Africa Knowledge Hub for Children

Peer-reviewed articleOpenAlex7 Oct 2026

Processing canonical and non-canonical word orders in Turkish: behavioral and ERP evidence from adults and children

Introduction Turkish permits grammatical non-canonical word order while morphological case marking disambiguates thematic roles. Methods We examined comprehension accuracy and verb-locked event-related potentials (ERPs) to Turkish canonical subject-object-verb (SOV) and non-canonical object-subject-verb (OSV) sentences in adults ( n = 67; 18–44 years) and children ( n = 37; 4.3–9.7 years). Results Accuracy was lower for OSV than SOV in both groups, with a significantly larger SOV-OSV accuracy difference in children. Adults showed a late posterior OSV > SOV positivity, with significant effects in several prespecified windows within the 600–1,200-ms interval, consistent with increased sentence-final processing demands associated with the non-canonical configuration at the final verb. Children showed no reliable corresponding positivity after correction for multiple comparisons. Critically, however, Group × Sentence Type interactions did not survive correction, providing insufficient evidence that the magnitude of the SOV-OSV ERP effect differed between adults and children. Within children, chronological age showed no reliable linear or quadratic association with the behavioral or ERP SOV-OSV difference across the sampled age range. By contrast, stronger grammatical ability predicted higher comprehension accuracy in both sentence types beyond age; the same general pattern was obtained for broader language ability. Neither grammatical nor broader language ability reliably modulated the SOV-OSV ERP difference. Discussion Overall, the findings suggest that the availability of morphosyntactic case cues does not by itself entail adult-like efficiency in integrating those cues during sentence comprehension, and that developmental patterns may be expressed differently across behavioral and electrophysiological measures.

Medine Dudu, Yağmur Köyel Yıldırım, Talat Bulut

Peer-reviewed articleOpenAlex7 Oct 2026

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated isolated seizures in children: a retrospective single-center case series

Background and purpose Isolated seizures represent a distinct, rare, and underrecognized phenotype of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody-associated disease (MOGAD). In recent years, documentation of this phenotype has been limited to sporadic reports, with dedicated case series being extremely scarce. This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of isolated seizures in pediatric patients with MOGAD. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of pediatric patients diagnosed with MOG antibody-associated isolated seizures between January 2019 and January 2026. Clinical manifestations, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, laboratory data, treatment regimens, and clinical outcomes were systematically analyzed. Results Among the cohort of 172 pediatric patients with seropositive MOG antibodies, 6 (3.4%) met the inclusion criteria for isolated seizures. The median age at onset was 7.5 years (range, 5–9 years), with a male-to-female ratio of 1:2. Clinically, 4 patients presented solely with epileptic seizures, while the other 2 patients had additional transient limb weakness or headache, respectively. Focal seizures were observed in 5 patients, including 3 with focal motor seizures; additionally, 2 cases experienced status epilepticus. No patients exhibited encephalopathy or focal neurological deficits. Four patients had peripheral blood leukocytosis (range, 11.9–26 × 10 9 /L), and five had elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rates (ESR; range, 22–43 mm/h). All six patients showed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pleocytosis (41.1 ± 20.4/μL; range, 15–69/μL) without detectable infectious pathogens. Abnormal electroencephalogram (EEG) findings, including abnormal background activity and focal slow waves, were identified in 3 patients. No cranial MRI abnormalities were detected in any patient. All patients received immunotherapy, with one patient additionally receiving anti-seizure medications (ASMs). At final follow-up, all patients had favorable outcomes, with no recurrence of seizures or subsequent demyelinating events. Conclusion Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated isolated seizures is a rare and frequently underrecognized phenotype within the spectrum of MOGAD. For school-age children presenting with epileptic seizures, particularly focal motor seizures, along with elevated ESR and CSF pleocytosis, early testing for MOG antibody is recommended in the absence of clinical or radiological evidence of encephalitis or focal neurological deficits. Most patients achieve favorable clinical outcomes, which may be partially attributed to immunotherapy. However, the efficacy of immunotherapy in preventing seizure recurrence, subsequent demyelinating events, and subclinical radiological disease remains indeterminate.

