The role of fingerspelling or manual alphabet for reading among deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals has been of great interest in research. What can decades of research on fingerspelling and reading among deaf individuals tell us about how fingerspelling aids deaf children's reading development? This scoping review was, therefore, undertaken to explore: (a) What is the relationship between fingerspelling and reading?, (b) In what ways do fingerspelling abilities promote reading skills?, and (c) What is known about using fingerspelling to teach reading? We identified 26 studies that were screened and summarized according to publication characteristics. The content and methods of these studies were briefly described. The results revealed a larger proportion of quantitative methods and ASL/English settings. A discussion and implications for future research are provided.
Introduction Motor health and long-term development of pre-school children is a pressing issue that requires urgent attention. While motor health is critically important for the early growth stage of pre-school children, establishing a multi-dimensional health evaluation indicator weighting system using an integrated subjective-objective weighting method remains a cutting-edge challenge in current research. Methods WPS Office 6.4 and IBM® SPSS® Statistics 26.0 were used to analyze the data, with the significance threshold set at P-value < 0.05. The integrated subjective-objective weighting method mainly consists of four steps: (i) the Delphi subjective weighting method, including A i , A s , A a , W i , Wi' ω; (ii) the entropy objective weighting method, including X ij , P ij , E j , d j , and W j ; (iii) the comprehensive weighting method, including relevant parameters Wj* , among others; (iv) IBM® SPSS® Amos (TM) 24.0 was used to conduct further data analysis. Results The total combined weight of the six primary indicators is 1.0, with individual weights ranging from 0.109 to 0.213. The corresponding weights of the 26 secondary indicators range from 0.014 to 0.215. Regarding the weighting of first-level indicators, no significant correlation was found between the comprehensive weighting method and the Delphi method (r = 0.771, P = 0.072), nor between the comprehensive weighting method and the entropy weight method (r = 0.600, P = 0.208). Similarly, no significant correlation was observed between the Delphi method and the entropy weight method (r = 0.143, P = 0.787). In contrast, for second-level indicators, the comprehensive weighting method demonstrated a strong correlation with both the Delphi method (r = 0.917, P < 0.001) and the entropy weight method (r = 0.558, P = 0.003). However, no significant correlation was detected between the Delphi method and the entropy weight method (r = 0.268, P = 0.185). Conclusion By adopting an integrated subjective-objective weighting method, this study establishes evaluation indicator weights based on two foundations: the intrinsic patterns within the data and expert experience. The weights derived through this dual-foundation approach therefore exhibit improved rationality and credibility, providing important reference value for the comprehensive assessment of pre-school children's motor health.
Autistic students participate less in Physical Education (PE) than their peers. Motivation is a primary driver of participation in PE, yet little is known about factors influencing the motivation of autistic youth in PE. This qualitative study explored the experiences of Australian autistic youth aged 7-18 years (N = 26) in mainstream PE. A deductive content analysis approach, informed by Self-Determination Theory (SDT), directed the development of the interview guide and analysis. Deductive responses (k = 526) were related to the Basic Psychological Needs postulated by SDT: relatedness (k = 165), competence (k = 124), and autonomy (k = 76) and included 33 conceptual categories. Inductive responses capturing autistic differences were mapped to the Conditional Participation Model themes: Adjustment to external demands (k = 52), predictability (k = 41), and affective experiences (k = 68), incorporating 16 conceptual categories. Autistic differences underpin Basic Psychological Needs satisfaction/frustration. Supporting the Basic Psychological Needs of autistic students differs from their neurotypical peers, with PE teachers best positioned to facilitate a need-supportive environment for autistic students.Lay AbstractAutistic youth participate less in Physical Education (PE) than their classmates. We do not know much about the motivation of autistic students to participate in PE. Self-Determination Theory says our motivation is affected by the satisfaction of our Basic Psychological Needs of competence (can I do it), autonomy (is there a choice), and relatedness (do I belong). We investigated what impacts the psychological needs of autistic youth in PE. We also explored how autistic differences affect motivation using the Conditional Model of Participation that considers exercise participation for autistic youth. We interviewed 26 Australian autistic youth, (7-18 years) investigating factors impacting their Basic Psychological Needs in PE. This is a deductive approach, as we considered specific themes and used these to analyse responses. We also recorded patterns relating to autistic differences. This was an inductive approach as themes emerged from the responses. Participants provided 365 responses in relation to competence (124), relatedness (165), and autonomy (76). In addition, 161 responses linked to autistic differences. We mapped responses to the Conditional Participation Model themes of adjustment to external demands (52 responses), predictability (41 responses), and emotions (68 responses). Autistic differences underpinned the Basic Psychological Needs of participants. The PE teacher had the biggest impact on supporting these needs.
