Factors related to the accuracy of self-reported dietary intake of children aged 6 to 12 years elicited with interviews: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Understanding the relationship between children's dietary consumption and health is important. As such, it is crucial to explore factors related to the accuracy of children's reports of what they consumed. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to evaluate factors related to the accuracy of self-reported dietary intake information elicited by interview methods from children aged 6 to 12 years. METHODS: A systematic review of English articles using PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, PsycEXTRA, PsycBOOKS, CINAHL Complete, Global Health, and MEDLINE Complete was performed. Search terms included interview, diet, children, and recall; studies were limited to those published from 1970 onward. Additional studies were identified using the reference lists of published articles. Studies that assessed children's dietary intake using direct observation, doubly labeled water, or the double-portion method and compared it with their recall of that intake (unassisted by parents) using an interview were included. RESULTS: The 45 studies that met the inclusion criteria showed that specific interview techniques designed to enhance children's recall accuracy had little effect. Rather, the timing of the interview appeared most important: The shorter the retention interval between children's consumption and their recall, the more accurate their memories. Children's age, body mass index, social desirability, food preferences, and cognitive ability were also related to accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: Factors related to the accuracy of children's dietary reporting should be taken into consideration when asking about consumption. Further research is required to examine whether other interview techniques, such as those developed to enhance children's recall of repeated staged events, can improve children's dietary reporting accuracy.

‘Cemented in their cells’: a human rights analysis of Blessington, Elliott and the life imprisonment of children in New South Wales

In 2010, two Australians, convicted in childhood of rape and murder, lodged a joint submission with the United Nations Human Rights Committee, claiming that successive changes to sentencing legislation in New South Wales breached their human rights by denying them any meaningful prospect of release. In this article, we examine the political, legislative and procedural moves that have resulted in Australian children being sentenced to life without parole or release. We argue that successive legislative changes in various Australian jurisdictions have resulted in a framework for sentencing decisions that is considerably out of step with international legal standards for criminal justice. These increasingly punitive legislative changes exacerbate Australia’s already declining record of cooperation with UN processes, and reveal Australia’s reluctance to respect the legitimacy and authority of international law. Against this troubling context, the views of the Human Rights Committee serve as a much-needed reminder about the importance of a principled approach to child sentencing that forecloses neither the goal of rehabilitation nor the prospect of release and reintegration.

The adjustment of children of Australian Vietnam veterans: is there evidence for the transgenerational transmission of the effects of war-related trauma?

Objective: The presence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in trauma survivors has been linked with family dysfunction and symptoms in their children, including lower self-esteem, higher disorder rates and symptoms resembling those of the traumatized parent. This study aims to examine the phenomenon of intergenerational transfer of PTSD in an Australian context.

Method: 50 children (aged 16–30) of 50 male Vietnam veterans, subgrouped according to their fathers' PTSD status, were compared with an age-matched group of 33 civilian peers. Participants completed questionnaires with measures of self-esteem, PTSD symptomatology and family functioning.

Results: Contrary to expectations, no significant differences were found between the self-esteem and PTSD symptomatology scores for any offspring groups. Unhealthy family functioning is the area in which the effect of the veteran's PTSD appears to manifest itself, particularly the inability of the family both to experience appropriate emotional responses and to solve problems effectively within and outside the family unit.

Conclusion: Methodological refinements and further focus on the role of wives/mothers in buffering the impact of veterans' PTSD symptomatology on their children are indicated. Further effort to support families of Veterans with PTSD is also indicated.

"Roll Up and Spend Your Last Dime". The Merry-go-round of Children`s Extra-curricular Activities in Modern Society.

"Step up and play" begins the famous hit song 'Penny Arcade'. And so it
was for thousands of Australian families, as their eldest child began school
this year, and the associated endless merry-go-round of extra-curricular
activities also began. But how many of those families realise that the song ends "Roll up and spend your last dime!"? While the perceived benefits of
children's involvement in extracurricular activities are many and are widely accepted, there are also costs, not only in terms of money but also in terms
of time. Evidence from a study conducted in Melbourne highlights the fact that, for many families such as those on low incomes and those headed by a single parent, both the time and the money costs may be prohibitive. This article highlights parents' perceptions of the benefits·and costs of children's extra-curricular activities, and explores the implications of changing family and household structures for families' capacity to sustain such activities.

Evaluation of the usefulness of 'Marvin'; a computerized assessment tool for investigative interviewers of children

This study examined the usefulness of a computerized developmental assessment tool, designed to provide investigative interviewers with knowledge about children's understanding of spatial, temporal, numerical, and color terms that may be relevant to the forensic setting. Specifically, the effect of the computer program (compared to a standard verbal and no assessment) was examined on 4- to 5-year-old children's recall of an independent event and their enjoyment of the interview process. In addition, children's performance on the computerized and verbal developmental assessment was compared with their performance when recalling the independent event. Overall, the children rated the assessment conducted on computer more favorably than the verbal assessment. Further, the verbal assessment elicited responses that were more consistent with their responses about the event than the computerized assessment. However, there was no difference in the accuracy and detail of children's responses about the independent event, irrespective of whether the children received the computerized or verbal assessment, or no assessment. Directions for future research are discussed.

