A Qualitative Study on Parental Experience of Involvement in the Transition from Kindergarten to Primary School for Chinese Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Parental involvement plays a vital role in the transition from kindergarten to primary school among children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs); this study aims to explore Chinese parents' experiences of parental involvement during this period. Informed by interpretive phenomenological analysis, semi-structured, one-on-one interviews were held with 10 parents. Three major themes were identified: (1) "aggressive" involvement; (2) factors in transforming parental involvement; and (3) "rational" involvement. Participants reported their perceptions, attitudes, and parenting behaviors in different phases of involvement in the transition to primary school. These findings highlight the need to support parents of children with IDDs during this time of change.

The relationship between parental involvement and psychological adjustment among Chinese children with autism spectrum disorder in the transition from kindergarten to primary school: A chain-mediating model.

Introduction: This study examined the impact of parental involvement on the psychological adjustment of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and the role of parenting self-efficacy and parenting stress in the transition from kindergarten to primary school. Methods: Using the questionnaires, we collected data from 237 Chinese parents of children with ASD. Results: Mediation analyses showed that parental involvement partially promoted the psychological adjustment of children with ASD, which was reflected in the fact that parental involvement promoted children's prosocial behavior but did not reduce their emotional/behavioral problems. Mediation analyses also revealed the role of the mediator in parenting stress between parental involvement and the psychological adjustment of children. Additionally, the results suggested that parenting self-efficacy and parenting stress played a chain-mediating role in the association between parental involvement and psychological adjustment in children with ASD. Discussion: These findings enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relationship between parental involvement and psychological adjustment in children with ASD in the transition from kindergarten to primary school.

Family Socioeconomic Status and Parental Involvement in Chinese Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Moderated Mediation Model.

Parental involvement benefits children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in multiple developmental areas. We conducted the present study to examine the role of parenting stress and ASD symptom severity in the relationship between family socioeconomic status (SES) and parental involvement. A total of 165 Chinese parents of children with ASD participated in this study. Mediation analyses indicated that family SES was positively related to parental involvement; parenting stress partially mediated the relationship between family SES and parental involvement. The analyses also found that ASD symptom severity moderated the influence of parenting stress on parental involvement. Specifically, the decreased parenting stress improved parental involvement when ASD symptom severity was low. The findings enhanced our understanding of the mechanism underlying the relationship between family SES and parental involvement among parents facing considerable child-rearing challenges. Implications for devising evidenced-based interventions to promote parental involvement for low SES children with ASD are discussed.

The development and validation of a questionnaire on parental involvement in the transition from kindergarten to primary school for children with developmental disabilities in China.

BACKGROUND: At present, there is a lack of valid and reliable instruments that can measure parental involvement in the transition from kindergarten to primary school of children with developmental disabilities (DD) in China. AIM: This study seeks to develop and validate the questionnaire on Parental Involvement in Transition from Kindergarten to Primary School (PITKPS) for children with DD in China. METHODS: A total of 241 parents of children with DD participated in Study 1, and another 247 parents participated in Study 2. In study 1, we used item analysis and exploratory factor analysis to screen items and explore the factor structure of the PITKPS questionnaire. In study 2, three types of validity were examined: construct validity; convergent and discriminative validity; and criterion-related validity. Internal consistency was used to measure reliability. RESULTS: The final version of the PITKPS questionnaire comprised 37 items that examined six factors. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the use of the six-factor model, and the results indicated that the questionnaire had good reliability and validity. CONCLUSIONS: The PITKPS questionnaire can be used as a valid tool to assess the involvement of Chinese parents in the transition from kindergarten to primary school of children with DD.

Direct, Indirect, and Buffering Effect of Social Support on Parental Involvement Among Chinese Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Parental involvement plays a pivotal role in promoting developmental and educational outcomes for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study aimed to examine the relationships between social support, parenting stress, and parental involvement by investigating a sample of 245 Chinese parents of children with ASD. Mediation analyses indicated that the relationships between support from family and friends and parental involvement were partially mediated by parenting stress, and support from significant others was directly, positively related to parental involvement. Additionally, support from family and friends moderated the influence of parenting stress on parental involvement in their children's education. The direct, indirect, and buffering effects of social support on parental involvement were discussed finally.

Left temporal pole contributes to creative thinking via an individual semantic network.

The neural substrates that contribute to creative thinking through the recruitment of semantic memory structures remain largely unknown. This study sought to investigate the properties of semantic networks using a semantic judgment rating task at the individual level and explore the relationship among creative abilities, the topological properties of semantic networks, and their underlying brain structures. We first used a semantic judgment rating to assess individual semantic networks and computed their topological properties. The analysis confirmed a significant correlation between the creative thinking abilities assessed by an alternate uses task and all three topological properties. In addition, voxel-based morphometry was employed to assess the neural correlates of gray matter volume (GMV) related to different topological properties of the semantic network. Results revealed a positive correlation between global efficiency and the left temporal pole cortex, considered to be involved in semantic information transmission and processing. Furthermore, mediation analysis found that the global efficiency of the individual semantic network mediated the association between the left temporal pole GMV and creative thinking, showing that the relationship between left temporal pole GMV and creative thinking may be affected by the semantic networks. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to combine a behavioral investigation of semantic networks with magnetic resonance imaging to shed light on the cerebral structural basis of semantic memory networks, in addition to their relationship to creativity.

Semantic association ability mediates the relationship between brain structure and human creativity.

Creativity involves the ability to associate relatively weak or distant semantic components and combine them into novel and useful objects. Few studies have explored the brain mechanisms underlying semantic associative ability and its relationship with creativity based on semantic distance. In this study, the chain free association (CFA) task was performed, and semantic distance was quantified to measure individuals' semantic association ability, while the alternative use test (AUT) and creative activity (CAct) tasks were performed to measure creative ability. The behavioral results revealed a significant positive correlation between semantic distance and creativity. The voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis found the neural structural basis of semantic distance. Indeed, semantic distance was positively correlated with the gray matter volume (GMV) of the left posterior inferior temporal gyrus (LpITG), which is associated with visual word learning, semantic knowledge retrieval, and semantic memory, in addition to divergent thinking and creative traits. A mediation analysis showed semantic distance mediate the relationship between the regional GMV of LpITG and human creativity. Effectively, highly creative individuals with high regional GMV in LpITG were observed to have higher capacity of spontaneous association process. These findings shed light on the dedication of the brain areas related to remote semantic connectivity to creative thinking via individuals' spontaneous semantic association ability.