Comparison of an amino acid mixture and protein hydrolysates in treatment of infants with phenylketonuria.
(49/1186)
This study compares three feeding regimens for infants with phenylketonuria diagnosed by neonatal screening. Group 1 (five children) received Minafen (Cow & Gate) until they weighed twice their birthweights; Aminogran (Allen & Hanbury) was then added to the feeds in increasing amounts and replaced Minafen at between 8 and 10 months of age. Group 2 (five children) received Aminogran from the neonatal period. Group 3 (five children) received Minafen until they weighed twice their birthweights; Cymogran (Allen & Hanbury) was then added in increasing amounts and replaced Minafen at between 8 and 10 months of age. In all three groups growth was normal and control of phenylalanine levels satisfactory. During the first few months of life the Aminogran regimen proved more complicated and caused more practical difficulties than the regimens starting with Minafen. Later in the first year, when mixed feeding was introduced, and particularly when the bottle was exchanged for the cup, Aminogran had advantages over Cymogran because of its low calorie content, small bulk, and less unpleasant taste. At this age feeding problems were fewer and easier to manage with Aminogran than with Cymogran. A method of using Aminogran in the management of such problems is described. For these reasons, the regimen fed group 1, in which Minafen is used initially and then replaced by Aminogran, is preferred to the other two. (+info)
Maternal cocaine use: estimated effects on mother-child play interactions in the preschool period.
(50/1186)
The study objective was to evaluate the quality of parent-child interactions in preschool-aged children exposed prenatally to cocaine. African-American mothers and their full-term newborns (n = 343) were enrolled prospectively at birth and classified as either prenatally cocaine-exposed (n = 157) or non-cocaine-exposed (n = 186) on the basis of maternal self-report and bioassays. Follow-up evaluations at 3 years of age (mean age, 40 mo) included a videotaped dyadic play session and maternal interviews to assess ongoing drug use and maternal psychological distress. Play interactions were coded using a modified version of Egeland et al's Teaching Task coding scheme. Regression analyses indicated cocaine-associated deficits in mother-child interaction, even with statistical adjustment for multiple suspected influences on interaction dynamics. Mother-child interactions were most impaired in cocaine-exposed dyads when the mother continued to report cocaine use at the 3-year follow-up. Multivariate profile analysis of the Egeland interaction subscales indicated greater maternal intrusiveness and hostility, poorer quality of instruction, lower maternal confidence, and diminished child persistence in the cocaine-exposed dyads. (+info)
Resilience among African American adolescent mothers: predictors of positive parenting in early infancy.
(51/1186)
OBJECTIVE: To use Nath et al.'s (1991) conceptual model of adolescent parenting to examine the relationship between resiliency factors measured shortly after delivery and maternal parenting behavior at 6 months. METHOD: We recruited 181 first-time, adolescent African American mothers at delivery. Data on resiliency factors (maturity, self-esteem, and mother-grandmother relationships) were collected when infants were 1-4 weeks of age. Data on parental nurturance and parenting satisfaction were examined through observations and self-report at 6 months. RESULTS: Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the longitudinal impact of resiliency factors on parental nurturance and parenting satisfaction. Maternal maturity, positive self-esteem, and positive adolescent mother-grandmother relationships (characterized by autonomy and mutuality) were associated with better parenting outcomes. Maternal parenting satisfaction was lowest when infants were temperamentally difficult and mothers and grandmothers had a confrontational relationship. CONCLUSIONS: Longitudinal associations between mother-grandmother relationships at delivery and parental behavior and satisfaction 6 months later may suggest an intergenerational transmission of parenting style. Recommendations are provided for intervention programs to enhance mother-grandmother relationships in contexts where adolescents are required to live with a guardian to receive government assistance. (+info)
Correlates of expressed emotion in mothers of clinically-referred youth: an examination of the five-minute speech sample.
