims). In three studies with middle school students on two continents, pure bullies and bully-victims scored higher in defensive egotism than pure victims and controls but, unexpectedly, did not differ from each other. Low self-esteem was linked with victimization, high self-esteem with defending victims. Boys were higher than girls in bullying and physical aggression; girls were higher in social than physical aggression. Part of the lack of success of anti-bullying programs may be their failure to accommodate different types of bullies and different forms of bullying.

Psychosocial Factors in Children's Obesity: Examples From An Innovative Line of Inquiry

In recent years, researchers and policymakers have recognized that obesity in childhood is not simply a medical problem, but is a complex social and psychological phenomenon. Our research team used an interpersonal and intrapersonal risk model to examine the psychosocial aspects of obesity among rural children. In this article, we describe how the global study of childrens obesity has broadened over the last 10 to 15 years, and we present our model of interpersonal and intrapersonal risk factors, which includes complex pathways with many psychosocial variables. We then describe a large prospective longitudinal study of children in grades 1 through 4, and highlight findings from five studies guided by this model. This work illustrates opportunities for developmental scientists and practitioners to join transdisciplinary teams to develop more effective prevention and intervention programs for children.