Using group role-playing games with gifted children and adolescents: A psychosocial intervention model

Gifted children develop asynchronously, often advanced for their age cognitively, but at or between their chronological and mental ages socially and emotionally (Robinson, 2008). In order to help gifted children and adolescents develop and practice social and emotional self-regulation skills, we investigated the use of an Adlerian play therapy approach during pen-and-paper role-playing games. Additionally, we used Goffman's (1961, 1974) social role identification and distance to encourage participants to experiment with new identities. Herein, we propose a psychosocial model of interactions during role-playing games based on Goffman's theory and Adlerian play therapy techniques, and suggest that role-playing games are an effective way of intervening with gifted children and adolescents to improve their intra- and interpersonal skills. We specifically targeted intrapersonal skills of exercising creativity, becoming self-aware, and setting individual goals by raising participants' awareness of their privately logical reasons for making decisions and their levels of social interest. We also targeted their needs and means of seeking significance in the group to promote collaboration and interaction skills with other gifted peers through role analysis, embracement, and distancing. We report results from a case study and conclude that role-playing games deserve more attention, both from researchers and clinical practitioners, because they encourage change while improving young clients' social and emotional development.

Children and Family Weight Management

The Children and Family Weight Management Team aims to help overweight children and their families to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Aimed primarily at children, the service offers a programme of advice and support to families who are committed to making healthy lifestyle changes. Adult family members who seek personal weight management support may be signposted to appropriate local services.

Building Children and Young People's Resilience in Schools

Evidence Review 2 - Building children and young people's resilience in schools Briefing 2 - Building children and young people's resilience in schools This pair of documents, commissioned by Public Health England, and written by the UCL Institute of Health Equity, address the role of schools in building children and young people’s resilience and capabilities. They provide a summary of evidence about the effect of resilience on health, the unequal distribution of resilience and its contribution to levels of health inequalities. The review outlines the potential actions that can be taken in schools in order to build resilience for all children and young people and reduce inequalities in resilience. Throughout, a social determinants approach to resilience is taken. Children and young people’s individual characteristics are seen as shaped by, and related to, inequities in power, money and resources, and the conditions in which they are born, grow, live, and in which they will work and age. Family and community resilience are highly significant and similarly shaped by wider social and economic factors. The full evidence review and a shorter summary briefing are available to download above. This document is part of a series. An overview document which provides an introduction to this and other documents in the series, and links to the other topic areas, is available on the ‘Local Action on health inequalities’ project page. A video of Michael Marmot introducing the work is also available on our videos page.

Pulmonary artery pressure and cardiac function in children and adolescents after rapid ascent to 3,450 m.

High-altitude destinations are visited by increasing numbers of children and adolescents. High-altitude hypoxia triggers pulmonary hypertension that in turn may have adverse effects on cardiac function and may induce life-threatening high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), but there are limited data in this young population. We, therefore, assessed in 118 nonacclimatized healthy children and adolescents (mean ± SD; age: 11 ± 2 yr) the effects of rapid ascent to high altitude on pulmonary artery pressure and right and left ventricular function by echocardiography. Pulmonary artery pressure was estimated by measuring the systolic right ventricular to right atrial pressure gradient. The echocardiography was performed at low altitude and 40 h after rapid ascent to 3,450 m. Pulmonary artery pressure was more than twofold higher at high than at low altitude (35 ± 11 vs. 16 ± 3 mmHg; P < 0.0001), and there existed a wide variability of pulmonary artery pressure at high altitude with an estimated upper 95% limit of 52 mmHg. Moreover, pulmonary artery pressure and its altitude-induced increase were inversely related to age, resulting in an almost twofold larger increase in the 6- to 9- than in the 14- to 16-yr-old participants (24 ± 12 vs. 13 ± 8 mmHg; P = 0.004). Even in children with the most severe altitude-induced pulmonary hypertension, right ventricular systolic function did not decrease, but increased, and none of the children developed HAPE. HAPE appears to be a rare event in this young population after rapid ascent to this altitude at which major tourist destinations are located.

Summer School 2011 Event Flyer

The Quantitative Methodologies in Policy and Practice for Child Health and Wellbeing Summer School is organised by the Children’s Research Network for Ireland and Northern Ireland in conjunction with TCD School of Nursing & Midwifery. The Children’s Research Network for Ireland and Northern Ireland is a not for profit membership-based organization which supports the research community to better understand and improve the lives of children and young people, by creating and maintaining an inclusive, independent network through which  information, knowledge, experience, learning and skills can be shared. Membership to the network facilitates access to workshops, summer schools, and events focused on children’s research. The Summer School is funded by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

Ethics masterclass programme

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) recently launched ‘Guidance for developing ethical research projects involving children’. The Guidance considers ethical principles and concepts in research with children and presents a checklist for the design and conduct of research.  In this the third master class of the Children's Research Network for Ireland and Northern Ireland, participants will have an opportunity to respond to the Guidance and to discuss ethical issues in their work. The workshop will also provide participants with the opportunity to discuss the challenges facing the community and voluntary sector in applying and monitoring ethical standards in their work in the absence of formal/institutional ethics committees

