@article{PosovszkyRoeslerBeckeretal.2019, author = {Posovszky, Carsten and Roesler, Vreni Helen and Becker, Sebastian and Iven, Enno and Hudert, Christian and Ebinger, Friedrich and Calvano, Claudia and Warschburger, Petra}, title = {Roles of Lactose and Fructose Malabsorption and Dietary Outcomes in Children Presenting with Chronic Abdominal Pain}, series = {Nutrients}, volume = {11}, journal = {Nutrients}, number = {12}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, issn = {2072-6643}, doi = {10.3390/nu11123063}, pages = {13}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Intolerance to lactose or fructose is frequently diagnosed in children with chronic abdominal pain (CAP). However, the causal relationship remains a matter of discussion. A cohort of 253 patients, aged 7-12 years, presenting with unexplained CAP received standardized diagnostics. Additional diagnostic tests were performed based on their medical history and physical and laboratory investigations. Fructose and lactose hydrogen breath tests (H2BT) as well as empiric diagnostic elimination diets were performed in 135 patients reporting abdominal pain related to the consumption of lactose or fructose to evaluate carbohydrate intolerance as a potential cause of CAP. Carbohydrate malabsorption by H2BT was found in 55 (41\%) out of 135 patients. An abnormal increase in H2BT was revealed in 30\% (35/118) of patients after fructose consumption and in 18\% (20/114) of patients after lactose administration. Forty-six percent (25/54) reported pain relief during a diagnostic elimination diet. In total, 17 patients had lactose malabsorption, 29 fructose malabsorption, and nine combined carbohydrate malabsorption. Carbohydrate intolerance as a cause of CAP was diagnosed at follow-up in only 18\% (10/55) of patients with malabsorption after the elimination of the respective carbohydrate. Thus, carbohydrate malabsorption appears to be an incidental finding in children with functional abdominal pain disorders, rather than its cause. Therefore, testing of carbohydrate intolerance should only be considered in children with a strong clinical suspicion and with the goal to prevent long-term unnecessary dietary restrictions in children suffering from CAP.}, language = {en} } @article{KucianZuberKohnetal.2018, author = {Kucian, Karin and Zuber, Isabelle and Kohn, Juliane and Poltz, Nadine and Wyschkon, Anne and Esser, G{\"u}nter and von Aster, Michael G.}, title = {Relation Between Mathematical Performance, Math Anxiety, and Affective Priming in Children With and Without Developmental Dyscalculia}, series = {Frontiers in psychology}, volume = {9}, journal = {Frontiers in psychology}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00263}, pages = {13}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Many children show negative emotions related to mathematics and some even develop mathematics anxiety. The present study focused on the relation between negative emotions and arithmetical performance in children with and without developmental dyscalculia (DD) using an affective priming task. Previous findings suggested that arithmetic performance is influenced if an affective prime precedes the presentation of an arithmetic problem. In children with DD specifically, responses to arithmetic operations are supposed to be facilitated by both negative and mathematics-related primes (= negative math priming effect). We investigated mathematical performance, math anxiety, and the domain-general abilities of 172 primary school children (76 with DD and 96 controls). All participants also underwent an affective priming task which consisted of the decision whether a simple arithmetic operation (addition or subtraction) that was preceded by a prime (positive/negative/neutral or mathematics-related) was true or false. Our findings did not reveal a negative math priming effect in children with DD. Furthermore, when considering accuracy levels, gender, or math anxiety, the negative math priming effect could not be replicated. However, children with DD showed more math anxiety when explicitly assessed by a specific math anxiety interview and showed lower mathematical performance compared to controls. Moreover, math anxiety was equally present in boys and girls, even in the earliest stages of schooling, and interfered negatively with performance. In conclusion, mathematics is often associated with negative emotions that can be manifested in specific math anxiety, particularly in children with DD. Importantly, present findings suggest that in the assessed age group, it is more reliable to judge math anxiety and investigate its effects on mathematical performance explicitly by adequate questionnaires than by an affective math priming task.}, language = {en} } @article{NovinaHermanussenScheffleretal.2020, author = {Novina, Novina and Hermanussen, Michael and Scheffler, Christiane and Pulungan, Aman B. and Ismiarto, Yoyos Dias and Andriyana, Yudhie and Biben, Vitriana and Setiabudiawan, Budi}, title = {Indonesian National Growth Reference Charts better reflect height and weight of children in West Java, Indonesia, than WHO Child Growth Standards}, series = {Journal of Clinical Research in Pediatric Endocrinology}, volume = {12}, journal = {Journal of Clinical Research in Pediatric Endocrinology}, number = {4}, publisher = {Galenos Yayincilik}, address = {Istanbul}, issn = {1308-5727}, doi = {10.4274/jcrpe.galenos.2020.2020.0044}, pages = {410 -- 419}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Objective: The Indonesia Basic Health Research 2018 indicates that Indonesian children are still among the shortest in the world. When referred to World Health Organization Child Growth Standards (WHOCGS), the prevalence of stunting reaches up to 43\% in several Indonesian districts. Indonesian National Growth Reference Charts (INGRC) were established in order to better distinguish between healthy short children and children with growth disorders. We analyzed height and weight measurements of healthy