Search results for: children's cyber-aggression (sexual

Authors: Xunan Huang, Caicai Zhang

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This paper investigated the code-mixing features in Mandarin-English bilingual children in Singapore. First, it examined whether the code-mixing rate was different in Mandarin Chinese and English contexts. Second, it explored the syntactic categories of code-mixing in Singapore bilingual children. Moreover, this study investigated whether morphological information was preserved when inserting syntactic components into the matrix language. Data are derived from the Singapore Bilingual Corpus, in which the recordings and transcriptions of sixty English-Mandarin 5-to-6-year-old children were preserved for analysis. Results indicated that the rate of code-mixing was asymmetrical in the two language contexts, with the rate being significantly higher in the Mandarin context than that in the English context. The asymmetry is related to language dominance in that children are more likely to code-mix when using their nondominant language. Concerning the syntactic categories of code-mixing words in the Singaporean bilingual children, we found that noun-mixing, verb-mixing, and adjective-mixing are the three most frequently used categories in code-mixing in the Mandarin context. This pattern mirrors the syntactic categories of code-mixing in the Cantonese context in Cantonese-English bilingual children, and the general trend observed in lexical borrowing. Third, our results also indicated that English vocabularies that carry morphological information are embedded in bare forms in the Mandarin context. These findings shed light upon how bilingual children take advantage of the two languages in mixed utterances in a bilingual environment.

Keywords: bilingual children, code-mixing, English, Mandarin Chinese

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Authors: Madison Meyer

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Dermatological conditions are one of the most viewed medical subjects on the social media platform TikTok, resulting in the rise of several prominent American board-certified dermatologists as influencers. Notably, dermatology is one of the least diverse specialties. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess individuals’ preferences related to race, gender, and sexual identity of doctors in terms of dermatology-related information on TikTok and which group posts more reliable information. This study qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated the racial, gender, and sexual diversity of the top 55 dermatologist influencers on TikTok based on their follower count. The DISCERN tool was used to determine the reliability of consumer health content based on a score ranging from 1-5. Among the top 55 dermatologist influencers, African American (54,241.60) and Latinx (6,696) groups had the lowest mean number of followers compared to Caucasian (1,046,298.50) and Asian (1,403,393.50) physicians. Latinx and African American dermatologists had the highest DISCERN scores of 2 and 1.9, respectively. None of the physicians identified as a different gender or as LGBTQIA+ in any racial category. There is a considerable lack of minority dermatologist influencers on TikTok, especially Latinx, African American, and LGBTQIA+ physicians. The lack of diversity in the dermatology specialty can lead to inequitable care and health outcomes for racial/ethnic, gender, and sexual minority patient populations. This study’s findings also suggest Latinx and African American dermatologists post more reliable content compared with their Caucasian and Asian counterparts.

Keywords: dermatology, social media, sexual and gender minorities, racial minorities, skin of color, tiktok

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Authors: Louisa Han Lin Tan, Poh Sim Kang, Wei Ming Loi, Susan Jane Rickard Liow

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The efficacy of music for improving speech and language has been shown across ages and diagnoses. Across the world, the wide range of therapy settings and increasing number of children diagnosed with special needs demand more cost and time effective service delivery. However, research exploring co-treatment models on children other than those with Autism Spectrum Disorder remains sparse. The aim of this research was to determine the efficacy of music for improving language in children with special needs, and generalizability of therapy effects. 25 children (7 to 12 years) were split into three groups – A, B and control. A cross-over design with direct therapy (storytelling) with or without music, and indirect therapy was applied with two therapy phases lasting 6 sessions each. Therapy targeted three prepositions in each phase. Baseline language abilities were assessed, with re-assessment after each phase. The introduction of music in therapy led to significantly greater improvement (p=.046, r=.53) in associated language abilities, with case studies showing greater effectiveness in developmentally appropriate target prepositions. However, improvements were not maintained once direct therapy ceased. As such, the incorporation of music could lead to greater efficiency and effectiveness of language therapy in children with special needs, but sustainability and generalizability of therapy effects both require further exploration.

Keywords: music, language therapy, children, special needs

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Authors: Farwa Rizvi, Joanne Williams, Humaira Maheen, Elizabeth Hoban

