International Journal of Child Development and Mental Health

Blood Lead Levels And Its Effects On Different Domains Of Development In Children With Global Developmental Delay. Effects of Blood Lead Level in Children with Global Developmental Delay

2023-08-29T12:08:48+07:00

Early development of a child results from a unique interplay between internal constitutional factors and external environmental exposures. Lead is a potential neurotoxin that can affect child development in various domains. Objectives: To estimate the blood lead levels (BLL) and its effects on different
domains of development in children with global developmental delay.
Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted in Paediatric OPD and DEIC of
a tertiary care hospital among children with GDD aged 6-60 months. The
developmental assessment between 6 to 42 months of age was done by using the Bayley-III Screening Test. For children above 42 months, development
quotient (DQ) was derived in various domains Results: More than half (53%)
of children had elevated BLL. Regular application of kohl and use of folk/
herbal medicine were identified as significant risk factors. Around 82% of
children had development in the risk category for cognitive, communication, gross motor and fine motor domains. Increase in severity of developmental
delay in all domains was associated with an increase in BLL and these negative correlations reached statistically significant levels in receptive communication (ρ=-0.24, P=0.03) and expressive communication domains (ρ=-0.21, P=0.05). Conclusions: Lead is a potential neurotoxin and its effects are more on the
developing nervous system of children. A positive association between BLL and various domains of childhood development particularly in receptive and
expressive communication domains was noted. For countries like ours which are rapidly undergoing industrialisation, the potential sources of lead exposure need to be identified promptly and swift action to tackle this is strongly needed.

Factors Associated With the Use of Violent Child Discipline Methods in Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Study

2023-11-10T13:43:18+07:00

Few studies have been conducted in developing countries especially in Sub-Saharan Africa on child discipline practices or methods compared to
developed countries. This study aimed to identify factors associated with the use of violent child discipline methods in Uganda. The study utilized
a complementary log-log regression model and analysed secondary data from the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey. Knowledge of law
prohibiting child abuse, belief in whether a child needs to be physically
punished, region, age of household head (50-59 years, 60-69 years &
70+ years), age of a child, education level of household head (higher),
marital status of household head (widowed), and household size were
significantly associated with ones likelihood of using a violent child discipline method. There is a need for interventions to boost access to and completion
of higher education and create support structures in communities to help
widowed parents cope with the loss of partners and readjust to changes in their lives. There is a need by the government to not only sensitize people about the negative effects of VCD methods but also ensure existing laws prohibiting VCD methods are enforced by the relevant authorities.

A model of developmental stimulation by applying the concept of Snoezelen for parents and caregivers of preschool autistic children

2023-11-24T14:23:08+07:00

This study is aimed to develop and to evaluate the validity of the
developmental stimulation program by applying the multisensory
approach for parents and caregivers of preschool autistic children. This study
consisted of two phases. The first phase explored perspectives for design program and analyzed the content validity by examining the index of
item objective congruence (IOC). The second phase was a focus group
discussion with eight caregivers of preschool autistic children regarding
the opinions after implementation. The developmental stimulation program
was developed basing on the therapeutic use-of-self approach, daily
living activities, play environment and development stimulation, related
knowledge and strategies in family’s context, and sharing between
families. The program components consisted of three activities for
caregivers such as meeting and understanding the nature of individual child, learning of child’s surroundings, and designing of an individual new
lifestyle. Validity of the program was acceptable (IOC = 0.6-1.0). After
implementing the program in eight families, the result showed four crucial points. First, caregivers were able to understand the natural behavior of
the children. Second, the caregivers could improve their child
development. Third, there were strengths and limitations of the pilot
program. Finally, the way of improving program effectiveness was found
out. A model of developmental stimulation by applying the concept of
Snoezelen technique for caregivers of preschool autistic children can
increase understanding of natural individual child by caregivers. This
understanding led to child development progression, adjust surroundings or occupational performances with autistic children, and encourage the
empowerment of caregiver needs by supporting system and continuity of services. Further study might consider the cost-effectiveness and efficiency
of the program for parents and caregivers of preschool autistic children
before implementing in the real situation.

The Significance of the Biopsychopolitical Model of Mental Health and Illnesses: Exploring Trends, Predictors and Statistical Challenges

2023-02-15T10:57:06+07:00

The current concerns regarding the ever-increasing global burden of non-communicable diseases where mental disorders and related somatic
diseases make a significant contribution triggered my interest in the review of social determinants of mental health. Sufficient evidence led to the link of
political systems to mental ill-health of citizens and taking into account the drawbacks of the biopsychosocial model based interventions led me to the
formulation of the biopsychopolitical model that may guide the curative and
preventive interventions for mental and related somatic diseases that I
collectively call Social Distress Coping Disorders (SDCDs). The present
paper aimed to find the predictor that may guide epidemiological studies.
While ironically the Human Development Index (HDI) and Social
Development Index (SDI) positively correlate with the global prevalence
of disorders like depression and anxiety; an attempt was made to find
a predictor that may negatively correlate with the prevalence of SDCDs
on a global scale with no success due to reasons elucidated. On a local scale,
the income inequality measures weakly negatively correlated with
hypertension at 95% CI (R= -0.307, β = -0.449, p= 0.030) while no correlation
was found for depression (R= -0.106, β = -0.014, p= 0.47) in 50 African
countries with available data, and possible reasons for this were mentioned. The link between political systems and social determinants of mental health is certain, while waiting for a suitable model and predictor due to biased data as shown, the validity of the biopsychopolitical model is assured.

Theoretical Framework for Multiple Mental Disorder and the Biopsychopolitical Model of Mental Illnesses: Underscoring the Pressure of Politics on Citizens’ SocialDeterminants of Mental Illnesses

2023-11-08T14:29:22+07:00

From the inception of psychiatry and clinical psychology as specialties destined to deal with mental illnesses, there have been considerable advances in the search for their etiology; and their nosology and intervention guidelines are updated regularly. Different models that explain etiologic mechanisms of mental illnesses have been formulated and successfully guided and still
guide their management but due to the ever-increasing prevalence of mental illnesses worldwide, the search for models to explain their etiology and guide
interventions is still an open area for research and debate. Due to the
shortcomings of comorbidity and multimorbidity concepts in explaining
the co-occurrence of two or more mental disorders that share the same
pathogenetic pathways and present overlapping symptoms, the theoretical framework for multiple mental disorder (MMD) as a single compound mental
disorder is presented. This paper also takes the social aspect of mental
disorders to the next level that emphasizes for the first time the contribution of political systems to the mental ill-health of their own citizens and proposes the
biopsychopolitical (BPP) model that explains the etiology of multiple mental disorder and other mental illnesses and guide their management.