Introduction Developmental coordination disorder (DCD), a common neurodevelopmental condition, is associated with persistent motor and psychosocial difficulties impacting participation and quality of life. International guidelines recommend activity-/participation-focused, task-specific interventions; however, little is known about how Australian occupational therapists translate these recommendations into clinical practice. This study aimed to describe current Australian occupational therapy intervention for children with (or suspected to have) DCD and identify factors that shape occupational therapists' intervention choices. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was distributed to Australian occupational therapists via professional organisations/social media September-October 2020. Eligible participants were registered occupational therapists with ≥15% children in their caseload. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and regressions. Open-ended responses were examined using inductive content analysis. Consumer and community engagement No consumers (e.g., parents or children) or community service providers were involved in the design, implementation, analysis, or dissemination of this research. This study focused on describing occupational therapists' self-reported practice, and the survey was developed and piloted exclusively with occupational therapists. Results One hundred seventy-five occupational therapists met inclusion criteria; 146 completed intervention questions. Most occupational therapists provided individual therapy alongside consultation with parents/educators/other health professionals, and 95% reported providing home/school programmes. Weekly, ongoing sessions were common. Most occupational therapists (97%) used some form of activity-/participation-oriented intervention. Only around half used CO-OP, while two thirds used task-specific approaches; however, more occupational therapists used process-/impairment-oriented interventions targeting body structure and function (77%) and/or interventions aimed at achieving developmental milestones (72%). Six key considerations shaping interventions choices were identified: family circumstances and relationships, practical supports, child factors, access/funding, child/family goals, and occupational therapist/peer experience. Conclusion Australian occupational therapists integrate research evidence, clinical experience, and contextual factors when making intervention decisions for children with DCD. While many use approaches consistent with best practice guidelines, non-recommended practices remain common. Targeted DCD-specific training, improved support for evaluating practice evidence, and addressing funding barriers may align everyday practice with current guidelines.
Background Functional difficulty is a substantial public health concern. Empirical data on children experiencing difficulty are indispensable for developing or monitoring laws, policies, strategies, and interventions intended to mitigate disability; however, evidence on the magnitude and underlying determinants affecting children in Somalia remains limited. Objective This study aimed to assess the prevalence and contributing determinants of functional difficulties among children aged 2-17 years in Somalia. Methods A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data from the 2022 Somali Integrated Household Budget Survey (SIHBS). A multiple logit model was run, reporting adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) at p < 0.05. Results The overall prevalence of functional difficulty among children was 5.7% [95% CI: 5.4-6.0]. Household size (AOR = 0.62, 95% CI [0.44, 0.89]), illness status (AOR = 0.46, 95% CI [0.35, 0.60]), and school attendance (AOR = 1.59, 95% CI [1.21, 2.09]). Chronic disease (AOR = 0.12, 95% CI [0.08, 0.19]), poverty status (AOR = 0.62, 95% CI [0.48, 0.81]), and residence (AOR = 1.18, 95% CI [0.99, 1.41]) were all significantly associated with functional difficulty at p < 0.05. Conclusion Functional difficulties among Somali children are shaped by health, socioeconomic, and residential factors. Strengthening disability policies, expanding screening and mobile health services, promoting inclusive education, and providing targeted social protection are essential to address this burden.
