Wat bepaalt de kwaliteit van gehechtheid? In een grootschalig onderzoek, Generation R, zijn de stresshuishouding en enkele kandidaatgenen van de kinderen onderzocht, en het gedrag van de ouder. De... Show moreWat bepaalt de kwaliteit van gehechtheid? In een grootschalig onderzoek, Generation R, zijn de stresshuishouding en enkele kandidaatgenen van de kinderen onderzocht, en het gedrag van de ouder. De gehechtheidsrelatie is de relatie tussen een kind en een ouder (of andere stabiele verzorger) die in het eerste levensjaar wordt opgebouwd. Veilig gehechte kinderen gebruiken hun ouder als veilige haven van waar ze de omgeving verkennen. Onveilig gehechte kinderen hebben hier moeite mee; zij kunnen niet de juiste balans vinden tussen contact met de ouder en het verkennen van de omgeving. Dit onderzoek laat zien dat onveilig gehechte kinderen heftiger op stress reageren dan veilig gehechte kinderen. Wanneer er sprake was van depressie in het leven van de moeder, leidt dit tot een verdere toename van stress bij de onveilig gehechte kinderen. Hetzelfde gold voor onveilig gehechte kinderen met een risico-gen dat verantwoordelijk is voor een minder goede stressregulatie. Verder vonden we dat sensitief opvoedgedrag van moeder leidde tot meer veilige gehechtheid, maar alleen wanneer het kind een bepaalde variant van een gen droeg dat van belang is bij het omgaan met stress. De resultaten laten de kwetsbaarheid en stressgevoeligheid van onveilig gehechte kinderen zien. Daarnaast kunnen we op basis van de huidige resultaten zeggen dat insensitief opvoedgedrag, depressie van moeder en genetische risico’s een rol spelen bij onveilige gehechtheid. De ontwikkeling van gehechtheid is complex, en het resultaat van het samenspel tussen biologische aspecten en de opvoedingsomgeving. Daarop moet toekomstig onderzoek dan ook gericht zijn. Show less
There is a widely held belief that reading (story)books makes us smarter and helps promote success in life. Does scientific evidence support this notion? The three meta-analyses in this thesis... Show moreThere is a widely held belief that reading (story)books makes us smarter and helps promote success in life. Does scientific evidence support this notion? The three meta-analyses in this thesis comprise 146 studies between 1988 and 2010 (N=10,308 participants) that addressed the role of book reading in language and reading development from infancy to early adulthood. Chapter 2 shows that reading routines that are part of children’s and students’ leisure-time activities offer substantial advantages for the development of language, reading, and spelling proficiency and academic success. The finding that leisure-time reading becomes increasingly more important across education seems natural: Because more skilled readers are more likely to enjoy books, they will choose to read more frequently which, in turn, will improve knowledge of word forms and semantics and enhance vocabulary size and text comprehension abilities. It appears from intervention studies comprising 2-6 year old children that it makes sense to invest in improvement of the quality of adult-child book sharing. Training parents or preschool and kindergarten teachers intensively in interactive reading techniques (e.g., dialogic reading programs) appears to be a promising venue to expand pre-conventional readers’ oral language (see chapters 3 and 4) as well as knowledge about the basics of reading (see chapter 4). Show less
Child maltreatment is a global phenomenon affecting a significant number of the world’s children. The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of self-reported childhood maltreatment... Show moreChild maltreatment is a global phenomenon affecting a significant number of the world’s children. The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of self-reported childhood maltreatment among university students in Kenya, Zambia, and The Netherlands. We also sought to compare the psychopathological sequelae of child maltreatment in the three samples. In addition, we sought to find out whether PTSS mediated the association between child maltreatment and the psychopathological symptoms. The results of our study showed that neglect in childhood was the most prevalent of all forms of child maltreatment across the three samples. Physical abuse and sexual abuse was most prevalent in Kenya and Zambia while witnessing interparental violence was the least prevalent in the two samples. Child maltreatment was differentially associated with psychopathological symptoms in the three samples of our study. Notably, neglect was the most predictive of psychopathology symptoms. The cross-validation results of our study showed that there were no significant differences in the predictive patterns of PTSS from child maltreatment in the three samples. PTSS mediated the association between child maltreatment and psychopathology symptoms albeit differentially. The results of our study show that there is need to mitigate the prevalence and sequelae of child maltreatment. Show less
