Validation and psychometric properties of the neonatal intensive care unit parental beliefs scale.

Background: Parental perception of their infants and confidence/beliefs about their parenting are among the most salient factors influencing outcomes of preterm infants.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of scores on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Parental Beliefs Scale (NICU PBS) in a sample of mothers and fathers of preterm infants receiving intensive care. The NICU PBS is a rating instrument designed to assess parental beliefs about their premature infant and their role during hospitalization.

Perception of pulmonary function and asthma control: the differential role of child versus caregiver anxiety and depression.

Objective: To examine child and caregiver anxiety and depression as predictors of children's perception of pulmonary function, quick-relief medication use, and pulmonary function.

Method: 97 children with asthma, ages 7 to 11 years old, reported their anxiety and depressive symptoms and completed spirometry. Caregivers completed a psychiatric interview.

The relationship between environment, efficacy beliefs, and academic achievement of low-income African American children in special education.

African American students are overrepresented in special education. Ecological systems theory, social cognitive theory, and a literature review demonstrate that children's environments, particularly school, and self-efficacy impact the educational outcomes of African American children. Interventions have aimed to improve children's environmental resources and efficacy.

Prediction of peak flow values followed by feedback improves perception of lung function and adherence to inhaled corticosteroids in children with asthma.

Background: Failure to detect respiratory compromise can lead to emergency healthcare use and fatal asthma attacks. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of predicting peak expiratory flow (PEF) and receiving feedback on perception of pulmonary function and adherence to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS).

Methods: The sample consisted of 192 ethnic minority, inner-city children (100 Puerto Rican, 54 African-American, 38 Afro-Caribbean) with asthma and their primary caregivers recruited from outpatient clinics in Bronx, New York.

The relationship between caregivers' post-traumatic stress disorder and their asthma health beliefs in an ethnic minority inner-city sample.

Objective: Caregivers' asthma health beliefs can impact healthcare decisions. This study aimed to determine whether caregivers with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) had asthma illness representations less aligned with the professional model of asthma management and whether their children had worse asthma control.

Methods: Participants were 120 children with asthma (age M = 9.

A multi-factorial model for examining racial and ethnic disparities in acute asthma visits by children.

Background: Causes of children's asthma health disparities are complex. Parents' asthma illness representations may play a role.

Purpose: The study aims to test a theoretically based, multi-factorial model for ethnic disparities in children's acute asthma visits through parental illness representations.

Validation of the Asthma Illness Representation Scale-Spanish (AIRS-S).

Background: To expand knowledge surrounding parental illness representations (IRs) of their children's asthma, it is imperative that culturally appropriate survey instruments are developed and validated for use in clinical and research settings. The Asthma Illness Representation Scale (AIRS) provides a structured assessment of the key components of asthma IRs, allowing the health care provider (HCP) to quickly identify areas of discordance with the professional model of asthma management. The English AIRS was developed and validated among a geographically and ethnically diverse sample.

Differential effects of a nurse home-visiting intervention on physically aggressive behavior in children.

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the differential effects of nurse home visiting (NV) on physical aggression (PA) among children aged 2-12 years.

Methods: This study used secondary data analysis from a randomized trial of NV intervention.

Results: There were significant reductions in PA observed among NV girls at 2 years old and NV children of high-psychological-resource mothers at 6 and 12 years old.

Validation of the Asthma Illness Representation Scale (AIRS).

Background: Research has suggested a link between parents' illness representations (IRs), use of complementary and alternative medicine, inhaled/oral corticosteroids and leukotriene antagonists, and children's health outcomes. The Asthma Illness Representation Scale (AIRS) provides a structured assessment of the key components of asthma IRs allowing the healthcare provider (HCP) to quickly identify areas of discordance with the professional model of asthma management.

Methods: These analyses extend the initial validation of the AIRS and compares data from the original study conducted among a primarily white and African American sample in Rochester, NY (N = 228) with data obtained from a predominantly inner-city, ethnic minority sample (Puerto Rican, African American, and Afro-Caribbean) from the Bronx, New York (N = 109).

Long-term effects of prenatal and infancy nurse home visitation on the life course of youths: 19-year follow-up of a randomized trial.

Objective: To examine the effect of prenatal and infancy nurse home visitation on the life course development of 19-year-old youths whose mothers participated in the program.

Design: Randomized trial.

Setting: Semirural community in New York.

Pediatric nurse practitioners' assessment and management of childhood overweight/obesity: results from 1999 and 2005 cohort surveys.

Introduction: Recently, public and professional emphasis has been placed on addressing the increasing prevalence of childhood overweight.

Method: This survey study was conducted with two cohorts of pediatric nurse practitioners (N = 413) to explore differences in self-reported practice skills over time.

Results: Significant improvements in assessment, screening, and laboratory evaluations were reported, although reduced adherence to recommended psychosocial assessments was noted.

Changes in nurse practitioners' knowledge and behaviors following brief training on the healthy eating and activity together (HEAT) guidelines.

Introduction: Primary care providers, particularly pediatric nurse practitioners, are an integral force involved in tackling the obesity epidemic among youth. The majority of nurse practitioners, however, report low proficiency regarding their ability to adequately prevent and treat pediatric overweight. In response, the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) developed the evidence-based Healthy Eating and Activity Together (HEAT) Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) to improve provider behavior and efficacy.

