Screening for symptoms of childhood traumatic stress in the primary care pediatric clinic.

Background: Childhood traumatic experiences may result in post-traumatic stress disorder. Although pediatricians are encouraged to address these traumas in clinical encounters, measures of childhood traumatic stress have not been adopted by primary care clinicians. In this study, we describe the feasibility and potential utility of the UCLA Brief Screen, a validated screener for childhood traumatic stress symptoms, in pediatric primary care clinics.

Population Health in Pediatric Primary Care as a Means to Achieving Child Health Equity.

We propose population health as a model of care to advance efforts to achieve child health equity. We use the structure-process-outcome framework to highlight key structures of pediatric population health necessary to catalyze what has been slow progress to date. Using specific ongoing examples, we then show how different models of integrated health care delivery systems align population health structures to enable processes aimed to achieve child health equity.

New Parent Support Needs and Experiences with Pediatric Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objectives: Despite evidence for heightened psychiatric risk and unique parenting challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, no research exists on the specific needs of parents of infants and responsiveness of pediatric care to their needs. We aimed to describe the support needs of new parents and explore their experiences with pediatric care.

Methods: In late 2020 we conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 mothers of babies born or due that year.

Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences in Primary Care: Challenges and Considerations.

This article draws attention to the overlapping literature on social determinants of health and adverse childhood experiences, and the growing clinical interest in addressing them to promote children's and parents' health and well-being. We address important considerations and suggest solutions for leaders and practitioners in primary care to address social determinants of health/adverse childhood experiences. Priorities include: begin with a few prevalent conditions for which there are helpful resources; focus on conditions that are current or recent and where parents may be more apt to engage in services; focus initially on families with children aged <6 given the frequency of well-child visits and the especially strong relationships between primary care professionals and parents during this period; ensure training of primary care professionals and staff to help them play this role competently and comfortably; and have good referral processes to facilitate additional evaluation or help.

A comparison of self-reported and measured autostereogram skills with clinical indicators of vergence and accommodative function.

Failure to perceive the disparity-defined form in autostereograms by those with clinically normal stereoacuity can occur when achieving or maintaining the precise vergence angle required to place the intended left and right images on corresponding areas of the two retinas is difficult. Since vergence and accommodation must be maintained at different depth planes to permit sensory fusion of an autostereogram, poor autostereogram skill has been suggested by different investigators to be related either to the presence of a binocular vision anomaly (ie a poorly tuned binocular system) or to a binocular system that is well-coordinated. The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between binocular visual performance and autostereogram skill.

Fathers' depression related to positive and negative parenting behaviors with 1-year-old children.

Objective: To examine the associations between depression in fathers of 1-year-old children and specific positive and negative parenting behaviors discussed by pediatric providers at well-child visits.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional secondary analysis by using interview data from 1746 fathers of 1-year-old children in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Positive parenting behaviors included fathers' reports of playing games, singing songs, and reading stories to their children ≥ 3 days in a typical week.

Adolescent obesity and maternal and paternal sensitivity and monitoring.

Objective: To determine if adolescent obesity is associated with parenting characterized by lower sensitivity and lower monitoring of adolescent activities.

Methods: We used data from 744 adolescents in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Height and weight were measured at age 15½ years and obesity defined as body mass index ≥ 95th percentile for age and sex.

Depressive symptoms in nonresident african american fathers and involvement with their sons.

Objective: Our objective was to determine whether paternal depressive symptoms were associated with less father involvement among African American fathers not living with their children (ie, nonresident fathers).

Methods: We analyzed survey data for 345 fathers enrolled in a program for nonresident African American fathers and their preteen sons. Father involvement included measures of contact, closeness, monitoring, communication, and conflict.