ABSTRACT
Parental involvement in their children's education, including activities undertaken by parents at home and through strong links with their children's schools, contributes to children's academic attainment. This study examined whether it was feasible for school-based staff to deliver the Incredible Years® School Readiness parent programme (IY-SR) in schools, its acceptability to parents and teachers, its impact on home-school relationships, and preliminary programme impact. Thirty-two parents with a child in a nursery or reception class were recruited from eight schools. Group leaders and parents gave positive feedback about the programme and parental attendance on the programme was high. There were also significant increases in parents' use of praise and children's positive responses. This is the first study to demonstrate the feasibility of engaging schools to deliver the IY-SR programme as a means of promoting home-school relationships and providing parents with the skills to coach their children's school readiness skills
La implicación de las figuras parentales en la educación de sus hijos e hijas, incluyendo las actividades llevadas a cabo en el hogar, y una buena relación familia-escuela, contribuye al rendimiento académico de los niños y las niñas. Este estudio evalúa la viabilidad de la implementación del programa Incredible Years® School Readiness (IY-SR), su aceptación por parte de las familias y de los maestros y las maestras, su impacto en la relación familia-escuela y los resultados preliminares de su efectividad. Treinta y dos figuras parentales con hijos e hijas en guardería o en escuela infantil fueron captadas en ocho centros. Los dinamizadores y las figuras parentales mostraron una respuesta positiva hacia el programa y la asistencia de las familias a este fue alta. Además, se incrementó el uso de elogios por parte de las figuras parentales y las respuestas positivas de sus hijos e hijas. Este es el primer estudio que demuestra la viabilidad de involucrar a los centros educativos en la implementación del programa IY-SR como medio para promover la relación familia-escuela y capacitar a las figuras parentales para fomentar las competencias de sus hijos e hijas en su preparación para la escuela
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Child, Preschool , Child , Adolescent , Adult , Parents/psychology , Feasibility Studies , Aptitude , Surveys and Questionnaires , Father-Child Relations , School Teachers/psychology , Biofeedback, PsychologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Active lifelong cognitive lifestyles increase cognitive reserve and have beneficial effects on global cognition, cognitive decline and dementia risk in Parkinson's disease (PD). Executive function is particularly impaired even in early PD, and this impacts on quality of life. The effects of lifelong cognitive lifestyle on executive function in PD have not been studied previously. This study examined the association between lifelong cognitive lifestyle, as a proxy measure of cognitive reserve, and executive function in people with PD. METHODS: Sixty-nine people diagnosed with early PD without dementia were recruited as part of the Bilingualism as a protective factor in Age-related Neurodegenerative Conditions study. Participants completed a battery of tests of executive function. The Lifetime of Experiences Questionnaire was completed as a comprehensive assessment of lifelong cognitive lifestyle. Non-parametric correlations compared clinical measures with executive function scores. Cross-sectional analyses of covariance were performed comparing the performance of low and high cognitive reserve groups on executive function tests. RESULTS: Correlational analyses showed that better executive function scores were associated with younger age, higher levodopa dose and higher Lifetime of Experiences Questionnaire scores. Higher cognitive reserve was associated with better motor function, but high and low cognitive reserve groups did not differ in executive function. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive reserve, although associated with global cognition, does not appear to be associated with executive function. This differential effect may reflect the specific cognitive profile of PD. The long-term effects of cognitive reserve on executive function in PD require further exploration. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Subject(s)
Cognition/physiology , Executive Function/physiology , Life Style , Parkinson Disease/physiopathology , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Analysis of Variance , Cognition Disorders/psychology , Cognitive Reserve/physiology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Neuropsychological Tests , Quality of Life , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
The observation of a bilingual advantage in executive control tasks involving inhibition and management of response conflict suggests that being bilingual might contribute to increased cognitive reserve. In support of this, recent evidence indicates that bilinguals develop Alzheimer's disease (AD) later than monolinguals, and may retain an advantage in performance on executive control tasks. We compared age at the time of receiving an AD diagnosis in bilingual Welsh/English speakers (n = 37) and monolingual English speakers (n = 49), and assessed the performance of bilinguals (n = 24) and monolinguals (n = 49) on a range of executive control tasks. There was a non-significant difference in age at the time of diagnosis, with bilinguals being on average 3 years older than monolinguals, but bilinguals were also significantly more cognitively impaired at the time of diagnosis. There were no significant differences between monolinguals and bilinguals in performance on executive function tests, but bilinguals appeared to show relative strengths in the domain of inhibition and response conflict. Bilingual Welsh/English speakers with AD do not show a clear advantage in executive function over monolingual English speakers, but may retain some benefits in inhibition and management of response conflict. There may be a delay in onset of AD in Welsh/English bilinguals, but if so, it is smaller than that found in some other clinical populations. In this Welsh sample, bilinguals with AD came to the attention of services later than monolinguals, and reasons for this pattern could be explored further.
Subject(s)
Aging , Alzheimer Disease , Cognition Disorders/etiology , Executive Function/physiology , Multilingualism , Age of Onset , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Alzheimer Disease/complications , Alzheimer Disease/epidemiology , Alzheimer Disease/psychology , Cognition Disorders/diagnosis , Cohort Studies , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Language Tests , Male , Mental Status Schedule , Middle Aged , Neuropsychological Tests , Statistics, Nonparametric , Wales/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Objective. Bilingualism has been shown to benefit executive function (EF) and delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease. This study aims at examining whether a bilingual advantage applies to EF in Parkinson's disease (PD). Method. In a cross-sectional outpatient cohort of monolingual English (n = 57) and bilingual Welsh/English (n = 46) speakers with PD we evaluated the effects of bilingualism compared with monolingualism on performance on EF tasks. In bilinguals we also assessed the effects of the degree of daily usage of each language and the degree of bilingualism. Results. Monolinguals showed an advantage in performance of language tests. There were no differences in performance of EF tests in monolinguals and bilinguals. Those who used Welsh less in daily life had better performance on one test of English vocabulary. The degree of bilingualism correlated with one test of nonverbal reasoning and one of working memory but with no other tests of EF. Discussion. The reasons why the expected benefit in EF in Welsh-English bilinguals with PD was not found require further study. Future studies in PD should include other language pairs, analysis of the effects of the degree of bilingualism, and longitudinal analysis of cognitive decline or dementia together with structural or functional neuroimaging.
