Predictors of Social Relationships for Children with Special Health Care Needs.

Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) experience various developmental challenges including difficulties in social relationships with peers. Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs 2009-2010, this correlational study examined predictors of difficulty making and keeping friends among CSHCN. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the data. Findings indicate statistical significance for 12 out of 14 predictor variables. Key findings indicate the odds of having difficulty making and keeping friends are 3.06 times higher for children with an autism spectrum diagnosis and 2.87 times higher for children with some behavior problem when compared to other CSHCN. Overall, the logistic regression model classified 80.7% of the cases correctly. A secondary analysis also identified factors which significantly differentiate between CSHCN who have a lot of difficulty compared to a little difficulty making and keeping friends. For this analysis, eight variables were statistically significant.

Differences between African-American and Caucasian students on enrollment influences and barriers in kinesiology-based allied health education programs.

Kinesiology departments have recently started to offer allied health education programs to attract additional students to teacher education units (9). Although allied health professions offer increased work opportunities, insufficient enrollment and training of minority students in these academic fields contribute to underrepresentation in the workforce (3). To improve workforce diversity, kinesiology departments must understand how enrollment influences and barriers differ by race among prospective students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify differences in allied health education enrollment influences and enrollment barriers between minority and Caucasian students. Participants (n = 601) consisted of students enrolled in kinesiology-based allied health education programs. Multivariate ANOVA was used to compare group differences in enrollment decision making. "Personal influence," "career opportunity," and "physical self-efficacy" were all significantly stronger enrollment influences among African-American students than among Caucasian students, and "social influence," "experiential opportunity," "academic preparation," and "physical self-efficacy" were all perceived as significantly greater barriers compared with Caucasian students. Findings support the need to recruit African-American students through sport and physical education settings and to market program-based experiential opportunities.

Post-traumatic stress disorder amongst children aged 8-18 affected by the 2011 northern-Namibia floods.

Extreme flooding in the northern parts of Namibia occurred in 2011, impacting many school-going children in the region. The rationale for the current research is to assess post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on school children as a result of the floods. A self-administered Child Trauma Screening Questionnaire (CTSQ) with closed-ended questions was administered to 480 children between the ages of eight and 18 years at their respective schools. The CTSQ consists of five items assessing re-experiencing and five items assessing hyper-arousal symptoms. The results show that 55.2% of learners aged 12 and below and 72.8% of learners aged 13 and above reported experiencing symptoms of trauma from the floods 2 years after the event. These percentages were quite high and are therefore a cause for concern. Given the magnitude of this problem, it is important for the government and other stakeholders to provide the necessary psychological and/or emotional support in the event of future floods or similar disasters.