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Associations between family-level adversity and society-level trauma with emotional and behavioural problems amongst children of West Papuan refugees

Tay AK, Rees S, Kareth M, Mohsin M, Tam N, Silove D

Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 2021 Jun;30(6):909-920.
PMID: 32500279 DOI: 10.1007/s00787-020-01569-6

Few studies have examined associations between family-level parental factors, society-level violence, and the emotional and behavioral status of children of refugee populations. Our study used cross-sectional epidemiological data to test a theoretical model of these key associations amongst a community sample of children (n = 162) of West Papuan refugees living in remote town in Papua New Guinea (PNG), a setting of endemic violence and poverty. Culturally adapted instruments were used to assess three types of intra-familial factors (adverse parenting, physical and/or sexual abuse and emotional abuse) and three types of society-level violence and stressors (exposure to systematic violence, peer violence, living difficulties). Emotional and behavioural problems were assessed using the Youth Self-Report Checklist. Path analysis was used to test theoretical associations. Key findings include direct associations between both family-level physical and/or sexual abuse (β = .43; p

Matched MeSH terms: Child Behavior/psychology*
Children's exercise behavior: the moderating role of habit processes within the theory of planned behavior

Hashim HA, Jawis MN, Wahat A, Grove JR

Psychol Health Med, 2014;19(3):335-43.
PMID: 23796233 DOI: 10.1080/13548506.2013.808751

The moderating effect of exercise habit strength and specific habit processes within the theory of planned behavior (TPB) was tested in children.

Matched MeSH terms: Child Behavior/psychology*
Fulltext Behavioural and emotional issues among primary school pupils with congenital colour vision deficiency in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: A case-control study

Thomas BAWM, Kaur S, Hairol MI, Ahmad M, Wee LH

F1000Res, 2018;7:1834.
PMID: 30815251 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.17006.1

Background: Congenital colour vision deficiency (CCVD) is an untreatable disorder which has lifelong consequences. Increasing use of colours in schools has raised concern for pupils with CCVD. This case-control study was conducted to compare behavioural and emotional issues among age, gender and class-matched pupils with CCVD and normal colour vision (NCV). Methods: A total of 1732 pupils from 10 primary schools in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur were screened, of which 46 pupils (45 males and 1 female) had CCVD. Mothers of male pupils with CCVD (n=44) and NCV (n=44) who gave consent were recruited to complete a self-administered parent report form, Child Behaviour Checklist for Ages 4-18 (CBCL/ 4-18) used to access behavioural and emotional problems. The CBCL/ 4-18 has three broad groupings: Internalising, Externalising and Total Behaviour Problems. Internalising Problems combines the Withdrawn, Somatic Complaints and Anxiety/ Depression sub constructs, while Externalising Problems combines the Delinquent and Aggressive Behaviour sub constructs. Results: Results from CBCL/ 4-18 showed that all pupils from both groups had scores within the normal range for all constructs. However, results from the statistical analysis for comparison, Mann-Whitney U test, showed that pupils with CCVD scored significantly higher for Externalising Problems (U=697.50, p=0.02) and Total Behaviour Problems (U=647.00, p= 0.01). Significantly higher scores were observed in Withdrawn (U=714.00, p=0.02), Thought Problems (U=438.50, p<0.001) and Aggressive Behaviour (U=738.00, p=0.04). Odds ratios, 95% CI, showed significant relative risk for high Total Behaviour Problem (OR:2.39 ,CI:1.0-5.7), Externalising Problems (OR:2.32, CI:1.0-5.5), Withdrawn (OR:2.67, CI:1.1-6.5), Thought Problems (OR:9.64, CI:3.6-26.1) and Aggressive Behaviour (OR:10.26, CI:3.4-31.0) scores among pupils with CCVD. Conclusion: Higher scores among CCVD pupils indicates that they present more behavioural and emotional problems compared to NCV pupils. Therefore, school vision screenings in Malaysia should also include colour vision to assist in the early clinical management of CCVD children.

Matched MeSH terms: Child Behavior/psychology*
Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the Malay version of parenting and child tooth brushing assessment (M-PACTA)

Chin YJ, Mani SA, Doss JG, Musa S, Danaee M

BMC Oral Health, 2024 Aug 16;24(1):949.
PMID: 39152380 DOI: 10.1186/s12903-024-04701-z