Background Childhood cancer deaths may be associated with persistent parental grief. Evidence on grief symptoms beyond ten years post-loss remains limited. Aims We described grief symptoms, identified grief profiles, and examined associations between grief intensity and sociodemographic, cancer-related characteristics, and time since death. Design This multicenter cross-sectional survey was conducted in Switzerland (July 2022-July 2023). We used PG-13. Items were rated on a 5-point scale (1-5). We calculated the sum score to assess grief intensity (range 11-55). We employed descriptive statistics, latent profile analysis, and linear regression analyses. Setting/participants Eligible parents had a child diagnosed with cancer (⩽18 years), who had received treatment at one of three participating Swiss pediatric oncology centers and had died ⩾1 year prior to study participation. Participants were identified via the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry and invited by the child's former treatment facility. Results Of 388 identified cases, 103 parents of 81 deceased children participated. Mean grief intensity was 23.3 (SD = 9.0); yearning represented the most prominent symptom (mean = 3.2), while reminder avoidance was least prominent (mean = 1.3). Latent profile analysis revealed three grief profiles: low (56%), moderate (32%), and high grief (12%). High poverty risk (β = 11.04, p<0.001) and death in healthcare facility (β = 3.82, p = 0.024) were associated with higher grief intensity, while longer time since death was associated with lower grief intensity (β = -5.46, p = 0.041). Conclusions Parental grief symptoms can persist long after the death of a child to cancer. Integrated palliative care, anticipatory guidance, and multidisciplinary collaboration may identify at-risk parents early, and ensure sustained support within the community.
Background While parenting style is a well-established correlate of adolescent aggression, prior research has rarely compared specific parenting behaviours across distinct proactive and reactive aggression profiles. The present study addressed this gap by integrating specific parenting behaviours and proactive and reactive aggression within both subgroup-based and variable-centred analytic frameworks. Methods A total of 1,300 Chinese adolescents and their parents from four middle schools in Hong Kong completed questionnaires. Adolescents were classified into non-aggressive, reactive, proactive, and co-occurring reactive-proactive groups using a composite classification based on standardized parent- and self-reported aggression scores. Parenting was assessed at both the global style level (authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive) and the behaviour level (warmth and acceptance, reasoning and induction, democratic participation, physical coercion, verbal hostility, and non-reasoning or punitive discipline). Subgroup-based multivariate analyses of covariance were conducted to compare parenting patterns across aggression groups, followed by hierarchical regression models predicting proactive and reactive aggression from parenting variables. Results Subgroup-based analyses showed that, compared with non-aggressive adolescents, aggression groups generally experienced more maladaptive parenting patterns, especially higher authoritarian and permissive parenting. The proactive group reported the lowest levels of positive parenting, whereas the co-occurring reactive-proactive group showed the highest mean levels on several negative parenting dimensions, although overlap among aggression groups remained substantial. Variable-centred analyses further showed that parenting explained substantially more variance in parent-reported than in self-reported aggression. Across parent-reported models, permissive parenting, physical coercion, and non-reasoning or punitive discipline emerged as the most consistent positive correlates of both reactive and proactive aggression. Conclusions Together, these findings suggest that parenting-aggression associations are overlapping but not uniform across adolescent aggression profiles. Compared with broad parenting styles, behaviour-level indicators provided a more specific account of the parenting practices associated with aggression. These results identify potentially modifiable family correlates that may help guide future longitudinal and intervention research on adolescent aggression.