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There is an increase in risky sexual behavior and unsafe sex in adolescent girls and young women aged 15 to 24 years in Cambodia, which negatively affects their reproductive health by increasing the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies. Risky sexual behavior includes ‘having sex at an early age, having multiple sexual partners, having sex while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and unprotected sexual behaviors’. A systematic review of quantitative research conducted in Cambodia was undertaken, using the theoretical framework of the Social Ecological Model to identify the personal, social and cultural factors associated with risky sexual behavior and unsafe sex in young Cambodian women. PRISMA guidelines were used to search databases including Medline Complete, PsycINFO, CINAHL Complete, Academic Search Complete, Global Health, and Social Work Abstracts. Additional searches were conducted in Science Direct, Google Scholar and in the grey literature sources. A risk-of-bias tool developed explicitly for the systematic review of cross-sectional studies was used. Summary item on the overall risk of study bias after the inter-rater response showed that the risk-of-bias was high in two studies, moderate in one study and low in one study. The search strategy included a combination of subject terms and free text terms. The medical subject headings (MeSH) terms included were; contracept* or ‘birth control’ or ‘family planning’ or pregnan* or ‘safe sex’ or ‘protected intercourse’ or ‘unprotected intercourse’ or ‘protected sex’ or ‘unprotected sex’ or ‘risky sexual behaviour*’ or ‘abort*’ or ‘planned parenthood’ or ‘unplanned pregnancy’ AND ( barrier* or obstacle* or challenge* or knowledge or attitude* or factor* or determinant* or choic* or uptake or discontinu* or acceptance or satisfaction or ‘needs assessment’ or ‘non-use’ or ‘unmet need’ or ‘decision making’ ) AND Cambodia*. Initially, 300 studies were identified by using key words and finally, four quantitative studies were selected based on the inclusion criteria. The four studies were published between 2010 and 2016. The study participants ranged in age from 10-24 years, single or married, with 3 to 10 completed years of education. The mean age at sexual debut was reported to be 18 years. Using the perspective of the Social Ecological Model, risky sexual behavior was associated with individual-level factors including young age at sexual debut, low education, unsafe sex under the influence of alcohol and substance abuse, multiple sexual partners or transactional sex. Family level factors included living away from parents, orphan status and low levels of family support. Peer and partner level factors included peer delinquency and lack of condom use. Low socioeconomic status at the society level was also associated with risky sexual behaviour. There is scant research on sexual and reproductive health of adolescent girls and young women in Cambodia. Individual, family and social factors were significantly associated with risky sexual behaviour. More research is required to inform potential preventive strategies and policies that address young women’s sexual and reproductive health.

Keywords: adolescents, high-risk sex, sexual activity, unplanned pregnancies

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Authors: Sheena Christabel Pravin, M. Palanivelan

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Speech disfluencies are common in spontaneous speech. The primary purpose of this study was to distinguish linguistic disfluencies from stuttering disfluencies in bilingual Tamil–English (TE) speaking children. The secondary purpose was to determine whether their disfluencies are mediated by native language dominance and/or on an early onset of developmental stuttering at childhood. A detailed study was carried out to identify the prosodic and acoustic features that uniquely represent the disfluent regions of speech. This paper focuses on statistical modeling of repetitions, prolongations, pauses and interjections in the speech corpus encompassing bilingual spontaneous utterances from school going children – English and Tamil. Two classifiers including Hidden Markov Models (HMM) and the Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), which is a class of feed-forward artificial neural network, were compared in the classification of disfluencies. The results of the classifiers document the patterns of disfluency in spontaneous speech samples of school-aged children to distinguish between Children Who Stutter (CWS) and Children with Language Impairment CLI). The ability of the models in classifying the disfluencies was measured in terms of F-measure, Recall, and Precision.

Keywords: bi-lingual, children who stutter, children with language impairment, hidden markov models, multi-layer perceptron, linguistic disfluencies, stuttering disfluencies

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Authors: Amratpal Kaur

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The right to education is universal in nature. This right has been enshrined in Indian Constitution and in various significant international documents. Unfortunately, despite of comprehensive legislation at the regional and international level 98% children with disabilities in developing countries don’t attend schools. Vast majority of children suffering from disability in developing nations lack basic literacy. The paper discusses in detail that the term inclusive education has got impetus all over the world and more so in India in the last decade. India has committed itself to the development of an inclusive education system as it is signatory to the Salamanca Statement and it has strived to achieve it thereon. Due to the shift from medical to social model of disability the emphasis is on inclusive school, so that the disabled children can be integrated in the mainstream easily. Thus, the idea is to educate disabled children along with their peers. The paper focuses on developing a clear understanding of inclusive education and identifying strategies to enhance the education of all children at the regional and international level.

Keywords: inclusion, disability, education, policy

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Authors: Sunanta Klibthong

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In view of the Thailand government policy creating increasing awareness of opportunity for children with special needs, the number of children with disabilities enrolled in kindergartens in Thailand has increased. This study explores early childhood teachers’ experiences and concerns of teaching children with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. The population of the study was private early childhood teachers who teach in inclusive classrooms in Thailand. Quantitative data obtained through a questionnaire were supplemented by early childhood teachers’ interviews to identify key experiences and concerns of the teachers when teaching children with and without disabilities in the same classrooms. The results of this study indicated that many teachers face challenges including lack of professional development opportunities, difficulty identifying the needs of all children and how to use effective strategies to support inclusive practices in their classrooms. Teachers also expressed concern about parents’ lack of willingness to accept children without disabilities studying together with those with disabilities in the same classrooms. Findings from this study can inform program support for parents and professional support needs of teachers in the provision of high-quality inclusive programs for all students.