BACKGROUND: Malaysian preschool children continue to exhibit a high prevalence of dental caries and poor oral hygiene. There is a need to gain an in-depth understanding of oral hygiene habits and design suitable interventions to improve oral hygiene in early childhood.
OBJECTIVE: To cross-culturally adapt and determine the psychometric properties of the Malay-translated Parenting and Child Tooth Brushing Assessment questionnaire (M-PACTA).
METHODOLOGY: This cross-sectional study involved face and content validation, and forward and back-translation of PACTA. The M-PACTA was then tested for reliability and construct validity on 150 Malaysian parents of children aged 5 to 6 years old.
RESULTS: Face validity indicated that the M-PACTA items were clear and easy to understand. For content validity, some words had to be modified in accordance with the recommendations of the expert committees to make it more coherent to Malaysians. Some statements in the parental knowledge scales were modified according to the guidelines applicable in Malaysia. The content comparison of the back translation with the adapted PACTA revealed that all items were semantic and linguistically equivalent. Exploratory factor analyses of M-PACTA suggested a two-factor structure for three scales including child behaviour scale ('non-compliance' and 'avoidance behaviour'), parental attitudes ('lack of concern' and 'attitude of care'), and parental knowledge ('general tooth brushing knowledge' and 'awareness of tooth brushing care') while for the parental strategy scale, three-factor structure was extracted including 'routine positive methods', 'uncommon positive methods', and 'negative methods'. Internal consistencies for all scales were good (α > 0.9).
CONCLUSION: M-PACTA did not replicate the construct of the original PACTA. Nonetheless, M-PACTA demonstrated good construct validity, internal consistency reliability, and test-retest reliability within Malaysian context.

Matched MeSH terms: Child Behavior/psychology
Objectively measured habitual physical activity and sedentary behaviour in obese and non-obese Malaysian children

Wafa SW, Hamzaid H, Talib RA, Reilly JJ

J Trop Pediatr, 2014 Apr;60(2):161-3.
PMID: 24213306 DOI: 10.1093/tropej/fmt093

The present study examined objectively measured physical activity in Malaysian children and compared the differences in physical levels between obese and healthy weight children. Eighty-six obese children were matched for age and sex with 86 healthy weight children with median age 9.5 years. Habitual physical activity and sedentary behaviour were measured over 5 days using Actigraph accelerometers. Time spent sedentary was significantly higher in the obese group (90% vs. 86% of daytime; p = 0.001). Moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity was significantly higher in the healthy weight group (1.2 vs. 0.7% of daytime, p < 0.001). In both healthy weight and obese children, physical activity levels were exceptionally low, although moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity was significantly lower in the obese group than the healthy weight group. Efforts to prevent and treat obesity in Malaysian children will need a substantial focus on the promotion of reductions in sedentary behaviour and increases in physical activity.

Matched MeSH terms: Child Behavior/psychology*
Fulltext Reading the mind of children in response to food advertising: a cross-sectional study of Malaysian schoolchildren's attitudes towards food and beverages advertising on television

Ng SH, Kelly B, Se CH, Sahathevan S, Chinna K, Ismail MN, et al.

BMC Public Health, 2015;15:1047.
PMID: 26459341 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-015-2392-z

Television food advertising (TVFA) is the most dominant medium in the obesogenic environment promoting unhealthy food choices in children.

Matched MeSH terms: Child Behavior/psychology*
Fulltext Psychometric properties of the faces version of the Malay-modified child dental anxiety scale

Esa R, Hashim NA, Ayob Y, Yusof ZY

BMC Oral Health, 2015 Mar 10;15:28.
PMID: 25886943 DOI: 10.1186/s12903-015-0013-y

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the faces version of the Modified Child Dental Anxiety Scale (MCDASf) Malay version in 5-6 and 9-12 year-old children.
METHODS: The MCDASf was cross culturally adapted from English into Malay. The Malay version was tested for reliability and validity in 3 studies. In the Study 1, to determine test-retest reliability of MCDASf scale, 166 preschool children aged 5-6 years were asked to rank orders five cartoons faces depicting emotions from 'very happy' to 'very sad' faces on two separate occasions 3 weeks apart. A total of 87 other 5-6 year-old children completed the Malay-MCDASf on two separate occasions 3 weeks apart to determine test-retest reliability for Study 2. In study 3, 239 schoolchildren aged 9-12 years completed the Malay-MCDASf and the Malay-Dental Subscale of the Children Fear Survey Schedule (CFSS-DS) at the same sitting to determine the criterion and construct validity.
RESULTS: In study 1, Kendall W test showed a high degree of concordance in ranking the cartoon faces picture cards on each of the 2 occasions (time 1, W = 0.955 and time 2, W = 0.954). The Malay-MCDASf demonstrated moderate test-retest reliability (Intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.63, p <0.001) and acceptable internal consistency for all the 6 items (Cronbach's alpha = 0.77) and 8 items (Cronbach's alpha = 0.73). The highest MCDASf scores were observed for the items 'injection in the gum' and 'tooth taken out' for both age groups. The MCDASf significantly correlated with the CFSS-DS (Pearson r = 0.67, p < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: These psychometric findings support for the inclusion of a cartoon faces rating scale to assess child dental anxiety and the Malay-MCDASf is a reliable and valid measure of dental anxiety in 5-12 year-old children.

Matched MeSH terms: Child Behavior/psychology