The effects of gender on the coping outcomes of young children following an unanticipated critical care hospitalization.

Purpose: A prior evaluation of the predictors of child coping outcomes following an unanticipated critical hospitalization revealed gender differences, which were explored in this study to examine patterns of behavioral change over time.

Design And Methods: Data from 163 mother-child (2-7 years) dyads were extracted for this study. Measures of child coping obtained 3 and 6 months following hospitalization included the Behavioral Assessment System for Children and the Post-Hospitalization Behavior Questionnaire.

Maternal rules, compliance, and injuries to preschool children.

This study examined the relationships among maternal rules, child compliance, and the injury experience of preschool children. To do so, 278 mothers of 3-year-old children were interviewed, mothers and children were videotaped, and medical records were reviewed. Results indicated that mothers' observed rule enforcement and children's committed compliance were inversely related to injury experience.

Don't ask, don't tell: parental nondisclosure of complementary and alternative medicine and over-the-counter medication use in children's asthma management.

Introduction: Parent-health care provider (HCP) communication is an important component of pediatric asthma management. Given the high prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and over-the-counter (OTC) medication use among this population, it is important to examine parental nondisclosure of these asthma management strategies.

Method: One-time interview and 1-year retrospective medical record review with 228 parents of 5- to 12-year-old children with asthma enrolled from six pediatric primary care practices examining parental nondisclosure of CAM and OTC medication use, reasons for nondisclosure, medical record documentation of CAM usage, and association between parent-HCP relationship and nondisclosure.

Effects of nurse home visiting on maternal and child functioning: age-9 follow-up of a randomized trial.

Objective: Our goal was to test the effect of prenatal and infancy home visits by nurses on mothers' fertility and children's functioning 7 years after the program ended at child age 2.

Methods: We conducted a randomized, controlled trial in a public system of obstetric and pediatric care. A total of 743 primarily black women <29 weeks' gestation, with previous live births and at least 2 sociodemographic risk characteristics (unmarried, <12 years of education, unemployed), were randomly assigned to receive nurse home visits or comparison services.

The impact of the parental illness representation on disease management in childhood asthma.

Background: Despite significant advances in treatment modalities, morbidity due to childhood asthma has continued to increase, particularly for poor and minority children.

Objectives: To describe the parental illness representation of asthma in juxtaposition to the professional model of asthma and to evaluate the impact of that illness representation on the adequacy of the child's medication regimen.

Methods: Parents (n = 228) of children with asthma were interviewed regarding illness beliefs using a semistructured interview.

Complementary and alternative medicine use in children with asthma: prevalence and sociodemographic profile of users.

Research on complementary and alternative medicine use in children with asthma is in its infancy. This study examined the prevalence, types of CAM used and sociodemographic differences in CAM use among children 5-12 years with asthma. 65% of parents reported using CAM.

Asthma care of children in clinical practice: do parents report receiving appropriate education?

Unlabelled: This paper describes asthma education received from the health care provider as reported by parents of children with asthma and evaluates differences in their report based on socio-demographic and disease characteristics.

Methods: Parents of 228 children with asthma were recruited from diverse clinical practice sites and asked to report on the level of education received in key content areas the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program identified as critical.

Results: The overall proportion of education content fully discussed was 66%.

Impact of asthma education received from health care providers on parental illness representation in childhood asthma.

The burden of asthma has increased dramatically despite increased understanding of asthma and new medication regimens. Data reported here are part of a larger study investigating factors that influence parental asthma illness representation and the impact of this representation on treatment outcomes, including the parent/health care provider relationship. We investigated the influence of asthma related education provided by health care providers on these outcomes.

Changes in maternal depressive symptoms across the postpartum year at well child care visits.

Objective: To describe the incidence, continuation, and resolution of symptoms during the postpartum year in urban women experiencing high depressive symptom levels at one or more well child care visits.

Methods: As part of a prior study of postpartum depressive symptoms, demographic data and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) were systematically collected from pediatric records of a clinic that routinely screens mothers with the EPDS at each first-year well child care visit. To explore the course of depressive symptoms throughout the postpartum year in this pilot study, we included only data from the records that had at least one EPDS > or = 10 (N = 100), a score indicating a high likelihood for clinically significant depressive symptoms.

Treatment regimens and health care utilization in children with persistent asthma symptoms.

This study evaluated the anti-inflammatory medication regimens in children with persistent asthma, determined their health care utilization patterns, and evaluated factors associated with failure to seek and/or receive appropriate treatment. Parents of 68% of children who qualified for anti-inflammatory medications by National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) guidelines reported their use. However, only 14% received an optimal regimen (mild intermittent symptoms), while 55% were still symptomatic despite reported medications (suboptimal regimen).

The language of breathlessness: do families and health care providers speak the same language when describing asthma symptoms?

Introduction: Effective communication about symptoms is a critical prerequisite to appropriate treatment. Study aims were to: (a) document the symptoms that children with asthma and their parents associate with asthma, (b) identify differences between the "professional model "of asthma symptoms and the "lay model," (c) describe the family's proposed action in response to symptoms, and (d) investigate the congruence between parental assessment of "good control" and severity obtained using National Asthma Education and Prevention Program criteria.

Method: Children with asthma and their parents (N = 228) were recruited from diverse clinical practice sites.