Parent Perspectives of Co-Occupations in Neonatal Intensive Care: A Thematic Review of Barriers and Supports.

Background: Co-occupations within the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), which include parenting activities, such as bathing, feeding, diapering, comfort care, and bonding for attachment, are consequential for optimal infant development.

Objectives: This thematic systematic review examines supports and barriers for facilitating co-occupations between parents and infants in the neonatal setting.

Methodology: A search of four databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and PubMed) resulted in 20 studies that met inclusion criteria for data extraction.

An Interoception- Based Intervention for Improving Emotional Regulation in Children in a Special Education Classroom: Feasibility Study.

Interoception supports the ability to notice, interpret, and react to internal sensations and impacts emotional regulation and participation in meaningful activities. This study aimed to expand evidence regarding the efficacy of a 7-week intervention based on The in improving interoception and emotional regulation. We purposefully sampled middle-school participants ( = 9) with several diagnoses from a special education classroom.

Effectiveness of Robotics in Stroke Rehabilitation to Accelerate Upper Extremity Function: Systematic Review.

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of robot-assisted therapy (RAT) combined with conventional therapy (CT) compared to CT alone in accelerating upper extremity (UE) recovery poststroke. . We searched five databases: Ovid, MEDLINE, CINAHL, PubMed, and Scopus Study Selection.

Relationship between Emotional Support for Parents and Autistic Children's Participation in Social and Physical Activities.

The purpose of this study was to determine if parents receiving emotional support is positively correlated with children's participation in physical and social activities and if such a correlation exists between parental emotional support in children labeled as autistic. Data were drawn from 30,501 children aged 6 to 17 years in the 2020 National Survey of Children's Health database and analyzed using a retrospective cross-sectional approach based on multivariate linear regression models. Results showed parental emotional support was statistically significantly correlated with children's physical and social activity in the total sample but was not significant for the emotional support of parents with autistic children.

Predictors of Participation Difficulties in Autistic Children.

Importance: Participation in meaningful occupations supports quality of life and health. Because quality of life is lower in autistic children than in children without this diagnosis, it is important to consider aspects contributing to the participation difficulties this population experiences.

Objective: To identify predictors of participation difficulties in a large data set from autistic children to inform professionals about potential intervention targets.

Demonstration of the Yonsei-Social Play Evaluation Tool Keyforms for Occupational Therapy Practice.

Play is regarded as a child's primary occupation and provides valuable information about the child's abilities. Thus, informative assessment tools of play skills are critical for establishing play-related treatment goals in occupational therapy. The objective of this study is to present a practical method for occupational therapists to develop intervention goals using the Yonsei-Social Play Evaluation Tool (Y-SPET) keyforms.

The effectiveness of nontraditional or home-based programing on ADL performance of individuals living with multiple sclerosis: A systematic review.

Purpose: To examine evidence-based nontraditional and home-based interventions and their efficacy for use in individuals with MS to improve performance in their daily activities.

Materials And Methods: A search of five databases including PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, OT Seeker, and Ovid Medline produced 924 research articles. Thirty-two articles were selected for full-text review, of which 15 were included in this systematic review.

Art Interventions for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Scoping Review.

Importance: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurological condition characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication, and behavior. Occupational therapy practitioners use creative arts interventions for children with ASD, but relevant evidence for these interventions is lacking.

Objective: To provide occupational therapists evidence of the benefit of creative arts interventions for children with ASD by evaluating treatment efficacy and connecting the evidence with the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process (4th ed.

Impact of Event Scale-6 (IES-6) for U.S. adults who experienced the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: COVID-19 pandemic causes psychological problems such as stress. It is important to accurately identify the level of stress and establish effective intervention. The Impact of Event Scale-6 (IES-6) is widely used for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) screening by measuring the level of subjective stress, but there has been no research on its psychometric properties with individuals who experienced the COVID-19 pandemic.

Characteristics of Early Interventions for Pain and Function Following Lower Extremity Joint Replacement: Systematic Review.

Occupational therapy is beneficial among adults with chronic pain; however, occupational therapy interventions addressing earlier phases of pain have not been clearly explicated. This systematic review characterized acute and subacute interventions billable by occupational therapy after hip or knee replacement to improve pain and function. Seven articles met inclusion criteria.

Impact of an Interoception-Based Program on Emotion Regulation in Autistic Children.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of a 25-week school-based intervention and its ability to improve interoception and emotion regulation in an autistic pediatric population.

Method: One-group pre- and posttest design implementing in a self-contained school. Participants were 14 (11 male, 3 female) students between 9 and 19 years old.

Development of a physical function outcome measure to harmonize comparisons between three Asian adult populations.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to use modern measurement techniques and create a precise functional status metric for Asian adults.

Methods: The study subjects included Asian American adults from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study (n = 211), Chinese adults in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (n = 13,649), and Korean adults in the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (n = 7,486). The Rasch common-item equating method with nine self-care and mobility items from the three databases were used to create a physical function measure across the three Asian adult populations.

Effects of Dry Needling on Spasticity and Range of Motion: A Systematic Review.

