Perceptions of parenting: individual differences and the effect of community.

Neighborhood norms are an important determinant of beliefs and attitudes about parenting, and measuring changes in community norms is an important component of evaluating community-based programs for improving child outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a survey of community residents' perceptions of parenting could be used to measure community parenting norms and whether these perceptions differed by individual or community characteristics. Two community surveys with 870 and 914 respondents, respectively, were conducted in 3 low-income neighborhoods. Results indicated that perceptions of parenting could be measured reliably at the community level although it is important to consider the presence of multiple norms when using such measures. Furthermore, differences in perceptions of parenting associated with individual characteristics were markedly decreased when neighborhood characteristics were considered, suggesting that the association of individual characteristics with perceptions of parenting is confounded by neighborhood characteristics.

A brief observational measure for urban neighborhoods.

There is growing recognition that neighborhood context contributes to the health and well-being of residents over and above individual characteristics and health behaviors. However, few published reports exist of methods for documenting neighborhood characteristics which are easily administered with minimal outlay of resources. In this paper, we present the development of a brief observational method for urban neighborhoods relevant to the health and well-being of families and children. Data from a socieconomically diverse group of urban neighborhoods are used to create theoretically grounded measures of neighborhood context, and the utility of these measures for discriminating between and within urban neighborhoods is demonstrated.

Behavioral and physiologic effects of nonnutritive sucking during gavage feeding in preterm infants.

Behavioral and physiologic responsivity to nasogastric gavage feeding was assessed in 36 preterm infants on 2 consecutive d. On one of these days, a pacifier was provided during and after the gavage segment of the standardized protocol. The protocol was divided into segments that included baseline, preparatory handling, pregavage, gavage, and postgavage periods. Patterns of cardiac (heart period and vagal tone), oxygen saturation, behavioral state, and defensive behavioral responses to gavage were quantified. These stable preterm infants responded to handling and gavage feeding with reduction in heart period, vagal tone, and oxygen saturation. These responses were not altered by provision of a pacifier, although there was a tendency for fewer episodes of bradycardia and oxygen desaturation. Conversely, behavioral state was affected significantly by nonnutritive sucking: when provided with a pacifier, infants exhibited less behavioral distress, spent less time in fussy and active awake states during and after feeding, and returned to a sleep state significantly faster. There is converging evidence to suggest that nonnutritive sucking lessens behavioral distress to iatrogenic stressors but does not alter physiologic responsiveness.

Day-care participation as a protective factor in the cognitive development of low-income children.

The impact of day-care participation during the first 3 years of life on the cognitive functioning of school age children was examined. 867 5- and 6-year-old children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth who completed the 1986 assessment were included in the sample. The dependent measures were scores on the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT) subtests of mathematics and reading recognition. In addition to day-care participation, the impact of the pattern of day-care was examined by analyzing the effect of the number of years in day-care, the timing of initiation of day-care, and type of day-care arrangement. After controlling for confounding factors, there were significant interactions between all 3 measures of day-care patterning and family income for reading recognition performance. This association was further examined by exploring the interaction between the pattern of day-care participation and the quality of the home environment. Initiation of day-care attendance before the first birthday was associated with higher reading recognition scores for children from impoverished home environments and with lower scores for children from more optimal environments. In addition, a significant interaction between the type of day-care arrangement and the quality of the home environment emerged for mathematics performance. Center-based care in particular was associated with higher mathematics scores for impoverished children and with lower mathematics scores for children from more stimulating home environments. These findings are discussed in the context of developmental risk.

Cardiorespiratory functioning of preterm infants: stability and risk associations for measures of heart rate variability and oxygen saturation.

Cardiorespiratory measures are used with increasing frequency to assess individual differences in development in full-term and preterm infants, yet little information exists concerning the stability of these measures or their relations to each other. This study assessed three common cardiac measures (heart period, heart period variability, and vagal tone) and two measures of arterial oxygenation based on pulse oximetry (mean pulse oxygen saturation and variability) in a sample of 35 preterm infants. Data were collected on five occasions: on 3 consecutive days in the early neonatal period, at 34 weeks postconceptional age, and at discharge. Results indicate both short-term and longer term stability for all cardiac measures. Oxygen saturation demonstrated only short-term stability prior to 34 weeks. Mean heart period was positively associated with both measures of heart period variability at each assessment point, while mean oxygen saturation level was inversely related to oxygen saturation variability. In addition, significant associations between cardiorespiratory patterns and perinatal risk measures were found. It is concluded that these measures reflect stable characteristics of neuroregulatory function in preterm infants.