FSCA NEWS

The National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences has released the report "Trends Among High School Seniors, 1972-2004 (NCES 2008-320)."

Using questionnaire and transcript data collected in 1972, 1980, 1982, 1992, and 2004, this report presents information on five cohorts of high school seniors. The analysis addresses overall trends, as well as trends within various subgroups defined by sex, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES). Key findings of the report include the following:

* The proportion of Black seniors who were in the highest SES quartile doubled from 1972 to 1992 (from 5 percent to 10 percent), and increased overall from 5 percent in 1972 to 14 percent in 2004.

* The percentage of seniors enrolling in calculus during their senior year grew from 6 percent to 13 percent between 1982 and 2004. The percentage of seniors taking no mathematics courses during their senior year declined from 57 percent to 34 percent over this time period.

* Seniors increased their senior-year enrollment in advanced science courses (chemistry II, physics II, and advanced biology) from 12 percent in 1982 to 25 percent in 2004.

* In each class of seniors, most of those who planned further schooling intended to attend  four-year postsecondary schools, with the proportion of students planning to attend four-year schools rising from 34 percent in 1972 to 61 percent in 2004.

* In all years, higher percentages of Asian high school seniors, and lower percentages of Hispanic seniors (except in 1992), compared to other racial/ethnic groups, planned attendance at four-year institutions.

* No difference was observed between 1972 and 2004 between the percentage of seniors expecting a bachelor's degree as their highest level of education. Instead, growth between these two time points was greatest in expectations for a graduate or professional degree: 13 percent of seniors expected to attain this level of education as their highest in 1972, compared to 38 percent of seniors in 2004.

* In 1972, males expected to earn a graduate degree as their highest educational level in greater proportions than did females (16 percent versus 9 percent); however, in 2004, females expected to earn a graduate degree more often than males (45 percent versus 32 percent).

* Seniors increasingly expected to work in professional occupations (growing from 45 percent of seniors in 1972 to 63 percent of seniors in 2004 expecting to work in a professional field).

To view, download and print the report as a PDF file, please visit:

http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008320

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

In response to public concerns about the increased use of psychiatric medications in children, Florida International University will unveil CriticalThinkRx, a free web-based course to educate mental health professionals and child welfare workers about medication decisions.

CriticalThinkRx will be introduced to community practitioners, advocates and leaders in child welfare, mental health and juvenile justice on Wednesday, June 11 at 9:30 a.m. at FIU’s University Park, 11200 SW 8^th St., Miami. The event will take place at the FIU College of Business Complex, Special Events Center (Rooms 232-235). The featured keynote speaker is David Lawrence, former publisher of The Miami Herald and president of the Early Childhood Initiative Foundation.

CriticalThinkRx, a research-based, publicly funded project, grew out of public concerns about the increased rate of prescription of psychiatric medications to children, the escalating costs to taxpayers to pay for these prescriptions, and the influence of the pharmaceutical industry on information about medications.

“Doctors write prescriptions, but counselors, psychologists, social workers – and sometimes judges – often influence who gets prescribed, why and for how long,” said David Cohen, professor of Social Work at FIU’s Robert Stempel School of Public Health, and principal investigator of Critical ThinkRx. “These practitioners try to make decisions in the interests of children and this course will put many of them on the road to increased knowledge.”

The free web-based format of the independent, evidence-based course encourages practitioners and agencies, even those with limited training resources, to take full advantage of the material offered, Cohen said.

CriticalThinkRx was the only project funded by the State Attorneys General Consumer and Prescriber Grant Program (CPGP) to target non-medically trained professionals. In 2007, FIU received a two-year, $372,000 grant to develop, disseminate and evaluate a critical curriculum on psychotropic medications.

Space at the event is limited. If you wish to attend, please RSVP by June 6 to rsvp@criticalthinkrx.org.

For more information, contact David Cohen at 305-348-4599 or david.cohen@fiu.edu or Inge Sengelmann at 305-348-5893 or inge.sengelmann@fiu.edu.