Importance: This systematic review summarizes existing studies on dry needling for spasticity and range of motion (ROM) and discusses its potential for use as an occupational therapy intervention.

Objective: To examine existing studies on the effects of dry needling on spasticity and ROM.

Data Sources: Article citations and abstracts from Scopus, Cochrane Library, PubMed, CINAHL, and a university library search.

Participation Difficulties in Autism Spectrum Disorders and Intellectual Disabilities: Findings from the 2011 Survey of Pathway to Diagnosis and Services.

Greater understanding can increase our knowledge and intervention effectiveness for activity participation problems of children with disabilities. We examined participation difficulties of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual disabilities (ID) in the 2011 Survey of Pathway to Diagnosis and Services. We utilized propensity score matching with inverse probability of treatment weight with questions from parents of 1783 children aged 6-17 years.

Effectiveness of Social Skills Interventions Incorporating Peer Interactions for Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systematic Review.

Importance: Few studies examining the use of peers during interventions have been published, and no systematic review has been conducted to evaluate the available literature.

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of social skills interventions incorporating peers for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to improve social interactions.

Data Sources: A search of five databases (CINAHL, PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and PsycINFO) produced 697 articles.

Flourishing in children with autism spectrum disorders.

Flourishing is an indicator of positive mental health and is important for children's development and well-being. We used variables from the National Survey of Children's Health 2016 as indicators of flourishing (difficulty making friends, is bullied, bullies others, shares ideas with family, argues, finishes tasks, does all homework, shows curiosity, stays calm, and cares about doing well in school) to compare differences in parent perceptions of their children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We anticipate that these findings will help identify intervention targets to support the well-being of individuals with ASD.

Systematic Review of Yoga and Balance: Effect on Adults With Neuromuscular Impairment.

This systematic review examines the efficacy of yoga as a neuromuscular intervention for community-dwelling populations at risk for falls to determine its utility for use in occupational therapy intervention. Populations included older adults and adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI), cerebrovascular accident (CVA), dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD)-type dementia, multiple sclerosis (MS), and Parkinson's disease (PD). Benefits of yoga include improved posture control, improved flexibility of mind and body, relaxation, and decreased anxiety and stress.

Leisure Participation Patterns for School Age Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Findings from the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health.

Leisure activity participation is important for health and well-being. This study examined similarities and differences between typically developing children and those with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) from 6 to 17 years old in physical, recreational, social, skill, and jobs/chores activities from a large national database. Findings revealed that children with ASD had significantly lower participation levels than those without ASD between 11 and 17 years old.

Sensory processing disorder in preterm infants during early childhood and relationships to early neurobehavior.

Background: Preterm infants are exposed to a variety of sensory stimuli that they are not developmentally prepared to handle, which puts them at risk for developing a sensory processing disorder. However, the patterns and predictors of sensory processing disorder and their relationship to early behavior at term equivalent age are poorly understood.

Objectives: The aims of the study are to: 1) describe the incidence of sensory processing disorder in preterm infants at four to six years of age, 2) define medical and sociodemographic factors that relate to sensory processing disorder, and 3) explore relationships between early neurobehavior at term equivalent age and sensory processing disorder at age four to six years.

Sensory Responsiveness in Siblings of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

This study examined sensory responsiveness in unaffected siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and associations between sensory responsiveness and social severity. Sensory Profile Caregiver Questionnaires and Social Responsiveness Scales were completed by parents of 185 children between age 4 and 10.95 years.

Head Lag in Infancy: What Is It Telling Us?

Objective: To investigate changes in head lag across postmenstrual age and define associations between head lag and (1) perinatal exposures and (2) neurodevelopment.

Method: Sixty-four infants born ≤ 30 wk gestation had head lag assessed before and at term-equivalent age. Neurobehavior was assessed at term age.

Leisure Activity Enjoyment of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Enjoyment is a fundamental component of activity participation. This study compared leisure activity enjoyment experienced by typically developing children (TD; n = 64) and those with autism spectrum disorders (ASD; n = 67) from age 6 to 13. The TD children enjoyed formal and physical activities significantly more than the children with ASD.

Effects of exergaming on executive function and motor skills in children with autism spectrum disorder: a pilot study.

Executive function (EF) and motor deficits have consistently been documented in studies of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We investigated the effects of a pilot 30-session Makoto arena training intervention, a light and sound speed-based exergame, on response speed, EF, and motor skills in school-aged children with ASD. Strong correlations were seen between certain EF and motor scores, suggesting a relationship between the two constructs.

Intervention effectiveness for children and youth.

We reviewed 11 articles, including efficacy and effectiveness studies, addressing intervention effectiveness for children and youth published in 2012 in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy and organized them by level and type of research according to a framework adapted from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Compared with articles published in previous years, these studies showed improvement in their ability to guide practitioners to make evidence-based decisions by increasing understanding of the intervention's pragmatic relevance and the extent to which it promotes participation in childhood and adolescent occupations. Studies' evidence levels have increased along with efforts to increase scientific rigor.