The thesis ‘Quality in home-based childcare: Impact and improvement’ consists of two studies. The general aim of the first study is to examine children’s stress levels and wellbeing, and the role... Show moreThe thesis ‘Quality in home-based childcare: Impact and improvement’ consists of two studies. The general aim of the first study is to examine children’s stress levels and wellbeing, and the role of caregiver stress and childcare quality. This first study is described in chapters 2, 3, and 4. Chapter 2 addresses the question whether children’s cortisol levels (and wellbeing) differ between contexts (childcare day or at home day) and setting (childcare homes and childcare centers), and associations with childcare quality are examined. Chapter 3 reports on caregivers’ cortisol levels (and perceived stress) between contexts (work day, non-work day) and setting (childcare homes and childcare centers). In addition, associations between caregiver stress and childcare quality are examined. Chapter 4 investigates associations between caregivers’ cortisol levels (and perceived stress) and children’s wellbeing and cortisol in home-based childcare. Also, children’s temperament is taken into account. In the second study, described in chapter 5, we test the effectiveness of the Video-feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting – Childcare (VIPP-CC) in enhancing childcare quality in home-based childcare. Show less
This thesis examined the development of adopted children to shed more light on the effects of deprivation on child development and the potential for catch-up and recovery after placement in the... Show moreThis thesis examined the development of adopted children to shed more light on the effects of deprivation on child development and the potential for catch-up and recovery after placement in the more advantageous environment of an adoptive family. In the first part of the thesis a meta-analysis is presented in which we compared adopted children’s attachment relationships with the normative attachment distribution of nonadopted children raised by their biological parents, and - as a comparison - we also compared the attachment distribution of foster children with the normative distribution. The second and third parts of the thesis focus on the development of former foster and post-institutionalized children, 11 to 16 months old at arrival, two and six months after their adoption from China. Several salient developmental domains were studied: attachment, cognitive and motor development, physical growth, stress regulation, and social-emotional behavior. Show less
Aim of the dissertation: To expand the knowledge on the behavioural phenotypes, level of parenting stress and the relationship between child characteristics and parenting stress in five genetic... Show moreAim of the dissertation: To expand the knowledge on the behavioural phenotypes, level of parenting stress and the relationship between child characteristics and parenting stress in five genetic syndromes. The included syndromes are Angelman, CHARGE, Cornelia de Lange, Prader-Willi, and Rett syndrome. All syndromes are associated with intellectual disabilities. Method: Participants were children and adults with one of the syndromes and their parents, recruited through the Dutch Parent Support Groups. Parents filled out questionnaires concerning parenting stress and behavioural characteristics of their child. Additionally an interview regarding autistic traits of the child was administrated with parents. Main results: The behavioural phenotypes of the syndromes are described in detail. In all syndromes there is a high risk to display autistic traits. The syndromes can been seen as a risk factor for high levels of parenting stress. Specialized psycho-education on the behavioural strengths and weaknesses of a specific syndrome should be given to parents. Awareness on the high prevalence of autistic traits is important to be able to shape an optimum adaptive environment. Professionals should not only focus on the child with the syndrome, but also on the family system given the high stress levels for parents. Show less
The research described in this thesis aimed to gain insight in risky behavior in adolescence, by examining the development of decision-making in relation to brain development. Chapter 1 describes... Show moreThe research described in this thesis aimed to gain insight in risky behavior in adolescence, by examining the development of decision-making in relation to brain development. Chapter 1 describes two existing possible explanations for adolescent risky behavior, the first explanation focuses on the development of cognitive control, and states that adolescents’ immature ability to control their impulses may bias them to act risky. The second explanation focuses on emotional/motivational processes, and suggests that adolescents engage in risky behavior because they respond stronger to the possible rewards associated with risks than children and adults do. Chapters 2, 3, and 7 describe studies on developmental changes in the processes that form the building blocks of more complex decision-making under risk; probability estimation, reward processing and working memory. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 explore the relative contributions of reward sensitivity and cognitive control to decision-making across development. This thesis shows knowledge about brain maturation can inform models of adolescent risky behavior. And that adolescent risk-taking can be explained as the consequence of the earlier maturation of reward related relative to cognitive control related brain circuitry. Show less