For more information and to take the CriticalThinkRx course, visit www.CriticalThinkRx.org

-FIU-

Media Contact
Yusila Ramirez, 305.348.2716, or yramirez@fiu.edu.

http://wordpress.fiu.edu/news/2008/06/02

Toolfind is a free directory designed to help professionals in youth-serving programs find measurement tools for up to 11 youth outcome areas. Your time is valuable, so we have identified 46 tools to help you get started. All tools address one or more of the outcome areas, are tested, low-cost and have few restrictions. Tools included in this database address elementary, middle and/or high school students and youth, parent, staff and teacher respondents.

http://www.toolfind.org/

A National Juried Exhibition
for Young Artists with Disabilities,
Ages 16 – 25

Deadline: Friday, July 11, 2008, midnight (MST)

Grand Prize: $20,000
First Award: $10,000
Second Award: $6,000
12 Awards of Excellence: $2,000

Sponsored by VSA arts with generous assistance from Volkswagen of America, Inc.

http://www.vsarts.org/PreBuilt/showcase/gallery/exhibits/vw/2007/

Getting to Know the Child With Asperger Syndrome

Posted on: Friday, 6 June 2008, 06:00 CDT

By Gibbons, Melinda M Goins, Shelley

Asperger syndrome (AS) is a disorder characterized by social skill deficits and display of repetitive behaviors. This article explores the diagnostic components of AS and describes the major school-related issues for children who have the disorder. Specific interventions that school counselors can implement to help increase these students' academic and social success are discussed. In some ways, Tom is a typical 9-year-old student. He started talking at age 1 and was using sentences by age 2. He is advanced at math but struggles in language arts. He has a fascination with trains and gives long, detailed descriptions of how engines work. But, in other ways, he is just different. He seems more interested in playing with things rather than with people. When he is with people, Tom often misreads social cues, almost like he cannot understand nonverbal behavior. He expresses emotions, but often not in appropriate ways or times. Sharing and taking turns is extremely difficult for him. Make-believe games are nearly impossible; he does not seem to understand the "rules" of these types of activities. In physical activities, he seems clumsy and has an unusual stance, sometimes walking or running on his toes. Teachers often remark that he is just different or a bit odd.

Read more:

http://www.redorbit.com/news/education/1419791/getting_to_know_the_child_with_asperger_syndrome/

http://www.edutopia.org/grant-information

Grant Information: Resources to Get You Started

The George Lucas Educational Foundation is a nonprofit operating foundation and is not a grant-making organization.

We encourage visitors seeking grants or grant information to check our resource list below.

You might also consider contacting local community foundations, service organizations and businesses in your area, or your state department of education, which may provide school site-based grants in support of educational technology.

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos067.htm

Counselors
The transition from high school to college is filled with challenge, opportunity and decision making. Throughout the college admission process, one of your best resources is your school counselor. Your counselor can help you better understand yourself, your interests and your needs so you can make the decision that's right for you.

http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/ForStudents

Recognize your school counselor!

Next Step Magazine is on a nationwide search for the best school counselors out there. Do you have one of them? Let us know! We’ll award counselors the Super Counselor designation five times each school year.

Click here for more …

The SUS Admissions Director Tour is still scheduled to be held this year
with the first workshop being held at Florida International University
on September 2nd.  Below is the schedule for each workshop and the
university where it will take place.  As more details are ready and when
the registration form is available, an invitation and announcement will
be sent out via the Department of Education's Paperless Communication
System.  The admissions directors are dedicated to holding the Tour and
hope that you will be able to attend despite the probable lack of travel
funds.

 Week One                        Host University   
  September 2nd (Tues)      FIU   
  September 3rd (Wed)       FAU   
  September 4th (Thurs)     FGCU   
  September 5th (Fri)          USF   
  Week Two       
  September 9th (Tues)       UWF   
  September 10th (Wed)     FSU   
  September 11th (Thurs)   UNF   
  September 12th (Fri)        UCF

Please send any questions you may have to admissionstour@flbog.org.  We hope to see you in September!

By Gibbons, Melinda M Goins, Shelley

Asperger syndrome (AS) is a disorder characterized by social skill deficits and display of repetitive behaviors. This article explores the diagnostic components of AS and describes the major school-related issues for children who have the disorder. Specific interventions that school counselors can implement to help increase these students' academic and social success are discussed. In some ways, Tom is a typical 9-year-old student. He started talking at age 1 and was using sentences by age 2. He is advanced at math but struggles in language arts. He has a fascination with trains and gives long, detailed descriptions of how engines work. But, in other ways, he is just different. He seems more interested in playing with things rather than with people. When he is with people, Tom often misreads social cues, almost like he cannot understand nonverbal behavior. He expresses emotions, but often not in appropriate ways or times. Sharing and taking turns is extremely difficult for him. Make-believe games are nearly impossible; he does not seem to understand the "rules" of these types of activities. In physical activities, he seems clumsy and has an unusual stance, sometimes walking or running on his toes. Teachers often remark that he is just different or a bit odd.

Read more:

http://www.redorbit.com/news/education/1419791/getting_to_know_the_child_with_asperger_syndrome/

Millennials appear more like than different from their parents' generation

Generational change has always been a notion with enormous popular appeal. The current fascination with the characteristics of "Millennials," the generation that entered college at the turn of the century, is the legacy to generations X, Y, and Boomers, the generational labels given cohorts that came of age between the 1960s and the turn of the century.

Read more:

http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports-research/trends/studentpoll/millennial

Following in the footsteps of their Hillsborough counterparts, Pasco School Board members have instructed superintendent Heather Fiorentino to look into stricter enforcement of rules governing student use of cell phone and other wireless devices that can be used for sending messages and photographs.

Read more:

http://blogs.tampabay.com/schools/2008/06/pasco-board-see.html

Public release date: 9-Jun-2008

Contact: Kathleen McCann
kmccann@aasmnet.org
708-492-0930
American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Children with high risk for a sleep-related breathing disorder are more likely to have anxiety

WESTCHESTER, Ill. – Children with high risk for a sleep-related breathing disorder (SRBD) are more likely to have anxiety, according to a research abstract that will be presented on Monday at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

The study, authored by Shalini Paruthi, MD, of the University of Michigan, focused on 341 families with a child in second through fifth grade, who were surveyed about SRBD symptoms as well as behavior. Parents completed two well-validated instruments: the SRBD subscale of the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire and the Conners’ Parent Rating Scale.

According to the results, children with a high risk for an SRBD, compared to those without, were more likely to have anxiety. This relationship was independent of hyperactivity, which is known to be associated with both SRBD and anxiety.

“SRBD is a common condition in children, and is frequently associated with cognitive and behavioral morbidities such as hyperactivity,” said Dr. Paruthi. “Anxiety in children is often multifactorial and can be associated with other disorders, including ADHD. As ADHD has been associated with SRBD, our results showed that treatment of an SRBD has been shown to improve behavior and cognitive function in children diagnosed with ADHD, and may translate into treatment options for school age children with anxiety. More research is needed to further explore this relationship between SRBD and anxiety.”

The most common category of SRBD is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which causes your body to stop breathing during sleep. OSA occurs when the tissue in the back of the throat collapses and blocks the airway. This keeps air from getting into the lungs.

OSA occurs in about two percent of young children. It can develop in children at any age, but it is most common in preschoolers. OSA often occurs between the ages of three and six years when the tonsils and adenoids are large compared to the throat. OSA appears to occur at the same rate in young boys and girls. How often it occurs in infants and teens is unknown. OSA also is common in children who are obese.

OSA is more likely to occur in a child who has a family member with OSA.

Most children with OSA have a history of snoring. It tends to be loud and may include obvious pauses in breathing and gasps for breath. Sometimes the snoring involves a continuous, partial obstruction without any obvious pauses or arousals. The child’s body may move in response to the pauses in breathing.

Symptoms of OSA tend to appear in the first few years of life. But OSA often remains undiagnosed until many years later. In early childhood OSA can slow a child’s growth rate. Following treatment for OSA children tend to show gains in both height and weight. Untreated OSA also can lead to high blood pressure.

It is recommended that school-aged children get between 10-11 hours of nightly sleep.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) offers some tips to help your child sleep better:

·        Follow a consistent bedtime routine. Set aside 10 to 30 minutes to get your child ready to go to sleep each night.