Kang Liu, Panhui Yu, Liyao Ma et al.

SurvivalRead at source

OtherCrossref4 Jan 2024

Practical Tools for Practitioners: Unravelling Power Dynamics as a Prelude to Preventing Violence Against Women and Children

This paper explores how to employ effective, community-engaged strategies to understand and address the underlying power asymmetries that fuel violence against women and children. Utilising Participatory Action Research and underpinned by Integral Activist Epistemology, the action research adopts a novel approach combining Theory U and Powercube frameworks to facilitate a comprehensive understanding and transformation of these power relations in Shinyanga district, Tanzania. The paper describes the journey of engaging the community in identifying and challenging the unwritten rules that perpetuate violence. Key to this process is the recognition of violence as a manifestation of deeply ingrained patriarchal power structures, which are sustained through coercion and social exclusion, yet paradoxically fragile due to the pain these norms inflict on the whole community, including men. This understanding leads to the development of practical, community-led interventions, or 'prototypes', aimed at reshaping these dynamics. Key messages from the action research highlight the critical role of local context in shaping interventions, the importance of reframing existing cultural practices so that they are more inclusive, and the necessity for long-term commitment from development actors for sustainable change. The implications extend beyond Shinyanga, offering insights for practitioners globally. This paper contributes to the academic discourse on violence prevention but also serves as a practical guide, providing tools and strategies for practitioners working towards creating safer, more inclusive communities.

Kate McAlpine

ProtectionParticipationTZRead at source

Peer-reviewed articleCrossref28 Nov 2023

In Search of a Safe Place in Gaza for Children Stop Violence Against Children

The Article Abstract is not available.

Maliheh Kadivar

ProtectionRead at source

Peer-reviewed articleCrossref1 Mar 2024

Violence Against Children

Violence against children (VAC) is a global phenomenon that needs deliberate attention. Children exposed to violence in their families, communities, and schools in their early years are likely to maintain this cycle of violence in their youth and adult lives if no efforts are made to break this cycle. Taking this into consideration the author adopts a social-ecological theoretical perspective in exploring global, regional, and South African literature on the risks and causes of VAC as well as the protective factors that can prevent VAC. Embedding VAC within a social-ecological perspective warrants the need to explore it at four crucial levels, namely individual, relationships, community, and society. The literature review embodies the relevance of these four levels since all risk and causal factors of VAC are easily categorised in one or more of these levels. As such, the author provides a social-ecological perspective comprising all four levels that holistically address the prevention of VAC. The literature review indicated that many of the risks and causes of VAC are a common trend across countries even though it is more prevalent within African contexts. This suggests that the preventive measures discussed are likely to have global value.

Jace Pillay

ProtectionZARead at source

Peer-reviewed articleCrossref16 Jan 2026

Contributing factors associated with violence against children and intimate partner violence against women in households in southern Senegal

Abstract Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) and violent discipline of children frequently co-occur, but are rarely addressed jointly in public health research or programming. In Senegal, both IPV and violent discipline are prevalent, particularly in rural regions, yet little is known about their intersection within households. This study investigates factors associated with IPV and violent discipline among young couples in southeastern Senegal and explores pathways between violence-related attitudes, social norms, IPV, and violence against children. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional baseline survey of 330 heterosexual couples (fathers aged 18–35 and their partners) in two rural communes in Senegal as part of a quasi-experimental evaluation of the REAL Fathers Initiative. Structured interviews assessed self-reported IPV, violent discipline of under-five children, social norms, parenting practices, and relationship quality. Multivariate logistic regressions and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to identify predictors of IPV and violent discipline and test hypothesized pathways between them. Results Over half of couples (57%) reported IPV in the past three months; 89% of mothers and 71% of fathers reported using violent discipline. Mothers reported more frequent use of physical and harsh discipline than fathers. Among men, attitudes and injunctive norms supporting violence were significantly associated with physical discipline. Among women, higher education and confidence in nonviolent parenting were associated with lower likelihood of violent discipline. SEM showed a significant pathway from IPV to fathers’ use of physical violent discipline, with additional indirect effects through maternal violence. Conclusions Findings reveal high co-occurrence of IPV and violent discipline, shared risk factors, and evidence of interlinked pathways between partner and child-directed violence. These results underscore the need for integrated interventions targeting both forms of violence within the family system and support social norm change and parenting skills among young couples.

