Association between Mastery Motivation, Executive Function, and Daily Participation of Young Children with and without Global Developmental Delays.

This study aimed to examine the group differences in participation level between children with and without global delays and to explore the associations between mastery motivation, executive function, and participation in young children with and without global developmental delays (GDD). Methods: we recruited 26 children with GDD aged 2 to 5 years and 26 children with sex- and mental age-matched developing typically (TD). The participants were assessed child development using the standardized developmental test, and their mothers were asked to fill in questionnaires, including the revised Dimension of Mastery Questionnaire (DMQ 18) with preschool version to assess mastery motivation, the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function with preschool version (BRIEF-P) to assess executive function, and the Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM) used to obtain participation levels. Results and conclusions: young children with GDD showed significantly lower participation levels at home, daycare, and community than TD group. We found that for young children, child mastery pleasure, health condition, and total persistence were significant predictors of child participation. Therefore, coaching parents to observe and facilitate their children's motivation and executive function, as well as child developmental abilities, is important in order to enhance children's participation in daily activities.

Gender Differences in Auditory and Visual Attentional Performance in Children with and without ADHD.

OBJECTIVE: Despite the relatively high prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the impairment of ADHD in women is underestimated due to the different ways the phenomenon manifests compared to traditional male symptoms. In order to close the gender gap in diagnosis and treatment, this study aims to explore the impact of gender on auditory and visual attention in children with and without ADHD. METHOD: A total of 220 children with and without ADHD participated in this study. Their auditory and visual attention performances were analyzed by comparative computerized auditory and visual subtests. RESULTS: Auditory and visual attention performance in children with and without ADHD did affect by gender, including typically developing (TD) boys are better than TD girls at distinguishing visual targets from non-target stimuli. When performing attention tasks, TD girls generally maintained a cautious response, which was different from TD boys, who generally adopted positive response methods. ADHD girls suffered from more serious auditory inattention problems than ADHD boys; however, ADHD boys suffered from more auditory and visual impulsive problems than ADHD girls. The internal attention problems of female ADHD children were broader than that of their male ADHD peers and were also more severe, especially in problems of auditory omission and auditory response acuity. CONCLUSIONS: ADHD children had a significant gap in auditory and visual attention performance compared to TD children. The research results support the impact of gender on the performance of auditory and visual attention in children with and without ADHD.

Characteristics of mastery motivation and its relationship with parenting stress in toddlers with language delay.

Mastery motivation is a multifaceted, psychological force that stimulates a child to master skills or tasks and is positively associated with language-related competences. Children with developmental delay might have lower levels of motivation, and their parents might face escalated parenting stress as well. The aims of this study were to identify the characteristics of mastery motivation in toddlers with language delay by intergroup and intragroup comparison, and to investigate the associations between specific components of parenting stress and toddler's mastery motivation. Eighty Chinese-speaking Taiwanese toddlers aged 19 to 42 months and their parents (fifty toddlers with language delay and thirty toddlers with typical development) participated in the study. The language delay group was selected based on maternal reports of vocabulary production with the Mandarin-Chinese Communicative Development Inventory and direct assessment with an individualized developmental test or intelligence test. The Revised Dimensions of Mastery Questionnaire (DMQ 18) with Preschool version, and the Parenting Stress Index Short Form were used to measure three domains of child mastery motivation and parents' components of parenting stress, respectively. Toddlers with language delay were rated as having lower gross motor and social mastery motivation than their peers with typical development; however, they showed the strength/weakness intragroup characteristics of higher gross motor motivation and lower social motivation with other children. Parental stress in the language delay group was significantly negatively correlated with mastery motivation, and the component of Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction was negatively associated with toddlers' Total Mastery Motivation, social motivation, and two indicators of expressive aspect after controlling for toddlers' age, cognitive ability, and family social-economic status. In conclusion, it is necessary for early interventionists to observe parenting stress and mastery motivation during the process of early intervention.

Sensory Processing Impairments in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder.

The two objectives of this systematic review were to examine the following: (1) the difference in sensory processing areas (auditory, visual, vestibular, touch, proprioceptive, and multi-sensory) between children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and (2) the relationship between sensory processing and motor coordination in DCD. The following databases were comprehensively searched for relevant articles: PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, and Cochrane library. There were 1107 articles (published year = 2010 to 2021) found in the initial search. Full-text articles of all possibly relevant citations were obtained and inspected for suitability by two authors. The outcome measures were sensory processing impairments and their relationship with motor coordination. A total of 10 articles met the inclusion criteria. Children with DCD showed significant impairments in visual integration, tactile integration, proprioceptive integration, auditory integration, vestibular integration, and oral integration processes when compared with typically developing children. Evidence also supported that sensory processing impairments were associated with poor motor coordination in DCD. Preliminary support indicated that DCD have sensory processing impairments in visual, tactile, proprioceptive, auditory, and vestibular areas, which might contribute to participation restriction in motor activities. It is important to apply sensory integration therapy in rehabilitation programs for DCD in order to facilitate participation in daily activities.

