Cyberbullying prevention: Insight and recommendations from youths, parents, and paediatricians.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to identify injunctive norms for cyberbullying prevention among youths, parents, and primary care providers, as well as barriers to preventive behaviours. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews on the topic of cyberbullying were conducted with 29 adolescents, 13 paediatricians, and 15 parents recruited from 3 primary care sites. Transcripts were coded for themes related to various stakeholders' perceived roles in cyberbullying prevention and barriers to preventive behaviours. RESULTS: Participants reported perceptions that youths should intervene in the moment and get outside help for others. Fear of repercussions emerged as a significant barrier to these behaviours. Participants believed that parents should communicate with their children and monitor and supervise youths' online activities. Barriers included perception of priority and low parental efficacy or naiveté. Participants believed that providers should provide education and resources and ask screening questions; the most frequently identified barrier to those behaviours was the perception of providers' role. CONCLUSIONS: Youths and providers may not be aware of their potential to prevent cyberbullying before it occurs. Educating youths, parents, and providers about cyberbullying prevention is warranted.

Prevention of excess weight gain in paediatric primary care: beverages only or multiple lifestyle factors. The Smart Step Study, a cluster-randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Insufficient evidence exists to support obesity prevention in paediatric primary care. OBJECTIVES: To test a theory-based behaviour modification intervention delivered by trained paediatric primary care providers for obesity prevention. METHODS: Efficacy trial with cluster randomization (practice level) and a 12-session 12-month sweetened beverages decrease intervention or a comprehensive dietary and physical activity intervention, compared with a control intervention among children ages 8-12 years. RESULTS: A low recruitment rate was observed. The increase in body mass index z-score (BMIz) for the 139 subjects (11 practices) randomized to any of the two obesity interventions (combined group) was less than that of the 33 subjects (five practices) randomized to the control intervention (-0.089, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.170 to -0.008, P = 0.03) with a -1.44 kg weight difference (95% CI: -2.98 to +0.10 kg, P = 0.095). The incidences of obesity and excess weight gain were lower in the obesity interventions, but the number of subjects was small. Post hoc analyses comparing the beverage only to the control intervention also showed an intervention benefit on BMIz (-0.083, 95% CI: -0.165 to -0.001, P = 0.048). CONCLUSIONS: For participating families, an obesity prevention intervention delivered by paediatric primary care clinicians, who are compensated, trained and continuously supported by behavioural specialists, can impact children's BMIz.

Assessing ADHD across settings: contributions of behavioral assessment to categorical decision making.

Adapted methods of behavioral assessment to assess home and school functioning in a way that maps directly to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., [DSM-IV]; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). The study was conducted in a school-based sample with 5- to 12-year-old children referred to a school intervention team. A multigate set of procedures was used to assign children to one of 3 groups: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), inattentive group; ADHD, combined group; and a non-ADHD control group. The ADHD Rating Scale-IV was used to assess parent and teacher ratings of ADHD symptoms as delineated in DSM-IV. The findings suggest that the use of a fixed cutoff point (i.e., 6 or more symptoms), which is employed in the DSM-IV, is often not the best strategy for making diagnostic decisions. The optimal approach depends on whether diagnostic information is being provided by the parent or teacher and whether the purpose of assessment is to conduct a screening or a diagnostic evaluation. Also, the results indicate that a strategy that aggregates symptoms in the order in which they are accurate in predicting a diagnosis of ADHD is a more effective strategy than the approach used in DSM-IV, which aggregates any combination of a specific number of items. Implications for using methods of behavioral assessment to make diagnostic decisions using DSM-IV criteria are discussed.

The role of parental involvement in youth sport participation and performance.

This research examined the association of parental involvement, both parental support and parental pressure, with enjoyment, performance, self-esteem, and other characteristics of young tournament tennis players. Male and female players (median age = 13 years) attending a regional tennis academy provided information about the role their parents play in their tennis game, their own view of their game, their self-esteem, and their state, regional, and national rankings. This information was used to examine the association of parental support and parental pressure with players' enjoyment of tennis, their performance, and their self-esteem. It was found that parental support was significantly associated with enjoyment, with an objective measure of performance (but not players' self-reported level of performance), and with the importance players' ascribed to their tennis game. Players who reported a high level of parental support tended to report greater enjoyment of tennis, view tennis as a more important part of their lives, and fall lower in state rankings than players who reported a lower level of parental support. In addition, parental support appeared to mediate relations among several player characteristics. The data provided no evidence that parental pressure is an important influence on participation and performance of young tournament tennis players.