Observations and interviews were conducted of 36 older adult volunteers in preschool classrooms. Volunteers brought a familial dimension to the setting and modeled behaviors for children. Their styles were not consistent with professional standards but complemented those of early childhood educators. (Contains 25 references.) (SK)

Assesses the prevalence and magnitude of psychiatric and physical morbidity effects among dementia caregivers, identifies individual and contextual correlates of reported health effects and their underlying causes, and examines the policy relevance of observed findings. (JPS)

Objective: To examine the prevalence of depressive symptoms, the overlap between caregiver and child report, the association between depression and anxiety, and the relationship between symptoms of depression and impairment in young girls. Method: Participants in the Pittsburgh Girls Study, a community sample of 2,451 girls aged 5-8 years old and…

Purpose: This study describes the preliminary experiences of 10 states in providing support services to family or informal caregivers of elderly adults and adults with disabilities; it focuses on the newly created National Family Caregiver Support Program, state general funds, Medicaid-waiver programs, and other state-funding streams. Design and…

Purpose: Our objective in this analysis was to determine how the duration of caregiving interacts with key care demands (i.e., severity of problem behaviors) to influence the institutionalization of individuals suffering from dementia. Methods: We utilized multiregional data from 4,761 caregivers of individuals with dementia over a 3-year period.…

The Center for Epidemiologic Studies?Depression Scale (CES-D) is among the most widely used depression screening measures. Existing research suggests a higher order factor structure of responses among older adults (factors labeled as Depressive Affect, Absence of Well-being, Somatic Symptoms, and Interpersonal Affect each loading on a 2nd-order…

The effect of a professional development program on the quality of care provided for infants and toddlers was assessed with a sample of 160 caregivers in 96 infant?toddler rooms in 48 childcare programs. Caregivers participated in a 3-month training course with a standardized curriculum of five 3-hour group classes and an out-of-class project. A…

This study examined the impact of children with autism on their families. Twenty-one parents who were the primary caregivers were interviewed about (a) recognition and diagnosis of autism in their child, (b) intervention services accessed, and (c) the impact of having a child with autism on their family. The results suggest that families who have…

Purpose: This study investigated whether child care providers could learn to facilitate peer interactions by using verbal support strategies (e.g., prompts, invitations, or suggestions to interact) during naturalistic play activities. Method: Seventeen caregivers were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups, stratified by center so…

Using Simple strategies, caregivers can learn to effectively communicate with infants through touch. This article offers suggestions and techniques for calming squirming babies of all types and ages who seem to be unable to find a comfortable position while being held. She begins by suggesting that care givers of very small babies be patient and…

Nonsocial play continues to be perceived as a behavior that is detrimental young children's development. The research evidence in this area is mixed but lends itself to a more positive view of nonsocial play. Despite the substantial amount of literature available, the terminology used fails to be consistent and may prove to be distracting and…

Family involvement in children's education is fundamental for academic success. This study extended the research on the Family Involvement Questionnaire for Early Childhood (FIQ-EC) by further developing the measure and testing its use with low-income urban elementary students. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses affirmed three salient…

Kin caregiving research tends to focus on the experiences of grandmothers. Often unnoticed and underserved are grandfathers who also take on this responsibility. Here, two groups of grandfathers participated in focus group interviews to discuss their experiences as caregivers to their grandchildren. Common themes for the grandfathers were the…

Increasingly, professionals are recognizing the need to involve parents and other caregivers in the mental health treatment of children. However, parents and caregivers may not feel efficacious when participating in mental health care. Self-efficacy is a mechanism of human agency that describes people's beliefs about their capabilities to exercise…

It has been suggested in the literature on family caregiving for persons with Alzheimer's dementia (AD) that levels of objective and subjective burden among carers often predict institutionalization of the persons with AD. There is a paucity of measures to assess whether perceived burden among formal caregivers may also predict movement to more…