Keywords: the concern, early childhood, experience, inclusive education, Thailand

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Authors: Desiree David

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South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world, with a sizable percentage of the population living with HIV. A substantial number of new infections occur as a result of sexual activity. South African courts have awarded civil claims for damages as a result of the transmission of HIV as a result of non-disclosure by the HIV-positive sexual partner, and more recently, the criminal courts have also convicted and sentenced individuals accused of infecting others as a result of sexual activity. This paper will analyse some case law from South African court cases that have dealt with criminal convictions for the transmission of HIV, and the potential for more widespread prosecutions of these cases. It will also address the desirability of this trend in light of the social public health system, as well as human rights concerns surrounding this highly contentious issue. This will be done by considering some applicable provisions of the Bill of Rights such as the right to privacy and equality, as espoused in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The paper further addresses the experience of other jurisdictions such as Canada, Singapore, Lesotho and Uganda, by analyzing case law, and consider the pitfalls of criminalizing a wide spectrum of sexual conduct that could result in the transmission of HIV. The paper concludes with a proposal that the issue of criminalizing the transmission of HIV cannot be addressed by the criminal justice system alone, as to do so could result in harsh consequences for those living with HIV. As such individuals may be burdened with additional responsibilities that could potentially impact on the rights of the individual. This may ultimately result in injustice for those living with HIV.

Keywords: criminalization, HIV, human rights, South Africa

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Authors: Syed Ameer Haider Jafri, Mariam Amri

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Dental caries is the most prevalent dental disease of childhood. The aims and objectives of this study were to identify the most common reason for seeking dental treatment and to determine caries profile and there is a treatment need in children visiting the hospital. A total of 170 Saudi children of age 1-5 years studied. Results show the most common reason for visiting hospital was decay followed by pain. These children show mean DMFT/DMFS of 9.8/22.4 and most commonly needed treatment was one-surface restoration followed by pulp treatment.

Keywords: dental caries, DMFT/DMFS index, prevalence, dental treatment need

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Authors: Natalia Bazaiou

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The school entrance is one of the most important places in the everyday lives of children. As an intersection between school and public realm of the city, it is characterized by gradations of porous and rigid boundaries. Depending on its function, it can serve as a threshold or as a boundary. Additionally, it is a spatial condition that facilitates a dialogue between the school and the city and draws content from both. School thresholds are important in supporting the role of the school as an important node in the city and a bridge between children's various everyday life dynamics by demonstrating prominent usage and meaning as a place that is open to the community as well as to possibilities and physical interaction. In this research, we examine the role of the "realm of the in-between" between school and city through the architecture workshops for children at Hill Memorial School in Athens, in which we explore children's perceptions, wishes, and ideas related to their familiar everyday places of transition from school to city and vice versa. Also discussed in the presentation are the writings of Herman Hertzberger, Aldo Van Eyck, Jaap Bakema and others.

Keywords: threshold, city, play, identity, cinematic tools, children, school architecture

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Authors: Tatenda Manomano, Moreblessing Memory Ndonga

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In South Africa and the world over, despite an array of commendable policies to protect the rights of children, the situation on the ground indicates that HIV/AIDS continues to pose increasing challenges on the children’s’ right to education due to the death of their parents. This study sought to validate the home experiences of children that negatively impact on their right to education in South Africa with a case of HIV/AIDS orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) in Amatole District. The study utilized a qualitative research method in collecting the feelings, views and attitudes of these children to establish the children’s home experiences. An interview guide with semi-structured questions was used to steer the one-on-one in-depth interviews with children from Parkside Primary School, Langa-Liphumile High School and one anonymous school in East London, Eastern Cape Province. 5 learners were purposively selected from each school and subjected to a one-on-one interview with the researcher. The researcher purposively selected one teacher per school, 2 members each from 3 community based organizations (CBOs) who were also subjected to a one-on-one in-depth interview. The findings indicated these negative experiences of the OVCs in their homes such as; attendance to a school was poor; academic performance was low; enrollment in schools was very low and abuse of these children was high. These researchers recommend for psychosocial support for these children to be placed in the schools; integration of HIV/AIDS programmes to target especially the OVCs; social workers should ensure that they regularly do home visits to these OVCs to establish whether the home circumstances these children are still conducive for them. It is hoped that the findings from this paper will be an asset that other researchers, policy makers, the government and NGOs/CBOs will take into consideration for the benefit of OVCs.

Keywords: orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs), HIV, AIDS, home experiences

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Authors: Thapanee Musiget

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Ethnic minority children’s language learning is believed that it can be developed through school system. However, many cases prove that these kids are left to challenge with multicultural context at school and sometimes decreased the ability to acquire new learning. Consequently, it is significant for ethnicity parents to consider that prompting their children at home before their actual school age can eliminate negative outcome of children's language acquisition. This paper discusses the approach of instructional use of parents and children language learning in the context of minority language group in Thailand. By conducting this investigation, secondary source of data was gathered with the purpose to point out some primary methods for parents and children in ethnicity. The process of language learning is based on the sociocultural theory of Vygotsky, which highlights expressive communication among individuals as the best motivating force in human development and learning. The article also highlights the role of parents as they lead the instruction approach. In the discussion part, the role of ethnic minority parents as a language instructor is offered as mediator.