Outsourcing and downsizing: Processes of workplace change in public health

Throughout the 1990s, public hospitals embarked on a range of benchmarking exercises for support services, often accompanied by downsizing and, in some cases, outsourcing. These support services included clinical areas such as, radiology, pharmacy and pathology, and nonclinical areas of catering and cleaning, engineering and environmental services. The impetus for this trend was the introduction of the Federal Governments National Competition Policy with its rationale that private sector pressures and competition would make the public sector more efficient.
Through a case study approach, this paper discusses this process at two public hospitals, the aim being to investigate the reasons for outsourcing, outsourcings interconnectedness with downsizing, and the implications at the workforce level. Workplace issues discussed include consultation between management, unions and employees, changes to employee numbers and work practices, maintenance of workplace conditions, implications for staff recruitment and retention, and the relative power of management and unions. It concludes that benchmarking, outsourcing and downsizing have all been used to bring about workplace change. Whilst the choice between processes may be dependent on management perception of the workplace environment, implications for the workplace from each process have been similar.

The nature of children's social interactions at school

Interpersonal interactions are important for emotional and psychological wellbeing. One attempt to systematically assess social interactions among gifted children was presented by Manor-Bullock et al. (1995) in their Social Interaction Questionnaire (SIQ). However, no psychometric properties of this scale or the nature of the factors that form students' social interactions have been reported. The aim of this study to ascertain the underlying factor structure of students' social interactions on scores on the SIQ and to compare the responses of children attending a regular school to those in Manor-Bullock et al.'s cohort of gifted children. Two independent factors emerged from the data: social/popular and confident/studious with internal reliability of {alpha} = 0.82 and {alpha} = 0.60 respectively. There were no gender differences on these factors in the current data. Chi square analyses revealed concordance between gifted and regular-school children on seven of 16 comparable items. Discussion of the items demonstrating an association is presented. Confirmation of the current factor structure is necessary and a matched comparison with gifted children is recommended.

Maltreatment and family dysfunction in childhood and the subsequent adjustment of children and adults

The adjustment problems associated with sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological maltreatment, neglect, and witnessing family violence during childhood were examined in three studies. Study 1 demonstrated significant overlap between maltreatment types in parent reports (N = 50) of maltreatment experiences of their child aged 5–12 years. Parental sexual punitiveness, traditionality, family adaptability and family cohesion significantly predicted scores on 4 maltreatment scales and children's externalizing behavior problems. Level of maltreatment predicted internalizing, externalizing, and sexual behavior problems. In Study 2, significant overlap was found between adults' retrospective reports (N = 138) of all 5 types of maltreating behaviors. Parental sexual punitiveness, traditionality, family adaptability, and family cohesion during childhood predicted the level of maltreatment and current psychopathology. Although child maltreatment scores predicted psychopathology, childhood family variables were better predictors of adjustment. Study 3 demonstrated that child maltreatment scores predicted positive aspects of adult adaptive functioning (N = 95).

A longitudinal study of children`s developing knowledge and reasoning in science

The growth in science understanding and reasoning of 12 children is being traced through their primary school years. The paper reports findings concerning children’s growing understandings of evaporation, and their changing responses to exploration activities, that show the complexity and coherence of learning pathways. Children’s responses to identical explorations of flight, separated by two years, are used to explore the interactions between conceptual knowledge and scientific reasoning, and the manner in which they change over this time. The paper discusses the particular insights afforded by a longitudinal study design, and some attendant methodological issues.

An ecobehavioural analysis of interactive engagement of children with developmental disabilities with their peers in inclusive preschools

Ecobehavioural analysis procedures were used to examine the interactive engagement of children with developmental disabilities due to Down syndrome who attended inclusive preschools for 2 years. Compared with typical children, the children with disabilities displayed infrequent interactions with peers for the duration of the study. For the children with disabilities, interactive engagement was largely unrelated to the characteristics of class activities, while typical children responded positively to activities expected to promote peer interaction. The results are discussed in terms of the inadequacy of informal strategies commonly applied in inclusive preschool settings to promote interactive engagement in children with disabilities.

A longitudinal study of children's disordered eating and muscle preoccupation

Recent research has demonstrated high levels of dieting, food preoccupation and muscle preoccupation in preadolescent children. In children, these attitudes and behaviours can constitute health risks. The design of appropriate intervention programs relies on empirical identification of the relevant risk factors. The current study was designed to investigate low self-esteem, perceived parental relations, perceived peer relations, negative affect, perfectionism and BMI as predictors of dieting, food preoccupation and muscle preoccupation in 8 to 10 year old children, over a 10 month period. The results demonstrate the importance of perfectionism as a predictor of dieting and muscle preoccupation in preadolescent boys.