Longitudinal Impact of a Randomized Clinical Trial to Improve Family Function, Reduce Maternal Stress and Improve Child Outcomes in Families of Children with ADHD.

Objective Evaluate the efficacy of a 12 month nursing case-management intervention over a period of 18 months, 6 months after the end of intervention, for families of children attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods Mother and child dyads were enrolled to participate in a randomized controlled clinical trial. Children were 4-18 years old.

Commitment to Breastfeeding in the Context of Phenylketonuria.

Objective: To describe the meaning and importance of breastfeeding to mothers of infants with phenylketonuria (PKU).

Design: Qualitative description.

Setting: Mothers from the United States and Canada were recruited from the PKU Listserv and interviewed by telephone.

Challenges to breastfeeding infants with phenylketonuria.

Breastfeeding duration for infants with phenylketonuria (PKU) is less than other full-term infants. However, no study has examined the challenges encountered by mothers' breastfeeding infants with PKU. In 75 mothers of a child with PKU, three categories of breastfeeding challenges were identified: common breastfeeding issues, breastfeeding and PKU, and no challenges.

Breastfeeding infants with phenylketonuria in the United States and Canada.

Objective: This study described the prevalence and duration of mothers' breastfeeding infants with phenylketonuria (PKU) and explored factors related to duration of breastfeeding as a surrogate for breastfeeding success.

Subjects And Methods: Descriptive analysis as performed from an international Internet survey of mothers (n=103) who met the inclusion criteria: (1) at least 21 years of age, (2) able to read and write in English, (3) child with PKU, and (4) living in the United States or Canada.

Results: Of the 103 mothers, 89 (86%) initiated breastfeeding immediately following delivery, whereas 14 (14%) chose bottle feeding.

Growing old with fibromyalgia: factors that predict physical function.

Background: Fibromyalgia, a persistent, widespread pain condition, significantly limits physical function, threatening an older adult's health and ability to live independently.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to identify predictors of physical function in older adults living with fibromyalgia and to examine the influence of resilience on the relationship between fibromyalgia pain and physical function.

Methods: This was a descriptive correlational, cross-sectional design using mailed questionnaires to analyze relationships between health-related variables and physical function in a convenience sample of community-dwelling older adults diagnosed with fibromyalgia (n = 224; age M = 62.

Breast-feeding success among infants with phenylketonuria.

Breast milk is the nutrition of choice for human infants (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2005; American Association of Family Physicians, 2008; Association of Women's Health Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, 2005; Canadian Paediatric Society, 2005; U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, 2008; World Health Organization, 2009).

Validity of the nursing child assessment feeding scale during toddlerhood.

This study examined the validity of the Nursing Child Assessment of Feeding Scale (NCAFS) during toddlerhood, using a longitudinal design to assess the scale's convergence with the Toddler Snack Scale (TSS) between 12 and 36 months, and comparing videotaped interactions of 116 mother-toddler dyads. Differences between TSS mutuality classifications were found for the NCAFS subscales at each age. The pattern of mean scores followed expected directions at 12 and 36 months, but only two of the six NCAFS subscales maintained this pattern at 24 months.

Reliability of the Nursing Child Assessment Feeding Scale during toddlerhood.

The quality of the maternal-child feeding interaction has been proposed to be an important contributor to a child's being overweight, yet assessment of this proposition has been hindered by a lack of age-appropriate instrumentation. The primary aim of this study was to examine the reliability of the Nursing Child Assessment of Feeding Scale (NCAFS) if extended to use during toddlerhood. A longitudinal design was used to assess NCAFS reliability at 12, 24, and 36 months.

Maternal limit-setting in toddlerhood: Socialization strategies for the development of self-regulation.

Early findings from the Prohibition Coding Scheme (PCS; Houck & LeCuyer, 1995; LeCuyer-Maus & Houck, 2002; Medvin & Spieker, 1985) revealed that maternal limit-setting styles with toddlers were differentially related to later child social competence, self-concept, and delay of gratification. For this study, the PCS was revised to provide more information about the specific strategies mothers used during limit-setting in relation to those outcomes. Results from the PCS-Revised (PCS-R; LeCuyer & Houck, 2004) included that the more time mothers spent actively distracting their toddlers away from a prohibited object during limit-setting, as early as 12 months, the longer their children could delay gratification at age 5 years.