Child and family factors that predict participation attendance in daily activities of toddlers with global developmental delay.

PURPOSES: Enhancing children's daily participation is the optimal goal of early childhood intervention. This study aimed to identify child and family predictors of participation for toddlers with global developmental delay. METHODS: Fifty-nine toddlers with global developmental delay (aged 24-43 months) and their mothers participated in a 6-month longitudinal study. Predictors for participation were child factors [age, gender, delay severity, mastery motivation (perceived persistence and task persistence), and withdrawal behavior], and family factors (socioeconomic status, family income, maternal education, stress, and maternal teaching behavior). Dependent variables were participation diversity and intensity of four activity types measured 6-month later using the Assessment of Preschool Children's Participation (Chinese version). Correlation and hierarchical regression statistical methods were used. RESULTS: Older children with higher persistence had higher overall participation. Different factors predicted different participation dimensions and different activity types. Older age, higher perceived persistence, and being less withdrawn predicted higher diversity and intensity for play participation. For skill development participation, older age, less severity, higher mastery motivation, and better maternal teaching behaviors predicted higher diversity; and age, mastery motivation and maternal teaching predicted intensity. CONCLUSIONS: Different factors predict participation attendance differently. Supporting parents to enhance toddlers' mastery motivation may optimize children's participation in daily activities.Implications for rehabilitationBased on the child and their caregiver preferences, applicability and/or engagement for different activity types, interventionists could collaborate further with caregivers to find strategies to increase children's participation attendance in daily life.Interventionists could consult with caregivers: (a) to observe the persistence and positive affect (mastery motivation) of children during different activities, (b) to figure out the possible barriers to participation in those activities, and (c) to demonstrate appropriate caregiver-child interactions.Interventionists are encouraged to support children's mastery motivation and quality of maternal teaching behaviors to enhance participation in daily activities.

Is Mastery Motivation a Mediator of Relations between Maternal Teaching Behavior and Developmental Abilities in Children with Global Developmental Delay?

Aims: Mastery motivation refers to a child's persistent attempts to solve problems and learn skills. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine whether children's mastery motivation-mediated relationships between early maternal teaching behavior and later developmental abilities in children with global developmental delay (GDD). Methods: Fifty-six dyads of mothers and their children with GDD (aged 24-42 months) were assessed two times, at study entry and 6-months later. Maternal teaching behaviors were assessed using the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale. Children's developmental abilities and mastery motivation were measured using the Comprehensive Developmental Inventory for Infants and Toddlers and the revised Individualized Moderately Challenging Mastery Tasks, respectively. A Pearson correlation matrix was used to propose hypothetical models, and path analysis was used to examine the mediation effect. Results: Mastery motivation significantly mediated the relationship between maternal teaching behavior and children's cognitive, fine motor, and gross motor abilities 6 months later. Conclusions: Mothers' teaching predicted their children's development directly and also indirectly through the child's mastery motivation. The findings support the importance of the quality of mothers teaching behaviors and the mastery motivation of children with GDD on development.

Do maternal interactive behaviors correlate with developmental outcomes and mastery motivation in toddlers with and without motor delay?

BACKGROUND: Maternal interactive behaviors theoretically affect developmental outcomes and mastery motivation in young children. However, these associations are inconsistent in the literature. OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study were: (1) to examine the differences in maternal behaviors between toddlers with motor delay (MD) and those with typical development (TD), (2) to investigate the correlation of maternal behaviors and developmental quotients (DQs) in toddlers with MD and TD, and (3) to examine the correlation of maternal behaviors and mastery motivation in toddlers with MD and TD. DESIGN: This was a sex- and mental age-matched case-control study. METHODS: Twenty-two mother-child dyads of toddlers with MD (ages 23-47 months) and 22 dyads of sex- and mental age-matched toddlers with TD (ages 15-29 months) were recruited. Maternal scores from the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale, 2 indicators of motivation (persistence and mastery pleasure) from individualized mastery tasks and the Dimensions of Mastery Questionnaire, and DQs from the Comprehensive Developmental Inventory for Infants and Children were assessed. RESULTS: Mothers of children in the MD group showed significantly lower cognitive growth fostering scores than mothers of children in the TD group. Maternal total scores were significantly correlated with whole DQs in both groups. In the MD group, maternal total scores correlated significantly with DMQ mastery pleasure but not with mastery task motivation. LIMITATIONS: The study design makes it impossible to know the causal relationships between maternal behaviors and children's DQs and motivation. CONCLUSIONS: Mothers of toddlers with MD exhibited less adequate interactive behaviors than mothers of toddlers with TD. Because higher-quality maternal behaviors correlated with higher DQs in the MD group, clinicians should encourage parents to participate in early intervention programs and model high-quality parenting behavior to enhance parents' and children's outcomes.