Keywords: ethnic minority, language learning, multicultural context, sociocultural theory

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Authors: Elena E. Lyakso, Olga V. Frolova, Yuri N. Matveev, Aleksey S. Grigorev, Alexander S. Nikolaev, Viktor A. Gorodnyi

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The study of the children’s emotional sphere depending on age and psychoneurological state is of great importance for the design of educational programs for children and their social adaptation. Atypical development may be accompanied by violations or specificities of the emotional sphere. To study characteristics of the emotional state reflection in the voice and speech features of children, the perceptual study with the participation of adults and the automatic recognition of speech were conducted. Speech of children with typical development (TD), with Down syndrome (DS), and with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) aged 6-12 years was recorded. To obtain emotional speech in children, model situations were created, including a dialogue between the child and the experimenter containing questions that can cause various emotional states in the child and playing with a standard set of toys. The questions and toys were selected, taking into account the child’s age, developmental characteristics, and speech skills. For the perceptual experiment by adults, test sequences containing speech material of 30 children: TD, DS, and ASD were created. The listeners were 100 adults (age 19.3 ± 2.3 years). The listeners were tasked with determining the children’s emotional state as “comfort – neutral – discomfort” while listening to the test material. Spectrographic analysis of speech signals was conducted. For automatic recognition of the emotional state, 6594 speech files containing speech material of children were prepared. Automatic recognition of three states, “comfort – neutral – discomfort,” was performed using automatically extracted from the set of acoustic features - the Geneva Minimalistic Acoustic Parameter Set (GeMAPS) and the extended Geneva Minimalistic Acoustic Parameter Set (eGeMAPS). The results showed that the emotional state is worse determined by the speech of TD children (comfort – 58% of correct answers, discomfort – 56%). Listeners better recognized discomfort in children with ASD and DS (78% of answers) than comfort (70% and 67%, respectively, for children with DS and ASD). The neutral state is better recognized by the speech of children with ASD (67%) than by the speech of children with DS (52%) and TD children (54%). According to the automatic recognition data using the acoustic feature set GeMAPSv01b, the accuracy of automatic recognition of emotional states for children with ASD is 0.687; children with DS – 0.725; TD children – 0.641. When using the acoustic feature set eGeMAPSv01b, the accuracy of automatic recognition of emotional states for children with ASD is 0.671; children with DS – 0.717; TD children – 0.631. The use of different models showed similar results, with better recognition of emotional states by the speech of children with DS than by the speech of children with ASD. The state of comfort is automatically determined better by the speech of TD children (precision – 0.546) and children with ASD (0.523), discomfort – children with DS (0.504). The data on the specificities of recognition by adults of the children’s emotional state by their speech may be used in recruitment for working with children with atypical development. Automatic recognition data can be used to create alternative communication systems and automatic human-computer interfaces for social-emotional learning. Acknowledgment: This work was financially supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project 18-18-00063).

Keywords: autism spectrum disorders, automatic recognition of speech, child’s emotional speech, Down syndrome, perceptual experiment

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Authors: Hanh Thi My Nguyen

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The purpose of this research is to examine the experiences of parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing in supporting their children to access education in Vietnam. Parents play a crucial role in supporting their children to gain full access to education. It was widely reported that parents of those children confronted a range of problems to support their children to access education. To author’s best knowledge, there has been a lack of research exploring the experiences of those parents in literature. This research examines factors affecting those parents in supporting their children to access education. To conduct the study, qualitative approach using a phenomenological research design was chosen to explore the central phenomena. Ten parents of children who were diagnosed as deaf or hard of hearing and aged 6-9 years were recruited through the support of the Association of Parents of Children with Hearing Impairment. Participants were interviewed via telephone with a mix of open and closed questions; interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. The research results show that there are nine main factors that affected the parents in this study in making decisions relating to education for their children including: lack of information resources, perspectives of those parents on communication approaches, the families’ financial capacity, the psychological impact on the participants after their children’ diagnosis, the attitude of family members, attitude of school administrators, lack of local schools and qualified teachers, and current education system for the deaf in Vietnam. Apart from those factors, the lack of knowledge of the participants’ partners about deaf education and the partners’ employment are barriers to educational access and successful communication with their child.

Keywords: access to education, deaf, hard of hearing, parents experience

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Authors: Behnaz Farahani, Razieh Sotoudeh, Ali Vahdani, Hamed Abdi

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Individual differences in eating behavior can cause underweight or overweight and obesity. Thus influencing factors on children’s eating behavior such as mothers’ feeding practices are needed to be more investigated. The goals of this survey are to evaluate the association of (i) parental pressure and children’s food avoidant tendency, (ii) parental restriction and children’s food approach tendency, (iii) modeling of healthy eating in front of children and their children’s eating behavior. 760 mothers of children aged 7-10 from schools in Isfahan were asked to complete questionnaires including Child Feeding Questionnaire, Children’s Eating Behavior Questionnaire, Modeling Questionnaire, and self-administered demographic questionnaire in which mothers reported their children’s height and weight as well. Of those mothers, 745 completed the questionnaires for the children’s index (mean age: 8.513±1.112) during the 2011-2012 school year. The results of this quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional analysis indicated that “parental restriction” was positively associated with child food responsiveness (P,0.000) and food enjoyment (P,0.000) and surprisingly, it was positively associated with Food Fussiness(0.000) .Parental pressure to eat was positively associated with child satiety responsiveness (P,0.000), slowness (P,0.000), and fussiness (P,0.00) and negatively associated with Food responsiveness(p,0.000)and Enjoyment of food (p,0.002), modeling of healthy eating were positively associated with Enjoyment of food / q (p,0.000) and negatively with food fussiness (P,0.000). The results of this survey will improve interventions and maternal guidance on their feeding practices and their association with children’s eating behavior and weight.