Bryan Shaw, Erin DeGraw, Christina Yantis et al.

ProtectionSNRead at source

Peer-reviewed articleOpenAlex7 Oct 2026

Strength in families: Parental resilience, marital dynamics, and adolescent anxiety and substance use

Abstract Drawing on Luthar’s relational framework of resilience, this study examines how parental resilience operates within marital dynamics to shape adolescent adjustment in Mexican-origin families. Using four waves of data from 604 families (M adolage = 12.41, SD = 0.97; 54.3% girls), we tested a longitudinal cascade linking W1 parental resilience to W4 adolescent anxiety and substance use via W2 marital warmth, W3 marital satisfaction, and W3 adolescents’ perceptions of interparental conflict. Actor-partner interdependence models revealed both intrapersonal and interpersonal pathways: wives’ resilience predicted own marital warmth, whereas husbands’ resilience predicted wives’ warmth. Indirect effects indicated that wives’ resilience was associated with lower adolescent anxiety and substance use through warmer marital interactions, higher marital satisfaction, and reduced perceived conflict. These findings position resilience as a promotive relational resource enacted within the marital dyad, advancing interparental positivity spillover theory by identifying parental resilience as upstream drivers of family processes that shape adolescent psychopathology.

Lester Sim, Jingyi Shen, Wei Wang et al.

DevelopmentSGCNUSRead at source

Peer-reviewed articleOpenAlex7 Oct 2026

Unquiet minds: Mental health, trauma and alienation in Ayọbámi Adébáyọ’s Stay With Me

In its debut novel, Stay With Me, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ takes the personal tragedy of a childless Nigerian marriage and turns it into an introspective exploration of mental illness, trauma and isolation. The novel follows the psychological breakdown of Yejide, a woman whose infertility, forced polygyny and multiple maternal losses bring her to the edge of grief and madness in a culture that normalises men’s secrets while medicalising women’s pain. This paper explores the ways in which Adébáyọ̀ dramatises trauma as somatic (pseudocyesis and sickle-cell crises), relational (marital deception and betrayal) and cosmological (the Yoruba belief in abiku, the “spirit child” who dies to torment its mother). The novel’s alternate, retrospective first-person perspective formally represents the belatedness, dissociation and unspeakability of traumatic memory as articulated by Cathy Caruth and Judith Herman while alienation functions simultaneously at the gender, marriage and nation levels. The paper argues that Stay With Me reimagines the experience of infertility and loss as a symptom of structural violence and calls for a new critical focus on mental health in African women’s fiction through five interlocking themes: reproductive trauma, marital secrecy, stigmatised grief, sickle-cell disease as an intergenerational wound and the mirroring of domestic and national instability.

Zacham Bayei, Hashim Musa Abubakar

NGRead at source

Peer-reviewed articleOpenAlex7 Oct 2026

Risk‐Stratified Cardiac Monitoring During Antipsychotic Treatment in Adolescents and Young Adults