Individualized behavioral assessments and maternal ratings of mastery motivation in mental age-matched toddlers with and without motor delay.

BACKGROUND: Mastery motivation is a precursor of future developmental outcomes. Evidence about whether toddlers with motor delay have lower mastery motivation is inconclusive. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine differences between mental age-matched toddlers with and without motor delay on various mastery motivation indicators. DESIGN: A mental age- and sex-matched case-control study was performed. METHODS: Twenty-two children with motor delay, aged 23 to 47 months, and 22 children who were developing typically, aged 15 to 29 months, were recruited. Persistence and mastery pleasure were measured with behavioral tasks that were moderately challenging for each child and with maternal ratings using the Dimensions of Mastery Questionnaire (DMQ). The DMQ was rated by each child's mother based on her perception of her child's motivation. Two types of structured tasks (a puzzle and a cause-effect toy selected to be moderately challenging for each child) were administered in a laboratory setting and recorded on videos. Paired t tests or Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to examine group differences in persistence and mastery pleasure (α=.007, 2-tailed). RESULTS: Children with motor delay were rated lower on DMQ persistence than the typically developing group, but they did not show significantly lower persistence on the structured tasks. There were no significant differences in mastery pleasure between the 2 groups on either measure. LIMITATIONS: Large within-sample variability on the tasks and small sample size makes subgroup analysis (eg, different severities) difficult. CONCLUSIONS: Toddlers with motor delay did not show lower persistence and pleasure when given tasks that were moderately challenging; however, their mothers tended to view them as having lower motivation. Clinicians and parents should provide appropriately challenging tasks to increase children's success and motivation.

The stability of mastery motivation and its relationship with home environment in infants and toddlers.

UNLABELLED: Mastery motivation (intrinsic drives to explore and master one's environment) is a key developmental element. The aims of this study were to investigate (1) the stability of mastery motivation between 2 and 3 years of age for two genders; and (2) the associations between early home environment and toddlers' mastery motivation in children with typical development. METHODS: Data of 102 children developing typically from a birth cohort study at Northern Taiwan were analyzed in two parts: (1) stability part: mastery motivation of children were measured at 2 and 3 years of age; (2) environment part: child-parent dyads were assessed from birth, 4 months, 6 months, and 2-3 years of age. Outcomes variables were measured at ages 2 and 3 years by the Dimension of Mastery Questionnaire-17th version. Main predictive variables were measured by Home Observation for Measuring Environment Inventory (HOME) to collect data of the qualities of home environment at 6 months and 2 years; by the Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire to obtain 4-month activity levels; and by the Comprehensive Developmental Inventory for Infants and Toddlers to obtain 2-year developmental quotient (DQ). RESULTS: There was moderate stability of mastery motivation from 2 to 3 years, and girls' stability was higher than boys'. 6-Month HOME rather than 2-year HOME measures were positively and significantly correlated with instrumental mastery motivation even when controlling for gender, activity level, and DQ. CONCLUSION: Mastery motivation had moderate stability during the toddler period. The quality of home environment in infancy appeared to have a significant impact on toddler's mastery motivation. To promote mastery motivation, caregivers should provide better quality of home environment for infants/toddlers during the very early years.

The antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of five depot formulations of ketorolac propyl ester in rats.

BACKGROUND: Ketorolac is a potent nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Recently, a ketorolac prodrug, ketorolac propyl ester, was synthesized in our laboratory. The aim of the study was to evaluate the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of ketorolac propyl ester in five depot formulations. The vehicles used in these formulations were injectable vegetable oils, i.e., sesame oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, castor oil, and cottonseed oil. The traditional therapentic form of ketorolac tromethamine in saline was used as control. METHODS: Six studies were carried out to test the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of intramuscular ketorolac tromethamine (in saline) and its propyl ester (in five depot formulations) 240 micromol/kg on Sprague-Dawley rats treated with intraplantar carrageenin. RESULTS: Ketorolac tromethamine (in saline) produced an 8 h duration of action on both antinociception and anti-inflammation, whereas ketorolac propyl ester in five oily vehicles produced 54- to 78-h durations of actions in both antinociception and anti-inflammation. Ketorolac propyl ester in cottonseed oil produced a duration of action of 78h in both antinociception and anti-inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: All five depot formulations of ketorolac propyl ester produced longer durations of antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects.