Why multiples matter: Reconceptualising the population referred to child and family social workers

Building on a body of previous research by the author and colleagues in relation to multiple adverse childhood experiences (MACE), this paper addresses the question of ‘why multiples matter’ in relation to issues of cumulative adversity. Illustrative evidence is drawn from three research domains, epidemiology, multiple services use and child maltreatment to demonstrate the collective weight of evidence to suggest a targeting of those children and families experiencing multiple adversities to diminish the effects of such adversities realised across the life-course. Whilst the history of previous largely unsuccessful attempts to widen the range of children prioritised for intervention by child and family social workers might lead to pessimism in relation to their ability to respond to a MACE informed public health agenda, there are clear possibilities for developing agency structures, assessment tools and social work practices directed toward meeting the needs of those sub populations already prioritised by social workers: namely Children in Need, Children in need of Protection and Looked after Children.

Children of the revolution: parents, children and the revolutionary struggle in late imperial Russia

While there has been a considerable growth in scholarly interest in Russian child- hood and youth, the presence of children in the revolutionary movement has largely been overlooked. Studies of female revolutionaries have acknowledged that family concerns often had an impact on women’s party careers, but few have explored fully the relationship between mothers and their children. Similarly, “general” historical works on the Russian revolution have rarely engaged with questions about the family lives of the predominantly male party members. This article will assess how becoming a parent affected the careers of both male and female revolutionaries, as well as the ways in which familial concerns and the presence of children had an impact on the movement itself. It will highlight that children could have both positive and negative effects on the operations of the underground, at times disrupting activities, but at others proving to be useful decoys and helpers. Children’s attitudes to their parents’ revolutionary careers will also be examined, highlighting that while some children wished they had less politically active parents, others enthusiastically helped the movement. Though expanding the scholarly gaze on the Russian underground to take in the presence of children does not change the grand narrative of the revolution, it enriches our understanding considerably and offers a new insight into the daily struggles of the revolutionary movement.

Child Welfare as Child Protection Then and Now: What Social Workers Did and Continue to Do

The research reported here builds on the work of one of the authors who, some thirteen years ago, in a similar study, examined the potential for social workers to shift from a child protection to a child welfare practice orientation. As with the original research study, this present project seeks to examine the everyday practices of social workers with children and families as revealed by file analysis, vignette questionnaires (reported here) and interviews with families and social workers (to be reported). A twenty-item vignette questionnaire was completed by fifty-five social workers (65.5 per cent response rate). It was found that there was little agreement on coding decisions with regard to which cases should be designated child protection or child welfare. Further analysis revealed that, regardless of such coding decisions, families tended to receive similar responses by social workers. The results demonstrate that, whilst there has been a reduction in the headline numbers of child protection investigations undertaken across Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland, the everyday patterns of practice with families and children where parenting concerns remain evident reflect child protection risk management priorities and practices. 

Magnetoencephalography study of brain dynamics in young children born extremely preterm

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was recorded while 5-7 year-old children were performing a visual-spatial memory recognition task. Full-term children showed greater gamma-band (30-50 Hz) amplitude in the right temporal region during the task, than children who were born extremely preterm. These results may represent altered brain processing in extremely preterm children who escape major impairment.

Maternal Religiosity, Family Resources and Stressors, and Parent-Child Attachment Security in Northern Ireland

This study explores the associations between mothers' religiosity, and families' and children's functioning in a stratified random sample of 695 Catholic and Protestant motherchild dyads in socially deprived areas in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a region which has experienced centuries of sectarian conflict between Protestant Unionists and Catholics Nationalists. Findings based on mother and child surveys indicated that even in this context of historical political violence associated with religious affiliation, mothers' religiosity played a consistently positive role, including associations with multiple indicators of better family functioning (i.e., more cohesion and behavioral control and less conflict, psychological distress, and adjustment problems) and greater parentchild attachment security. Mothers' religiosity also moderated the association between parentchild attachment security and family resources and family stressors, enhancing positive effects of cohesion and mother behavioral control on motherchild attachment security, and providing protection against risks associated with mothers' psychological distress. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for understanding the role of religiosity in serving as a protective or risk factor for children and families.

Identifying educational needs in end-of-life care for staff and families of residents in care facilities.

AIM: the purpose of this article is to describe educational needs in end-of-life (EoL) care for staff and families of residents in long-term care (LTC) facilities in the province of Ontario, Canada. Barriers to providing end-of-life care education in LTC facilities are also identified. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: cross-sectional survey of directors of care in all licensed LTC facilities in the province of Ontario, Canada. RESULTS: directors of care from 426 (76.9% response rate) licensed LTC facilities completed a postal-survey questionnaire. Topics identified as very important for staff education included pain and symptom management and communication with family members about EoL care. Priorities for family education included respecting the residents' expressed wishes for care and communication about EoL care. Having sufficient institutional resources was identified as a major barrier to providing continuing education to both staff and families. CONCLUSION: through examining educational needs in EoL care this study identified an environment of inadequate staffing and over-burdened care providers. The importance of increased staffing concomitant with education is a priority for LTC facilities.

Children’s Views Matter Too! A Pilot Project Assessing Children’s and Adolescents’ Experiences of Clinical Psychology Services

This pilot study explored the experiences and understanding of clinical psychology practices and services of children and adolescents attending clinical psychology outpatient appointments. Fifteen young participants took part in the study. A content analysis indicated that young children and adolescents have an appropriate understanding of the role of the clinical psychologist, with older children commenting on the uniqueness and value of the therapeutic relationship. Attendance was rated as positive and helpful with regards to difficulties across all ages; however, many children were not consulted with at the point of referral and many did not know why they were attending. Implications for assessing children's and adolescents’ experiences of clinical psychology services are discussed.

Erythrocytosis in children and adolescents-classification, characterization, and consensus recommendations for the diagnostic approach

During recent years, the increasing knowledge of genetic and physiological changes in polycythemia vera (PV) and of different types of congenital erythrocytosis has led to fundamental changes in recommendations for the diagnostic approach to patients with erythrocytosis. Although widely accepted for adult patients this approach may not be appropriate with regard to children and adolescents affected by erythrocytosis. The "congenital erythrocytosis" working group established within the framework of the MPN&MPNr-EuroNet (COST action BM0902) addressed this question in a consensus finding process and developed a specific algorithm for the diagnosis of erythrocytosis in childhood and adolescence which is presented here. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2013;9999:XX-XX. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.