ABSTRACT Introduction Antipsychotic‐associated heart rate‐corrected QT (QTc) prolongation and sudden cardiac death are uncommon in young people, but risk is concentrated in patients with identifiable clinical vulnerability and during selected drug‐ or exposure‐related situations. We mapped the evidence and developed a risk‐stratified framework for clinical monitoring. Methods This structured narrative review searched PubMed in August 2026 using one comprehensive query and 41 targeted subqueries. After PMID‐based deduplication, 934 unique records underwent title screening, 382 abstract review, and 158 full‐text relevance assessment; 104 database‐derived sources met broad relevance criteria. Backward citation checking and author‐identified sources added 58 articles. Overall, 162 sources were considered and 100 providing direct, non‐redundant support were cited from the original search; three further sources were incorporated during peer review to address reviewer comments, for a final total of 103 cited references. Two authors independently assessed full‐text relevance. Youth evidence was prioritized; adult evidence was used for adult‐only agents or when youth‐specific data were unavailable. Findings were synthesized narratively without formal risk‐of‐bias or certainty assessment. Results Patient‐level factors, particularly electrolyte disturbance, bradycardia, restrictive eating disorder or medical instability, thyroid dysfunction, inherited channelopathy, structural disease, and interacting drugs, were more consistently associated with QTc risk than drug identity for many commonly used agents. Ziprasidone and pimozide had the strongest youth‐specific drug‐related signals. Adult evidence supported heightened caution with sertindole and iloperidone; high‐dose phenothiazines and amisulpride in overdose or renal impairment represented exposure‐ or context‐dependent risks. Clozapine required separate myocarditis‐focused surveillance. The evidence supports structured baseline risk assessment and targeted ECG and electrolyte testing, with repeat monitoring driven by risk factors, treatment changes, and agent‐specific warnings. Conclusion Monitoring should be tiered rather than uniformly scheduled for all patients. The proposed framework distinguishes core clinical risk assessment from targeted cardiac testing and identifies precautionary intervals that require prospective validation.

Alessandro Cuomo, Mario Pinzi, Andrea M. Fagiolini

SurvivalITRead at source

Peer-reviewed articleCrossref6 Jul 2026

Can a programme to support parents reduce both violence against women and violence against children? A pre-post pilot test in Zimbabwe

Introduction: Violence against women (VAW) and violence against children (VAC) interconnect in a variety of important ways. Parenting programmes may offer promise for preventing both forms of violence, through supporting co-parenting as an avenue for reducing inter-parental conflict, and for engaging men without stigma. Method: This paper presents results from a pilot study with 50 families of the new Co-parenting Sinovuyo Caring Families Programme for Parents and Teens, which took place in rural Manicaland, Zimbabwe. It is a version of the Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) Teen programme, adapted to include a more explicit focus on preventing VAW and the engagement of fathers for the Zimbabwean context. A mixed methods embedded intervention design was used to assess changes in VAW and VAC from baseline to endline. Qualitative data included discussions with participant advisory boards before the pilot, individual interviews with participants at the endline, and a focus group discussion with all parenting group facilitators at the endline. Quantitative data included assessments at the endline and baseline with the primary outcome of intimate partner violence (IPV). Results: This programme led to significant reductions in reported physical IPV, co-parenting struggles, harsh parenting, parenting stress, and teen behaviour problems, but not in emotional IPV, teen-reported IPV, or attitudes to harsh punishment of children. There were significant increases in positive parenting and equitable gender attitudes. These quantitative findings are supported by the qualitative findings with participants and facilitators highlighting improved relationships between themselves and their community, families doing things together and less conflict in the home. Conclusion: This programme is promising for the prevention of VAW and VAC simultaneously.

Natalie Davidson, Catherine L. Ward

ProtectionDevelopmentPre/postZWRead at source

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Processing canonical and non-canonical word orders in Turkish: behavioral and ERP evidence from adults and children

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated isolated seizures in children: a retrospective single-center case series

Practical Tools for Practitioners: Unravelling Power Dynamics as a Prelude to Preventing Violence Against Women and Children

In Search of a Safe Place in Gaza for Children Stop Violence Against Children

Violence Against Children

Contributing factors associated with violence against children and intimate partner violence against women in households in southern Senegal

Strength in families: Parental resilience, marital dynamics, and adolescent anxiety and substance use

Unquiet minds: Mental health, trauma and alienation in Ayọbámi Adébáyọ’s Stay With Me

Risk‐Stratified Cardiac Monitoring During Antipsychotic Treatment in Adolescents and Young Adults

Can a programme to support parents reduce both violence against women and violence against children? A pre-post pilot test in Zimbabwe

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