Publications by authors named "Maria LaRusso"

This article examines the degree to which major domains of child development are affected by Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS)/Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS). Using cross-sectional survey data collected with an international sample of parents who identify as having children with PANS/PANDAS (N = 402), this study analyzed parent-reported developmental impacts and access to treatment and adequate supports. Parents reported that PANS/PANDAS negatively impacted their children's development across all domains: Emotional Development (92% of children), Social Development (90%), Cognitive Development (86%), Academic Growth (86%), Identity Development (83%), Talent Development (73%) and Language Development (50%).

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Educators' high levels of stress have been well documented in existing literature, though little research has directly looked at comparisons of stress experiences and needs for support based on school level. The present study included 33 teachers (19 elementary and 14 middle school) from one school district who participated in semistructured interviews. Responses to questions regarding their primary source(s) of stress and their ideal solution(s) to relieve that stress revealed distinctions between elementary and middle school teachers.

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Flares of autoimmune conditions can happen after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and after COVID-19 vaccines. Patients and clinicians confront difficult decisions about vaccine safety when considering efforts to balance the risks of disease exacerbation after vaccines versus the protection that vaccines offer to potential serious life-threatening complications of COVID-19 infection. To examine symptom flares after COVID-19 infection and vaccines in the case of a form of autoimmune encephalitis that primarily affects children and young adults (pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome [PANS] / pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections [PANDAS]).

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How do families manage when health care systems do not "cover" and clinicians do not acknowledge their children's condition? This article presents an ethnographic study in the Northeastern region of the United States with 20 families with children diagnosed with Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS)/Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS). Two of the 20 families had moved to the U.S.

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This mixed-method study examined the implementation and the challenges to implementation for participants in randomized controlled trials of two school-based programs for early adolescents: the Tier One Word Generation (WG) program, and the Tier Two Strategic Adolescent Reading Intervention (STARI). Levels of implementation for WG and STARI varied substantially across teachers and classrooms, with mean levels of 40% for fourth- and fifth-grade WG, 31% for sixth- and seventh-grade WG, and 47% for STARI. The three most common implementation challenges for WG were lack of time, multiple new programs/curricula happening at the same time, and time lost to testing and test prep.

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Whether, how, and when children's HIV/AIDS diagnosis needs to be disclosed to them has received growing attention. This paper describes and conceptualizes how communication about HIV/AIDS influences disease knowledge and psychosocial development in a group of children and adolescents living with perinatally acquired HIV infection in an AIDS institution in São Paulo, Brazil. Data consist of the lived experience of 36 children ages 1 to 15 and was gathered through ethnographic research methodologies: participant observation and semistructured informal interviews.

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