Association between child sexual abuse and mid-life employment earnings.

Importance: Individuals who have been sexually abused are at a greater risk for poor health, but associations with economic outcomes in mid-life have been overlooked. Objectives: We investigated associations between child sexual abuse (≤18 years) and economic outcomes at 33-37 years, while considering type of report (official/retrospective) and characteristics of abuse (type, severity, and chronicity). Design: This cohort study used data collected for the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children. Setting: The Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children is a population-based sample. Participants: Participants were 3,020 boys and girls attending kindergarten in the Canadian Province of Quebec in 1986/88 and followed up until 2017. Main outcome/Measures: Child sexual abuse (0-18 years old) was assessed using both retrospective self-report questionnaires and objective reports (notification to Child Protection Services). Information on employment earnings was obtained from government tax return records. Tobit regressions were used to test associations of sexual abuse with earnings adjusting for sex and family socioeconomic background. Results: Of the 3,020 participants 1,320 [43.7%] self-reported no sexual abuse, 1,340 [44.3%] had no official report but were missing on the retrospective questionnaire, 340 [11.3%] reported retrospective sexual abuse, and 20 [0.7%] had official report. In the fully adjusted model, individuals who retrospectively reported being sexually abused earned US$4,031 (CI=-7,134 to -931) less per year at age 33-37 years, while those with official reports earned US$16,042 (CI=-27,465 to -4,618) less, compared to participants who were not abused. Among individuals with retrospectively reported abuse, those who experienced intra-familial abuse earned US$4,696 (CI=-9,316 to -75) less than individuals who experienced extra-familial abuse, while participants who experienced penetration earned US$6,188 (CI=-12,248 to -129) less than those who experienced non-contact abuse. Conclusion and Relevance: Child sexual abuse puts individuals at risk for lasting reductions in employment earnings in adulthood. Early identification and support for sexual abuse victims could help reduce the economic gap and improve long-term outcomes.

Knowledge, Attitudes, Psychosocial Perspectives and Applied Epidemiology in the Control of Head Lice (pediculosis capitis) in Croatian Preschool Children: A Qualitative Study on Childcare Professionals and Health Coordinators

This study aimed to concurrently determine the perceived knowledge, attitudes and perspectives of childcare professionals working in kindergartens towards pediculosis capitis, a common ectoparasitic disease also known as head lice, as well as gain insights into procedures and control measures that are implemented in an outbreak setting. We used a qualitative approach with a problem-centered, semi-structured and three-part interview technique conducted in selected kindergartens of Varaždin and Međimurje counties of the Republic of Croatia. Based on a purposive (deliberate) sampling method, the study included both childcare professionals and on-site health coordinators aged between 21 and 56 years of age. Five main themes were put forth as a result of the conducted thematic analysis: prevention and control measures for managing head lice, information and knowledge, social issues, psychological issues and disease perception. Each of these themes also had specific emerging categories based on participants’ responses. Even though all respondents confirmed that the disease is continuously monitored only a few of them mentioned that a scalp examination was an inherent part of disease surveillance within the kindergarten community. Moreover, we found that information on pediculosis capitis is available to both parents and childcare professionals, but with a questionable uptake. Additionally, the majority of the respondents reported that parents tend to hide the infestation in their children due to shame and/or to avoid social stigma, and thus often fail to inform kindergarten teachers and health coordinators about the problem. In conclusion, our findings have implications for further practice and the introduction of tailored public health measures for the most vulnerable populations, most notably kindergarten children.

Frühe Mehrsprachigkeit in Slowenien

In many documents, the European Union has set the promotion and development of multilingualism as a goal and commitment. Although many foreign and domestic studies demonstrate the benefits of early foreign language learning/second language acquisition, and thus the development of early multilingualism, the decision to involve pre-school children in various forms of language learning is solely in the hands of parents. Parents who enrol their children in foreign language activities can choose between different private providers – language schools – as there is no foreign language kindergarten in the compulsory programme. Some kindergartens offer language classes, mostly English, given by external providers, but there is a fee for this offer. Since there is no systematically regulated foreign language teaching in preschool in Slovenia, we were interested in the attitudes of parents whose children go to kindergarten towards early foreign language learning and early multilingualism. The results of the research, which included parents of kindergarten children from all statistical regions of Slovenia, show that multilingualism has positive connotations and that parents perceive multilingualism as an added value that should be developed from childhood, as it allows children to learn about other cultures and other languages during a period that is extremely favourable for learning a foreign language, and does not represent any additional effort. At the same time, the results also clearly show that a large proportion of parents understand multilingualism to mean learning English and not necessarily other languages. However, this tells us that it will be necessary to invest quite a bit of effort in informing parents and the public about the real benefits of speaking more languages.

The Effectiveness of a Digital Storytelling-based Program on the Development of Geographical Concepts among Kindergarten Children

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a digital storytelling-based program on the development of geographical concepts among kindergarten children. Eighty-eight kindergarten children were recruited from two public kindergarten schools in Al Fayoum city, during the academic year 2020-2021. A semi-experimental, prepost- test, two groups (experimental and control) design was employed. The data were analysed using t-test to explore the effectiveness of a digital storytelling-based program on the development of geographical concepts among kindergarten children. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the children of the experimental and control groups using the Pictured Geographical Concepts Scale (sub-scales and composite score) in the post-test, after applying the digital storytelling-based program, which is in favour of the experimental group.

Social-Emotional Development - Highlights in the Romanian Curriculum for Early Education

Social-emotional development represents a main developmental domain proposed by the current curriculum for early education in Romania. The main aspects related to this domain are the proper initiation and maintenance of social interactions, the ability to identify and express emotions, to react adequately to the emotions expressed by others, and the self-concept development. Thus, in kindergarten, children learn what solidarity and responsibility for their own actions and for their own behavior mean and that they can control their behavior towards others. All these are essential for the individual wellbeing and learning outcomes, as well as for his future social integration. The Romanian curriculum for early education describes behavioral indicators related to the social-emotional development of children, which can be followed by educators within daily didactic activities. The current study describes the main highlights related to this developmental field found in the main document of the regulatory framework for the Romanian preschool education system. Taking the pandemic context into consideration, we can affirm that educators are required to reconsider the implications of the proper development of social-emotional skills more than before.