Search Results (13)

Grounded in stress-reactivity accounts and the Prosocial Classroom model, this study examines how preschool teachers’ responses to children’s negative emotions are associated with teacher job stress and age in Greek early childhood education settings. These frameworks suggest that elevated job stress may erode teachers’ regulatory resources and responsiveness, increasing non-supportive reactions and reducing supportive emotion coaching during emotionally charged classroom interactions. A sample of 101 full-time preschool educators (M age = 42.3 years; 97% female) completed two instruments: the Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale (CCNES) and the Child Care Workers’ Job Stress Inventory (CCW-JSI). Age-controlled partial correlations indicated that higher job stress was associated with more frequent use of non-supportive reactions, including punitive and minimizing responses, and less frequent use of supportive strategies, such as emotion-focused, problem-focused, and expressive encouragement responses. Older teachers tended to report higher supportive response scores, particularly for problem-focused reactions and expressive encouragement. These findings highlight the importance of teacher well-being for the emotional climate of preschool classrooms and suggest that job stress may undermine educators’ capacity to consistently engage in supportive emotion socialization. The study contributes to the education literature by linking teacher stress and emotion socialization practices in a policy context where early childhood education is expanding but remains under-resourced. Implications for teacher education, professional development, and system-level initiatives to support educators’ social-emotional competence are discussed. Full article

Injury is the leading cause of death and disability amongst those between 0 and 16 years of age. Routinely associated with a social gradient of health, childhood injury is reportedly higher in rural and regional areas. A retrospective cross-sectional study collected deidentified emergency injury presentation data from nine health services in regional Victoria for children aged 0–14 years between 2017 and 2022. Emergency injury presentation incidence rates and predictor variables were analysed using hierarchical multiple regression. Significance was determined at p < 0.05. Amongst the 15,884 emergency injury presentations, 35.2% (n = 5597) occurred at health services that did not routinely report data to government datasets. Although some findings are consistent with current research, this study highlights specific factors that are predictive of injury amongst 0–4-year-old children who require deeper investigation, including general practitioner access and health literacy-related elements such as preschool health assessment attendance rates, parent education levels, and overseas birth. These findings provide more comprehensive insights for healthcare workers and policymakers as they seek to support people with injuries and accurately address health inequities. Full article

Diabetes care in institutional settings is a significant challenge that affects the whole family as well as care workers and teachers. The present study is the ideation part of a rigorous development process in the KIds with Diabetes in School (KIDS) project. We have previously conducted a thorough three-part needs assessment in which we explored the problem area from the viewpoints of (1) municipal administrative staff, (2) preschool and school staff and (3) families. Based on the identified needs and to a great extent on the contents and shortcomings of existing guidelines, the objective of the present study is to explore and develop possible solutions and recommendations for addressing the challenges and problems. To meet this objective, we held comprehensive multistakeholder participatory workshops in each of the five Danish regions. Five main themes with multiple subthemes were identified as areas to be addressed: (1) training and knowledge, (2) communication and collaboration, (3) the designated contact/support person, (4) national guidelines, and (5) the Diabetes Coordinator. Our findings demonstrate that communicative structures and dynamics are at the very heart of the identified problems and challenges and that the possible solutions should revolve around improving existing structures and highlighting the importance of constantly working on understanding and developing communication strategies. We propose a set of recommendations for practice based on these communicative needs. Full article

Therapists who treat traumatized preschool children are vulnerable to secondary traumatic stress. This study investigates the relationship between therapists’ attitudes toward trauma-informed care (TIC) and risk of secondary traumatic stress, with secondary traumatic self-efficacy as a mediating variable. Participants included Israeli social workers (N = 101) in preschool trauma frameworks, with 97.2% following trauma-informed care principles. The questionnaire combined three instruments: attitudes related to TIC (ARTIC), secondary traumatic stress (STS), and secondary traumatic stress efficacy (STSE). Therapists with less positive attitudes toward trauma-informed care showed higher levels of secondary traumatic stress (r[99] = −0.23, p = 0.019), while more positive attitudes predicted higher levels of secondary traumatic stress efficacy (r[99] = 40, p < 0.001). Secondary traumatic self-efficacy mediated the relationship between attitudes toward trauma-informed care and secondary traumatic stress (z = 2.72, p = 0.006). Therapists’ secondary traumatic stress may be reduced by improving positive attitudes toward trauma-informed care and enhancing their secondary traumatic self-efficacy. Full article

