Examined specific impact on birth children of living in households fostering children with severe learning disabilities. Found that important issues include sharing activities, involvement in helping care, and the different ways in which boys and girls respond to the situation. Also compared adult caregivers' attitudes to children's attitudes…

Beliefs about and attitudes toward child care were examined among 134 mothers, 55 child care providers, 46 kindergarten teachers, and 62 employers in 11 rural Missouri communities. Mothers were very satisfied with quality of child care services and degree of employer support. However, teachers felt that their students were less ready for school…

Surveyed day-care workers on effects of accreditation. Most respondents agreed that accreditation ensures high-quality care but they found the process difficult, mainly due to time constraints. Work conditions had not changed for half; half did not agree with the staff-child ratio; and three-quarters were not satisfied with their awards and wanted…

Examined child caregivers' use of various HIV/AIDS information resources in relation to professional background and attitudes. Found that providers' education level, child care experience, and the age group for which they were responsible correlated with use of newspaper/magazine articles, pamphlets, and educational workshops. Use of…

Describes whether stress experienced by families of adults with mental retardation was a function of characteristics of caregivers or care recipients and other influences. Data from interviews with 105 families indicated that the marital status of the caregiver, the number and level of services needed, and other factors influenced the families'…

Examined family day care providers' views on training. Found that some providers view family day care as a professional service requiring training and providing a career path, whereas others view their services as an extension of their own home duties and oppose formalization of family day care through training. However, pay and status concerns…

Examined attitudes of 76 Singaporean preschool teachers and supervisors regarding integrating young children with disabilities into mainstream preschool centers. Findings indicated that the majority of teachers were willing to consider integrating but voiced concerns about their abilities to cope on a daily basis without relevant information about…

Background: In the light of the existence of lengthy waiting lists for out-of-home placements, this study examines the factors affecting the decision to apply or not to apply for this facility in a city traditionally characterized by a cultural and policy emphasis on family responsibility and by relatively low levels of welfare commitment to…

To inform the development of educational programming designed to teach providers appropriate methods of exercise prescription for older adults, the authors conducted a survey of 177 physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners (39% response rate). The survey was designed to better understand the prevalence of exercise prescriptions,…

The importance of ascertaining and effectively treating psychological problems in children is difficult to overstate. Since compliance is particularly important, the psychological factors associated with caretakers' compliance regarding children's psychotherapy were examined here. Data were collected on the 85 primary caretakers of 85 children who…

Used concept mapping, along with other analytical techniques, to examine and address barriers to African-American families' involvement in the treatment of family members with mental illness. Focus groups recommended a variety of strategies for improving caregiver supports and for increasing the involvement of caregivers in the treatment process.…

Used data from 252 female primary caregivers, their husbands, and children to create family typologies based on the extent of similarities among reports of elder behaviors. Results indicate that families characterized by high agreement and those characterized by low agreement significantly differed from one another. Other findings are reported.…

Investigated possible causes for the high turnover rate among family day-care (FDC) providers by examining the effects of perceived social support, job satisfaction, and the establishment of boundaries between the FDC provider's nuclear family and her FDC system. Stable providers were more likely than nonstable providers to report high job…

Attachment status of children exposed in utero to cocaine, opiates, and other substances was examined at 18 months (n=860) and 36 months (n=732) corrected age. Children exposed to cocaine and opiates had slightly lower rates of attachment security (but not disorganization), and their insecurity was skewed toward ambivalent, rather than avoidant,…

The results of a study examining the psychometric quality of a pictorial scale to measure perceived physical competence, perceived cognitive competence and perceived social acceptance by peers and caregivers in individuals with intellectual disabilities are reported. The scale was administered twice to 100 subjects. The stability of the scale…