Keywords: feeding practices, eating behavior, pressure to eat, restriction, modeling, satiety responsiveness, slowness in eating, food fussiness, food responsiveness, enjoyment of food

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Authors: Jian-Jun Gao

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Repetition is used for a variety of functions in conversation. When young children first learn to speak, they often repeat words from the adult’s recent utterance with the learning and social function. The objective of this study was to ascertain whether the repetitions are equivalent in indicating attention to new words and the initial repeat of information in conversation. Based on the observation of naturally occurring language use in Taiwan Corpus of Child Mandarin (TCCM), the results in this study provided empirical support to the previous findings that children are more likely to repeat new words they are offered than to repeat new information. When children get older, there would be a drop in the repetition of both new words and new information.

Keywords: acquisition, corpus, mandarin, new words, new information, repetition

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Authors: Molly Parker

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Unintended pregnancy rates in Australia are amongst the highest in the developed world. Women with Substance Use Disorder often have riskier sexual behavior with nil contraceptive use and face disproportionately higher unintended pregnancies and Sexually Transmitted Infections, alongside Substance Use in Pregnancy (SUP) climbing at an alarming rate. In an inner-city Drug and Alcohol (D&A) service, significant barriers to sexual and reproductive health services have been identified, aligning with research. Rapid pathways were created for women seeking D&A treatment to be referred to Sexual and Reproductive Health services for the administration of Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) and sexual health screening. For clients attending a D&A service, this is an opportunistic time to offer sexual and reproductive health services. Collaboration and multidisciplinary team input between D&A and sexual health and reproductive services are paramount, with rapid referral pathways being identified as the main strategy to improve access to sexual and reproductive health support for this population. With this evidence, a rapid referral pathway was created for women using the D&A service to access LARC, particularly in view of fertility often returning once stable on D&A treatment. A closed-ended survey was used for D&A staff to identify gaps in reproductive health knowledge and views of referral accessibility. Results demonstrated a lack of knowledge of contraception and appropriate referral processes. A closed-ended survey for clients was created to establish the need and access to services and to quantify data. A follow-up data collection will be reviewed to access uptake and satisfaction of the intervention from clients. Sexual health screening access was also identified as a deficit, particularly concerning due to the higher rates of STIs in this cohort. A rapid referral pathway will be undergoing implementation, reducing risks of untreated STIS both pre and post-conception. Similarly, pre and post-intervention structured surveys will be used to identify client satisfaction from the pathway. Although currently in progress, the research and pathway aim to be completed by December 2023. This research and implementation of sexual and reproductive health pathways from the D&A service have significant health and well-being benefits to clients and the wider community, including possible fetal/infancy outcomes. Women now have rapid access to sexual and reproductive health services, with the aim of reducing unplanned pregnancies, poor outcomes associated with SUP, client/staff trauma from termination of pregnancy, and client/staff trauma following the assumption of care of the child due to substance use, the financial cost for out of home care as required, the poor outcomes of untreated STIs to the fetus in pregnancy and the spread of STIs in the wider community. As evidence suggests, the implementation of a streamlined referral process is required between D&A and sexual and reproductive health services and has positive feedback from both clinicians and clients in improving care.

Keywords: substance use in pregnancy, drug and alcohol, substance use disorder, sexual health, reproductive health, contraception, long-acting reversible contraception, neonatal abstinence syndrome, FASD, sexually transmitted infections, sexually transmitted infections pregnancy

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Authors: Emil Danehorn, Ulla Peterson, Marie Oscarsson, Goldina Smirthwaite, Katarina Swahnberg

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Swedish students who choose to study abroad are common, but there has been limited research on exchange students. There are indications that some Swedish exchange students have been exposed to violence, but it is not known if they, already before their semester abroad, are more exposed to violence than students who remain on campus. Our aim was to investigate potential differences in exposure to physical, sexual, and emotional violence between prospective exchange students and campus students and between male and female students in general, as well as to determine any associations between mental health and exposure to violence among students in the total sample. Method: Comparative cross-sectional design using an online survey containing the NorVold Abuse Questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire 12. A total of 565 participants took part in the study. Results: Prospective exchange students were less exposed to emotional violence compared to campus students. About one-half of all the participating female students had been exposed to sexual violence and about one-third of all the male students had been exposed to physical violence. The results also indicated that exposure to more than one form of violence was associated with poor mental health for students as a group. Conclusion: Prospective exchange students as a group do not report more exposure to physical and sexual violence than campus students but do report less exposure to emotional violence. However, the overall frequency of exposure to violence among the students was high. This highlights the need for proactive efforts for everyone, not least for exchange students who will be staying in a new environment unknown to them.