Approaching inequalities to achieve health equity requires joint action. Early childhood caries affects disadvantaged population groups. The objective of this study was to determine the relevance of sociocultural inequalities and parental origin with respect to oral health in preschool children in Lanzarote. A transversal epidemiological study was carried out. Sociocultural data and information about parental origin were collected via a questionnaire. The decayed and filled teeth (dft), decayed teeth (dt), filled teeth (ft), restorative index (RI), plaque index (PI) and gingival index (GI) were obtained via an investigator’s examination. Statistical analysis of the data indicated that children of semi-skilled manual workers (28.15%) had the highest prevalence of caries (46.9%). Additionally 43.7 of the mothers had second grade and first cycle studies. When relating the medium and high level of education, there were statistically significant differences in relation to the cod index (p = 0.046). When the origin was foreign (48.4%), preschoolers presented 10.7% more active or untreated caries than Spaniards (p = 0.038). Low socioeconomic cultural level and foreign origin is associated with a more deficient state of oral health in preschoolers. Oral health programs are needed to minimize social inequalities. Full article

Brazilians are a rapidly growing ethnic immigrant population in the United States (U.S.), and there is a lack of childhood obesity prevention interventions addressing the needs of Brazilian preschool-age children. Using the family ecological model (FEM) as a guide, this developmental cross-sectional study assessed the preferences (content, intervention modality, and language) of 52 individual Brazilian immigrant parents (27 mothers, 25 fathers) for a family-based intervention to promote healthful energy balance-related behaviors (EBRB). Overall, 85% or more of parents reported being interested or very interested in content related to five of the seven assessed EBRBs (increasing fruits and vegetables, reducing unhealthy foods and sugar-sweetened beverages, increasing physical activity, and reducing screen time). Parent-preferred intervention modalities were group sessions delivered by community health workers (CHWs, 86.5%), email (84.6%), and messaging (78.8%), with most parents (71.2%) indicating a preference for content in Portuguese. Interventions integrating multiple components, such as group sessions offered by CHWs and text messaging using SMS and WhatsApp, should be considered. Future steps for intervention development should include investigating different communication channels and their integration into a culturally and linguistically tailored family-based intervention designed to promote healthful EBRBs of preschool-age children in Brazilian families living in the U.S. Full article

Three institutions predominantly care for preschool children in Japan: kindergartens, authorized childcare institutions, and nursery centers. Recently, the turnover rates of preschool workers in these institutions have been high, and Japan has been facing a shortage of kindergarten teachers. The study aimed to provide concrete counterplans to reduce preschool workers’ turnover rate. To determine the causes of turnover, we conducted a cross-sectional survey. We recruited preschool workers from several kindergartens, authorized childcare institutions, and nursery centers in Japan to fill out a survey regarding counterplans for employment. Of the 1002 surveys, 551 (541 women; 10 men) complete surveys were received (response rate: 55%). A total of 295 participants answered that they were unwilling to continue working for longer than five years and completed the questionnaires. The Jiro Kawakita method was used to categorize and analyze the four sections of the counterplan questionnaires. The results showed that the main reasons for high turnover were overtime work, low salary, and difficult human relations. To solve these issues, the counterplan ideas such as workshop ideas and conditions conducive to continuing working longer were related to human relations, work conditions, and mental health. Full article

Mothers’ social networks are important to their children’s health but still remains poorly understood in Korea. The purpose of the study was to explore the elements of social relationships in Korean preschool mothers to describe their parenting ecology. Data were collected from interviews with 32 mothers according to the Social Network Interview questionnaire and from their seven-day diaries describing their daily social relationships. Eleven ecological elements were identified. The social relationships of these mothers involved seven types of people: relatives, mothers of their children’s friends, kindergarten and learning center teachers, domestic workers providing parenting support, husbands, friends, and children’s friends. The mothers’ social relationships were also associated with four location types: kindergartens, private learning centers, health services centers, and private entertainment centers. The strongest element of the ecology of parenting in terms of frequency was relatives, followed by the mothers of their children’s friends and kindergarten teachers; for the location, the strongest was kindergartens, followed by private learning centers and health services centers. In conclusion, the strongest elements in parenting ecology should be evaluated during the assessment of children’s growth and development, and incorporated in the assessment tools used. Full article

This formative research used a cross-sectional survey to assess interest in informational content and intervention modalities for the design of an early childhood obesity prevention intervention for Central American families from the Northern Triangle countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) living in the United States. A total of 74 parents (36 mothers, 38 fathers) with a mean age of 31.6 years (SD = 5.6) completed the survey; 59.5% of whom were born outside of the United States. Although most parents reported being very interested in receiving information related to the seven assessed energy balance-related behaviors, there were significant differences by parents’ gender and nativity. Most parents endorsed remote modalities for content delivery via text/SMS, WhatsApp, and e-mail. However, respondents were also receptive to in-person delivery provided by community health workers. There were also significant differences in parents’ preferences for intervention modalities by parents’ gender and nativity. Future steps should include investigating different intervention modalities and their integration into a linguistic and culturally sensitive family-based intervention to promote healthful energy balance-related behaviors of preschool-age children in Central American families originating from the Northern Triangle countries. Full article