Indonesian children using INGRC and WHOCGS. Methods: 6972 boys and 5800 girls (n = 12,772), aged 0-59 months old, from Bandung District were measured. Z-scores of length/height and body mass index were calculated based on INGRC and WHOCGS. Results: Under 5-year-old Indonesian children raised in Bandung are short and slim. Mean height z-scores of boys is -2.03 [standard deviation (SD) 1.31], mean height z-scores of girls is -2.03 (SD 1.31) when referred to WHOCGS indicating that over 50 \% of these children are stunted. Bandung children are heterogeneous, with substantial subpopulations of tall children. Depending on the growth reference used, between 9\% and 15\% of them are wasted. Wasted children are on average half a SD taller than their peers. Conclusion: WHOCGS seriously overestimates the true prevalence of undernutrition in Indonesian children. The present investigation fails to support evidence of undernutrition at a prevalence similar to the over 50\% prevalence of stunting (WHOCGS) versus 13.3\% (INGRC). We suggest refraining from using WHOCGS, and instead applying INGRC that closely mirror height and weight increments in Bandung children. INGRC appear superior for practical and clinical purposes, such as detecting growth and developmental disorders.}, language = {en} } @article{FitjarRonnebergNottbuschetal.2021, author = {Fitjar, Camilla L. and R{\o}nneberg, Vibeke and Nottbusch, Guido and Torrance, Mark}, title = {Learning handwriting}, series = {Frontiers in psychology / Frontiers Research Foundation}, volume = {12}, journal = {Frontiers in psychology / Frontiers Research Foundation}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2021.663829}, pages = {13}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Skilled handwriting of single letters is associated not only with a neat final product but also with fluent pen-movement, characterized by a smooth pen-tip velocity profile. Our study explored fluency when writing single letters in children who were just beginning to learn to handwrite, and the extent to which this was predicted by the children's pen-control ability and by their letter knowledge. 176 Norwegian children formed letters by copying and from dictation (i.e., in response to hearing letter sounds). Performance on these tasks was assessed in terms of the counts of velocity inversions as the children produced sub-letter features that would be produced by competent handwriters as a single, smooth (ballistic) action. We found that there was considerable variation in these measures across writers, even when producing well-formed letters. Children also copied unfamiliar symbols, completed various pen-control tasks (drawing lines, circles, garlands, and figure eights), and tasks that assessed knowledge of letter sounds and shapes. After controlling for pen-control ability, pen-movement fluency was affected by letter knowledge (specifically children's performance on a task that required selecting graphemes on the basis of their sound). This was the case when children retrieved letter forms from dictated letter sounds, but also when directly copying letters and, unexpectedly, when copying unfamiliar symbols. These findings suggest that familiarity with a letter affects movement fluency during letter production but may also point towards a more general ability to process new letter-like symbols in children with good letter knowledge.}, language = {en} } @article{LiBuenningKaiseretal.2022, author = {Li, Jianghong and B{\"u}nning, Mareike and Kaiser, Till and Hipp, Lena}, title = {Who suffered most?}, series = {Journal of family research}, volume = {34}, journal = {Journal of family research}, number = {1}, publisher = {University of Bamberg Press}, address = {Bamberg}, issn = {2699-2337}, doi = {10.20377/jfr-704}, pages = {281 -- 309}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Objective: This study examines gender and socioeconomic inequalities in parental psychological wellbeing (parenting stress and psychological distress) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Background: The dramatic shift of childcare and schooling responsibility from formal institutions to private households during the pandemic has put families under enormous stress and raised concerns about caregivers' health and wellbeing. Despite the overwhelming media attention to families' wellbeing, to date limited research has examined parenting stress and parental psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in Germany. Method: We analyzed four waves of panel data (N= 1,771) from an opt-in online survey, which was conducted between March 2020 and April 2021. Multivariable OLS regressions were used to estimate variations in the pandemic's effects on parenting stress and psychological distress by various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Results: Overall, levels of parenting stress and psychological distress increased during the pandemic. During the first and third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, mothers, parents with children younger than 11 years, parents with two or more children, parents working from home as well as parents with financial insecurity experienced higher parenting stress than other sociodemographic groups. Moreover, women, respondents with lower incomes, single parents, and parents with younger children experienced higher levels of psychological distress than other groups. Conclusion: Gender and socioeconomic inequalities in parents' psychological wellbeing increased among the study participants during the pandemic.}, language = {en} } @article{MazzoneWachsFoodyetal.2022, author = {Mazzone, Angela and Wachs, Sebastian and Foody, Mairead and Blaya, Catherine}, title = {Editorial: A connected or isolated generation?}, series = {Frontiers in education}, volume = {7}, journal = {Frontiers in education}, publisher = {Frontiers Media}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {2504-284X}, doi = {10.3389/feduc.2022.999028}, pages = {3}, year = {2022}, language = {en} }