Keywords: sexual violence, physical violence, emotional violence, exchange students, mental health

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Authors: Anita Yus

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Several Elementary Schools (SD) ‘favored’ by parents, especially those live in big cities in Indonesia, implicitly demand each child enrolled in the first grade of SD to be able to read, write and calculate. This condition urges the parents to push the teachers in PAUD (Kindergarten) to train their children to read, write, and calculate so they have a set of knowledge. According to Piaget, each child is capable of acquiring knowledge when he is given the opportunity to interact with his environment (things, people, and atmosphere). Teachers can make the interaction occur. There are several learning approaches suitable for the characteristics and needs of child’s growth. This paper talks about a research result conducted to investigate how twelve teachers of early childhood program comprehend the constructivist theory of Piaget, and how they inquire, how the children acquire and construct a number of knowledge through occurred interactions. This is a qualitative research with an observation method followed up by a focus group discussion (FGD). The research result shows that there is a reciprocal interaction between the behaviors of teachers and children affected by the size of the classroom and learning source, teaching experiences, education background, teachers’ attitude and motivation, as well as the way the teachers interpret and support the children’s needs. The teachers involved in this research came up with varied perspective on how knowledge acquired by children at first and how they construct it. This research brings a new perspective in understanding children as scientists.

Keywords: constructivist approach, young children as a scientist, teacher practice, teacher education

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Authors: Siobhan Laird

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Under article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which extends human rights in their application to those under the age of 18 years, children must be consulted ‘in all matters affecting the child’. The Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England is responsible for improving the welfare of children and young people by ensuring that their Convention rights are respected and realised and their views taken seriously. In 2014 the Children’s Commissioner engaged a team of researchers at the Centre for Social Work, University of Nottingham to develop and roll out an online survey to gather information from children and young people about their exercise of choice within the public care system. Approximately 3,000 children responded to this survey, which comprised both closed and open-ended questions. SPSS was used to analyse the numerical data and a thematic analysis of textual data was conducted on answers to open-ended questions. Findings revealed that children exercised considerable choice over personal space and their spare time, but had much less choice in relation to contact with their birth families, where they lived, or the timings of moves from one placement into another. The majority of children described how they were supported to express their opinions and believed that these were taken seriously. However, a significant number reported problems and explained how specific behaviours by professionals and carers made it difficult for them to express their opinion or to feel that they had influenced decisions which affected them. In open-ended questions eliciting information about their experiences, children and young people were asked to describe how they could be better supported to make choices and what changes would assist for these to be better acknowledged and acted upon by professionals and carers. This paper concludes by presenting the ideas and suggestions of children and young people for improving the public care system in Britain in relation to their exercise of choice.

Keywords: children, choice, participation, public care

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Authors: Theopoula Karanikolaou

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During recent decades an increasing number of studies indicate the negative impact of gender stereotypes in various aspects of society as well as in everyday life. At the same time, children’s literature is considered an important factor of gender-role socialization as it provides young readers with socially accepted gender behavioral models. Using a content analysis approach, this research examines the female representations in Greek children’s literature published from 2009 to 2019. Results indicate that female characters are depicted as sensitive and tender both in texts and illustrations, traits that are almost absent in the male characters of the sample. Highlighting the emotional aspect of female characters in contrast with the restrained male attitude reproduces gender biases. Stereotypical gender representation in children’s literature cultivates further discrimination among men and women.

Keywords: children's literature, female representation, gender socialization, gender studies

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Authors: Amani K. Abu-Shaheen, Abdullah Nofal, Humariya Heena

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Introduction: Parental perceptions and practices are important for improving the asthma outcomes in children; indeed, evidence shows that parents of asthmatic children harbor considerable misperceptions of the disease. Objective: To identify the prevalence of asthma and to investigate the perceptions and practices of parents toward asthma and its management in Saudi children. Methods: A two-stage cross-sectional survey of 2000 parents of children aged 3–15 years from schools located in all five districts of Riyadh province located in central Saudi Arabia, was conducted. Data collection was accomplished using a self-administered questionnaire based on information obtained from the literature. Results: Of 1450 children whose parents participated in the study, 600 had asthma, dyspnea, or chest allergy. The overall number of children with parental reports of ever having been diagnosed with asthma was 478 (32.9%). The majority of parents (321, 53.5%) believed that asthma was a hereditary disease. Of these parents, 361 (60.3%) were concerned about side effects of inhaled steroids, and 192 (32%) about development of dependency on asthma medications. Three hundred sixty seven (61.2%) parents reported that they could treat the asthma attack at home and almost 76% of parents went to pediatric emergency department during asthma attack. Conclusions: In this study, the overall prevalence of children whose parents reported that they were diagnosed with asthma was high (32.9%). Furthermore, parents of children with asthma had misperceptions regarding asthma and exhibited ineffective practices in its management. To improve asthma care and compliance, adequate education should be provided to parents.