Assessing the feeding/eating interaction as a context for the development of social competence in toddlers.

Social competence likely develops through the reciprocal nature of mother-child interactions. Interactions around food provide the young child with consistent and predictable social experiences with the mother, which may establish templates for interactive patterns with others. The Toddler Snack Scale (TSS) assesses the pattern of toddler social behaviors in relation to maternal behaviors during an eating episode.

Increased mental health needs and new roles in school communities.

Topic: Mental health issues and partnership roles in school communities.

Purpose: To heighten the awareness of healthcare providers about the multiple mental health conditions students bring into school communities and the impact of these conditions on students' ability to learn; to encourage partnering between healthcare providers and educators to support students in achieving academic and developmental success.

Sources: Literature review and authors' experiences with assessment of and intervention with school-age children presenting with impaired mental health.

A support group intervention for at-risk female high school students.

School nurses have an opportunity to engage in early intervention with high-risk adolescents. School-based support groups for depressed adolescents have been effective when aimed at providing skills training as well as emotional support. In this practice improvement project, 14 high-risk female adolescents from two high schools were identified on the basis of signs associated with depression.

Small group experience for socially withdrawn girls.

Social competence is the effectiveness of social interaction behavior. Given its link to mental health outcomes, it is an important consideration in child and adolescent development. Social withdrawal is associated with depression.

A support group for absentee middle school students.

For this practice improvement project, an interview guide was developed to identify chronically absent middle school students' reasons for school absence. Of the 17 students interviewed, 82% (n = 14) identified illness as the reason for absence, although they rarely saw a health care provider. The students all shared dreams for the future; 50% involved further education, and 50% involved job training.

Small group intervention for children with attention disorders.

Children with attention disorders can experience adverse long-term effects on academic performance, vocational success, and socioemotional development. They experience some level of functional impairment that extends across settings, including the home and school. In combination with medication, group interventions with school-age children were found to be effective for enhancing social behavior.

A program to educate school nurses about mental health interventions.

Concerned with the increasing incidence of mental health problems in children and adolescents and the impact of these problems on students' school success and predisposition to self- and other-directed violence, the Multnomah Education Service District Department of School Health Services determined to become proactive by providing preventive interventions for students experiencing actual or potential mental health problems. An educational program was designed to assist school nurses in the identification of potential mental health problems. In addition, information about appropriate interventions for students at risk for aggression, violence, and other mental health pathology was presented.

Maternal characteristics and maternal limit-setting styles.

In a longitudinal study of 126 mothers and toddlers during toddlerhood, maternal limit-setting styles were assessed at 12, 24, and 36 months in relation to selected maternal characteristics. Mothers using teaching-based limit-setting styles at 12 months reported more optimal relationship histories of care and overprotection/control in their own families of origin. The main contributor to a maternal teaching-based limit-setting style in this sample was years of formal education, followed by a more multicausal conceptualization of how children develop.

Mother-toddler interaction and the development of self-regulation in a limit-setting context.

The Prohibition Coding Scheme was used to longitudinally assess observations of maternal and toddler limit-setting interactions at 12, 24, and 36 months. The final sample consisted of 126 mother-toddler dyads. Toddler behavior in a limit-setting context exemplified progressing skill in self-regulation from 12 to 36 months.

Maternal limit-setting patterns and toddler development of self-concept and social competence.

In 126 mother-toddler dyads, the relationships between maternal limit-setting patterns at 12, 24, and 36 months were examined in relation to toddler self-concept and social competence at 3 years. Maternal limit-setting patterns differentiated toddler self-concept and social competence scores, demonstrating effects of socialization as well as cognitive maturation. Less optimal toddler outcomes at 36 months were associated with an inconsistent maternal limit-setting style and an indirect style.