The Physiological Impact of Window Murals on Pediatric Patients.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the magnitude of impact of two nature-themed window murals on physiological processes, as measured by heart rate and blood pressure, of pediatric patients. BACKGROUND: Many children and adolescents find at least one aspect of the hospitalization process frightening or anxiety provoking. One physical feature linked to stress reduction is access to positive distractions. Views of nature are one of the most common forms of positive distractions in healthcare environments. Patient room windows are the most common way patients are exposed to natural elements. Exposure to views of nature is linked to a number of positive impacts on physiological outcomes. Unfortunately, not every patient room will be able to provide a nature-filled window view. In situations where nature scenes do not occur, enhanced nature views may be utilized to replicate many of the same benefits as actual nature views. METHODS: Pediatric patients were randomly assigned to one of the three room conditions: aquatic window mural, tree window mural, or control condition. The medical data of participants ( n = 90) who stayed in the rooms were gathered and evaluated for differences. RESULTS: Data analysis supports the notion that patient stress is heightened at the time of admission. Patients in the rooms with murals were found to have improvements in heart rate and systolic blood pressure in comparison to patients in control rooms, suggesting that the murals had an impact on physiological processes. Data also suggest that subject matter played a role, as patients in tree murals rooms had the most health-related outcomes.

Evaluating the Ability of the PBS Children's Show Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood to Teach Skills to Two Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood is a children's television show incorporating many elements of video modeling, an intervention that can teach skills to children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study evaluated the impact of watching Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood episodes on the accurate performance of trying new foods and stopping play politely with two five-year-old children with ASD. Both children showed improved performance of skills only following exposure to episodes of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, suggesting that watching episodes can help children with ASD learn specific skills.

Qualitative Evaluation of the Jump2Health™ Website for Parents of Preschool Children Shows Behavior Changes.

Few interventions have been shown to be successful in reducing child obesity, due in part to the challenges in reaching parents. Web-based nutrition intervention is becoming more feasible due to technology advancements and accessibility across income groups. However, studies on the effectiveness and acceptability of web-based interventions to teach parents about healthy behaviors are needed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Jump2Health™ Website intervention using qualitative interview methodology. A follow-up phone interview was conducted with 13 participants, approximately 1-to 2-month-postintervention. Participants reported making desired behavior changes in targeted areas and also considered the Website an effective learning method.

Contextual determinants of mothers' interventions in young children's peer interactions.

In this study, the role of context in mothers' interventions in their preschool children's peer relationship problems was investigated. Event theme (aggression, peer rebuff, or initiating play), the child's role in the event (actor or target), the child's age and sex, and the mother's emotional reaction were examined as predictors of the extent to which mothers (N = 71) said they would discuss peer relationships, encourage peer interaction, and use power assertion in response to a series of videotaped vignettes depicting common peer relationship problems. Mothers suggested using more discussion in aggressive situations and more encouragement in initiating play situations. Mothers said they would use more power assertion when the child was the actor (i.e., provocateur), rather than the target, in an aggressive situation. Findings are discussed in terms of (a) the importance of considering context in understanding how mothers intervene in their children's peer relationships and (b) the need to examine moderators of cross-contextual consistency in mothers' interventions.

Cumulative Risk and Continuity in Nonparental Care from Infancy to Early Adolescence.

Variations in amounts of nonparental care across infancy, preschool, early elementary school, and early adolescence were examined in a longitudinal sample (N = 438). Of interest was (a) continuity in use of the different arrangements, (b) whether the arrangements were additively and cumulatively associated with children's externalizing behavior problems, and (c) whether predictive relations were accounted for by social-ecological (socioeconomic status, mothers' employment status, marital status) and social-experiential (parenting quality, exposure to aggressive peers) factors. Correlations among overall amounts of care provided little evidence of cross-time continuity. Consistent with the cumulative risk perspective, Grade 1 self-care and Grade 6 unsupervised peer contact incrementally predicted Grade 6 externalizing problems. Most of the predictive associations were accounted for by family background and social relationship factors.