(52/1186)
BACKGROUND: Most studies applying the adult-derived 'expressed emotion' (EE) measure to children have combined criticism (CRIT) and emotional overinvolvement (EOI). Yet, some of the parent behaviors coded as EOI and shown to have negative implications for parents and their adult children (e.g., multiple positive comments about the son or daughter) may be normative and benign for parents and their juvenile children. Thus, EOI, as currently operationalized, may not be related to child psychopathology in the way CRIT is. METHOD: We tested this possibility, separating CRIT and EOI and examining the individual scoring criteria for each in relation to psychopathology factors in a sample of 258 clinically-referred children aged 7-17. RESULTS: Whereas each of the four CRIT criteria related positively to maternal reports of child psychopathology, especially externalizing problems, only two of the five EOI criteria were positively related to child psychopathology, and one (positive comments) was negatively related. Structural Equation Modeling findings supported a model in which CRIT partially mediates the relation between maternal psychopathology and child externalizing symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the results suggest that EE may contribute to the study of parent-child relations and child psychopathology, but that a developmental adjustment may be required in the way EE is operationalized for use with juvenile samples. (+info)
Comparison of psychopathology in the mothers of autistic and mentally retarded children.
(53/1186)
The aim of this study was to evaluate anxiety, depression, alexithymia, and general psychological symptoms in the mothers of autistic children in comparison with those in the mothers of mentally retarded children. Forty mothers of autistic children and 38 mothers of mentally retarded children were included in the study. After a clinical interview, psychometric tests were performed for depression, anxiety, alexithymia, and Symptom Distress Check List (SCL-90) for general psychological symptoms. Non-depression rates was 27.5% in the mothers of autistic children whereas the rate was 55.3% in the mothers of mentally retarded children. There was no difference regarding anxiety and alexithymia between the two groups. The psychopathology in the mothers of autistic children was more frequent than in those of mentally retarded children in all sub-scales of SCL-90 (somatization obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, anger-hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid thought, psychotism, and extra scale). The mothers of autistic children experienced more psychological distress than those of mentally retarded children. Our findings indicates that the assessment of autistic and mentally retarded children should include psychological assessment of their mothers. (+info)
Cognitive and social factors in the development of infants with Down syndrome.
(54/1186)
Infants and young children with Down syndrome can be engaging and affectionate. It seems that in the early months of life their personal relations may be relatively 'spared' the effects of limitations in their capacities for information-processing. Yet how far is this the case as development proceeds? In this paper we discuss some ways in which social and cognitive development interact and mutually influence one another over the first year or so of life, and present preliminary findings from a longitudinal study of infants with and without Down syndrome. The evidence suggests that the development of 'triadic' (person-person-world) social interactions may be affected by limited information-processing capacities in infants with Down syndrome, through a complex socially-mediated developmental trajectory. (+info)
Some sources of stress found in mothers of spina bifida children.
(55/1186)
The scores on a malaise inventory for 51 mothers of spina bifida children born between 1956 and 1962 in South Wales revealed significantly higher scores when the child was incontinent, had a severe locomotor disability, had an IQ less than 80, and was attending a special school rather than a normal school. No difference in scores was found between the sexes or for size of family, and only a slight difference occurred between the malaise scores of mothers of mildly and moderately handicapped children. (+info)
Preventable infant mortality and quality of health care: maternal perception of the child's illness and treatment.
(56/1186)
This study used a qualitative methodology to analyze the discourse of mothers from Greater Metropolitan Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, whose infant children had died from what were considered avoidable causes (diarrhea, malnutrition, and pneumonia), seeking to elucidate the factors associated with utilization of health care services. Identification of the illness by the mother was related to perception of specific alterations in the child's state of health. Analysis of the alterations helped identify the principal characteristics ascribed to each alteration and their relationship to the search for treatment. The authors also studied the mother's assessment of treatment received at health care facilities; 43.0% of the cases involved problems related to the structure of health care services or the attending health care professionals. In 46.0% of the cases, mothers associated the child's death with flaws in the health care service. The study group showed a variety of interpretations of illness, often distinct from the corresponding biomedical concepts. The fact that attending health care personnel overlooked or underrated the mother's perception of the illness and the lack of communications between health care personnel and the child's family had an influence on the child's evolution and subsequent death. (+info)