This matched-pairs, clinical controlled trial evaluated the effects of a school-based, partial body-weight-supported treadmill training (PBWSTT) programme, conducted twice a week for 6 weeks, on the walking speed and endurance of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Pairs of children (10 males, four females; mean age 8y 10mo [SD 2y 6mo], range 5-14y) matched for sex, age, type of CP (athetoid quadriplegia, n=6; spastic quadriplegia, n=6; spastic diplegia, n=2), and Gross Motor Function Classification System level (10 at Level IV, four at Level III) were allocated to the experimental or control group. Compared with the control group, the seven treadmill-training participants increased their self-selected walking speed over 10 metres (Mann-Whitney U=9.00, z=-1.98, p=0.048; mean difference 4.21m/min). A trend was also found for increased distance walked over ground in 10 minutes (t[12]=1.88, p=0.083; mean difference 19.81m). A relatively short PBWSTT programme can improve the walking speed of children with CP and moderate to severe disabilities. Walking endurance might also improve in some children. Treadmill training seems to be a useful gait training option for children with CP, and it seems feasible to conduct such a programme within a school environment.The development of efficient and independent walking is an important therapeutic goal for many children with cerebral palsy (CP). As a result of impairments such as spasticity, muscle weakness, and postural instability, as much as 90% of children with CP have difficulty in walking. 1,2 Reduced walking speed 3,4 and endurance 5,6 are two of the main functional problems, particularly in children with more severe disabilities. 7 Current theories of motor learning suggest that task-specific repetitive practice can improve activities such as walking in people with neurological disorders such as CP. 8,9 Consequently, there has been a growing interest in the effects of treadmill training programmes, particularly with partial body-weight support, for people with neurological disorders.In people without CP, partial body-weight-supported treadmill training (PBWSTT) has been shown to have a range of benefits. For example, a recent review 10 found a trend for people with stroke to increase their over-ground walking speed and walking endurance after participation in a PBW-STT programme. In people with incomplete spinal cord injury, PBWSTT has been shown to increase walking speed 11,12 and endurance, 12 while decreasing oxygen costs, 11 whereas in people with Parkinson's disease, PBWSTT has been found to increase walking speed and stride length. 13 Despite increasing clinical interest, few published articles have reported the effects of PBWSTT on children with CP. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] One article 14 documented the effects of a 12-week programme on 10 children (mean age 11y 6mo, range 6-18y; three had spastic diplegia, four had spastic quadriplegia, and three had spastic quadriplegia and ataxia) using a single-group, pre-post research design. In an attempt to control...

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The BESSI is a promising brief teacher-report screening tool that appears suitable for children aged 2.5 to 5.5 and provides a broader perspective upon school readiness than previous measures.

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Maternal mind-mindedness, defined as the propensity to view one’s child as an agent with independent thoughts and feelings, mitigates the impact of low maternal education on conduct problems in young children (Meins et al. 2013), but has been little studied beyond the preschool years. Addressing this gap, we applied a multi-measure and multi-informant approach to assess family adversity and disruptive behavior at age 12 for a socially diverse sample of 116 children for whom ratings of disruptive behavior at age 6 were available. Each mother was asked to describe her child and transcripts of these five-minute speech samples were coded for (i) mind-mindedness (defined by the proportion of child attributes that were mental rather than physical or behavioral) and (ii) positivity (defined by the proportion of child attributes that were positive rather than neutral or negative). Our regression results showed that, independent of associations with prior adjustment, family adversity, child gender and low maternal monitoring, mothers’ mind-mindedness (but not positivity) predicted unique variance in disruptive behavior at age 12. In addition, a trend interaction term provided partial support for the hypothesis that pre-adolescents exposed to family adversity may benefit in particular from maternal mind-mindedness. We discuss the possible mechanisms underpinning these findings and their implications for clinical interventions to reduce disruptive behavior in adolescence.

Findings are presented of the second phase of a longitudinal study of families created by single mothers by choice. Forty-four single heterosexual mothers were compared with 37 partnered heterosexual mothers, all with a donor-conceived child aged around 8-10 years. Standardized interview, observational, and questionnaire measures of maternal wellbeing, mother-child relationships and child adjustment were administered to mothers, children, and teachers. There were no differences in maternal mental health, the quality of mother-child relationships or children's emotional and behavioral problems between family types. However, higher levels of parenting stress and higher levels of children's prior adjustment difficulties were each associated with children's adjustment difficulties in middle childhood irrespective of family type. The findings suggest that the presence of two parents-or of a male parent-is not essential for children to flourish, and add to the growing body of evidence that family structure is less influential in children's adjustment than the quality of family relationships.