·        Establish a relaxing setting at bedtime.

·        Interact with your child at bedtime. Don’t let the TV, computer or video games take your place.

·        Keep your children from TV programs, movies, and video games that are not right for their age.

·        Do not let your child fall asleep while being held, rocked, fed a bottle, or while nursing.

·        At bedtime, do not allow your child to have foods or drinks that contain caffeine. This includes chocolate and sodas. Try not to give him or her any medicine that has a stimulant at bedtime. This includes cough medicines and decongestants.

It is important to make sure that your child gets enough sleep and sleeps well. The value of sleep can be measured by your child’s smiling face, happy nature and natural energy. A tired child may have development or behavior problems. A child’s sleep problems can also cause unnecessary stress for you and the other members of your family.

Parents who suspect that their child might be suffering from a sleep disorder are encouraged to consult with their child’s pediatrician or a sleep specialist.

###

The annual SLEEP meeting brings together an international body of 5,000 leading researchers and clinicians in the field of sleep medicine to present and discuss new findings and medical developments related to sleep and sleep disorders.

More than 1,000 research abstracts will be presented at the SLEEP meeting, a joint venture of the AASM and the Sleep Research Society. The three-and-a-half-day scientific meeting will bring to light new findings that enhance the understanding of the processes of sleep and aid the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders such as insomnia, narcolepsy and sleep apnea.

SleepEducation.com, a patient education Web site created by the AASM, provides information about various sleep disorders, the forms of treatment available, recent news on the topic of sleep, sleep studies that have been conducted and a listing of sleep facilities.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/aaos-cwh050708.php

The Department is reminding parents that children who are eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals during the school year can also receive meals during the summer. Through the Summer Food Service Program, operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered in Florida by the DOE, qualified students can continue to receive nutritious meals during the summer months when most schools are closed. To learn more about the program, or to find out if your child qualifies, contact the DOE, Food and Nutrition Management at 1-800-622-5985, or visit www.fldoe.org/fnm/summerfood).

The Department of Education (DOE) recently announced the reading and mathematics Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Norm-Referenced Test (NRT) scores for third through 10th grade. A portion of the FCAT includes a national NRT, which is used to measure how Florida students are performing compared to students nationally. In each grade, Florida students scored better than the national average score of 50. For more information visit fcat.fldoe.org/mediapacket/2008/default.asp.

Hurricane Season 2008: Be Prepared

Now that the 2008 hurricane season is here, I encourage all Floridians to be prepared by creating a family emergency plan, stocking up on supplies, and taking precautions to protect your family and belongings. Please visit the following links for useful information:

http://www.floridadisaster.org/ - Provides helpful information to best prepare you, your family, and businesses in the event of a disaster;

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes  - Includes key facts about hurricane readiness and recovery including how best to prevent illness and injuries during and after a storm;

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ - Contains up-to-date maps and projections of storm tracks; and

www.weather.gov/alerts/fl.html - Provides county-specific warning and weather alerts (throughout Florida.)

Source: June 03, 2008 - June 03, 2008

Regional Coordinator/Trainer, Florida Problem Solving and Response to Intervention Statewide Implementation Project. This position works with demonstration school districts and pilot schools in Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties and provides training and technical assistance to other school districts, primarily in the central region of Florida (http://floridarti.usf.edu/floridaproject/demonstration_districts/index.html). This position is with the University of South Florida, funded by the Florida Department of Education, and operates out of a home office.

Responsibilities: Work with a team to develop professional development modules in Problem Solving / Response to Intervention; implement that training with school teams, district Response to Intervention Coordinators, and other interested school district personnel at various pilot and statewide dissemination sites; provide ongoing direct technical assistance and support to pilot schools within region; mentor coaches assigned to pilot schools; collect data evaluating effectiveness of training;  participate in the implementation of statewide training and technical assistance. Twelve-month position – start date: August 1, 2008, negotiable. Salary: $50,000 negotiable.

