Insights into Rett Syndrome girls' receptive vocabulary through eye movements and parental perception.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the receptive vocabulary of girls diagnosed with Rett Syndrome (RS) by employing eye-tracking technology and examined how these objective measures compared with parents' perceptions of their daughters' language abilities. METHOD: Fourteen girls with RS and eleven typically developing peers participated. Instruments included the Kerr Scale, a parental questionnaire on communication skills, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - PPVT-4, and eye-tracking equipment. The PPVT-4's initial 12 cards, each displaying four images, were presented on screen for 5 s for the child's initial inspection. Subsequently, the same card was shown for 5 s with instructions to identify the picture matching the word, repeated three times in a randomized order. RESULTS: Eye-tracking assessments revealed that girls with RS with less severe symptoms, performed below typically developing peers with aged 3-4 years. The number of eye fixations emerged as a reliable metric for assessing their performance. A positive correlation was found between parental reports of their daughters' vocabulary knowledge and their ability to identify the correct stimulus, suggesting comprehension and active engagement in the testing process. CONCLUSION: This study presents a pioneering approach by combining parental perceptions with eye-tracking measures to assess receptive vocabulary in girls diagnosed with Rett Syndrome. Despite showing lower performance levels compared to significantly younger peers, the findings suggest that these individuals use less effectively eye contact as a mode of communication.

Evidences of reliability and validity of the sensory assessment instrument Sensory Profile: a preliminary study / Evidências de confiabilidade e validade do instrumento de avaliação sensorial Sensory Profile: um estudo preliminar / Evidencias de confiabilidad y validez de la herramienta de evaluación Sensory Profile: un estudio preliminar

Considering the importance and need for studies that analyze the psychometric properties of assessment tools, this study investigated the psychometric parameters of reliability and validity of the Sensory Profile. The sample was composed of 336 children from the São Paulo metropolitan area, Brazil, aged from 5 to 10, from both genders, 298 of which did not have neurodevelopmental disorders and 38 of which had Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The tool showed satisfactory internal consistency with alpha values above 0.60 in most categories and factors. The mean scores of the sample of Brazilian children without neurodevelopmental disorders differed from the American normative sample. Children with ASD had lower sensory processing performance than children without neurodevelopmental disorders. The results showed that the Sensory Profile as translated and culturally adapted to Brazilian Portuguese pointed to the presence of sensory impairments in children with ASD investigated in this research.

Considerando-se a necessidade e importância de trabalhos que analisem propriedades psicométricas de instrumentos de avaliação, o presente estudo investigou parâmetros psicométricos de confiabilidade e validade do Sensory Profile. A amostra foi composta de 336 crianças da região metropolitana de São Paulo, Brasil, de 5 a 10 anos de idade, de ambos os sexos, sendo 298 sem transtornos do neurodesenvolvimento e 38 com Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA). O instrumento apresentou consistência interna satisfatória com valores de alfa acima de 0,60 na maioria das categorias e dos fatores. A média dos escores da amostra de crianças brasileiras sem transtornos do neurodesenvolvimento diferiu da amostra normativa norte-americana. As crianças com TEA apresentaram desempenho do processamento sensorial inferior ao das crianças sem transtornos do neurodesenvolvimento. Os resultados mostraram que o Sensory Profile traduzido e adaptado culturalmente para o português do Brasil apontou para a presença de prejuízos sensoriais nas crianças com TEA investigadas nesta pesquisa.

Teniendo en cuenta la necesidad e importancia de trabajos que analicen propiedades psicométricas de herramientas de evaluación, en este estudio se han investigado los parámetros psicométricos de confiabilidad y validez del Sensory Profile. La muestra estuvo compuesta de 336 niños de la región metropolitana de São Paulo, Brasil, de 05 a 10 años, ambos sexos, 298 sin trastornos del neurodesarrollo y 38 con Trastorno del Espectro Autista (TEA). La herramienta demostró consistencia interna satisfactoria con valores de alfa superiores a 0,60 en la mayoría de las categorías y factores. La media de puntajes de la muestra de niños brasileños sin trastornos del neurodesarrollo se diferenció de la muestra normativa americana. Los niños con TEA lograron desempeño del procesamiento sensorial inferior al de los niños sin trastornos del neurodesarrollo. Los resultados mostraron que el Sensory Profile traducido y adaptado culturalmente para el portugués de Brasil señaló la presencia de daños sensoriales en los niños con TEA de esta investigación.

Saúde mental e violência entre estudantes da sexta série de um município paulista / Mental health and violence among sixth grade students from a city in the state of São Paulo

OBJETIVO: Analisar fatores de proteção e de risco para problemas de saúde mental entre adolescentes. MÉTODOS: Estudo transversal realizado com amostra aleatória (N=327; perda=6,9 por cento) de estudantes da sexta série de todas as escolas públicas e privadas de Barretos, SP, em 2004. Os fatores examinados foram: exposição à violência doméstica e urbana, nível socioeconômico familiar, sexo, morar sem a mãe, participar de atividades sociais (fator de proteção). As associações entre esses fatores e problemas de saúde mental foram analisadas por meio de modelos de regressão logística. Todos os fatores de risco e proteção independentes foram incluídos no modelo inicial de regressão logística, permanecendo no modelo final apenas a variável com nível de significância inferior a 0,05. RESULTADOS: Verificou-se que apenas exposição à violência permaneceu no modelo final como fator associado a problemas de saúde mental (p=0,02; IC 95 por cento: 1,12;4,22). Crianças expostas à violência doméstica tinham três vezes mais chances de apresentarem estes problemas do que aquelas expostas à violência urbana (p=0,04; IC 95 por cento: 1,03;7,55). CONCLUSÕES: A violência doméstica associou-se a problemas de saúde mental nos adolescentes do estudo, podendo ser mais importante que a violência urbana em cidades de médio porte.

[Mental health and violence among sixth grade students from a city in the state of São Paulo]. / Saúde mental e violência entre estudantes da sexta série de um município paulista.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze risk and protective factors for mental health problems among adolescents. METHODS: Cross-sectional study with a random sample (N=327; attrition rate=6.9%) of sixth grade students from all public and private schools in the city of Barretos, Southeastern Brazil, conducted in 2004. The factors studied were: exposure to intrafamilial and urban violence, family socioeconomic level, sex, motherless household, participation in social activities (protective factor). All the independent risk and protective factors were included in the initial logistic regression model. Only the variable with a significance level of p<0.05 remained in the model. RESULTS: It was observed that exposure to violence was the only factor associated with mental health problems in the final logistic regression model (p=0.02, 95% CI: 1.12;4.22). In addition, adolescents exposed to intrafamilial violence were three times more likely to have problems than those exposed to urban violence (p=0.04; 95% CI: 1.03;7.55). CONCLUSIONS: Intrafamilial violence was associated with mental heath problems among adolescents studied and it could be more important than urban violence in medium-sized cities.