Cigarette card games emerged as a popular yet controversial pastime among children in China, raising concerns on the potential to foster gambling-like behaviors. This study explored children's experiences and perceptions of cigarette card games, as well as parental attitudes and facilitation practices. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 child-parent dyads (19 boys, 2 girls) from September to December 2024. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were adopted to recruit children who had played cigarette card games in the past 1 month. Separate interview protocols were developed for children and parents to ensure age-appropriate communication. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed thematically following Braun and Clarke's framework, with dual coding and triangulation. Four key themes emerged: (1) Chance and reward-driven engagement, where children linked the thrill of obtaining rare cards to gambling; (2) Peer influence and social reinforcement, which strengthened friendships but risked excluding non-players; (3) Parental misperceptions, viewing the games as healthier alternatives to screen time that promote outdoor activity; and (4) Parental facilitation, including sourcing cards through networks and rationalizing support as aiding socialization. These patterns indicate that cigarette card games may expose children to gambling-like reward systems and normalize tobacco-related imagery, with parental participation further amplifying such exposure and acceptance. Cigarette card games blend gambling-like features with early tobacco normalization, amplified by parental pro-game practices. Public health interventions should target both children and parents, promoting awareness of gambling risks and guiding families toward safe, prosocial forms of play.
Background Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has negative effects on neurocognitive development and metabolic health in children. Despite this, children with OSA remain underrepresented in research; consequently, most evidence on treatment is based on adult data. This review focuses on studies assessing barriers to clinical trial participation in children with OSA and discusses intervention studies and efforts to overcome these barriers. Methods We retrieved articles from Scopus, Embase, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library without date restrictions until February 2026. The language used was restricted to English. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) tool was used to assess methodological quality. Results Of the 28 included studies, 14 barrier subcategories were identified across three domains: objective factors (25 studies), provider factors (6 studies), and patient/caregiver factors (25 studies). The most frequently reported barriers were stringent eligibility criteria, refusal of follow-up, treatment disagreement, and health problem. Conclusions Our findings emphasize multifaceted barriers to enrolling children with OSA in clinical trials. Furthermore, we provided several underutilized solutions to facilitate children's participation in clinical trials. However, formal targeted strategies are still needed in the future, because these recommendations alone might not solve the evidence gap in children.
Introduction Blended families challenge legal systems that continue to organize parental status primarily through formal categories such as filiation, adoption, parental authority, custody, and legally recognized family status. This study examines how Peruvian judicial, legal, prosecutorial, public-defense, and psychosocial professionals interpret the possibility of granting post-divorce visitation rights to stepparents in blended families. It does not propose automatic legal parenthood for stepparents but analyzes whether affinal status, when accompanied by evidence of social or functional parenthood, may provide a basis for judicial assessment under the best interests of the child. Methods An exploratory qualitative socio-legal design was employed, combining analysis of Peruvian constitutional, civil, and child-protection law with eleven structured expert interviews. Participants included two family judges, four lawyers, two public defenders, one family prosecutor, and two psychologists in Ica, Peru. Data were analyzed through directed thematic analysis using deductive and inductive coding, coder comparison, and analytic triangulation across interviews, legal materials, jurisprudence, doctrine, and socio-legal literature. Results Six interrelated themes were identified: formal affinity as a procedural gateway rather than a complete legal basis; the best interests of the child as a structured judicial inquiry; socio-affective bonds as an evidentiary threshold; non-displacement of biological or legal parents; the relevance of interdisciplinary and psychosocial evidence; and uncertainty arising from judicial discretion. Participants generally considered affinity insufficient by itself and emphasized evidence of caregiving, emotional continuity, and the child's welfare. Discussion The findings indicate that Peruvian law provides interpretive mechanisms for assessing post-divorce stepparent visitation despite the absence of a specific statutory regime. Affinal status may make a claim legally cognizable, but continued contact should depend on evidence that the relationship acquired social or functional parental significance and that visitation serves the child's best interests without displacing the rights and duties of legal parents. The study contributes a Latin American perspective to broader socio-legal debates on social parenthood, functional parenthood, socio-affective kinship, family diversity, and judicial discretion.
Castilla-Cabezudo JL, Zegarra-Castañeda R, Zegarra-Castañeda G et al.