Required qualifications: Bachelor’s degree or higher in education or a closely related field; minimum five years experience in PK-12 public education; hold or be eligible for PK-12 certification issued by Florida Dept. of Education; experience with the implementation of Problem Solving / Response to Intervention model at the school or district level; evidence of highly effective presentation/professional development training skills; excellent communication and interpersonal skills; group leadership/facilitation skills.

Preferred qualifications: Master’s degree or higher in education or a closely related field; experience with program evaluation strategies and methods; experience in assessing student skills using a variety of formal and informal assessment tools; ability to facilitate groups of educators through the change process to achieve consensus; familiarity with policies and operation of PK-12 public schools in Florida.

Application:  Position is open until filled; review of applications begins June 15, 2008.  Send the following to Dr. Michael Curtis; University of South Florida; 4202 E. Fowler Avenue – EDU 162; Tampa, FL 33620 (curtis@tempest.coedu.usf.edu): letter of application explaining qualifications as listed above, current curriculum vita, three professional references (including name, address, telephone number, and email address), and explicit permission to contact references. Reference Position #14820 in application.

Expressing feelings after trauma not necessary, research shows

Resources may be wasted when psychological counseling services are ordered following terrorist attacks, school shootings

Irvine, Calif., June 2, 2008 — Talking it out has long been considered essential to recovering from a trauma. But new research shows that expressing one's thoughts and feelings after a traumatic event is not necessary for long-term emotional and physical health, a finding that could change the way institutions devote money and resources to mental health services following collective traumas.

The study, led by UC Irvine psychologist Roxane Cohen Silver, looked at the relationship between immediate expression after a traumatic event and mental and physical well-being over time among a nationally representative sample. Study participants were questioned following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Silver and colleagues say participants who chose not to express thoughts and emotions about the attacks when given the opportunity to do so through an anonymous, Web-based survey, appeared to cope successfully and reported fewer diagnosed physical and mental disorders. In contrast, individuals who communicated their thoughts and feelings about the attacks reported more physical health problems and emotional distress over time, even after controlling for exposure to and distance from the attacks. The study followed participants over a two-year period. It appears in the June issue of the American Psychological Association's Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

The results have important implications for understanding the role of expression in the coping process and for early post-trauma intervention, according to Silver.

"Some people don't need to express thoughts and feelings after trauma and do just fine, and it's a myth that you must express your distress in order to recover," Silver said. "Mandatory or required psychological counseling is often unwarranted and universal intervention is likely to be a waste of resources."

A standard and universal approach to trauma counseling can result in misappropriation of resources away from individuals who are truly at risk, she said. It also may interfere with the natural coping processes that take place when individuals seek support and advice from family and close friends.

"This study also shows how dangerous it can be to rely on hunches and common sense when attempting to provide intervention after a trauma experienced by a large group of people, such as the 9/11 attacks, but it can also be applied to situations like school shootings," she said.

Researchers analyzed data from a Web-based survey sent to 36,000 participants who received e-mails with an open-ended prompt asking them to share their thoughts about the events of Sept. 11. Nearly 14,000 people responded, and researchers followed a number of these individuals – as well as some of those who chose not to respond – in the years following the attacks. They collected information about physician-diagnosed physical and mental health ailments over two years.

The researchers caution that the higher rates of illness among those who did respond should not be interpreted to mean that expressing thoughts and feelings is harmful. People who want to talk should still do so, but they say it is important to remember that not everyone copes in the same way, and in the immediate aftermath of a collective trauma it is perfectly healthy not to want to express thoughts and feelings.

###

Silver conducted the study with Alison Holman of the Program in Nursing Science at UCI; Mark D. Seery of the State University of New York at Buffalo; and Whitney A. Ence and Thai Q. Chu of the University of California, Santa Barbara.

About the University of California, Irvine: The University of California, Irvine is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Founded in 1965, UCI is among the fastest-growing University of California campuses, with more than 27,000 undergraduate and graduate students and nearly 2,000 faculty members. The third-largest employer in dynamic Orange County, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $3.6 billion. For more UCI news, visit www.today.uci.edu.

News Radio: UCI maintains on campus an ISDN line for conducting interviews with its faculty and experts. The use of this line is available free-of-charge to radio news programs/stations who wish to interview UCI faculty and experts. Use of the ISDN line is subject to availability and approval by the university.