Keywords: asthma, management, parents, quality of life

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Authors: Wike Wike

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The aim of this study is to investigate the experience of mothers of autistic children in Indonesia in raising the children and obtaining services for them through the adequate of information. The study seeks to contribute to the knowledge emerging from the women as a mother of children with autism on health and disability area. There is silence in the Indonesian literature on this perspective, especially about the parents and/or mothers of autistic children that is the focus of this analysis. Therefore, in order to capture the points of view emerging from the mothers, a qualitative study design has been applied. The main data for this qualitative study was collected from interviews (semi-structured interview and focus group discussion) with the mothers of children with autism who are member of parenting group in autistic schools and rehabilitation centers in one of Indonesian regional cities. This study reveals that the mothers’ experience in raising a child who is diagnosed with autism is rooted in limited knowledge on autism, limited knowledge on availability of services and limited knowledge on service options. Compounding this is limited availability and accessibility of the services that are important to their child's development. An important contribution of this study is to show how tapping into the experience of mothers can provide much needed information to policy making and service planners and implementers that can improve the services for children with autism and their families.

Keywords: mothers, children with autism, disability services and policy, services

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Authors: Nsenga Bakinahe

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Background: Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) globally and, particularly in Rwanda, face significant challenges related to HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Rwanda has a young population, with 65.3% below 30 years of age, demonstrating a need for SRH promotion and HIV prevention for this population. We aimed to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of integrated HIV prevention and SRH services among AGYW in Rwanda. Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 384 AGYW aged 15-24 years who had ever been pregnant and currently reside in Nyagatare district, Eastern Rwanda from January to April 2023. A questionnaire was developed to collect data, participants were randomly selected and data were collected by one-on-one interviews and were analyzed using SPSS V21. The statistical relationship between variables was significant at P-Value of 0.05 and 95% confidence interval. Results: The majority (97.9%) of respondents demonstrated a good level of knowledge, (52.2%) of the respondents had positive attitudes towards integrated HIV prevention and SRH services. Looking at the practice of integrated HIV prevention and SRH services use, 51.4% of respondents have a low level of practice. The practice of integrated HIV prevention and SRH services was significantly associated with school drop-out and family status (P>0.05). Conclusion: The findings from these studies collectively emphasize the need for comprehensive education, targeted interventions, and community-based support to achieve better health outcomes regarding HIV prevention and overall sexual and reproductive health among adolescent girls and young women. Empowering adolescent girls and young women with accurate information and comprehensive support will enable them to make informed decisions, protect their health effectively, and contribute to reducing the burden of HIV and improving sexual and reproductive health outcomes.

Keywords: integrated HIV prevention, sexual and reproductive health services, among adolescentes girls, and young women

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Authors: Noel Busch-Armendariz, Caitlin Sulley

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Introduction: This study investigated the development of college experiences, COVID-19 pandemic experiences, alcohol use, and sexual violence. The longitudinal study includes 656 college students living in the same dormitory. Students' alcohol use and social network structure were investigated to better understand the relationship with sexual violence risk. Basic Methodologies: Over two years, students repeated five web-based surveys, including a pre-college survey and surveys during four consecutive semesters. Questions were added in the fourth wave to assess students’ experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, administered from November-January 2021, including mental and behavioral health. Analyses include the impact of COVID on living arrangements, drinking behaviors, and daily life; experiences of COVID symptoms, testing, and diagnosis, responses to COVID such as social distancing, quarantining, not working, increased health care needs; experience of fear, worry, stigma, emotional well-being, loneliness, and mental health; experiences of financial loss, lack of basic supplies, receiving emotional and financial support, and comparison with academic disengagement. Concluding Statement: Findings and discussion will include strategies to strengthen mental and behavioral health programs and policies.

Keywords: COVID, mental health, substance abuse, college students, sexual misconducts

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Authors: Shirin Zubair

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Keeping in view the segregation of space(s) experienced by young women and men at puberty in Pakistan and the socially constructed and performative aspect of gender identity by Western theorists of gender and self, this paper will explore Pakistani youth’s differential, gendered performances. Specifically focused on Pakistani youth’s perceptions and experiences of sexuality, extramarital and same-sex relationships in constructing and performing gendered identities as manifested through their talk, the research will also draw upon recent theories of space in cultural studies and postcolonial discourses. The data cited has been culled from two different studies conducted at universities in the city of Multan. Informal, unstructured group discussions of women and men aged between twenty and twenty nine years of age were recorded separately among groups of friends and cohorts studying at two different universities. The findings clearly show both young women and men doing the boundary work in identity construction in private and public spaces: talking of sexuality, sexual desire and sexual relationships, women tend to safely couch their articulations in euphemisms: distance themselves from the Western concepts of sexual liberation ; while young men’s exhibitionism in boasting of their sexual prowess and sexual encounters as well as the use of sexually explicit and tabooed words frequently in their intimate conversations shows a clear departure from and a contestation of the normative public discourses. Further the findings illustrate that young men conform to the patriarchal ideologies by constructing heterosexual identities whereas young women initiate discourse on same-sex relationships. The data also reveals that the private identities of these young Pakistanis are different from their public identities, as it is in their intimate conversations and private (or safe) spaces that they talk about their pre-marital sexual activities and love affairs. These intimate and safe spaces thus emerge as subversion and contestation of their public identity, as sex and sexuality are tabooed subjects in public discourses.