WTID Nutrition and Cooking Classes

In partnership with the VEC WTID has delivered Nutrition Level 5 FETAC to a group of 24 learners, 4 being members of the Travelling community.  This module was also delivered to 5 Childcare staff at WTIDs pre-school service. Staff of the Harmony Afterschool Service undertakes baking activities each week with the children. Group work has been facilitated with 16 men who were on a BTEI on salt, sugar, caffeine and fibre, as well as with a young girls group on food tasting of various fruits, cheeses and how to make healthy potato wedges and other healthy snacks. WTID as part of the local Traveller Interagency Group are writing a well-being manual to be used with community groups working with Travellers- Healthy Eating is a module of this manual. Plans are in place to run a First Instincts Men's Health programme which will run over an 8 week period with workshops, weigh ins and provision of a healthy breakfast on each morning. HSE West; FAS CE scheme; Involve: Senior Youth Worker; Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Service; Pobal Initiative Type Community Food Centres Nutrition Education and Training Programmes Location Galway Target Groups At risk youth Children ( 4-12 years) Children (0-4 years) Children (13-18 years) Families Lone parents Men Older people People with mental health difficulties Travellers Unemployed Women Funding HSE West; FAS CE scheme; Involve: Senior Youth Worker; Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Service; Pobal Partner Agencies Equal Ireland FÁS Galway County Council GCCCC GRD HSE Involve RAPID VEC Adult Education Service

Briefing 02: Mortality in children and young people in the East of England

The current trend in infant mortality in the East compared with the UK as a whole, the contribution of different causes to the total number of deaths, and PCT-specific information on 8 years of combined data.

Mental health of children and young people in Great Britain, 2004

This report first describes the prevalence of mental disorders among 5- to 16-year olds in 2004 and notes any changes since the previous survey in 1999. It then provides profiles of children in each of the main disorder categories (emotional, conduct, hyperkinetic and autistic spectrum disorders) and , where the sample size permits, profiles subgroups within these categories.

The Health and Well-Being of Children and Young People in South East England 2005 (report)

A compendium of facts and figures on the health status and the determinants of the health of children and young people in South East England

Secular trends in height and weight among children and adolescents of the Seychelles, 1956-2006

Background: Few data is available on long-term secular trends in height and weight in children in countries in transition. We assessed the secular trends in height and weight among representative samples of children and adolescents from the Seychelles (African region). Methods: Weight and height data from all students of all schools in four selected school grades (kindergarten, 4th, 7th and 10th years) were collected by cross-sectional surveys for periods 1998-9 (3,676 boys, 3,715 girls) and 2005-6 (4,867 boys, 4,846 girls). Data from 1956-7 was extracted from a previously published report. Results: Height increased, in boys, by 1.6 cm/decade for the period 1956-7 to 1998- 9, and 1.1 cm/decade for the period 1998-8 to 2005-6; in girls, the corresponding figures were 0.9 cm/decade and 1.8 cm/decade. At age 15.5 years, boys/girls were taller by 10/13 cm in 2005-6 than in 1956-7. Weight increased, in boys, by 1.4 kg/decade for the period 1956-7 to 1998-9, and by 2.2 kg/decade for the subsequent period; the corresponding figures in girls were 1.1 kg/decade and 2.5 kg/decade. Conclusion: Marked upward secular trends in body height and weight were documented in children and adolescents aged <16 years in the Seychelles, consistent with large changes in socio-economic and nutritional indicators in the considered 50- year interval. However, indirect evidence suggests that the secular height gain reflects accelerated growth during childhood over time with less than commensurate impact on adult height. Conversely, the largely steeper secular increase in weight than height is consistent with a pediatric obesity epidemic.

Sexueller Missbrauch bei Kindern und Jugendlichen- Aufdeckung, Untersuchung und Erstbetreuung [Sexual abuse of female children and adolescents--detection, examination and primary care].

Epidemiological studies show a prevalence of sexual abuse experience among girls from 14-33%. Although indicators of abuse are unspecific, the combination of several findings may be indicative: Somatic signs may be sexually transmitted diseases, vulvovaginal complaints. Psychosocial nonsexual indicators are abrupt behavioural changes, running away from home, eating disorders. Psychosexual signs are hypersexualisation of the language and behaviour, disturbed body image and gender identity. Indirect evidence of abuse is given not only in cases of old vaginal and anal lesions but also in situations, where deep tears of the hymen in the typical localization at the posterior part can be found. The workup and care for children in whom there is suspicion of abuse but no clear evidence asks for highly competent professionals in a multidisciplinary cooperation including pediatric gynecologists, child psychiatrists, children-protection groups and other specialists to avoid on one hand unjustified destabilisation or even destruction of familial structures but to assure on the other hand, that the child victims are treated and followed after in a short and long term comprehensive medical and psychosocial care.

MR and CT imaging of pulmonary valved conduits in children and adolescents: normal appearance and complications.

BACKGROUND: The Contegra® is a conduit made from the bovine jugular vein and then interposed between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery. It is used for cardiac malformations in the reconstruction of right ventricular outflow tract. OBJECTIVE: To describe both normal and pathological appearances of the Contegra® in radiological imaging, to describe imaging of complications and to define the role of CT and MRI in postoperative follow-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-three examinations of 24 patients (17 boys and 7 girls; mean age: 10.8 years old) with Contegra® conduits were reviewed. Anatomical description and measurements of the conduits were performed. Pathological items examined included stenosis, dilatation, plicature or twist, thrombus or vegetations, calcifications and valvular regurgitation. Findings were correlated to the echographic gradient through the conduit when available. RESULTS: CT and MR work-up showed Contegra® stenosis (n = 12), dilatation (n = 9) and plicature or twist (n = 7). CT displayed thrombus or vegetations in the Contegra® in three clinically infected patients. Calcifications of the conduit were present at CT in 12 patients and valvular regurgitation in three patients. The comparison between CT and/or MR results showed a good correlation between the echographic gradient and the presence of stenosis in the Contegra®. CONCLUSION: CT and MR bring additional information about permeability and postoperative anatomy especially when echocardiography is inconclusive. Both techniques depict the normal appearance of the conduit, and allow comparison and precise evaluation of changes in the postoperative follow-up.