UCI maintains an online directory of faculty available as experts to the media. To access, visit www.today.uci.edu/experts.

For UCI breaking news, visit www.zotwire.uci.edu.

 http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/uoc--efa060208.php

Waiting room gadget may prove to be a life-saver

Study finds kids who use touch pad device are more likely to share critical info with doctor

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Technology may be the key to identifying high-risk behaviors among adolescents. Injury risk, depressive symptoms and drug and alcohol use are the leading causes of adolescent morbidity and mortality; yet pediatricians often lack the time to screen for these behavioral concerns. That paradox of care is the motivation behind a new study, published in the June issue of Pediatrics, which found adolescents who participated in computerized screening with real-time results were more likely to be identified as having a problem by their pediatrician than adolescents whose screening results were delayed.

The study, conducted by researchers at the Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practices in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, compared the results of 878 primary care patients, ages 11 to 20 years, who participated in a unique, computerized behavioral screening system between June 1, 2005 and February 20, 2006 called “Health eTouch.” Developed by researchers at Nationwide Children’s, Health eTouch is a Web application, presented to patients on secure wireless Web tablets with 10-inch touch screen displays. Questions vary based on the user’s age and reported behaviors and are drawn from existing publicly available validated measures.

Study participants took part in Health eTouch screening in the waiting rooms of the urban clinics they attended. These clinics were randomly assigned to have pediatricians either receive screening results just prior to face-to-face encounters with patients – “Immediate Results” condition – or two to three business days later – “Delayed Results” condition. When provided with the screening results, pediatricians were able to view a summary of patient responses to screening questions, as well as a list of flagged responses thought to be indicative of high-risk behaviors and an overall positive or negative rating for various behavioral concerns tested during the screening process.

After participating in Health eTouch, 59 percent of respondents screened positive for at least one of the following behavioral concerns: injury risk behaviors, significant depressive symptoms or substance use. Of those youths who screened positive and whose results were provided to pediatricians just prior to their consultation, 68 percent were identified as having a problem by their pediatrician, while only 52 percent of youths whose results were delayed were identified as having a problem by their pediatrician.

“Routine behavioral screening, although critical in identifying and addressing high-risk behaviors, often does not occur or is limited due to the time constraints and competing demands facing primary care physicians,” said Kelly Kelleher, MD, a principal investigator for the Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practices in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s and a faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. “Our research has found that recent advances in information technology, such as the Health eTouch system, and the immediate reporting of computerized screening results may help overcome barriers to behavioral screening.”

Direct data entry by youths in waiting rooms and automated scoring and printing programs minimize staff time necessary for screening, scoring, reporting and filing results. Also, past research has shown adults and adolescents are more willing to disclose sensitive information to a computer than to a clinician.

###

 http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/nch-wrg052808.php

Children who live with relatives may have fewer behavioral problems than those in foster care

Children who leave their homes because of maltreatment appear to have fewer behavioral problems three years later if they are placed with relatives than if they are placed in foster care, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

In the last two decades, increasing numbers of children are being raised by relatives other than their birth parents in an arrangement known as kinship care, according to background information in the article. In 2005, more than 2.5 million children were living with relatives. "The growth in kinship care is the result of a sustained effort to improve permanency for children since the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997," the authors write. "Since then, child welfare agencies have increased efforts to place children with kin despite scant and conflicting evidence of improved outcomes for children in kinship care compared with children in general foster care."

To better understand the experiences and outcomes of children in these two types of care, in 1996 Congress mandated that the Department of Health and Human Services conduct the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. David M. Rubin, M.D., M.S.C.E., of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and colleagues analyzed data from 1,309 children participating in the survey who entered out-of-home care following a report of maltreatment between 1999 and 2000. At the beginning of the study and again at 18 months and at 36 months later, interviews were conducted with children, caregivers, birth parents, child welfare workers and teachers.

Of the participating children, 599 were initially placed in kinship care. A total of 710 entered foster care; of those, 17 percent moved to kinship care after at least one month in foster care. After controlling for a number of other factors, including the stability of the placement and the child's risk for behavior problems at the time of removal from the home, 32 percent of children entering kinship care directly had behavioral problems 36 months later, compared with 39 percent of children who moved from foster care to kinship care and 46 percent of children who stayed in foster care.