Keywords: sexuality, gender, identity, performance

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Authors: Begum Serim-Yildiz

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The aim of this study is to examine the role of parents' emotional and behavioral reactions on fears of children in the COVID-19 pandemic considering Rachman’s Three Pathways Theory. For this purpose, a phenomenological qualitative study was conducted. Thirteen participants living with their children were utilized through criterion and snowball sampling. In semi-structured interviews parents were asked about their own and their children’s beahavioral and emotional reactions in the COVID-19 pandemic, and they were expected to give detailed information about fears of their children before and in pandemic. Firstly, parents were asked about their behavioral and emotional reactions in the COVID-19 pandemic. As behavioral reactions, precautions taken by parents to protect the rest of the family from negative physical and emotional impact of the pandemic were mentioned, while emotional reactions were defined as acquisition of negative emotions like fear, anxiety, and worry. Secondly, parents were asked about their children’s behavioral and emotional reactions. Some of the parents talked about positive behavioral changes such as gaining self-control, while some others explained negative behavioral changes like increased time spent with technological tools. In the emotional changes section, all of the parents explained at least one negative emotion. All of the parents stated that their children had COVID-19 related fears. According to parents’ expressions, fears of children in pandemic were examined in two dimensions. Fears directly related to COVID-19 were fear of virus/microbes, illness or death of someone in family and death and fears. Fears indirectly related to COVID-19 were fear of going out, sleep alone at night, separation, touching stuff outside the home, and cold. Considering existing literature and based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that children’s modelling experiences have impact on acquisition of negative emotions, especially fear, therefore, preventive interventions involving caregivers should be provided by mental health professionals working with children.

Keywords: children’s fears, COVID-19 pandemic, modelling experiences, parents’ reactions

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Authors: Dewi Indah Irianti

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Introduction: Street children include one of the populations at risk of HIV infection. Their vulnerability to these situations is increased by their lack of understanding of the changes associated with adolescence, the lack of knowledge and skills which could help them to make healthy choices. Social integration increased AIDS knowledge among migrant workers in Thailand. Although social integration has been incorporated into health research in other areas, it has received less attention in AIDS prevention research. This factor has not been integrated into models for HIV prevention. Objectives: The goal of this review is to summarize available knowledge about factors related to HIV/AIDS knowledge and to examine whether social integration was reviewed among street children. Methodology: This study performed a systematic search for English language articles published between January 2006 and March 2016 using the following keywords in various combination: street children, HIV/AIDS knowledge and social integration from the following bibliographic databases: Scopus, ProQuest, JSTOR, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, EBSCOhost, Sage Publication, Clinical Key, Google Web, and Google Scholar . Results: A total of 10 articles met the inclusion criteria were systematically reviewed. This study reviews the existing quantitative and qualitative literature regarding the HIV/AIDS knowledge of street children in many countries. The study locations were Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Africa. The most determinants associated with HIV/AIDS knowledge among street children are age and sex. In this review, social integration that may be associated with HIV/AIDS knowledge among street children has not been investigated. Conclusion: To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study found that there is no research examining the relationship of social integration with the HIV knowledge among street children. This information may assist in the development of relevant strategies and HIV prevention programs to improve HIV knowledge and decrease risk behaviors among street children.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS knowledge, review, social integration, street children

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Authors: Hui Fang Huang Su, Leanne Lai, Pei-Fen Li, Mei-Hwei Ho, Yu-Wen Chiu

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This study aimed to provide a practical, systematic, and comprehensive intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). A pilot study of quasi-experimental pre-post intervention with control group design was conducted to evaluate if the mathematical intervention (Project MIND - Math Is Not Difficult) increases the math comprehension of children with ASD Children with ASD in the primary grades (K-1, 2) participated in math interventions to enhance their math comprehension and cognitive ability. The Bracken basic concept scale was used to evaluate subjects’ language skills, cognitive development, and school readiness. The study found that our systemic interventions of Project MIND significantly improved the mathematical and cognitive abilities in children with autism. The results of this study may lead to a major change in effective and adequate health care services for children with ASD and their families. All statistical analyses were performed with the IBM SPSS Statistics Version 25 for Windows. The significant level was set at 0.05 P-value.

Keywords: autism, mathematics, technology, family

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Authors: Kay Carroll

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Creating historical consciousness in children and young people is critical to global inclusion and engagement. In a context of international and technological flux, children are confronted with shifting national identities. Within this quantitative study of Australian children and young people, the concept and development of historical consciousness are explored. The analysis reports on how children and young people are connected through national, collective, and personal narratives to understand historically significant events and changes, anchor themselves to universal and intergenerational traditions and norms, be open to divergent perspectives and resilient to perpetual socio-cultural shifts. This paper presents the development and factors that shape national historical consciousness in children and young people using established international frameworks and stages of historical consciousness. This research reports on quantitative surveys conducted with over 680 school children from ages 12 years to 19 years within Australian schools. Concepts of global citizenship, inclusion, and engagement with national historical memory and significance are explored. Findings identify the social benefits of collective and personal historical consciousness and consider the current barriers and enablers in developing a young person’s historical consciousness for the future.

Keywords: curriculum, global citizenship, historical consciousness, significance

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