(1) Background: It is important to improve vaccination strategies and immunization programs to achieve herd immunity to infectious diseases. (2) Methods: To assess the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination, we conducted face-to-face surveys and online surveys in Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Qinghai provinces. A fixed-effect model and a random effects model were used to analyze factors associated with the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination. (3) Findings: We initially recruited 3173 participants, 3172 participants completed the full questionnaire (the response rate was nearly 100%), of which 2169 were valid questionnaires, with an effective rate of 87.3%. The results indicated that 82.6% of participants were willing to receive vaccination when it was available in the community, and 57.2% of deliverymen, 43.3% of medical workers, 78.2% of parents of primary and secondary school children, and 72.2% of parents of preschool children were willing to receive vaccination. The models showed that participants who were male (female vs. male: OR = 1.49, 95% CI (1.12, 1.98)), 60 to 69 years-old (60–69 vs. <30: OR = 0.52, 95% CI (0.29, 0.92)), had less education (medium vs. low: OR = 1.50, 95% CI (1.05, 2.23)), had good health status (good vs. low: OR = 0.36, 95% CI (0.15, 0.88)), and had positive attitudes and trust (OR = 0.14, 95% CI (0.10, 0.20)) in vaccines approved by the National Health Commission were more likely to accept vaccination. Participants also had an increased vaccination acceptance if it was recommended by government sources, doctors, relatives, or friends. Most participants learned about COVID-19 vaccination from television, radio, and newspapers, followed by community or hospital campaigns and the internet. (4) Conclusions: Government sources and doctors could increase the acceptance of vaccination by promoting the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccination by the use of mass media and emphasizing the necessity of vaccination for everyone. Full article

In high income countries, children under 15 years of age are exposed to workplace hazards when they visit or live on worksites or participate in formal or informal work. This study describes the causes and circumstances of unintentional child work-related fatal injuries (child WRFI) in New Zealand. Potential cases were identified from the Mortality Collection using International Classification of Disease external cause codes: these were matched to Coronial records and reviewed for work-relatedness. Data were abstracted on the socio-demographic, employment and injury-related circumstances. Of the 1335 unintentional injury deaths in children from 1999 through 2014, 206 (15%) were identified as dying from a work-related injury: 9 workers and 197 bystanders—the majority involving vehicle crashes or being stuck by moving objects in incidents occurring on farms or public roads. Those at highest risk were males, preschoolers, and those of Māori or European ethnicity. Work made a notable contribution to the burden of unintentional fatal injury in children with most deaths highly preventable, largely by adult intervention and legislation. To address the determinants of child WRFI greater attention on rural farm and transport settings would result in a significant reduction in the injury mortality rates of New Zealand children. Full article

In keeping with the growth in the development of healthy environments in organizational contexts, in recent years, there has also been increasing interest in the identification of personal psychological resources that contribute to improved worker mental health. From this proactive approach, this study examines the mediating role of flourishing in the relationship between psychological capital (PsyCap) and burnout in teachers, a professional group that is particularly prone to suffering from this syndrome. A total of 1379 teachers from pre-school, primary, secondary, and vocational education systems participated in the study. The mediating effect of flourishing was determined via mediation analysis using the PROCESS macro. The results showed that flourishing partially mediates the negative effect of PsyCap on the three symptoms of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of professional accomplishment). These findings indicate that both PsyCap and flourishing may be effective personal resources in reducing teacher burnout. Therefore, in order to prevent burnout, it is advisable to design interventions that combine PsyCap and flourishing. Full article

Children’s eating habits are closely related to their health problems and the outlook for children’s nutritional statuses appears poor. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among parents of preschool children from December 2018 to January 2019. Sixteen representative kindergartens in 6 districts of Chongqing, China, were included in the study. We took 2200 samples and collected information by questionnaire and after screening, 1781 questionnaires were valid and finally included in the data analysis (n = 1781). Ordinal logistic regression analysis found that age, fathers’ education level, forced diet and perception of children’s body shape were factors associated with children’s eating behaviors (ordered logistic regression/three-level eating behavior; odds ratios p < 0.05). 80.24% of preschool children may have unhealthy eating behavior in this survey and 80.35% of parents had forced their children to eat. Eating behaviors of preschool children in Chongqing are closely related to family factors. This study provides important insight for parents and health care workers in China to improve preschool-aged children’s nutritional behaviors. Intervention programs should focus on parents with low income, low education levels, coercive dietary behaviors and deviated body shape perceptions to reduce children’s eating behavioral problems. Full article