Children in kinship care were also less likely to change placements frequently—when assessed at 36 months, 58 percent of them were found to have achieved a sustained placement or were reunified with their parents, compared with 32 percent of those in foster care. Fifty-eight percent of those who began in foster care but transferred to kinship care were in a sustained placement or reunified with their parents after 45 days, compared with 40 percent of those who stayed in foster care. "Placement stability is a common goal of child welfare systems and has consistently been shown to result in better outcomes for all children living in out-of-home care," the authors write.

"This finding supports efforts to maximize placement of children with willing and available kin when they enter out-of-home care," they conclude. "When kinship care is a realistic option and appropriate safeguards have been met, children in kinship care might have an advantage over children in foster care in achieving permanency and improved well-being, albeit with the recognition that their needs will remain great, exceeding those of children who have not experienced child maltreatment."

(Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008;162[6]:550-556. Available pre-embargo to the media at www.jamamedia.org.)

Editor's Note: This study is supported by a Career Development Award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and by a supplemental grant from the Office of Research, Planning and Evaluation for the Administration of Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services. Additional support was also provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

Editorial: Better Behavior May Be Cause and Effect of Living With Relatives

"Being in kinship care and having fewer behavior problems likely comprise a relationship that is too complicated to be thought of as being causal and one-way," writes Richard P. Barth, M.S.W., Ph.D., of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, in an accompanying editorial.

"The implications that the behavior problems of children in kinship care are fewer than those of children in non-kinship care are not obvious, as children cannot be assigned to kinship care rather than to non-kinship care if kin are unavailable," Dr. Barth continues. "So, there may be some children whose behavior is so troubling that kin are unable or are unwilling to take them into their homes."

However, the findings support actions that reduce the number of placement moves for children, as well as those that support caregivers. "The recommendations of the authors to expand the resources given to kinship providers with a national kinship guardianship program and to endeavor to more expeditiously notify kin and place children into kinship care deserve underscoring," Dr. Barth concludes. "These are low-cost strategies that deserve implementation given the evidence that children prefer to be placed with relatives and that the care of relatives may support better behavioral outcomes."

(Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008;162[6]:586-587. Available pre-embargo to the media at www.jamamedia.org.)

Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

###

For more information, contact JAMA/Archives Media Relations at 312/464-JAMA (5262) or e-mail mediarelations@jama-archives.org.

 http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/jaaj-cwl052908.php

Study: Sad children out-perform happy children in attention-to-detail tasks

Psychologists at the University of Virginia and the University of Plymouth (United Kingdom) have conducted experimental research that contrasts with the belief that happy children are the best learners. The findings, which currently appear online in the journal Developmental Science ( www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00709.x ), and will be printed in the June issue, show that where attention to detail is required, happy children may be at a disadvantage.

The researchers conducted a series of experiments with different child age groups who had happy or sad moods induced with the aid of music (Mozart and Mahler) and selected video clips (Jungle Book and the Lion King). The groups were then asked to undertake a task that required attention to detail — to observe a detailed image such as a house and a simple shape such as a triangle, and then locate the shape within the larger picture. The findings in each experiment with both music and video clips were conclusive, with the children induced to feel a sad or neutral mood performing the task better than those induced to feel a happy state of mind.

Lead researcher Simone Schnall of the University of Plymouth describes the psychology behind the findings: "Happiness indicates that things are going well, which leads to a global, top-down style of information processing. Sadness indicates that something is amiss, triggering detail-orientated, analytical processing.

"However, it is important to emphasize that existing research shows there are contexts in which a positive mood is beneficial for a child, such as when a task calls for creative thinking. But this particular research demonstrates that when attention to detail is required, it may do more harm than good."

Co-author Vikram Jaswal, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, added that the findings contradict conventional wisdom that happiness always leads to optimal outcomes. "The good feeling that accompanies happiness comes at a hidden cost. It leads to a particular style of thinking that is suited for some types of situations, but not others."

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The research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

 http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/uov-ssc053008.php